LinkedIn is the social media tool best known for facilitating networks among professional individuals. It’s often described as “Facebook for the professional.” While it seems individualistic at first, LinkedIn can actually be a great place for businesses to generate rewarding leads, market the business’ brand, and acquire the best talent.
Here are some tips to help your business better utilize the social networking platform:
Encourage your employees to create a profile and connect with each other. These connections show potential customers and hires that your employees are invested in the business and are open to being contacted. Potential leads then feel more encouraged to reach out knowing their interest will more than likely be accepted.
Take advantage of the site’s basic talent finder account which gives you additional access to members. The individuals who are worth hiring will not just post a resume but will be interested in networking with you beforehand in an effort to learn about your business and its culture. These candidates are often currently employed and are searching for new opportunities in the future. The basic talent finder allows your business to connect with these candidates long before you need to hire–so, when a position does open up within your company, you have the best candidates available to you.
Utilize personal messaging. Your business’ profile will not do all the heavy lifting, and being proactive in your quest for connections is crucial when using LinkedIn. Therefore, personal messages need to be utilized and should highlight areas of mutual interest as well as request the opportunity to speak with the potential customer directly. This helps generate strong leads that can quickly turn into real business opportunities. A traditional sales pitch message just doesn’t cut it.
Do not neglect the group experience. A LinkedIn group is an online forum created by a LinkedIn member or business to facilitate discussions or connections. Involvement in LinkedIn groups establishes authority as well as credibility in your field. Your group page should include your group’s title and description to make it more searchable within LinkedIn as well as in Google. Be sure to link your company’s blog and website as well as your blog’s RSS feed to the group page as this will drive traffic to your primary sites, and members of the group can directly receive new blog posts.
Host a LinkedIn event. An event builds awareness with an easy-to-use Event Platform that only requires a few simple questions to be answered. You then have the opportunity to invite key LinkedIn influencers to attend. The coolest part is that every time one of your guests RSVPs, it will appear on their live feed allowing your business to reach a wider audience which eventually leads to more connections.
Set up the Answers feature. Providing an Answers Application on your home page gives LinkedIn users the ability to contact you directly with any questions they may have on your area of expertise. These questions lead to ongoing conversations that allow you to keep in touch with the new connections as you are now a reference point for more questions in the future.
LinkedIn is not just a place to post resumes, but a device that can facilitate a deeper connection with your business’ target market. Constantly linking and aggressively seeking out relationships is essential to the life of your business, and using the tools provided by LinkedIn can help you do just that!
Sources:
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/how-linkedin-can-grow-your-business/
http://www.business2community.com/linkedin/5-ways-linkedin-can-help-boost-business-0964569
