When the average internet surfer thinks about social media, they tend to think of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Yet LinkedIn continues to stand firm as one of the leading platforms for professionals to reach out and connect with their peers in a unique way.
A little over 200 million users are on LinkedIn, many of them have found valuable connections they wouldn’t have had access to otherwise. Linkedin’s success all boils down to how you use it. Check out the following steps that will help you market on one of the largest and most important platforms available.
Notes – Learn a lesson from the world of blogging. Posting original articles will help you establish online credibility as an idea generator in your industry. It’s a great way to attract attention and you can reuse these articles on Facebook, Google+, and promote via Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Groups – After you’ve written a note, you can’t just let it sit on your LinkedIn profile and become stagnant. You need to share it! One of the most effective ways of accomplishing this is through LinkedIn Groups. There are so many groups on LinkedIn that you will be able to quickly find many communities in which you can discuss, connect, and share your written content.
Endorsements – LinkedIn is all about looking as professional as possible. Endorsements help you accomplish this by utilizing your fellow peers. When you create your LinkedIn profile, you choose which skills you have. Other users have the opportunity to “endorse” this skill, which is further affirmation saying “Yes, they really are good at this! I’ve seen it!”
Genuine Invitations To Connect – One annoying aspect of LinkedIn is that there are a lot of recruiters and promoters online. You can spot one quickly when you see a generic invitation to connect. When you want to reach out to someone, write a personalized, polite, and real message.
Stay Away From Sales – LinkedIn isn’t the place to post sales, coupons, and promotional content. You’re already selling your image on this platform, do not try and sell to your fellow colleagues in the same industry.
Staying Updated And Current – When you’re creating your posts, come up with relevant, creative, non-controversial, and compelling content. You want to make sure you come off knowledgeable about today’s situations and business landscape.
LinkedIn has the power to become one of your greatest allies in your marketing efforts. Do not let this opportunity up! Start connecting with fellow professionals today.
Does LinkedIn have you stumped? Contact us today to jump on board!
Andrew Scharf
Dec 13 / 2016Greetings,
I have a question based on changes I’ve seen on LinkedIn. A year ago, it was still possible to be picked up by one of the influencer channels. However, in 2016 this seems to be impossible. Everyone knows that if your articles are not picked up they have low visibility. What should I be doing now to get articles picked up by the various channels?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Best Regards,
Andrew Scharf
Mike Weiss
Dec 15 / 2016Thanks for your question Andrew. The simple answer is that the more people that engage with a post the more it will show up. LinkedIn is currently making massive changes to their algorithm (which have begun mid-year when it was acquired by Microsoft). Hopefully, these changes will level out soon because I completely understand your frustration. Stay tuned….more info to come!