How to use LinkedIn to grow your business
Have you found LinkedIn useful for generating leads and new business? For me personally, LinkedIn has proved to be the best social media platform in terms of finding new work opportunities.
With more than 800 million users, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. The platform has gone through a huge transformation in recent years. It’s no longer just a job posting site. It’s where professionals and businesses can share their expert insights and meet like-minded people. Four out of five LinkedIn members drive business decisions. So, it’s a great place to build valuable relationships.
I recommend that all business professionals have a presence on LinkedIn – certainly with a personal page and, potentially, also using a company page. In this blog, I’ll be sharing my top 10 tips to help you grow your business using your personal page.
1. Create an eye-catching profile
Your profile is the first thing readers see when they land on your personal page. So, you need to make a good first impression – think of it as your digital CV and more besides.
You’ll need a high-quality portrait photo. Make sure it’s a professional-looking photo – a sharp image taken in well-lit conditions. A blurry shot of you drinking tequila on holiday is unlikely to convey the right impression. Meanwhile, your bio should focus on how you help your customers and solve their pain points. Don’t just focus on you and your business – you need to connect with your audience.
Finally, complete all the fields and provide as much information as you can. Listing 5 or more skills can result in up to 17 times more profile views.
Top tip: include relevant keywords to help you get found. I include the terms ‘freelance copywriter’ and ‘social media specialist’ in my bio – these are the top keywords I want to be found for.
2. Share high-quality content
According to Business Insider, LinkedIn is one of the most trusted social platforms and so it’s a great place to build your credibility as a thought leader and expert in your field.
Posting valuable content is crucial. Think carefully about the content you’ll be sharing. What topics would your ideal customers be interested in? ‘How-to’ and list posts are among the most popular content types. Long-form content also gets great engagement. Pieces with 1900-2000 words perform the best according to recent research from OkDork. The word count is limited on the feed but you can publish longer pieces using LinkedIn articles.
3. Mix it up
Use a mix of content formats to keep your readers engaged. You can share videos, images, events and external articles. Test different formats. See what gets the best reaction from your audience.
LinkedIn’s algorithm, which determines who sees your posts, loves engagement – particularly comments. Initially, your post will get served to a small proportion of your audience to test it out. If your post is attracting lots of engagement (particularly comments), this is a signal to LinkedIn to serve your post to more people.
4. Use video (particularly lives)
Video has not taken off as quickly on LinkedIn as it has on Instagram and Facebook. However, I predict that this will be a huge area of growth for LinkedIn over the next year or two.
Video can make your content stand out. LinkedIn’s research shows that members are 20 times more likely to share a video on LinkedIn than any other post type.
In particular, live video is a great way to build your personal brand. But video takes time to plan, prepare and film and often people don’t like appearing on screen. That’s why so many people and businesses shy away from video. So, there are massive opportunities to make your mark and stand out from your competitors. Share your industry insights or perhaps interview a partner or customer live on LinkedIn.
Find out more about LinkedIn Live.
5. Show up
Posting regularly and consistently is crucial on LinkedIn. Don’t post every day for two weeks and then disappear for three months. This is one of the most common problems I see when I’m brought in to look at clients’ LinkedIn accounts.
You really need to be active and consistent on the platform to build your following. So, how often should you post? The timings will really depend on your business and sector, so you’ll need to test what works best. However, for most of my clients, 3-4 posts per week is a good frequency to aim for. But make sure it’s relevant content – quality always trumps quantity.
So, should we be focusing on specific days? Research suggests that Tuesdays to Thursdays are good days but, again, it depends on your industry. Friday is the best day for one of my clients who works with medical professionals. This is because her clients often have ‘office’ days on Fridays whereas other days are generally surgical days. So, these particular clients are more likely to check social media on Fridays.
6. Plan your content
Use a content calendar to organise and plan your content – Trello is a great tool to help organise your thoughts. Don’t just post randomly – think about the types of content that your audience will be interested in. Look ahead to national awareness days that might be relevant to your business or upcoming events and topical news.
7. Engage with your audience
Engaging with others is just as important as posting on LinkedIn. Networking and debate are becoming ever more important. LinkedIn is a social platform, after all. So, always respond and thank people who have taken the time to comment or share your posts – and do so as quickly as you can. Don’t just post and ghost!
Join conversations that are relevant to your business – but add value. Don’t try to sell your products or services in a pushy way. Treat these interactions like any kind of networking – no one likes a pushy salesperson who only wants to talk about his or her products or services!
8. Be conversational
LinkedIn has changed a great deal over the last few years. It’s no longer home to stuffy corporate conversations. There is far more informal discussion and relatable content about mental health, work-life balance and personal issues these days.
But I still see a lot of people being very formal on LinkedIn. I think this often results from nerves – people use jargon and corporate speak to compensate for this. Be yourself on LinkedIn.
I recently got involved in a conversation with a fellow copywriter about weight loss. This is not a topic I would have discussed with someone a few years back on LinkedIn. But the post really chimed with me as I had been on a similar weight loss journey a few years ago and I was amazed by the author’s approach and transformation. It got us talking and we’re now connected as fellow copywriters.
9. Use hashtags
Hashtags will increase your reach if you choose the right ones. On LinkedIn, hashtags help members discover and join relevant conversations. They may also help your posts appear in trending conversations. On LinkedIn, hashtags are searchable and you can click on hashtag links to find similar posts.
Stick to 3-5 hashtags for each post – don’t include too many as this will look spammy. Include a mix of general, niche and topical ones. You can research hashtags using the search function or various paid tools. You can also see related suggestions when you’re creating a post.
10. Grow your audience strategically
Choose your personal connections wisely on LinkedIn – don’t just accept random connection requests or spam others in this way.
When you post on LinkedIn, the algorithm looks at your connections and whether you have shared interests and experience. This will influence who your posts are initially served to. So, it makes sense to be selective.
I hope you find these tips helpful – ultimately you’ll need to test what works best for you and your business. The important thing is to give it a go. On social media, it’s often the people who are prepared to try something different who enjoy the most success.
