Did you know LinkedIn can help your business gain leads?
In a previous blog, we talked about the state of lead generation and what marketers are really looking for; it’s not surprising that marketers are looking to drive better, more quality, leads to their website. One of the surprising findings is that LinkedIn produces the best leads. One of the most professional networks, LinkedIn is certainly valuable for driving your leads. But in order to see success, you have to make sure you're using the platform right and getting noticed.
LinkedIn is the go-to business-focused social network. While other networks can be utilized for business, they definitely have a more social aspect as their premise. This isn’t the case for LinkedIn. It's designed as a business-to-business tool. It’s the online version of a Chamber or Business Networking International group.
There are three significant steps to ensuring your LinkedIn page is driving leads:
- Completely fill out your profile, join groups, and have a company page
- Be active on LinkedIn
- Be strategic about what you’re doing
So, how can you use LinkedIn for your business?
Your profile is the dominant tool you will use to interact with people, groups are second tier, and the company page will be the best tool to create brand advocacy.
Your profile
Like most social media networks, it’s the people-to-people connections that are going to create winning leads. People aren’t looking for brands. They are looking for a person-to-person connection. That’s why it’s so important to fully fill your profile out. If your profile isn’t complete right now, make it a priority to do so as soon as possible. Remember, this is the professional network. Your photos should be professional looking headshots. People need and want to see you.
Bare bones minimum, you need these to set up your profile:
- Your real name
- Your Role within your title- that tells people what you do
- A full description of what you are currently doing within your role. End with a call-to-action: what kinds of problems do you solve and solutions you can provide?
- List up to 50 specific skills you have and are good at.
It’s important to remember that LinkedIn gives you a lot of tools that you can use when filling out your profile. Your summary should be sharp; talk about who you are, what you do, and the value you bring. You can even load PDFs and multimedia files, basically building a portfolio to describe what you, through your company, bring to the table. So take your time and think a little about how you want to setup your profile.
Make a company page
This is your opportunity to post on behalf of your brand. The benefit is that you can have multiple people managing it and it gives people a place to learn about what is happening in your company. It’s very similar to how Facebook Business pages work. It allows to
People will use your LinkedIn Company Page to keep up with changes, events, job openings, blogs, and learn information all about your company. It really allows you to market what your company does while allowing you to showcase a professional yet human side. With a company page, you will also have access to engagement of posts, which isn’t available for personal profiles or groups.
The best way to use your company page? Brand advocacy.
Make sure everyone in your company has their own LinkedIn profile (especially those who are working directly with customers or clients) and that they are following your company page. Encourage them to share your content. Alternatively, if you have a social media account manager, post and share content on behalf of your employees. Now you have more visibility from your team members connections. Which is a great thing, because personal profiles drive the most engaged traffic.
Ways to drive leads and connect on LinkedIn
The first thing you need to do is start connecting with others. Check out who has been looking at your profile, look at theirs, and consider adding them to your network. Careful, though. Remember to update LinkedIn’s default message, and never say, “Hey, I saw you were looking at my profile.” Believe us, nothing sounds creepier! Personalize your first impression and made it a good one.
When you’re first building your connections, start with clients, coworkers, and people in your circle. Think of professionals and initiate the process off by connecting with them. Once you're connected, LinkedIn will give you a heads up about work anniversaries, birthdays, and other celebrations. You can quickly send a message congratulating them, allowing you to stay in touch. It’s an awesome way to keep your professional relationships updated when you don’t have time to personally stay in touch.
You can also start endorsing others and giving recommendations.
Another important tip is to be active in groups. Consider creating your own and strategically add people to it. Like other social media channels, add value and be helpful. When you have joined a group, remember to get to know the people who are in there. Like comments and follow them.
We recommend being part of five to seven LinkedIn groups. Choose the top groups that you will really be active. Don’t just be a member and have little to no activity; take advantage of being an active participant in that group. You will get noticed.
Get more connections by going through your groups each month or so, and look for new members, who are actively engaging. If you find people who are active, consider bringing the relationship to the real world. Send and email and ask to meet for coffee to learn more about what they do. See if there are ways you can help them or people you can connect them with. The rest will follow.
LinkedIn is just the tool to help you reach the CEO, HR Manager, Purchasing Agent … that elusive connection! Think of LinkedIn as the open window next to the door kept shut by the office gatekeeper. I hope these quick tips are just the beginning to maximizing your LinkedIn profile and taking it to a whole new level for you and your business.
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