There are two types of people on LinkedIn. The first, are about as visible as a name in a phone book. The second type are those that use it as a two-way channel for communication with customers and prospects.
In order to make sure that you and your business are type two not type one, here are five things you can do in order to power your LinkedIn lead generation.
Work on Your Profile
First, your LinkedIn profile is absolutely crucial. It’s the CV for you and your business. You wouldn’t go to a job interview, and not tailor your CV to the role. If you do nothing else, make sure your summary and description tell your customers the issues you can solve for them. You need to communicate the benefits of working with you, not features. It’s not what you do, it’s what you do for them.
Don’t Forget your Company Page
Sometimes, the company page can be a bit of an afterthought and gets little love and attention. However, it pays to think about how your company is represented on LinkedIn. It’s the shop window for you and your business.
So this is where you should post articles, blogs, vlogs, videos, podcasts, etc. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t post them on your profile. But, key knowledge that you want to share should be on the Company Page. Post things that educate the customer, and that they’d be interested in and make you look credible.
Content is the lifeblood of Social Media
This point is as relevant on LinkedIn as it is with other channels. Whether the content sits on your personal profile, your company profile, or you publish posts through groups to stimulate content debate, that’s the key. It’s about enhancing your visibility, and presence to set you up as someone that knows.
Build Connections
And that content brings me to my fourth point, connections. This should probably be pretty obvious. If you don’t have sufficient relevant connections, no matter what you publish, it won’t be seen by the right people. You can perhaps hope to rank organically on LinkedIn, but that’s tough. And, even if you have some good connections, consider who might be in the market for your services at any one time.
Relevant content will bring you some relevant connections who are attracted to the kind of stuff you put out on LinkedIn. In addition, though, you should go after connections that can:
- Carry your message to others to a wider network.
- Become customers
- Refer you to others who can carry your message
Likes, shares and comments are hard to procure but they are valuable.
Spend the Necessary Time
The fifth and final point is that you’ve got to devote time to LinkedIn. Again, it seems blatantly obvious. But, we often find that clients dip in and out of LinkedIn. They post infrequently. They send out the odd connection request here and there. And, they spend a wholly inadequate amount of time on the platform. That’s not to say you need to be a slave and spend every waking hour. Tools abound and are useful to help you to schedule posts if you have content to share.
However, you need to use what’s available. We are fans of Sales Navigator. We use this frequently to seek out new contacts. My network is large since I have sent time nurturing relevant professionals. I don’t over-sell. I publish thought-based content for my network.
Ultimately, nothing happens by chance. To use LinkedIn effectively, you need to consistently prioritise the various activities. And if you can’t, you need to find someone who can, whether that’s a colleague or someone that can do it for you. LinkedIn is too important to ignore. It has become a fundamental platform for business communication and potentially sales.
So don’t just be a name on a list, and if you need help; give GSA a call and we can explain how we help our clients build their business using LinkedIn..
