How to Use LinkedIn to Market Your Business in 7 Steps

Everybody is using Social Media nowadays – not just people, but businesses too! Big brands like Coke, Disney, McDonald’s, and many others have established an online presence, and they have gained a huge following too. But that’s easier to do when your brand carries a well-known multinational company.

Many small to medium-sized businesses also have an online presence, but not because they just need to be “there.” Unlike big brands, small businesses actually need to establish an online presence to grow their own network and brand. It’s more of a necessity, rather than just a continuing marketing and engagement campaign.

According to InfusionSoft, around 70% of small businesses have a Social Media presence. Now when we say Social Media, it’s usually Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that come to mind. Most of us (especially entrepreneurs) often overlook LinkedIn, and this is a huge mistake.

While Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are mainly social and communication tools LinkedIn is also that, but it is primarily a platform where businesses get noticed. It is not just a social media channel, but a business channel as well! LinkedIn is the only social media platform which was created primarily to create a space for business and professionals to network and connect with one another.

LinkedIn’s system is basically designed for businesses and professionals, so it is a no-brainer why it should be used by small businesses and entrepreneurs. In fact, according to Econsultancy, 64% of visits to corporate sites came from LinkedIn, which marks higher than any other social channels.

So if you want to maximize LinkedIn for your business, here’s how you can do it in 7 steps:

Define Your Goals and Target Audience

LinkedIn is not exclusively for promoting your brand or raising brand awareness, you can also use it to recruit team members or generate leads and sales for your products or services. It is important to determine what your goals for using LinkedIn are, and it will be easier to devise a strategy and find people who align with these goals.

For example, if you are looking to boost your networking program, you can find that there are many networking and marketing groups on LinkedIn who are also looking for the kind of business you have.

Create Your Profile (And Make Sure You Look Professional)

Before networking with other LinkedIn users, you have to set up your personal profile first. Build a professional profile, type in the most important details about you, like your academic background, work experience, and other relevant professional experience. And most of all, don’t forget to upload a professional headshot photo (kind of like an ID photo, but you can choose to smile).

Why? To create trust. People who do business or network professionally would like someone credible, trustworthy, and transparent. Most of all, looking professional can help boost your image and make you more authoritative about what you do.

Connect, Network, and Build Relationships

Start inviting people from your immediate community (and those you know personally, of course). Add colleagues, former workmates, classmates, and acquaintances. You may also connect with clients and customers. Then proceed to expand your network by inviting people from relevant groups and organizations.

As soon as you accept invitations or make connections, send a friendly message right away. Introduce yourself and thank them for the opportunity of connecting with them. Remember to stay true to your main goal. If you are out there to recruit, your messages, invitations, and other content should be tailored that way.

They don’t have to reply to you, the goal here is to just build a good rapport with your LinkedIn connections. The important thing here is to provide value and build up trust and credibility.

Build Your Company Page

Your personal and business profile should be separate. Your personal profile should be about your expertise and role, and your business profile should be about your business or company itself.

Building a company page on LinkedIn will make it easier for your connections to know more about your business. It also serves as a place for you to publish engaging and informative content that is related to your business or niche.

Attract Followers to Your Company Page

Once you have established a profile with lots of connections, it is easier to expose your company page to a great audience. Share content from your company page to show it to your network. That way, you get to provide them with useful content, and you get to raise brand awareness for your business too! You can also put up the link of your company page and its official website on your profile so anyone who views you will be aware of it.

Publish Informative and Engaging Content On Your Page

What type of content should you share in the first place? Not pushy sales copies, of course! Your content should be informative and engaging, and they should not be in-your-face recruitment or hard sell pieces that will turn people off. You need to produce content that is relevant and useful for your audience. If possible, these should be useful enough to be shared by other people in the industry too!

Try Out LinkedIn’s Advertising Features

LinkedIn’s paid advertising services can help you widen your reach (especially if you are still starting out). It will not only boost your profile or page, but it will also boost your content on other people’s feeds right away. LinkedIn also provides easy ways to track the effectiveness of your ad campaigns.

LinkedIn is the best platform for talking about career paths, career shifts, and growing personally or professionally. Naturally, people are also open to exploring opportunities on the platform. Although there is a strong desire for you to aggressively promote your business right away, remember that LinkedIn is a social platform too. People will appreciate more if you build a solid rapport instead of simply selling your company to them.

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Watch this video where we discuss why you need you to use LinkedIn to get customers and make sales. 

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