Do you find yourself actively checking LinkedIn but are unsure how to actually get noticed by the people you want to do business with?
Do you have aspirations to engage and network more but your current tactics just aren’t getting you anywhere?
LinkedIn can be a tricky platform to master. You may feel like you’re actively participating but you’re just not getting noticed at all, or if you are, it’s by the wrong people entirely. Or maybe you’re just not sure where to start.
So, where do you begin building genuine relationships and stand out from the LinkedIn crowd? We’ve put together these 5 simple but effective tips to get people checking your profile out in no time!
1. Review the purpose of your profile
The very first step is to review the purpose of your profile. Why are you even on LinkedIn? Are you there to network or just because you feel you “should” be there? It’s vital to think about the end goal of your efforts and repurpose your profile around that goal.
For example, if you are wanting to connect to B2B prospects, ensure your profile clearly states that your company focus is on B2B, and what you can offer to potential clients. This is your chance to show your value and your capabilities and get people to take notice. By niching down and not trying to be all things to all people, you’ll help your genuine prospects find you and connect with you.
2. Optimise your profile
The next step is to optimise your profile to ensure the right people can both find you and immediately get to know you. You should have the below fields filled out and as up to date as possible:
- Profile headline – make this about your overall career path and accomplishments rather than just your current job
- Contact information
- Summary of your business and relevant work experience
- Any skills and endorsements – a hot tip is to endorse your fellow connections and they will hopefully return the favour
- Any relevant marketing materials and press or testimonials
- Any groups you are a part of
Click here to learn how to optimise your company LinkedIn profile.
3. Treat your LinkedIn profile as a web page to be indexed
You know all that SEO work you’re doing for your website? It’s time to treat your LinkedIn profile the same. Just like Google indexes your website, they also index your social media profiles, so it’s important to use distinct keywords on your profile that are relevant for your business.
Also, a well optimised LinkedIn profile will help you show up in more searches on LinkedIn’s internal search engine.
There’s no need to cram in lots of keywords, but make sure all the main fields contains words and synonyms that describe what you want to be found for.
4. Actively connect with the right prospects
LinkedIn’s main purpose is to connect people, so use the platform to do just that. If that seems daunting, here’s what we suggest:
- Start by making a list of key prospects and connections you would love to network with
- Send them a personalised message to introduce yourself and to start a conversation. We can’t stress the importance of making it personal rather than a bulk generic message. The people really worth connecting with most likely get dozens of connection requests and may reject connections they don’t know that come with a generic message. Perhaps mention shared groups or interests, or make reference to something to do with the person’s current role.
5. Share valuable content and interact on a daily basis
The cherry on top of your LinkedIn strategy should be to provide value to your connections. We suggest doing this by:
- Making about 80% of what you share other people’s content, including your connections’ blog posts, quotes, whitepapers, videos and Slideshares that you find valuable and interesting
- Sharing about 20% of your own content to your network – or an even lower percentage if your content is more promotional in nature
- Sharing at key times when your prospects are likely online – a good rule for B2B is between 1pm – 4pm each weekday
- Commenting on and liking your connections’ updates and shares. (Tip: with the growing popularity of the LinkedIn publishing platform, reading your connections’ published articles and leaving comments is a great way to build relationships.)
When you learn to connect and market your company from a place of adding value first, you will notice people are naturally drawn to you and what you have to offer. If you need help getting started with adding value through content marketing then check out this recent post from our blog.
Now that you have the 5 key steps necessary to get noticed on LinkedIn, where will you begin? We’d love to hear your feedback on your experience building your LinkedIn profile.
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