Linked In is currently enjoying a surge in popularity among the business community compared to other forms of social media. It is no longer the poor cousin, just a job recruitment board, but touted as a full competitor to Facebook and Instagram. It helps us to engage, build relationships and ultimately to drive sales. Its organic reach is far greater than that of Facebook, where you have to pay if you want to reach your ideal customer. Will it remain like that, or will th indeed to generate income mean that Linked In will change its algorithms in favour of an income generated model? Time will tell.
In the meantime how can we maximise the benefits that we can derive from the free platform?
I will look at four aspects, your profile, connecting, your posting and your engagement or comments.
An inviting Profile.
First impressions count, so it seems strange to be advising those on LInked In to make it count. You have the option of using your own background image rather than the standard image that Linked In provides. Using your own background gives you the opportunity to make a statement, to reflect your brand image, to insert a compelling headline. So why would you not take that opportunity?
The Profile picture: poorly lit, badly posed or something more professional?How do you want to be perceived?
Your name : There is nothing wrong with just being satisfied with your name. But how about adding in a job description? My name for Linked in Purposes is Anthony Kingsley – The Travelling Copywriter. What this means that whenever I comment or am tagged Anthony Kingsley – The Travelling Copywriter appears rather than just Anthony Kingsley. Linked In creates a link to my profile. Is it interesting enough for someone to click on it to see more?
The headline: You have 120 characters so use them. A job description, CEO at XYZ Ltd meas very little. Why not state a benefit to your ideal customer? You want the person who has landed on your profile to carry on reading so give them something to read about.
The About Section: There are those who say that no one reads the About Section so why pay any attention to it? I disagree. But let’s say that only a few click on that …see more text. They are interested enough to do so, so let’s reward them with a good section, telling them not about you, but about how you can help them.
Quality connections
Success in online networking follows exactly the same principles as face to face networking. Linked In is no exception. The starting point is to show up. You need to be visible on the platform. That means connecting with people and writing stuff. If you were to go to a face to face networking meeting, hand out your card to everyone there and leave, what would you achieve? Simply connecting with people on LInked In and doing nothing thereafter has the same result. Speak to your connections. If you send a connection request, include a note explaining why you are connecting. If you receive a request, respond and don’t just accept. You will find that probably the majority of people who send you a request will not include a note and most will not respond to a note that you send. That’s fine. You know that the most you are likely to get from that person is showing up on their timeline. But for those who do respond, you are now starting a conversation. Where will you take that conversation?
Most people will view face to face networking as an opportunity to build relationships with the right people with a view to leading to a sale or a referral. It is not a place to lead with a pitch. If you treat LInked In in the same way, you will not go too far wrong.
How to write an effective post
Let us expand upon that point. When we accept that we do not network to make an immediate pitch, it must become clear that a LInked In post is not the place for a pitch. Many will disagree with me. They are on LInked In to sell. Why waste any more time on not selling?
When was the last time you bought something from a LInked In post? It does happen. But to be effective, you need to have established your authority on the platform first.
How do you establish authority? By posting and engaging with interesting content.
What goes into an effective post?
Like any form of marketing you should have a goal and a strategy to reach that goal. If we were to start with Brand Awareness, our posts will look to establish how we can help our ideal clients. It will provide information about how the services that we provide can help those clients. If it is to drive traffic to our website, it will provide a reason why the reader should click through to the website. An interesting and relevant point, with the prospect of more information at the click of a button.
Consistency: Quality is far more important than quantity. You should post as often as you feel comfortable and have the time to provide well written posts. I used to post every day, but it is time consuming and accordingly have reduced it to three times a week. Posting more than twice a day may lead to you being slightly penalised by the Linked in algorithm, but if nothing else means you have too much time on your hands.
You want people to engage with your post by liking, sharing or commenting on it. The more comments and shares you get, the further your reach is. But how easy do you make it for people to comment on your post? If I am not interested in buying and you have a pitching post, I may not be commenting. Asking the right question is a great way of getting an engagement.
Provocative comments?
Yes, you may get plenty of comments, and your post can have a massive reach.But it is not all about the reach. Deliberately provocative comments can turn people off you and seriously damage your brand.
Are Comments the Linked In Secret weapon
Yes, in my view. It effectively gives you an opportunity to post on someone else’s post exposing you to their connections. Now, of course this opportunity has to be handled carefully. If you hijack their thread to boost yourself, you are only going to look bad. It does happen, but it is not a practice to follow. What you should be looking to do is to respond to the original post in an intelligent manner, showing that you are a person that it is worth connecting to. Perhaps ask a question to the poster. The chances are that they will reply, and you have the start of a conversation going. And if you have not connected already, do so.
Consistency: I recommend commenting on other people’s posts every day even if you are not posting yourself.
Quality: The Linked In algorithm likes posts of at least 7 words. That means a real comment and not something like “Great Post!” which is pretty meaningless at the best times. Would you drop into a conversation in a face to face networking meeting, say “Great point,” and drift off?
Add properly to the conversation.
Conclusion.
LInked in for me is about building relationships and taking conversations from the online to the offline with a view ultimately to either getting a sale or a referral. There is also a community element. Commenting on other people’s posts directly supports them and helps their reach go further. It is currently free, it has a great reach and you can really position yourself among the people who are likely to want to buy from you.
Why would you not be on it and using it effectively?
If you need help with a compelling profile and some further guidance on how to write effectively for Linked In, please engage with me on the platform or email me. I provide a LInked In Audit and if you need it, a post and article ghost writing service.
You can see how I have written my profile here
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-kingsley-travelling-copywriter/
Please connect with me and engage with me
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