Yes, B2C businesses can and do thrive on LinkedIn.
I’m often asked whether business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses can get the same value from being on LinkedIn as business-to-business (B2B) businesses do. I’m convinced the answer is YES.
LinkedIn is the world’s best business platform for conversational marketing. Any business can succeed there.
To show that B2C can work on LinkedIn, I asked my network to share examples of successful B2C business owners. And here they are.
- Cakes – Christina Russell
- Crisps (potato chips) – Matthew Parry
- Double glazing – Craig Brookes
- Florist – Kate Lister
- Gut nutrition – Evie Whitehead
- Hair styling – Kia Styles
- Hand-dyed shoes – Simon Bourne
- Illustrations – Vic Lee
- Men’s accessories – Anthony Dibble
- Personal fitness training – Adam Luther
- Pet portraits – Nicky Chadwick
- Pub – Tim Foster
- Upcycled jewellery – Zoe Wongsam
What B2C business owners say.
Kia Styles.
BOOMBAE
LinkedIn has completely changed my business. It’s been pivotal in getting new clients. You don’t really see many people posting about hair and beauty on LinkedIn, so it’s quite different and has been a really good sales channel for me.
Vic Lee.
Author of the Corona Diary 2020
For me LinkedIn is an invaluable way to be able to not only share my craft but also create relationships through engagement and interactions with basically, strangers. Though at times voiceless and faceless save for the smallest LI profile pic, the strength of positive comments on my posts have made me value those connections that have flourished over the years.
Anthony Dibble.
PickaPocket
When I left employment to build my business it was a really lonely time. You wouldn’t believe how hard the transition can be. I met some amazing people via LinkedIn who were also starting their journey, too.
By sharing ideas, talking through the difficult times and the good, it was like having a full team of people around me again!
Adam Luther.
Luther Training
I literally have more work than I can handle and I don’t “advertise. All my work comes from word of mouth and LinkedIn.
I (like to think) make useful, valuable, fun, short, REAL, non sales videos with my phone and edit them on my phone.
People therefore, know exactly what/who to expect. If I can do it, anyone can.
Tim Foster.
Yummy Pub
We started having people visit saying that they’ve seen our video stories on LinkedIn and coming to see the site for themselves. We’re now starting a new company that does fresh cocktails delivered directly to the letterbox in a box. Lots of gifting companies are coming forward asking if they can wholesale and people are placing orders via LinkedIn. B2B is as important as B2C because, after all, we are all consumers.
Zoe Wongsam.
Hepburn & Hughes
What people overlook is that LinkedIn is full of potential consumers, so as a B2C business you have a whole platform to exhibit your products. You still have to put in the work to build your audience by showing up and engaging every day, but it really pays off.
As well as all these relatively small businesses, there are also some bigger names that have had huge success in B2C and who are well known on LinkedIn:
A couple of big B2C operations on LinkedIn:
B2B versus B2C isn’t really a thing.
LinkedIn is a place to promote and do business. But guess what: almost all business decisions are still made by people.
Instead of thinking in terms of B2B or B2C, think of person-to-person (P2P) or human-to-human (H2H).
In this view of the world, the end product or service could be just about anything. And LinkedIn can be the platform where it thrives.
Let’s wrap up.
The above list only scratches the surface. Trust me on this one: any business can succeed on LinkedIn.
If you create an optimised profile that positions you as an expert in your field, and if you engage (publicly and privately) with the people you most want to do business with, you will succeed on LinkedIn.
My watchwords are always consistency and congruence: that means turning up with the same “shape” to your brand and sticking at it for long enough to be noticed, remembered and preferred.
If you truly commit to that, you’ll be unstoppable.
