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Whether for customer, partner or personnel recruitment, the results of the first company-wide LinkedIn campaign impressed LK Metallwaren’s Head of Internal Sales Adrian Flachenecker so much that he has been using the tool regularly for professional purposes ever since.

Adrian, why did you at LK Metallwaren decide to launch a LinkedIn campaign?

Recently, we had been struggling more and more with the shortage of skilled workers in the company – which is now the rule rather than the exception for an agile, medium-sized company with limited HR resources. However, the problem with filling some positions was so virulent in the meantime that we briefly discussed hiring a headhunter.

What was your user behavior on LinkedIn in the run-up to this decision? To what extent did you use it for sales or recruitment?

For us, the use of LinkedIn as a corporate tool for external communication was virtually uncharted territory. Although almost all of our field staff had their own account, we admittedly used them rather sparingly. For example, we didn’t realize in the slightest what opportunities there were to focus on a specific target group on LinkedIn by filtering search functions and then actually being able to address them via the platform. In our collaboration with 2be, after some initial scepticism, we then recognized the potential it offered and, at the same time, saw the need to position and present ourselves more strongly as a company there.

What expectations did you have for the start of the campaign? What were your goals?

For us, the speed factor was very important. This concerned both the launch of the campaign and the progress we hoped to make in terms of tangible results, as one position we had advertised did indeed urgently need to be filled. At the time, we had set ourselves a time frame of two months to get the campaign rolling and to be able to benefit from it. In the first few weeks, we concentrated on the search for personnel, then mainly on the leads that we were able to generate. The results were initially rather sparse, but after a few weeks the campaign really got rolling. Even now, several months after the launch, the effects are still being felt positively and we are still able to add new participants to our existing network.

How did you personally use the tool during the campaign?

I initially used LinkedIn directly on my desktop. It’s much more convenient for me to join the chats and exchange ideas with users from other companies. Since the launch of our campaign, I have been active on the platform on average once or twice a day, mainly via mobile devices. This is unlikely to change, because I acquired a taste for it with the first results and have really enjoyed it ever since.

Now that some time has passed, how would you sum up the campaign and the results you were able to achieve?

Previously rather skeptical, I have since been very impressed by the opportunities that LinkedIn offers users and us as a company. At first, I was almost “lost” in the face of the mass of chat that was rolling towards me. Then, however, I managed to scan the incoming news and information and remember my original intentions. In dealing with LinkedIn, I benefited greatly from the knowledge and experience of 2be, whose support I was able to call on permanently before, during and after the campaign.

In any case, I can conclude the following for professional use:

1. LinkedIn is a really useful and effective platform for medium to long-term use. But that also means that I would start even earlier for the next campaign: six to eight weeks for the implementation is very ambitious.
2. By increasing our visibility, we were able to significantly increase our customer and partner base.
3. The “scattering effects” that could be achieved quasi-collaterally via the campaign were extremely valuable. Our networks have grown in every direction and our corporate brand has also become more visible as a result.
4. However, you must have employees for such a campaign who enjoy interacting with others on this platform and have at least a small time slot free for this: This is the only way to achieve success.

How will you now use the new knowledge you have gained?

We will definitely continue to use LinkedIn intensively. We are already doing this today by regularly posting valuable content there. The LinkedIn Sales Navigator is now one of our standard sales tools, which we use primarily for cold calling. This simplifies our work as sales staff considerably.

Our interview partner

Adrian Flachenecker
Head of techn. Internal sales department
LK Metal goods

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+49 (0)911 / 47 49 49 54
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