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The professional’s network, LinkedIn is also a powerful social marketing tool to build your brand. Here’s how to become a LinkedIn pro.
The professional’s social network, LinkedIn is a hot-bed for conversation, networking and interaction between business people. With millions of professionals in Australia and New Zealand on LinkedIn, it’s a powerful tool to showcase your brand and connect with other like-minded business contacts – whether you are managing a B2B business’s account, or working to increase the profile of yourself or company spokespeople.
But to increase your reach and unlock the platform’s potential, first you need to properly set up your LinkedIn profile and actively use the social media channel’s different features. Use these tips to become a LinkedIn marketing powerhouse and capitalise on the site’s tools and features.
How often are you sharing an article on LinkedIn? Or asking for an endorsement from a client? There are five profile features that LinkedIn pros regularly use to improve their company’s social media presence:
Messaging: LinkedIn has recently introduced a new, smarter messaging feature that helps you connect with others and unlock new opportunities. With messaging now threaded across the platform, you can easily strike up a conversation in the messaging tab without having to go to a new page to do so.
Posts: sharing articles helps you gain exposure in your LinkedIn community. It’s best to post insightful articles that are aligned with your business or industry. It could be articles you’ve created or just pieces that you find compelling. When creating content, it’s important to avoid the temptation to sell. You want to build a relationship with your audience by offering something that will help them, rather than asking them to do something that will help you.
Videos and presentations: make the most of being able to display video and presentations in your profile. You can easily post presentations from SlideShare or videos from YouTube.
Recommendations and endorsements: a collection of recommendations significantly enhances your profile. Seek endorsements that will add credibility to your profile, trying to get at least five.
Publications and projects: highlight successful projects, along with any books or ebooks that you’ve written and published. Ensure you include a description, link and who you worked with on the projects.
LinkedIn community features allow you to communicate and collaborate with other LinkedIn users. This is a sure-fire way to amplify your voice.
Groups: LinkedIn Groups help you stay informed and keep in touch with people who share your interests, plus expand your circle of influence. You can either create your own group or join groups that focus on your areas of interest or expertise. Be sure to participate and add value to the discussion.
Company Pages: this is a powerful research tool you can use to find companies to do business with or research competitors. Create a page for your company to showcase your expertise. Include a description, your physical address and website address. To further your company page’s value, post targeted jobs, recruitment videos, and information about products and services.
You can also add advanced applications to your company page. These apps can boost your business by creating brand awareness, generating more leads and expanding your network. Apps you might want to use sync your tweets, play a video with SlideShare or add a blog with WordPress.
Given it’s the professional’s social network, you want your pages to be as professional as possible. Stand out by following these tips:
Profile image: you want your profile to look professional and visually pleasing. For your headshot, make sure you use a professional-quality photo. The recommended size is 400 x 400 pixels.
Banner image: use the same branding as on your website and other social media profiles. It should offer a value proposition specific to your audience. The recommended size is 1536 x 768 pixels.
Headline: use a complete sentence that makes your value to your customers clear.
Summary: avoid using flowery or subjective language. List areas you specialise in, awards, guest-posting gigs and areas of competency, all while using relevant keywords.
URL: LinkedIn automatically creates a default address for your pages. Customise it to create a branded address.
One of the quickest ways to get noticed on LinkedIn and start receiving brand lift and traffic referrals is to have your published content featured on Pulse. A daily newsfeed, Pulse publishes hand-selected content written and generated by LinkedIn users.
When you post new content, your connections and followers receive a notification. But your goal is to have it featured on Pulse, which will drive profile views and professional networking opportunities. If your content is selected and published, your LinkedIn profile must be optimised, with a professional headshot or logo, banner image, and completed individual or company profile, in order to capitalise on the exposure.
And remember, good content is about offering something of value to your audience. If you’re unsure what this looks like, you can also use your Salesforce marketing platform to listen, analyse, publish, and engage with the right content at the right time.
To find out more about what your potential customers want from you right now, download the Salesforce State of the Connected Customer report.
