We’ve all heard that it’s important to have a LinkedIn account or profile in today’s modern day of networking. You may or may not already have a LinkedIn account created, but are you using it to its full potential or is it sitting stagnant without any recent updates?
LinkedIn doesn’t have to be a scary and difficult platform to be a part of. There are many ways you can easily make LinkedIn part of your regular networking activities and make it an integral part of your B2B marketing strategy. Whether you are managing your own personal page to promote yourself as an industry expert or you’re looking to enhance your company page on LinkedIn, here are some tips to being more effective and making the most out your time spent on LinkedIn.
1. Optimize and Update your Profile
Take a look at your LinkedIn page and determine if there are gaps, are all company details included or is there additional information that should be included.
Include as much information so that a new visitor can get a quick snapshot of your business or of your personal industry expertise. LinkedIn makes it easy for you to see what information might be missing and provides tips for making your page as complete and optimized as possible.
2. Use Images
Whether you’re managing your own personal page to make industry connections or managing a business page, having updated and enticing imagery is important.
Don’t forget to update the banner image from the standard LinkedIn place-holder image, this is an easy way to add some personality to page.
3. Share A Mix of Content That Is Relevant to Your Industry
Avoid being too sales-y on LinkedIn. Provide information to your audience that they will genuinely care about; share information and industry news that is relevant to your core business. Sharing a mix of content from a variety of publishers and industry experts will also improve engagement with your audience.
What to Share:
- News stories related to your industry
- Resources or online tools
- Events that are relevant to the business or industry
- Blogs or articles from industry partners
Mention Your Connections
When mentioning individuals or businesses in your LinkedIn posts, on comments or when sharing a post, be sure to use the LinkedIn mention feature whenever possible. This is an easy way to build engagement and let the individual or company know that they’ve been mentioned.
Simply type “@” and start typing the business or individual name, which will prompt a dropdown so you can easily find the person or business you are looking for.
4. Connect with Relevant Industry Pages, Colleagues and Other Professionals
We all know LinkedIn is the networking social media platform – so make the most of its potential and engage with your audience. Follow, like, comment, and share pages that are relevant to your business and core focus.
Find your colleges or partners or even other employees and build out an audience of like-minded connection. Like other company pages that you have worked with, or who are relevant to your business and engage with their content. Engaging with supporting pages will allow you to build-out your audience. They may, in turn, engage with your posts and page.
If you’ve made new connections offline at a networking event, a partnership, or at a conference – don’t be afraid to reach out and find them on LinkedIn. Unlike other social media platforms, this practice is widely accepted.
5. Search and Join Groups
LinkedIn has a number of groups that you can search for and join. They all have different rules, but joining a variety of groups is another great way to build an audience and make some connections on the platform. Be sure to read the rules carefully, avoid too much self-promotion, and don’t be afraid to reach out and contact connections you’ve made in the group. If you find that there aren’t any groups that match your niche business or specific geographic area – start a new group.
6. Post Regularly
Post and share content on a regular basis on LinkedIn. Unlike other social media platforms, one to two times weekly is sufficient and will allow your page to remain updated. Avoid posting too frequently, and inundating your followers with too much or useless information. If you don’t want to post too often, try and share posts or even like and comment on posts so that you are still maintaining activity and engaging with other pages.
7. Make LinkedIn a Part of Your Social Strategy
If you’re managing a business page, be sure that LinkedIn is part of your social media marketing strategy. Plan and schedule a post or two a week and supplement that with updates, news and relevant information as it comes.
If you’re managing your own personal page and hoping to make some B2B connections on the platform, make LinkedIn accessible to you. Download the App or add it to your bookmarks. Spend 5 minutes on the train, with your morning coffee or on your lunch hour clicking through, adding connections, commenting and liking posts. Make it a regular part of your week and you will quickly see the benefits that LinkedIn has to offer.
The team at Foundery are experienced in creating customized social media marketing strategies that will work for your unique business needs.
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