Since its launch in 2003, LinkedIn has morphed into a platform for B2B marketers and professionals. A go-to platform for online networking, job-hunting, lead generation, and content distribution.
If you’re an entrepreneur servicing businesses and professionals, then LinkedIn should be part of your marketing mix. Allow me to remind you of 1 killer fact: according to LinkedIn’s Statistics, over 57 million businesses are on LinkedIn, and 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn. This is huge.
However, going on LinkedIn without a strategy is like embarking on a journey without a destination in mind. You might end up running in circles. This article will show you five tips to help you better leverage LinkedIn for optimal business growth and performance.
1. Create a conversion-focused profile
Excuse the cliché; you have only one opportunity to make a great first impression. Whenever people see your interesting content on their newsfeed, the next logical step is to check your profile.
Not only that, because LinkedIn has a great SEO structure, whenever people search for your business name on Google, your LinkedIn is about among the top 3 results to show. So you need to leave no stone unturned in creating an incredible profile.
First, you need to use an attractive cover image & headshot photograph
When people click on your profile, your profile image captures their attention, followed by your cover photo. Make it outstanding and remarkable. Preferably, use an image that positions you as an authority to instantly build social trust and increase your chances of getting leads.
Secondly, write an interesting summary.
Your LinkedIn summary is like a sales pitch, and it’s what we convert leads for you even when you’re offline. Write it with your target audience in mind. Creatively highlight your strengths, skillsets, capabilities, and accolades in a way that positions you as the best man for the job. The LinkedIn profiles of your peers and colleagues are a great place to get inspiration from when creating a summary.
Thirdly, Refrain from using “Buzzwords.”
Buzzwords are commonly used words and phrases. Due to its popularity, people no longer attach more weight and substance to it. Please refrain from using them on your LinkedIn summary so you don’t sound like everyone else.
2. Valuable Comments on Targeted Posts
How do you get someone’s attention on a noisy platform? By liking their posts? Nah, they’re getting a lot of likes already; they might not notice yours. You get attention by dropping valuable comments on their posts.
Gary Vaynerchuk calls it the $1.80 LinkedIn strategy. The act of leaving valuable comments on industry-relevant and strategic posts. This strategy works well for getting profile views, connections, and quality leads for your business.
Here’s the thing, whenever you drop a relevant comment on a post, you’ll attract both the author’s attention and other commenters to your comment. When people perceive value in your comment, they’ll want to engage you for more information.
3. Create Engaging LinkedIn Poll
A LinkedIn poll is one of the great ways of getting post engagements and knowing your active followers. The tendency to skip a regular post (text, video, and image) is higher than ignoring poll posts. Because people always show their knowledge, even in its tiniest form.
You need to be creative in coming up with poll questions that will interest your audience and trigger them to participate. Aside from having multiple options, you can also use a “Yes or No” poll question around your services and areas of interest.
4. 80/20 Content Principle
The 80/20 principle, known as ‘Pareto Principle, states that 80% of the results usually come from 20% of the action. Therefore, we should focus our efforts on the 20% of the work that always generates 80% of the results. How does this concern LinkedIn? I’m glad you asked.
According to the 80/20 LinkedIn content principle, 80% of your LinkedIn content should be education-based, while the other 20% will be sales-based. Educating your audience simplifies the selling process.
On the other end, posting only sales content might turn off your audience. It would be best to have the right educational and sales content mix to get marketing leads from LinkedIn. When people believe you care about them as much you care about their money, they’ll patronize you.
5. Create LinkedIn Groups
People naturally love to be part of a community. Especially a community made up of people with a shared interest and passion. LinkedIn groups are an incredible way of building an audience around your product and services.
You can create a LinkedIn group around your niche and invite industry professionals to join using relevant hashtags and direct messaging strategies.
This will enable you to gather an audience around your product and establish yourself as an authority in your field.
To keep the group active and running, you can post educational content, encourage others to post relevant content, create LinkedIn polls and hold webinars. This strategy works for B2B organizations.
In Conclusion
When used efficiently, the strategies listed here can level up your LinkedIn game entirely. Experiment with different techniques to know what appeals best to your audience, and double down on it. As simple as that. LinkedIn harbors many professional and business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Go with the right strategy, and you’ll win.
