FALL 2024

44 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

44 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Joe Dysart Joe Dysart is an Internet speaker and business consultant based in Thousand Oaks, California. A journalist for 20 years, his articles have appeared in more than 40 publications, including The New York Times and The Financial Times of London. During the past decade, his work has focused exclusively on ecommerce. Telephone: 631-256-6602; web: www.joedysart.com; email: joe@dysartnewsfeatures.com HOW FASTENER DISTRIBUTORS CAN BECOME A PROFITABLE PRESENCE ON LINKEDIN Fastener distributors have found that becoming a thought leader on LinkedIn -- or regularly posting insightful, engaging content in LinkedIn special interest groups that are closely aligned with their expertise -- is one of the fastest ways to book new business. “Establishing yourself as a thought leader on LinkedIn can significantly boost your professional brand,” says Jason Gong, head of growth, Bardeen.ai, a provider of automated digital marketing tools (www.bardeen. ai). “LinkedIn has become a powerful platform for professionals to showcase their expertise and connect with like-minded individuals.” Indeed, 73% of company decision-makers say that they greatly prefer to size-up a business or organization by reading the thought leadership content it has posted on social networks like LinkedIn -- rather than pouring over a company’s marketing materials, according to a new 2024 report. Dubbed the 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Report (www.edelman.com/expertise/ Business-Marketing/2024-b2b-thought-leadershipreport), the study also found that 75% of company decision-makers and C-suite executives say that a piece of thought leadership has led them to research a product or service they were not previously considering. And 86% of decision-makers and C-suite executives also say they are moderately or very likely to be more receptive to sales or marketing outreach from a company that consistently produces high-quality thought leadership on a business social network like LinkedIn, according to the study. CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE AS AN INFLUENTIAL THOUGHT LEADER, LINKEDIN CAN BECOME YOUR B2B MECCA Makes sense. A global digital meeting place with more than a billion users hailing from more than 200 countries, LinkedIn is one of the most influential hangouts on social media. For millions in the business world -- including fastener distributors -- LinkedIn is the number one place to know and be known and found. LinkedIn is also one of the most established business networks on social media with a 21-year track record. And its also the networking home for 67 million companies, the place where 80% of B2B marketers say they spend at least some of their budgets and the place where 77% of marketers say they reap the best results from organic (non-paid) marketing, according to Jack Shepherd, marketing director, Social Shepard, a digital marketing provider (www.thesocialshepherd.com). CONTINUED ON PAGE 112