So you’re finally deciding to switch to the LinkedIn Business Manager Dashboard, but you aren’t quite sure where to begin? Worry not, friends, because we’ve got you covered. In this article, we will not only explain what the LinkedIn Business Manager is, but we will also discuss general setup and tips and tricks you can only find after having hands-on experiences with the dashboard.
What is LinkedIn Business Manager
LinkedIn Business Manager is an extension of the business social media site LinkedIn. It was released earlier in July of 2022 for marketers and focuses on managing company pages, matched audiences, ad accounts, and other company assets. In basic terms, it is like your own personal digital assistant for social media marketers. With little direction, it will help reduce the clutter and disorganization of being a businessman or woman working with a team.
Before Getting Started
Before you get into the process of grabbing your computer or cell phone and just diving in, there are a few things you can do to make it easier for you to start out. The best part about this section is that it requires little to nothing as far as technical know-how. Simply some decision-making and, at the very least, a pen and pad. So let’s get started
- Choose a Second in Command- Whether you know it or not, collaborative dashboards can be incredibly hectic, and if no one is in charge, it can go from being hectic to outright chaotic. Outside of yourself, choose someone else to help carry the load. Assigning a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) will help by giving you a second set of eyes and hands when it comes to assigning tasks as well as minimizing who will be able to make changes to your dashboard.
- Structure Your Business Manager- This step will really depend on your business size and style. So for those who work for smaller organizations, this will not really apply. This applies more to those with fewer team members. Your structure will be straightforward and can function under a singular Business Manager page. For those who work on a more global scale, however, it will be beneficial to take some time to communicate with your known team members and create a structure that is both easy to comprehend and navigate. For example, having multiple business pages for multiple regions or units for the same business could be beneficial for increasing the security of your business’s assets. However, the fact that there will be multiple pages to navigate through shouldn’t sway you from this path, as the new dashboard makes them accessible from a single page
- Create Your Business Manager Page- Once you have taken the time to consider the above steps, it’s time to create your Business Manager, which you’ll be able to find on the Business Manager Page. When creating your page, we find it works best if you use a work-related email address and the company name. Using a name that resonates with you and everyone involved during this process leaves little room for confusion. Finally, create the purpose of your Dashboard, whether it be for media campaigns or just to keep your employees in the loop. This will help better direct the focus of the Business Manager.
Navigating Business Manager
Now that your page has been created, it is time to tackle some of the more technical sides of setting up. Now I’ll admit some steps taken will differ depending on organization size, purpose, and many other variables. With that in mind, I have narrowed it down to two categories, which are adding and assigning.
Adding- In the beginning, your page will be bare, and you will have to manually add team members, pages, ad accounts, and the works. However, after dealing with the dashboard, we found that the sequence above works best. You will want to start by adding team members, then pages, and lastly, ad accounts. Earlier, we mentioned assigning a second in command. This individual falls under team members, and now is the time to add him/her so that you aren’t working alone. To add a team member is simple: it just takes going to the people tab, clicking on the invite people button in the upper right-hand corner of the dashboard, and providing the person’s work email address. Next, you should plan to add your company page as well as any of its owned assets to the Business Manager. You can do so by going to the pages tab and searching for your company name or entering the URL for your LinkedIn. Be advised that before you are allowed access to a LinkedIn page, one of its super-admins must be a team member in your Business Manager. Lastly, you’re adding your ad accounts, which fortunately work very similarly to the way you would add your pages. Under the ad accounts tab, simply click on add accounts and you will be given the option of entering an ID number or a CSV.
Assigning- Now that the page will begin to involve more members, it is pivotal that the roles, titles, and statuses be established. Fortunately, assigning these couldn’t be easier to do. To the right of every team member’s name, there will be a button with three dots. If you click it and click the view details button, you’ll be able to see which assets the member is allowed to access amongst pages and ad accounts linked to the dashboard. I call this the three-button rule because it is the same for pages as well as ad accounts linked with the Business Manager. These buttons will be all you need when you want to allow or revoke access as well as change permissions amongst any of your assets.
Conclusion
All in all, LinkedIn Business Manager is a new organizational and collaborative tool that provides a quality and efficient user-friendly interface. With the platform still in its beta stages and talk of already improving, there is no doubt that it will become an even more viable asset to Social Media Marketers in the future.
