LinkedIn – “It’s where the business is”. A great opening tweet nugget from Neal as we hear about LinkedIn.
To set the level – LinkedIn is the 12th most visited website in the world, loads of eyeballs and really a mainstream social media platform. Its also the 6th most visited website in NL. And for most European audiences its in the top ten. UK with the second largest group of users after US.
It also has the largest demographic of household income over USD $100000, and 4/5 are decision makers in their organisation.
To also dispel the other myth that its all Headhunters – It’s not only recruiters, as they really only represent 1 to 2% of the user base. Tip: Of note for those with a developed content strategy – LinkedIn today is also accepting applications from blogs to share their content on LinkedIn today.
Neal then brought us some great 101 tips for anyone to try
PROFILE
Here’s Neals top tips for initial profile setups. 1. Be real: use your full name
2. Be complete, not just your profile but are all your sales team on LinkedIn. Have a profile pic! 3. Be branded, link to your company website and give contact details.
4. Be searchable – the keywords on your profile matter! 5. Seek recommendations. Remember people believe what others say about you, more than what you say. Consider aligning yourself, even your location and industry settings to match your target market. CONNECTIONS
Step two gain connections. Your goal should be 10 times your age to start with. Think: colleagues, professional networks, classmates or people you’ve met at iStrategy! An interesting case study was Darrel Rhea, CEO of Cheskin went round connecting with his network and it resulted in 15 mins of consulting and a million dollar deal. Common connects can also give relevance if you’re trying for new business. LinkedIn is obviously narrowing the 6 degrees of separation. Here’s an neat search tip. Find those with the most connections in advanced search for the Market you are trying to target. Read their contact settings and connect as a path into that topic. ENGAGE
There are many options to engage: share status updates, amazon reading list, groups, questions, events all become openers to conversations with potential leads. Join 50 groups, to be easier to be contacted and to reach potential clients. And think big groups for most value. Try local groups and alumni groups if you are short of industry or topic groups. Neal also reiterates that successful LinkedIn groups are about good content and commitment to engage. Traditional marketing messaging will flop! Having explored personal engagement, you also have the services pages of your company to highlight recommendations of your specific services. Tip: See who has shared your content from LinkedIn today. Filter to see how your content is performing, and or compare competing content. Of note: Click thru rates on LinkedIn are low, but valuable, and obviously convert more than other networks. And like any network, target people who are members of linkedIn groups, and mix up your images and ad copy.
Here’s Neals top tips for initial profile setups. 1. Be real: use your full name
2. Be complete, not just your profile but are all your sales team on LinkedIn. Have a profile pic! 3. Be branded, link to your company website and give contact details.
4. Be searchable – the keywords on your profile matter! 5. Seek recommendations. Remember people believe what others say about you, more than what you say. Consider aligning yourself, even your location and industry settings to match your target market. CONNECTIONS
Step two gain connections. Your goal should be 10 times your age to start with. Think: colleagues, professional networks, classmates or people you’ve met at iStrategy! An interesting case study was Darrel Rhea, CEO of Cheskin went round connecting with his network and it resulted in 15 mins of consulting and a million dollar deal. Common connects can also give relevance if you’re trying for new business. LinkedIn is obviously narrowing the 6 degrees of separation. Here’s an neat search tip. Find those with the most connections in advanced search for the Market you are trying to target. Read their contact settings and connect as a path into that topic. ENGAGE
There are many options to engage: share status updates, amazon reading list, groups, questions, events all become openers to conversations with potential leads. Join 50 groups, to be easier to be contacted and to reach potential clients. And think big groups for most value. Try local groups and alumni groups if you are short of industry or topic groups. Neal also reiterates that successful LinkedIn groups are about good content and commitment to engage. Traditional marketing messaging will flop! Having explored personal engagement, you also have the services pages of your company to highlight recommendations of your specific services. Tip: See who has shared your content from LinkedIn today. Filter to see how your content is performing, and or compare competing content. Of note: Click thru rates on LinkedIn are low, but valuable, and obviously convert more than other networks. And like any network, target people who are members of linkedIn groups, and mix up your images and ad copy.
Nick Allen - Marketing, Growth & Running 