Since the day traditional marketing and advertising were amalgamated with the digital realm, a new dimension of opportunities was opened for marketers all over the globe. And as time passed, marketing, branding, and advertising were more done through social media. With more and more social media in the picture, it can be duly said, that social media has taken over every aspect of our life. Be it professional, or personal – social media networks are everywhere.
How to use LinkedIn for marketing your business?
And as I say ‘professional life,’ I am talking about promoting your brand through social media. Availing the power of social networking platforms to give your brand an impetus. Well, that takes us to LinkedIn, the best place for marketers and professionals all over to get connected with each other and explore collaboration.
Regardless of which industry you work in, LinkedIn has a door open to all. You can just enter and find your counterparts by building connections. It is the best platform for aspirants, as well as veterans who are seeking to create a professional presence of themselves.
So, I can assume that you are already using LinkedIn business solutions for marketing and branding purposes. How about making it much easier for your target audience to reach you out? How about making your visibility higher in their Internet search? The bottom line of getting success in LinkedIn is, your profile must stand out from the rest.
Below are the few tactics on how to build your company brand on LinkedIn.
1. Don’t Cower from Seeking Recommendations
There is no shame in asking for a recommendation from a trusted connection, on LinkedIn. People sometimes shy away, but you have to shun your hesitation and shyness if you want to stand out. Proactivity is the key to LinkedIn success. You have to be straight to ask for recommendations from colleagues you have worked with before.
However, you must prove your mettle and skills as a professional, only then people will be happy enough to recommend you. Be honest in whatever your say, else your exaggerations of your skills will catch hold of you in the long run.
2. Shape up your Profile Settings
Ensure your profile is open to all for correct access, and so they can see all your details. On your LinkedIn homepage, go to the Privacy and Setting options and click on Manage. If you don’t see your publications or awards shown there, then check those boxes. You must showcase all you skills and fields of expertise on LinkedIn. Only then you will be able to convince people to recommend and endorse you.
Your LinkedIn profile would not display videos or full-text recommendations. So all you have to do is shape your description up nicely. This is the most important part of your profile in linkedin for business tips.
3. Give your “Own” touch
Be sure to own a website that has your name, your personal touch in it. This helps to augment reliability among your LinkedIn traffic. When they see a professional website is there in your name, and they can be redirected to it, it builds up a sense of confidence in them, for you. So always possess a digital anchor that holds your stand firmly.
4. Endorse your Connections
Endorsing people has two-way benefits. First, it is a kind act when you endorse someone on LinkedIn. It is a nice gesture of encouraging someone, appreciating their skills and expertise. And secondly, the moment you endorse a connection, he/she gets a notification to reciprocate to your action of endorsement. And thus they endorse you too. The more you endorse others, the more you get endorsed. And this makes your profile more visible to recruiting agents of your niche who are in search for skills you possess.
It is always a kind act to appreciate skills of others. LinkedIn lets you do that via endorsement.
5. Participate In Groups
LinkedIn Groups are great in getting you close to the exact content you are trying to find out. Because these groups are composed of like-minded people, who share a common interest. If you join one of the groups, you will get yourself connected with individuals who share a common interest with you.
Also, you can get inspired by the group members and can take ideas from their actions. This is a great way of exchanging ideas and create something new. And not only this. LinkedIn Groups can also help you develop a voice in your industry domain. Gradually you will have a say in the industry you are in, and you will be hailed as a subject matter expert.
But yes, while choosing a LinkedIn Group make sure it is always active and has a substantial number of members, who just don’t post random comments, but indeed share something that adds value. If a group has a 2-3 months old post, and less than 100 group members, you better switch on another group.
The more you comment and actively participate in the LinkedIn groups, the more your visibility increases.
6. Check the ‘People You May Know’ suggestion list.
If you really want to increase visibility on LinkedIn, keep a close check on the suggestions list. This is the search engine of LinkedIn, and you may come across people whom you knew. Or they can be random individual as well. But LinkedIn would never give you a random name suggestion because of LinkedIn’s algorithm searches and finds out only those who share a common thing with you. Such as the college you went in, an organization where both of you used to work. Or maybe both of you share a common field of interest, and so on.
So you see, if you regularly browse and see who comes up, you may find out someone you knew, or someone who is like-minded. The more you add as connections, the more your scope of getting visible spreads. Keep connecting and getting connected. This will make you appear in front of a bigger audience.
7. Get yourself a Professional Photo
Your LinkedIn profile is your business profile that must ooze with professionalism and corporate feeling. You must maintain this for your profile picture as well. A headshot that has a professional feel, as well as a cordial touch, is best for LinkedIn. Some people deviate and go to the extent of setting their profile picture of them holding a can of beer, kissing their pets, in a tee shirt and pyjama, holding a cigarette, and so on. You cannot be so casual with your professional impression.
Do some research and see what kind of headshots other renowned marketing professionals have, and try to abide by that. Only then you visibility will increase. Else if people see your profile picture with absolutely zero professionalism, neither they would stop and see your profile, nor will they recommend you.
Wear a professional attire, smile a little and stand in a casual yet corporate way. If you find spending on a professional photoshoot is too much, then you may ask one of your friends who owns a DSLR. Ask him to take a few snaps of yours, and you may choose the best one out of those. Bottom line is, your LinkedIn profile picture must be super appealing, corporate and professional.
8. Leverage Your Professional Headline:
In LinkedIn, it’s all about raising your profile up in the status quo, and making it more and more visible to people. One of the brilliant way to do that, is make the most of your professional headline.
Your LinkedIn professional headline is set as your current job title, but yes, you are allowed to customize and edit it as per your preference. If you have a unique skill or qualification, simply put that in your headline. This inclusion will make your profile likely to be seen by the recruiters who are searching for that specific qualification.
But yes, don’t go for weird and quirky keywords, such as, “Super Marketer”, or “Digital Dynamo”, “Big Data Guru”, and the likes though!
9. Keywords – the Gamechangers
Just as I mentioned in the above point, keywords can change your game in LinkedIn.
With appropriate keywords, you can augment the visibility quotient of your LinkedIn page. Strong keywords that are directly related to your field of skills increase your exposure on the platform. Because keywords help others detect your expertise and find you easily.
Check the pages of your connections, and see how they have utilized keywords. Now optimize specific keywords and include them in your summary, job description, and headings.
10. Include links to your other Social Media channels
Link up your LinkedIn page with your other social media handles that you solely use for your professional purpose. Because through LinkedIn you can pull several people in, now if they flock around your other social media channels, they would increase your page likes and would also invite others to like your page. Include your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, links, and so on.You should aim to escalate the number of your digital contacts as much as you can.
Wrapping Up!
These are not set formulae for augmenting your visibility on LinkedIn, but yes, these are tried and tested tactics that certainly help you in the process. To increase visibility on LinkedIn and engagement on social media is of utmost important, owing to the fact that our lives revolve around social networks.
These tactics have immense potential in them to increase the rate of your visibility on LinkedIn. But yes, you have to follow these hacks for a certain period of time. Don’t expect overnight results. These are time taking, but when done diligently with proper goals set, it has its own sweet result.
What are the other such tactics do you use to maximize your brand visibility on LinkedIn? Or in any other social media platform? Feel free to share. Also, let us know if we had missed out any of the strategies. Try out the tips I mentioned above and start escalating your brand visibility on LinkedIn.
Godspeed!
