About a year ago I provided some information on using LinkedIn to help your small business grow. Of all the social media opportunities, this platform is perhaps the best for boosting the credibility of your small business. While Twitter and Facebook are great for getting quick messages out on a regular basis, LinkedIn can perhaps lay a stronger foundation for your marketing efforts. It lets you explain more about your company, builds links with others, assists in networking, and shows that others recommend your various skill sets.
You probably don’t check your LinkedIn page every day or every hour, like you do with the other social media outlets, so it can become a matter of “out of sight, out of mind.” That is why it is sometimes necessary to purposely concentrate on your LinkedIn marketing efforts to make sure this communication outlet is doing all it can for your business. Here are a few tips to help you use your LinkedIn page more effectively:
- Use It to Expand Your Business Contacts: You want to have a wide circle of business contacts on LinkedIn, even if your target market is primarily consumer-oriented. Being associated with credible industry professionals shows potential customers visiting your page that you are in good standing in your profession. Be sure to diligently look for LinkedIn pages for contacts you have met or those you admire, and request a connection with them. Make sure you also request plenty of endorsements.
- Make Sure Your Page is Interesting, Informational and Current: LinkedIn is like the resume of the internet. While websites are sometimes seen as sales-oriented, a LinkedIn page can often be used to build a better picture of who you really are. Spend some time crafting the content on your LinkedIn page to make sure it paints a positive picture of your abilities, provide a sufficient amount of information, and review it often to make sure it is current.
- Respond to Messages: On some of the other social media networks we become accustomed to quickly scanning messages, and ignoring those which we don’t think are all that important. But the odds are that a message you receive on LinkedIn is going to be worthwhile. Treat it as a personal email, read it, and respond thoughtfully to the sender’s inquiry.
- Post Sufficient Articles to Bolster Your Case: Facebook and Twitter are the “jab” theory of marketing – quick punches on a regular basis, but you need to take a more considered approach to LinkedIn. Yes, you should post your content marketing articles there. No, you should not post there every day. Think about which of your blog posts or articles best demonstrate your level of expertise, and then only post them on an intermittent basis so as not to overwhelm your connections with too much information.
LinkedIn is a bit more passive. It helps in search marketing results and provides a good understanding for those looking to gather information on your business.