LinkedIn is a social media platform created for professionals. With over 600 million users on this platform from around the world and representing any business, you can imagine it makes sense that you establish yourself on LinkedIn.
What are some things you can use LinkedIn for?
Creating a LinkedIn account for yourself and as well as your business is an invaluable social networking tool. Using any social media can be intimidating to start out, especially one that is representing your business. Listed below are five tips to get you started on your professional journey on LinkedIn. These tips will help you to hit the ground running with your profile.
Before you start any marketing campaign, on or off social media, you must define who your audience is. The rules are the same when beginning on LinkedIn. Figuring out whom you are selling your product or services to will help give you direction with what your posts contain, what groups to join and with whom to connect with.
After you define your audience, you need to define your purpose on LinkedIn. Are you there to raise awareness for your brand, launch a new product or service, find new customers or suppliers? There are so many reasons to use LinkedIn. Figuring out why you are there will help to guide your interactions on the platform.
When you fill out your profile, take advantage of all the features and fill out as much as possible. This is going to make it easier for people to find your profile but also get to know you before even talking to you. Do not be afraid to inject some personality into your profile and let people see who you are.
Once you are done making your professional profile, you can go ahead and create a company page. Your company page will be the first impression people will have who are interested in what you stand for and what product or service you are offering. Make sure to include keywords and try to include as much SEO as possible so the LinkedIn algorithm will pick your business page as relevant and put your business on the first page of searches. Incorporating great SEO into your LinkedIn profile will also get Google to notice your business, recognizing you as a legit business with relevant content and help you to get closer to landing on the first page of Google. Who doesn’t want that?
Like any other social media platform, the more connections, and followers you have, the more people you will reach in your marketing attempts. Finding people who will use your product or service and sending them connections will be worth the time and effort. Try to include a personal message into any connects you send out. Personalizing a message will show that you genuinely care about connecting and it doesn’t come off as spammy. You can even add a LinkedIn follow button onto your website, blog or in emails to help direct people to your profile.
There are a wide variety of groups to join on LinkedIn. Find one or two that align with your business. That may be a group of potential customers or fellow business owners who can offer advice to scale your business or advice to problems you may encounter. Find a couple of groups that will suit your needs and be social. Do not just read the comments or leave a random comment here and there or drop a link once a week. Set aside a chunk of time each day to dedicate to socializing on LinkedIn. Join in conversations, give advice, offer up your services; there is a gold mine on LinkedIn to establish yourself as a professional and an expert in your chosen field. Take advantage of all the opportunities LinkedIn offers.
These five tips should get you going on LinkedIn and on your way to building your online presence. With social media dominating the world, it makes sense to get your business online, or you could be missing out on a lot of opportunities.
It does not matter the size of your business either, even if you are your only employee. LinkedIn will provide you tremendous benefits, and it is all free. With a bit of research and some thoughtful planning, you will be well on your way to having a successful social media presence.
