Through its impeccable algorithm, large audience and business orientation, LinkedIn has become an essential part of all B2B marketing strategies and lead generation endeavors. Regardless of what your business or service is, LinkedIn can certainly help, if you know how to use the power of this global network.
In its core, LinkedIn connects businesses with potential clients, customers and employees, all of which can directly influence how your company grows and what it ends up achieving. The online community can make or break any product or service, so you need to be careful and well-organized when embarking on the mission of conquering LinkedIn.
Impacting your overall accomplishments with the help of social media may look easy, but it still needs a lot of work – you need a strategy, and a really good one. In our opinion, any of the following 8 important LinkedIn marketing steps for running a successful business will do.
#1: Use automation tools
Leveraging the full potential of tools that can automate your lead generation can do great things for your business.
Most tools you will come across have their own special features, meaning they can best be used for a specific action. You can use these tools at any point of your lead generation process – from finding prospects, to analyzing the quality of each one, and even reaching out to them through automated messages.
Just make sure you’re using a cloud-based tool, as they are much safer!
#2: Provide good content
You don’t need to be an expert to figure this one out.
People enjoy quality content, simple as that. Give them content that will make them feel like they have learned something and you will have them in the palm of your hand. If you establish yourself or your business as a relevant source of important information your business will thrive.
Here are some content formats that have proven results.
Video. Did you know that 54% of senior executives share work-related videos with their colleagues on a weekly basis? There are plenty of other video content statistics out there, and they all point in the same direction – people seem to find video content much more interesting than images and text combined.
Blogs. Articles are much easier to create than videos but sharing them on LinkedIn can help you establish yourself as an important figure in your industry. Take a closer look at your connections, find out what they’re interested in, and demonstrate your knowledge on that topic. Today, you can start a pretty good blog with no coding knowledge. All you need is time and dedication – WordPress can do everything else!
Case studies. People love to see proven results and success stories with actionable takeaways. If you share good case studies from your industry (or even better, your own case study), there is a good chance your audience will react!
#3: Analyze your audience and your output
Did you know that LinkedIn has over 600 million registered members? That’s a lot of potential leads, but only if you know how to get to the ones you need!
This platform can do wonders for your business because it really is the largest resource you can use to get your brand to the next level. That is why it is important for you to narrow the interests of your audience down, using advanced analytics. Once you figure out what the connections need to hear and see from you, adjust your output accordingly.
With LinkedIn offering truly valuable data regarding your results, this task should not be a daunting one, especially given the potential value of knowing information that can help you communicate your message to the target audience.
#4: Start outreaching
A crucial step that can help you achieve your LinkedIn marketing goals is outreach. As you start establishing yourself as an industry expert, you can start reaching out to your target audience with personalized connection requests.
So, how do you make your requests as personal as possible? You need to take the next step, truly think about what your users need, and approach every user in a unique way.
This means getting creative, being generous with your time and effort, and nurturing leads throughout the whole journey. An excellent way to approach personalizing is by using Expandi`s hyper personalization feature. This new option allows you to add profile photos to your message and much more.
#5: Optimize your profile
Treat your LinkedIn profile as an extension of a website that also needs optimization. You need to use keywords and make it as presentable as possible. So, start by examining your headline: it shouldn’t be just your job title, but a brief introduction to who you are, what you do, and what interests you.
After that, dig into your summary. This is a chance for you to tell your story, so the last thing you want to do is simply list your job titles or most relevant skills. You can bring those skills to life, explain why they matter, and what kind of difference they can make for the people you work with. This section should also be optimized for relevant keywords, so make sure you include the terms that are closely related to your field of work.
Lastly, you need to take a look at your profile and background photos. Without getting into too much detail, here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to these photos:
- Your profile photo should clearly show your face, and you should be dressed professionally;
- Make sure you look natural and friendly, rather than a stock photo of a business person in a suit;
- Long-distance shots won’t be noticeable, so make sure your face takes up 60% of the photo
- Your cover photo can display something you’re passionate about, your workspace, or even your key mission.
Leave no stone unturned and take all the time you need to ensure your profile is as presentable as possible.
#6: Be active in groups
LinkedIn groups are an essential marketing tool that you can use completely free of charge.
Groups are perfect places to find quality leads that are interested in your product! Join them, search them or even start them – no restrictions. A LinkedIn group is a segmented market, typically a niche, that you can penetrate directly.
With a simple LinkedIn search, narrow the type of group you want to find. Keep in mind that this search is not as advanced as a regular LinkedIn search, but it does offer more than decent options. Also, note that a good group for you to spread your wings in is a group that does not have a lot of members, is active, and of course – it is related to your brand.
In conclusion
A well-developed marketing strategy is needed for success on LinkedIn. This tactic needs to be created in a personable and giving way, because LinkedIn has become less about selling your product and more about marketing a specific idea or service through educational and relevant content.
So, it’s not about your brand anymore – it’s about the users.
That’s why your approach needs to be adapted to this very particular social platform in order to bring in leads, build awareness, increase website traffic, or do anything else you might want to do.
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