Linkedin has since emerged as a popular social media site and has created a wealth of opportunities for businesses to increase their customers, enhance sales, and concomitant revenue. LinkedIn can be an important marketing tool if you have the right LinkedIn marketing strategies in place.
As opposed to Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, LinkedIn is essentially meant for professionals. LinkedIn has more than doubled its membership in the last year and is now growing at a person every second. With more than 200 million members, LinkedIn is indeed the largest professional network.
LinkedIn is different from other social media sites in that it has a totally business-oriented culture. Marketing through LinkedIn entails meeting people, introducing yourself, and participating in the discussions. This can eventually lead to doing business together.
LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for networking and marketing provided you handle it like a professional with tact and without overly thrusting yourself.
Create a complete profile as the more details you offer, the greater will be your credibility. Upload a photograph clicked by an experienced professional photographer. It will be excellent if you also add a video to your profile. Link to articles or blogs you have written. Try to get endorsed on LinkedIn.
You must review and update your LinkedIn profile as often as necessary. Most people reboot their profile every two months to keep it relevant and refreshed. Keep your LinkedIn profile picture current and update your headline with appropriate keywords.
One of the simplest ways to get found on LinkedIn is through building up your network of connections. Keep expanding your connections without compromising on the quality of your network. Merely having a notable profile and a host of connections will be of no avail unless you are consistently visible and actively participating on the network.
The new LinkedIn endorsements feature is assuming importance. LinkedIn has reported that nearly 200 million endorsements had already been given by members ever since the feature was launched. Without further loss of time, you should take advantage of endorsements to boost your visibility as well as credibility.
LinkedIn groups continue to offer an excellent opportunity to build rapport with the members of your target markets as also industry peers. Join the right quality groups that have meaningful discussions going on and have active and visible group leaders. LinkedIn allows you to join as many as 50 groups. But it should suffice if you focus on 5 quality groups for optimum results.
You can create a company page on LinkedIn free of cost. Post details of your forthcoming events, company news, company business trips (TripIt), a PowerPoint presentation of your business (SharePoint), and provide polls relevant to your industry. SlideShare is also a great way to share a high-quality PowerPoint presentation showcasing your expertise.
Every business owner avers that if forced to choose only one social networking site for marketing, they would choose LinkedIn without a second thought. This speaks volumes about the potential of LimkedIn for the business community. Companies that ignore or neglect LinkedIn will be gifting away valuable sales leads to their competitors.
Posted by Peter Kivuti LED at KayTouch Solutions.
