Before you became a business owner you may have joined LinkedIn to connect with colleagues, to seek out the latest news in your sector, or to look for a new job.
But things are different now, you need to be receiving enquiries through LinkedIn and turning these enquiries into business.
You should be looking to use the platform to generate leads to support the growth of your business and to improve visibility on LinkedIn. To do this effectively, you’ll need to put your marketing head on.
In this blog, you’ll discover the best way to attract the right customers and bring in business with my proven LinkedIn business tips and LinkedIn lead generation tips.
Attracting business through LinkedIn with a knock-out profile
Take a look at your profile. If someone didn’t know you, is it clear from your profile what you do, who you help and what you offer?
The key to writing a great profile is to get across how you can help your customer and make their life easier, make it clear that you have the solution to their problem. You’ll also need to establish who you want to target and ‘talk in their language’.
Your headline (the bit directly underneath your name) will be seen by all other LinkedIn users and will be on show when you leave a comment too.
This headline really matters so don’t waste this space by simply stating your job title – this is your chance to share with others what you do and how you can help.
I revealed some amazing tips to create the best profile to transform your LinkedIn account in a recent YouTube livestream. Once you’ve read this blog, check it out: ‘6 top tips to transform your LinkedIn profile in 2021’.
How to improve your LinkedIn presence with great content
I’ve known people (not any of my clients though!) who have spent a lot of time creating a great profile and then they simply wait – wait for potential customers to find them. I’m afraid that is a strategy that will fail every time.
Did you know that only 2-3% of LinkedIn users actually post content? With such low numbers, you’ll already be ahead of the game if you consistently post.
Posting is a great way to please LinkedIn’s algorithms. You’ll be rewarded by being active as LinkedIn will send your posts to the newsfeeds of more of your connections.
Whatever you do, don’t use this opportunity to constantly sell. This is a real turn-off. Instead post content that will add value, showcase your values, highlight the benefits of your products and services, and entertain.
Make the right connections to boost your LinkedIn lead generation
Search for, and connect with, the people you want to work with and will add value to your network. Identify who it is you want to be reading your posts.
Like any other social media platforms, think in terms of quality over quantity when it comes to connections.
When you post, only a small percentage of your LinkedIn connections will see them. Depending on how many LinkedIn connections you have, it can average around 8%. So, if you have 2000 connections, that means that approximately 160 will see a post as soon as you post it.
And if only a few of your connections are right for your business, then it’s likely that you’re wasting your time.
Now, that may sound really negative, but knowing this kind of detail is so powerful! Use this knowledge to your advantage.
Connect with really valuable individuals and share content that you know they’ll want to see. What will happen is, the initial 8% will like your post and maybe even comment on it. LinkedIn will see that your post is worth seeing and adding value so it will push it further so more of your connections will see it. Again, if more people like and comment, the more visibility it will get – AND be visible to the right people – the people you want to work with.
Who is your ideal client?
Spend some time thinking about your ideal client. Step into their shoes for a while as part of your LinkedIn strategy.
Think about the type of content that will grab their attention? What is it that they want to see? What is your unique selling point that will attract them to you over your competition? What would they like to know about your product or service?
Building up a picture of your customer and using this detail every time you write a post will steer you in the right direction.
Be yourself!
I strongly recommend that you spend around 10 minutes every day on LinkedIn, whether that is to write a post, like and comment on posts, or send connection requests. Staying active is crucial.
LinkedIn monitors and ranks how active you are, the more active you are the higher your profile will rank in other people’s searches.
To find your LinkedIn score for free, head to the LinkedIn Social Selling Index tool.
You’ll need to be logged in to your LinkedIn account for this to work. Simply use the link above and check out your score.
This is mine. It tells me that I’m in the top 1% for my industry – great news, I must be doing it right! It also provides more in-depth scores covering four main components. For any that are particularly low, take note of this and work out ways to correct it.
You’ll see that some of my components could be better, but this is because I use my account when showing my trainees how to get the most out of LinkedIn, so it tends to be skewed a bit. I like to show my trainees how to search for people who are right for them, which aren’t necessarily right for me. If only I could tell LinkedIn what I was doing ….
Further material for social media tips:
I’ve a dedicated social media blog section on my website oozing with social media tips and advice for all of the major platforms. I think you’ll find the following of interest if you’re enjoying this blog.
Now, you’re on your way to maximising your potential, it’s time to think about your engagement strategy and content strategy, and focus more on LinkedIn lead generation.
My 1-1 social media training packages start from just £150 a month. You’ll learn ways to stay in touch with your existing customers, grow your network and nurture new relationships.
Whether you need help on LinkedIn or another social media platform, I can teach you how to transform your social media to promote your business and generate new leads.
Let’s have a chat and see how I might be able to help. Book your one to one virtual meeting with me by clicking on the button beloew. I’d love to hear from you.
Bye for now,
Becs