What can LinkedIn do for your business, you might ask? LinkedIn allows you to showcase your company’s personality and goals and increase your networking capabilities by growing your web presence. Search engines can pull your LinkedIn profile when a relevant search is made. This makes it easier for people to find out more about your company, employees and products. LinkedIn is a digital networking outlet, meaning you can keep in touch with previous clients as well as potential connections.
Here are some tips salespeople can use to optimize their usage of LinkedIn:
- Regularly use and be present on LinkedIn. This keeps your profile fresh and your followers will see you as an active connection
- When making a LinkedIn connection, don’t use the standard message. Use a personal message such as, “Hi so-and-so, it was nice talking to you at (conference, networking event, etc.) yesterday. I hope to talk to you again soon.”
- Join and participate in industry-related groups to build new connections and establish credibility in your field.
- LinkedIn can eliminate cold calling because you can find potential customers and learn about them from their profiles
- Use keywords to find potential customers. Narrow the search by location (ex: within your sales territory), job titles and keywords.
Staying active on LinkedIn is key once you have established your profile. To do so, post frequently (around 2-3 times per week) using a mix of promotional content, industry news, images, videos and links to other articles. Be conscious of your “voice” when posting and make sure it is engaging, personable and relatable. We recommend following the “80/20 rule” – 80 percent of your posts are relevant industry content and 20 percent are personal promotional content. The best times to post are between 7-8 a.m. and 5-6 p.m., excluding Mondays and Fridays, as users are not as active on these days.
Don’t hesitate to engage your audience (your connections). Start discussions by asking questions or sharing quizzes. It is also important to join and engage with other relevant LinkedIn groups. This will undoubtedly increase your connections and perhaps lead to potential clients.
An easy way to increase traffic to your LinkedIn page is to sync your social media accounts and blog to your profile. This will keep your connections up to date with what is going on with your company and will help them get to know your business better. Don’t forget to promote your page by including a link to your LinkedIn profile in your email signature, resume and business cards.
Here are TRINDGROUP’s top tips for how to create a successful LinkedIn profile:
- Include all pertinent contact information (including company website, social media accounts, business contact information, personal contact information) and keep it up to date
- Keep the summary section brief, but include relevant keywords that relate to your industry
- Use the products and services page to link to your website and designate a representative from your company to be the contact
- Include your website address within the first two sentences
- Feature your most valuable content by pinning updates to the top of your company page’s recent updates section
- Have a “Showcase” page to share information about what your products can do for your industry
- For all website pages, add a “share to LinkedIn” button so anyone directed to your website can share your content
For more information or questions about using LinkedIn or other forms of social media to enhance your business’s marketing strategy, contact TRINDGROUP or call 334.246.1535.
