Founded in 2002, LinkedIn has grown by leaps and bounds to what it is today. Since its inception, the social media platform for professionals has gained wide acceptance, having amassed a following of over 600 million members. LinkedIn has been instrumental in networking professionals which has led to new business opportunities and millions of job offers.
However, business opportunities don’t just present themselves. Key considerations need to be taken when scaling a business. A consistent online presence backed by proper strategies creates the roadmap for success.
What To Consider When Leveraging LinkedIn For Business Growth
What LinkedIn brings to the table for businesses cannot be overemphasized. If properly used, it may prove to be an essential tool for advancing an organization’s growth. Some practices need to be considered and carefully applied to make business growth a reality. Have a look at some of the ways this is made possible.
Business Profile And Company Page Review
The structuring of any business is of great importance. A well-structured organization reassures customers that they know what they are doing and is more likely to attract more customers. An online portfolio of any business isn’t different. A detailed business portfolio in LinkedIn is appealing when potential clients have a look at it. Secondly, when potential customers land on your business page after searching for it, they can get clear, concise information about your company. Considering that a business profile is the first thing that potential clients see when they land on your page, well-articulated information will create more interest in them. It is of uttermost importance to ensure that every detail provided is up to date and accurate.
Have Relevant Connections
Your connections in life matter. Instrumental and influential people in your life usually determine how far you go. The goal of any business in LinkedIn should be to have quality connections rather than having myriads of random business connections. Relevant business connections are more meaningful and valuable. Thus, a hundred meaningful and relevant connections are more valuable than a thousand associations. Businesses should emphasize quality, not quantity. Receiving invitations from all manner of individuals in LinkedIn is inevitable. However, it would make no sense to connect with people irrelevant to your business. With friends and family, other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are more appropriate. LinkedIn connections are all about sharing knowledge and developing new business opportunities.
Content Marketing
In this information age, we live and breathe data. People constantly want to improve and get more knowledge. Creating relevant content valuable to readers in LinkedIn will make a business owner appear more professional in their field. Generating such content may work in your favor as a business owner as more people will be drawn to your profile, always looking forward to your insightful articles. A more prudent move would be to post the articles on both your LinkedIn company page and personal profile to generate more leads to your business. In addition to using keywords in your articles, you can also take advantage of LinkedIn’s hashtags that will help your articles to appear on search engine results.
Utilization Of Sponsored Updates
Advertising has always proved to be an essential tool that impacts the growth of any business. For businesses to earn, they have to spend. Customers don’t come out of anywhere. They first need to be informed about a particular product. Using sponsored updates on LinkedIn is one way you can advertise your company on this platform. The use of sponsored updates allows your company’s posts to reach a broader audience than your connections. It is important to note that sponsored update boosts are only available for company pages, not personal profiles. Content is first posted on the company’s LinkedIn page then boosted. Moreover, LinkedIn’s campaign manager can create ads for your company. Setting narrow targets when making your company ad is efficient in ensuring the target audience sees the advertisement.
Active Strategic Conversations
An intelligent business owner constantly interacts with customers to know what they want. For a person to make it in business, they have to be aggressive and outgoing. Constant interaction with potential customers provides valuable feedback. Actively and strategically engaging in conversations with potential clients on LinkedIn may prove beneficial in the long run. When a business owner constantly joins and responds well to relevant posts, they build invaluable credibility among prospective clients. Following company pages of target businesses makes you aware of any updates they make that you can use to your advantage. Any significant change that happens may give you a valid business reason to start a conversation.
Targeting Key Business Connections
The business world has industry influencers with a broad following. Having at least one of these influencers as a connection is enough to give a business the much-needed exposure to flourish. LinkedIn is considered one of the best online platforms for businesses to connect. Out of the almost 740 million members, an estimated 61 million people are senior-level influencers in the business world. A business owner could create a shortlist of some of the influencers and try connecting with a couple of them. The best way of doing so is by getting an introduction from a 1st-degree connection you share. Asking the 1st-degree LinkedIn connection to make an introduction will act as a referral for you. Such action will prove advantageous as it will look like an endorsement. After doing all this, you can start a conversation by personalizing the message you send to the influencer. The message you send should be tailor-made after doing a little research about them.
Final Thoughts
A good number of business owners always envision their businesses growing. Key strategies need to be formulated and followed to make this a reality. In LinkedIn, constant online presence and participation in relevant posts help establish a good rapport with potential clients. Although there are numerous ways of harnessing the LinkedIn platform, following the strategies outlined above will go a long way in helping the growth of your business.