How a finance organisation became the most influential Australian brand on LinkedIn

A finance organisation has been named the most influential Australian brand on LinkedIn, beating the big banks and even telecommunications giant Telstra.

CPA Australia, one of the world’s largest accounting bodies, came in at number one after LinkedIn measured the effectiveness of companies’ content marketing efforts on the social media platform.

Launched in 2003, LinkedIn is the world’s largest business-orientated social networking service. It allows users to upload a digital resume, connect with people in the same industry, job-hunt and even promote content such as blog posts. 

Jillian Bowen, content and social media manager at CPA Australia, told SmartCompany the organisation had invested a lot of time into its LinkedIn presence.

“We’re always looking for ways to connect so that we can drive greater awareness of the benefits of the CPA Australia designation,” says Bowen.

“We’ve found that LinkedIn gives us powerful options for targeting our messages and for delivering high levels of ongoing engagement.”

Bowen says if businesses want to make the most out of LinkedIn they need to take into account their audience and have a genuine purpose.

“Listen first, listen carefully and treat your audience’s opinions and needs with respect,” says Bowen.  

“When you put the audience first in your content development and engagement strategy, you are playing a long game that is more likely to deliver genuine interactions,” she says.

Bowen also says it’s about quality not quantity when it comes to meaningful interactions online.

“A number one ranking is a tremendous endorsement of the work you are doing, but your strategy should always be about the quality of engagement and how it is meeting your short and long-term business goals,” she says.

Matthew Tindale, director of marketing solutions for LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement Australians have been eager to use the service to promote themselves and their business.

“The extent to which brands have really embraced our content marketing features across Australia and New Zealand demonstrates the hunger for such a platform for professionals,” said Tindale. “That our platform is also backed-up with data-driven measurement tools is also of significant value.”

Tindale said Australians have been quick to not only sign up to LinkedIn, but use it in a meaningful way – whether that is engaging with other brands or sharing their own content.

“Our membership base in Australia are increasing their active engagement with brands on LinkedIn, which is proving terrific value for member professionals and businesses alike,” he said.

LinkedIn has more than 6 million members in Australia, with an estimated four out of five Australian professionals using the social media platform.

The most influential Australian brands on Linked in are:

1. CPA Australia
2. Cerebral Palsy Alliance
3. ANZ
4. Commonwealth Bank
5. BT Financial
6. Telstra
7. Virgin Australia
8. WorleyParsons
9. Thiess
10. Westpac.