Get the most out of LinkedIn with these 10 tips

23 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by leonidesignoryblog in LInkedIn

Tags

Best Practices, Engagement, LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS, LinkedIn Insights, LINKEDIN LEAD GENERATION

Business professionals to make connections and build their network. At times though, it can seem like only big businesses or recruiters use LinkedIn.

However, LinkedIn offers plenty of great tools for small and medium-sized businesses to connect with current customers and find new customers as well. In fact, LinkedIn can help your business look bigger, extend your marketing efforts and drive growth for your business.

LinkedIn and other social media tools allow you to get your messages out more quickly and easily than ever before. While most small businesses can’t compete with high-scale advertising campaigns that large companies produce, leveraging social media levels the playing field as the tools available are the same for all companies, big and small. Even niche small businesses have the potential to do well on social media, because you can find customers anywhere in the world interested in your unique offerings.

The following are 10 tips for growing your business on LinkedIn:

1. Create your company page. If your business doesn’t have a company page, create one right now. Follow the steps here to get your page set up quickly. You will need to verify that you are an official representative of the company during the process. Make sure you build out your company page completely by adding a header image, logos, a detailed description about your business, industry, website link and contact information.

2. Maximize your presence. Add products and services to your page and include detailed descriptions and images. Once you’ve created your products and services, ask your connections to recommend them through the tools offered by LinkedIn – it’s easy. Having recommendations on each of your products and services allow prospective customers to see who’s finding value in your business. Also, add job openings to your company page to let potential employees know that you’re hiring. Your current customers and followers may also see these openings and have the perfect candidate in mind. LinkedIn also recently created Showcase Pages that allow companies to highlight brands, products and services with dedicated pages that allow for specific content updates about each product.

3. Update your personal profile. Like it or not, you and your employees frequently become the “face” of your business. A professional-looking profile on LinkedIn goes a long way to present the image you want for your company. Make sure your profile – and the profiles of your key employees – includes:

Professional photo.
Concise description about you and your position at your company.
Industry keywords and terms to further demonstrate your business expertise and what makes you different.
Complete education and work history with description of each role at previous employers.

4. Make connections. A key for growing your business is networking and making connections. And chances are, you know many of your customers personally. Invite them to connect on LinkedIn and grow your personal network. One note though – resist the urge to use LinkedIn’s “stock” connection invitation. Instead, write a short note telling the individual why you’d like to stay connected on LinkedIn. Once you’ve built up your connections, LinkedIn’s “People You May Know” tool can help you find even more connections. Having more connections gives you more opportunities to get introduced through LinkedIn to people you’d like to know – future customers.

5. Engage your followers. When posting updates to your company and your personal profile page, make sure you’re following best practices to create content your followers will read, comment on or share. Make sure you:

Use images – According to LinkedIn, posts with images have a 98 per cent higher comment rate.
Include links – Posts with links to other content have twice the engagement rate than posts without.
Add videos – Adding a video in your company page update can result in a 75 per cent higher chance of that update being shared by your followers.
Post frequently – Companies that post 20 times per month reach at least 60 per cent of their audience. That works out to about once per business day.
Pose questions – When adding links to content, don’t just post them and hope someone replies. Ask your followers questions relative to the information you post to get them to engage with you.

6. Attract more followers. First, invite your customers and your connections to follow your company page. Explain that you’ll be providing valuable content and updates on your company page, making it easy for them to stay informed. Add a LinkedIn icon to your website and email signatures and link the icon to your LinkedIn company page. Give your current followers a reason to share your content with their connections. This provides your business with exposure to a greater audience and the opportunity to gain new followers. You can always view who is following your company by clicking on the number of followers near the top of your page. Try experimenting with sponsored updates to reach additional new followers as well. LinkedIn provides great segmentation tools to help you reach your target audience.

5 Ways You Can Use LinkedIn as a Lead Generation Tool

16 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by leonidesignoryblog in LInkedIn

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Business, Lead Generation, LINKEDIN, LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS, LINKEDIN LEAD GENERATION, LINKEDIN LEADS, LINKEDIN MARKETING, MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORKING, Online Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Trending

1. Enhance Your Profile

Your LinkedIn profile is a place where you can showcase your professional career. It is also a place to actively promote the value of your business to potential leads, so make the most if it!

A few ways to enhance your LinkedIn profile:

Complete your profile including past and current employer information, your background summary, special skills, education information plus all contact details including websites and social media networks. Make sure keywords specific to your industry are included.

Upload attachments such as letters of recommendation, client testimonials, presentation slide decks, or other information relevant to your occupation or industry.
Add a business headshot that best suits the professional LinkedIn atmosphere.
Create a strategically written headline that immediately allows community members to identify with and understand your value proposition.

2. Make Thoughtful Connections

LinkedIn is an excellent way to connect with potential leads. However, it is important to abide by LinkedIn best practices and avoid being viewed as a spammer.

If you are sending requests to connect, do not send one without adding a custom message. Sending the standard LinkedIn message does not explain who you are or what your purpose in connecting is.

The LinkedIn default message states, “I use LinkedIn to keep track of my professional network, and would like to add you.” If it sounds like an easy way to quickly send random new connections an invite, you would be wrong.

Take your time in identifying who you would like to connect with and be thoughtful in your intentions to connect. Re-work that standard message to include details about you, your company and a short explanation as to why you would like to connect.

3. Participate In Groups

Joining a LinkedIn group relevant to your business or niche is a wonderful way to strengthen connections with like-minded individuals and connect with consumers interested in a particular product or with a specific need.

LinkedIn groups offer a space where members can share their experience, knowledge and wisdom in a trusted and credible environment.

Research and join groups that have similar interests to yours. Then actively participate to build credibility within the community. Become an enthusiastic member and network to build trust and relationships over time.

4. Create a Group

In addition to the above LinkedIn lead generation concept, you have the ability to create your own group.

As the owner of a group, you are given extra privileges to communicate with your members through an email newsletter. This is a powerful way to generate leads by targeting a group interested in your specific niche or product.

Start daily conversations by asking questions, answering a frequently asked question, posting a video tip or providing a resource that consumers are eagerly in need of. Your goal is to provide as much free information as possible and become a go-to resource within your industry or field.

5. Paid Advertising

This opportunity might sound simple, but it remains a powerful way of generating the right leads through LinkedIn. You can purchase advertising and target a wide range of demographics ensuring that LinkedIn provides the quality leads you are looking for.

Used effectively, LinkedIn can serve as your main source of quality leads. How will you get started with LinkedIn lead generation today?

Originally written by Rebekah Radice and posted on Steamfeed.

leonidesignoryblog

~ socially savvy design

Tag Archives: LINKEDIN LEAD GENERATION