A Brighter Way
A Brighter Way
Social Media. Is it your way to reconnect with old friends? Something that monopolizes your children’s free time? A newfangled technology that you have no desire to learn or use?
There are many ways to use social media tools, both personally and professionally, but it’s important to understand their role in your marketing efforts. And the tool that should be at the top of your marketing arsenal is LinkedIn.
LinkedIn lets business professionals connect and network with each other. Savvy professionals use it to build and develop business relationships, research the marketplace and generate leads. The following are some of the ways you should be using LinkedIn to add to your top-line growth.
LinkedIn helps you connect with those people you currently know and those you want to know. Start by importing all the contacts in your address book and asking them to connect with you. This is a great way to reconnect with people you haven’t done business with in a while, and to get to know your newer contacts better. By doing so, you can keep track of job changes, promotions, awards, etc. and send notes of congratulations – a networking basic.
As you build connections, LinkedIn looks for people that your connections are linked to, and suggests that maybe you know them, too. If you do, connect with them to expand your network.
You can also build new relationships through LinkedIn. Search for people by company, industry and geography, and browse the results. If someone you know happens to know someone you’d like to meet, you can ask for an introduction. If you have no connections to this person, LinkedIn will allow you to send “In Mail” to introduce yourself. Use those same search features to find potential employees and vendors – basically anyone you need to know.
When someone is considering doing business with you, you give them a list of references. With LinkedIn, it’s even easier. You can have your contacts provide you with a recommendation that’s on the Web for all to see. A good way to get a recommendation is to ask for one (LinkedIn will send the request for you), or simply give one yourself – if you write a recommendation for someone, they'll usually write one for you in return.
LinkedIn Groups are another great way to connect with people who have similar objectives and interests as you. There are groups out there for virtually anything under the sun. Look for industry groups that will allow you to meet new people in your marketplace. Also look for high school and college alumni groups, as well as groups for past employers and even a seminar or conference you attended.
Be careful to avoid hard selling on LinkedIn, as it will turn off your contacts. However, it’s acceptable, and expected, to share news. Talk about recent projects you are working on in your status updates. Share articles and resources that others may find helpful. Post the slides to a recent presentation you’ve made and share any upcoming events you are attending or hosting. Having a big sale? Be sure to tell your contacts about that, too.
LinkedIn’s “Answer” section is a great resource for market intelligence. Here you can see what others (including your customers, prospective customers and even competitors) are talking about. You can ask questions to gauge market perception and find people interested in what you are selling. LinkedIn also provides a polling tool that allows you to ask specific questions, and you can share your findings with all your contacts to demonstrate your expertise.
You should develop a profile for your organization. This will provide LinkedIn users with basic information about your company, and people can choose to “follow” it to stay abreast of what you are doing.
Give your customers and prospects the chance to interact with you and one another by forming a group for your company. Since anyone can start a group, make sure there are no existing groups related to your business. If there are, you should join them.
Consider forming groups for your product or service lines, too. Not only will this alert you to specific people who are curious about your offerings, it will give them an avenue to discuss your company and your product. Word-of-mouth marketing can’t be beat and you can add comments to correct any misinformation you see.
LinkedIn is also a great way to research your prospects. Who are the key contacts at that company? What are their backgrounds? Who do you know in common? Right now this is information you spend time finding out through phone calls and e-mails. However, with LinkedIn, it’s right at your finger tips whenever you need it.
The best thing about this powerful marketing tool is that a basic account is free – possibly freeing up some of your marketing budget for other efforts.
You will need to invest some time, though. To set up a complete profile, you’ll need to allot 60 to 90 minutes. From there, you’ll get out of LinkedIn what you put into it. Invest as little as 30 minutes a week answering questions and reading what your contacts are up to, and you’ll be an active participant.
The key to an effective LinkedIn marketing strategy is a solid personal profile. There are many resources on the Web that share best practices for profiles, but LinkedIn walks you through it. LinkedIn even “grades” your profile by telling you how complete it is. Keep following LinkedIn’s recommendations until you are 80 to 100 percent complete.
You’ll be amazed at how many people you know. More surprising is the number of people you know through your connections – a sea of people you can target with your marketing. With all the potential out there for your company, don’t delay. Get http://www.linkedin.com/ today.
This article was originally published in The Rea Report, Fall 2010.
Note: This content is accurate as of the date published above and is subject to change. Please seek professional advice before acting on any matter contained in this article.
