Upping your LinkedIn game

Editor's Notes

• #2: Work with B2B companies to help them understand their specialist target audiences so they can attract prospects and retain customers through content marketing and PR Run LinkedIn campaigns on behalf of clients and have seen them be very effective for clients of different sizes and sectors
• #3: We’ve assumed the majority will have a profile but aren’t overly active on the network, maybe because you can’t see the benefit or maybe because you don’t have time. Going to touch on some ‘housekeeping’ elements to ensure that you’re presenting your ‘best self’ plus also giving some ideas about how to use the channel to your benefit. There is a huge amount we could talk about on this topic so if we don’t cover your particular question, ask us it at the end
• #4: After US, India, Brazil, Great Britain and Canada have the highest number of Linkedin users. LinkedIn is the #1 channel B2B marketers use to distribute content at 94%. Of 500 million users, just 3 million users share content weekly. LinkedIn makes up more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites & blogs. 91% of marketing executives list LinkedIn as the top place to find quality content. 92% of B2B marketers include LinkedIn in their digital marketing mix. If you think there isn’t someone out there now who is re-considering their current provider or actively looking for someone who provides your service you’d be deluded. Even if they are unlikely to buy directly after one post, that post will contribute to their greater knowledge of your service. So if you’re looking to keep bus dev costs in-house or to a minimum, LI is the channel for you
• #5: Obviously you don’t want to do it fill up your time as you’ve got a job already. So think long and hard about what are the outcomes you want to see and then you can create a strategy to deliver those
• #6: Some examples of strategic drivers for LI use Brand awareness - 81% of Buyers are more likely to engage with a strong, professional brand Increase sales - Top social sellers have 45% more opportunities per quarter Become an industry thought leader - 82% of business decision makers (BDM’s) say thought leadership increased their trust in an organisation Get recommended - 44% of buyers find potential vendors through shared LinkedIn connections Increase sales - Connect with all 5.4 key decision makers within an organisation
• #7: Video Remember it isn’t an owned space – good for some things but not as potentially persuasive as your own website. Drive them here so you can capture them
• #9: First up – get your profile pic right, a picture is worth a thousand words Everyone’s entitled to have a good time, but would this be a first choice if you were looking for someone to handle some work?
• #10: I’m sure everyone could defend their profile pic, and it’s true that imagery is very subjective. So let’s just see what conclusions we might draw about some of these and then you can judge for yourself whether it’s the right choice Looking for a professional representation of you so some specific elements to avoid: Face obscured – hat, glasses, angle, too far away Very dated photo Not high enough resolution – blurry, Not the right shape for LI – too small, wasted space, etc Maybe someone in The House could do some headshots?
• #11: 2 on the list Your profile – let’s look at a good example and see what’s working Good pics. Clear introduction with lots of keywords. Hashtags work in LI the same as in other social networks. A complete profile is really important if nothing else on LI. You might as well take advantage of this ‘owned’ space What would people search for to find you? What search terms could you include? How are you going to grab people’s attention? To amend your LinkedIn profile click on the pencil icon next to each section Professional Headline: Be creative; use it to tell people what you do and how you help your clients.  You only have 120 characters, including spaces  This is the optimal place for keywords – how do you want to be found?  Avoid things like “business owner” and be specific about your business Make sure you include:  A contact email address, preferably your business one  Your phone number  The office address  Websites – select ‘other’ from the drop down menu and add in “YOUR COMPANY NAME Website” – then add the URL  LinkedIn URL – On your profile page you will see “edit public profile & URL” this is where you can change you URL to a more recognisable one rather than the one you are given by LinkedIn. Your LinkedIn summary should be engaging and impressive to your reader. It should compel them to pick up the phone and call you.  Start with a sentence that sets you apart for your competitors think about your elevator pitch or showcase your expertise – you need readers to want to carry on reading  Outline the benefits to your potential clients when working with you  Provide an overview of your business  Tell them a bit about you – what inspires you, motivates you, what qualities do you have, after all, you want your reader to connect with you  Finish with a call to action – what do you want your readers to do next?
• #12: Moving down, he is clearly active. What ways can you be active? Posts, publishing, groups, comments, likes and shares Share a blog post by putting the link in (and then deleting it once it has pulled across the image) Publish onto LinkedIn’s own publishing forum – click on ‘Write an article’ in the post creator – Participate in group discussions or start your own Share via messaging Try an experiment – see what happens if you comment on someone else’s post. Most likely you’ll at least receive some profile views and maybe a connection request or two.
• #13: Show your experience. How did you get this point in your career. People are nosy and they are also looking for a way to connect so make it easy. You can link to your LI company page and also upload items like company brochures or other promo material, ebooks, images. You can link to third party endorsers such as media coverage. You can share videos and other media and can include links to pages on your website, which helps to drive traffic to this completely owned space. Ensure you are linked to the company page – this is shown by the company logo being present on your profile  Write your job title and include keywords. You have a 100 character limit.  The description must include keywords, so have a think about how people will find you Other details to include are: o Your services/products o Your key responsibilities o Key achievements o How you have impacted the organisation o You could also have a paragraph about the company/company culture o Finish with a Call to Action – what you want people to do next  You have a 2,000 character limit  You must include at least two previous roles to achieve a complete profile, remember to add key words in all
• #14: What to add to your profile to show your expertise   Use Projects to link to your website/sales page  Images  Videos  Recommendations - when obtaining these, be specific. Get details of how you and your company have benefited your client.  Skills  LinkedIn Publisher  Awards Also, be generous. Recommend other people
• #15: 3 on the list of things to do …. Be social Like, share, comment Have a content strategy – who is your key target audience? What do they need to hear from you? What’s the best format to reach all? How do you formalise that across all employees? Social selling Social selling leaders create 45% more opportunities than peers with lower SSI. Social selling leaders are 51% more likely to reach quota. 78% of social sellers outsell peers who don’t use social media. We ran some training for sales team, including the creation of a strategy to give a framework to their LI activity and remove their fear. It increased traffic to their website from this channel threefold
• #16: Following up connections You’ve made a new connection – great news. Are they just going to stagnate or are you going to try to win them over? Look at their profile, any common points? Could you solve a need for them? You can message people with a request or after connecting so use that opportunity as part of your strategy They’re on there for a reason too – to get their job done – so how can you help each other?
• #17: Tell people you are on it. If you choose to make LI an active social channel – make sure you are taking every opportunity to push people towards finding you there. Put your URL on business cards, email signatures, blogs etc. Ask people to connect once you’ve met up so you can continue the relationship. You never know who is valuable, or who you could be valuable to.
• #19: Ranting
• #20: Typos
• #21: Don’t give away your contacts to others if they’re valuable to you. Privacy settings
• #22: It’s not Facebook
• #23: Or any kind of overly complex job description
• #24: Connect with us