LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional social media that connects associates with each other and businesses with current and potential employees, all while enabling community development and content sharing. Truthfully, LinkedIn’s power lies in its ability to build authority, establish thought leadership, and cultivate a robust network. Here are some key points and statistics about LinkedIn:
The way people Using LinkedIn
If you took your water cooler, networking event, business card holder, and Rolodex, mixed them together on a domain and you would approximate LinkedIn. People build out their profiles to showcase their professional background and resumes. They are able to connect with individuals they know or have worked with, leave each other recommendations, and find new connections. LinkedIn can also be a great place to look for and find a job, as it takes the utility of job boards and adds in the human connections that are so invaluable in finding the right position.
For companies, especially recruiters, that is just the beginning. Business professionals have created their profiles and gotten recommendations from co-workers, making it a solid fit for brands looking to recruit new talent. LinkedIn allows hiring managers to search and filter candidates based on multiple factors, and users can join groups based on professional interests. Beyond recruiting efforts, LinkedIn is a great place for a variety of helpful social activities to boost your business. Here are some common uses of this superb social media:
1. Business development
LinkedIn is a fantastic platform for generating B2B leads, with nearly three times the conversion rate of Facebook or Twitter. Your mileage may vary, but this certainly signals the platform is one that comes with great opportunity. With LinkedIn, you can:
2. Establishing thought leadership
Establishing yourself and your brand as an authority in your area of focus will help build authority and trust among your customers, both current and prospective. LinkedIn’s feature set can help brands stay up-to-date on users’ professional networks, in addition to establishing a business presence and sharing company news.
3. Building customer advocates
Be careful not to overdo self-promotion. Advocacy and word-of-mouth magic happen through positive engagement. When brands engage customers and build strong relationships based on respect and trust, customers will “like” the brand and perhaps even love it. LinkedIn makes it easy to be both personal and specific. You know a lot about the person you’re interacting with, so use that information.
LinkedIn drives business value because it is based on a user’s professional interests. This makes it an obvious and natural fit for sharing brand-based updates, news, and info; as well as driving traffic to company-focused websites.
Strategies and tactics for success
Business use
- Complete your company page and ensure it is always up-to-date. If you change your structure or have company news to share, be sure you’re updating your company page on LinkedIn; this will update in your followers’ newsfeeds.
- Make updating your LinkedIn page part of the compliance process when fundamental updates occur at your company, as LinkedIn is often a source of truth for individuals doing research.
- Make sure to respond to your posts, reviews, and questions. If a user leaves a product review, thank them. If they have a complaint, address it. Answer questions and offer advice and assistance.
- LinkedIn can be an amazing source of competitive intelligence for your business. Follow your competitors’ pages and watch for their news, updates, and employee changes. Certain exits and job openings can provide insight into strategic direction.
Personal use
- Complete your personal profile thoroughly and honestly.
- Find your connections and reach out. Every once in a while, pick someone you haven’t talked to recently and send them a note—without needing anything—just to say hi or share something interesting that you think they’ll enjoy.
- Link to your profile from your blog, Facebook, and/or Twitter accounts to help people find your profile. (In fact, if the content being shared is relevant, link back to those pages from your LinkedIn profile. Keep in mind, though, that those links might draw hiring managers to those associated pages.)
- Participate in Groups. Your personal authority and trust can be boosted, leading to new opportunities, leads, and connections. Note that this functionality is currently only available to individuals.
- As LinkedIn continues to become a place for people to share quality content, we will see more engagement around that content. Be a part of that movement: Share your own content and share high-quality content from others.
Etiquette tips and guidelines
Connecting with professionals on social media involves a mindful and even graceful back-and forth; it’s all too easy to come across as insincere or even spammy. The best relationships are cultivated through a natural and careful progression of communication. Pay attention to social cues, and you can avoid the many things that might result in a complete social train wreck.
