Connecting with others on LinkedIn is a great way to expand your network and unlock new opportunities. If you’re not using LinkedIn as a way to connect with prospective clients and people you meet in your day to day, you are missing out! We’ve asked a panel of digital marketing experts to share their tips for networking on LinkedIn.
- Add contacts regularly
Julia from Review Robin shares “Make it part of your process to add all new contacts onto LinkedIn so you can continue to nurture that relationship and support their business. Also, make it a point to connect with contacts you’ve lost touch with. Getting active by liking and commenting on content you like, and giving recommendations are other great ways to connect and network on LinkedIn.”
- Post original content
Aaron Keller of Capsule advises “Make sure you have at least one piece of original content each week that is your own and represents the brand you’re building.”
Steve Weiss of MuteSix states “When posting an article or another informational link, pose a question and start a conversation. How has this technique worked for you? Do you have additional tips? These types of questions will incite engagement, which provides a unique, exciting opportunity to discuss products or services with your audience and gain priceless feedback and opportunities for networking.”
- Join groups
Alyscia Sutch of AquaFire Marketing says “Join networking groups and offer informative advice to business owners who are part of your target audience. Being part of groups allows you to message members even if you aren’t connected to them so this is a huge advantage and way to grow your business!”
Liz Beechinor of Coefficient Marketing advises “I highly recommend joining LinkedIn Groups that your target audience is in- so not just digital marketing groups but say you run a digital marketing agency for financial services companies. Find active LinkedIn Groups where financial services executives or even financial services marketers gather, and make a point to engage at least once a week on discussions in the group and contribute original content.”
- Stay consistent
Mike Ward of Turtle Creek Concepts says “Pick something and stay consistent. If you decide to share other people’s content on your profile every day, as long as it is relevant to your audience, then do it. If you decide that you want to produce your own content and post it once a week, then do it. Pick something and stay consistent with it. After a while, you can change things up to see if your results differ. LinkedIn and the audiences that frequent LinkedIn like consistency.”
- Contribute
Francis Angelo Reyes of Lupage Digital advises “As much as it might seem counterproductive, the best way to network on LinkedIn is to not network on LinkedIn. Give more than you get instead. Don’t expect people to want your services at the initial engagement.
Connect with people with the same interests instead. Give a small remark that you read their content and you find them valuable. After which, constantly engage with their succeeding content. Like or comment on their posts. Commending them because of their achievements also helps. Send them a message if you have questions about their experiences. Get to know them on a personal level. With the same merit, they will also engage with you.
It takes time and it’s hard. Yes, there’s a temptation to make things transactional. But the brutal reality is that networking is immeasurable. Valuable relationships come up naturally.”
- Invite people to like your page
Carrie Mok of EPM Digital says “I would say that while making connections is a core part of LinkedIn, don’t forget that you can invite connections both old and new to follow your company’s LinkedIn page too. LinkedIn provides your Business Page with 100 credits every month, and you can use those credits to invite both current customers and prospects and help the page to grow. By following your page they’ll be able to keep up to date with all the latest posts and news from your business. Not only will it build brand awareness, it will help keep them engaged with your company too. Once they’ve followed the page, you could target certain types of followers to see certain posts on your page and make that content on LinkedIn part of your wider marketing campaigns too. Over time, (and with a good social media content strategy behind it) any interactions they make with your page content will help it to grow further and to be seen by their own networks, expanding your LinkedIn reach further.”
- Track conversions on your ads
Daniel Nuttall of Rivers Agency shares “One thing that’s crucial to promoting yourself on LinkedIn is tracking conversions on your ads. Understand LinkedIn’s advertising system, learn how to track conversions, and take note of the number of leads you are getting, as well as their demographic information. With that information you will know a lot more about the potential customers and clients you attract and can better target future LinkedIn promotion.”
In conclusion, LinkedIn is a great way to expand your network and nurture your professional relationships. By putting a simple process in place to add new contacts, post regular content and getting active by liking, sharing and leaving recommendations, you will be well on your way to growing your professional network on LinkedIn.