4 Tips On How to Use LinkedIn To Build Powerful Influence

Ever stood in the corner at a networking event and felt like a dork?

Focusing on business networking in just a traditional way is a dumb idea.

It doesn’t scale.

Often ineffective and it can be a total waste of time. Trying to suck up at breakfast business networking events and pushing your business card under everyone’s nose is just plain annoying.

What if you could accelerate and amplify your connections without leaving your office or bedroom?

That’s LinkedIn.

LinkedIn’s global influence

As of April 30, 2015 there are more than 350 million individual users and business organizations sharing on LinkedIn. In 2015 LinkedIn has averaged more than 187 million unique visitors to the website each month, from over 200 countries worldwide.

Also its revenue grew by 35%. A lot of companies would be happy with that!

Image source: LinkedIn.com

We know that LinkedIn began as a place to literally park your resume and peruse job opportunities.  But in recent years it has evolved into a leading business to business marketplace and professional network.

Being present on LinkedIn is only the first step in exploring a number of tools and opportunities that the network provides for both individuals and brands.

Here are some tips on how to use LinkedIn to build powerful influence.

#1. Create a company page

Have you ever observed a brand or company that is dominating other social networks but maintains a LinkedIn Company page that is tantamount to a ghost town?  It is a little confusing and unexpected, but it happens more often than you may think.

From a public relations perspective, there are a number of negative things that can be inferred by an inactive company page.

First, that your company does not see the value of participating in business-to-consumer or business-to-business marketing or networking.  Second, that your company does not actively recruit on LinkedIn or third, that your employees are not engaged as ambassadors for your organization on the world’s largest business network.

Tesla is a brand that knows how to use their page to create buzz.

It is important to think of your LinkedIn page as a digital business card.  Everything from the graphical elements to the frequency and topic matter of posting, to announcement of events and participation by employees reflects on the organization. Like every other social network it is a digital store-front. 

Make a good impression by having an active, well managed LinkedIn Company page.

Tips: Customize your LinkedIn Company Page URL and use your business name if it is available.  The settings are provided under your “Public Profile” tab.   Invest in a quality banner that is consistent with other branding and graphics on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for a polished effect (640 x 220 px). Utilize the gallery section to upload product or brand images and information.

#2. Publish on LinkedIn

One of the most effective ways to establish an audience and develop a reputation as an influencer in a specific niche is to utilize the article publishing platform on LinkedIn.  Initially during the rollout phase, publishing was limited to established journalists, management or leadership experts but now anyone who has an account on LinkedIn can share their insights and expertise.

Write an article that demonstrates your authority on a specific topic, business niche or reflecting on your professional experience (good and bad).  This can create influence and brand awareness.

The most successful LinkedIn articles are informative but readable, with a pleasant conversational approach. Remember to structure your article in a way that allows readers to take tips or ideas they can readily apply in their own workplace or for career development.

Avoid blatant advertising

What you want to avoid is writing any article that appears to be a blatant advertisement for a good or service.  A thinly disguised sales type article will deter readers and may even, in some cases, elicit negative comments from readers.

So how do you publish promotional material without offending the LinkedIn community? Some brands have written about the challenges of research and development as a business topic, while mentioning a new product launch naturally within the article.  Other brands have written about human resource topics and hiring practices with a call out for career opportunities within their organization.

Be educational

Business promotion through a LinkedIn article is possible, as long as your article provides a career and/or educational benefit.

Tips:  Incorporate LinkedIn article publishing to your content calendar.  Opt to contribute a minimum of two articles per month and consider adding hyperlinks to drive traffic from your article to your business website.  Also explore rich media tools to add pictures or video to your LinkedIn article.

#3. Take advantage of the metrics with Linked “Insights”

In 2015 LinkedIn began to roll out a new add-on to its professional platform that would provide demographical insights.  Whether you are operating a business page or an individual page, LinkedIn users can now view engagement with authored articles with metrics that include:

• Number of profile or article views
• Age of readership
• Geographic location of audience
• The industry niche of readers and their job titles
• The percentage of views acquired from mobile browsers

The insights allow individuals and brands to evaluate the value of content published on LinkedIn.  Consequently if your business is running active pay-per-click advertising through LinkedIn, the metrics dashboard can also confirm if your advertising is successfully targeting your intended audience if you have opted to promote your featured content.

 #4. Use the “Keep In Touch” networking feature

Like all social media networks, LinkedIn is a community that is driven by content, conversations and connections.

Creating successful business relationships and staying in touch with former colleagues, employers and mentors can keep the door to professional career or business opportunities open.

LinkedIn established the “Keep in Touch” feature on the desktop version to allow you to browse important updates, lifestyle notes and landmarks and other more personalized information about people in your business network.   By utilizing this feature 2-3 times per week, you can maintain an active presence in LinkedIn by noting important benchmarks and accomplishments (such as promotions or work anniversaries) and more.

Tips: Schedule reminders in your calendar to engage on LinkedIn using the “Keep in Touch” networking tool.  By recognizing individual members of your network, you can establish stronger business connections with clients and colleagues, as well as foster new leads, introductions and opportunities.  

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15 LinkedIn Marketing Hacks to Grow Your Business

We’re a few weeks into 2015, and hopefully your resolutions are still intact. If you’re like many marketers, you have started the New Year with lofty goals. Whether you want to increase brand awareness, improve lead generation, establish thought leadership, or all the above this year, observing best practices from those who have ‘been there and done that’ is a great place to start. To help you achieve your goals this year, and to help you get the most from your LinkedIn marketing in 2015, here are five pro tips from marketing “Big Kahunas” that will help you make waves in your industry and ride them to success.

 5 LinkedIn Tips To Help You Achieve Your Marketing Goals

Pro Tip #1: Create customized messaging as part of a seamless OmniChannel experience

Marketers in all industries recognize the importance of creating a cohesive user experience across channels, including LinkedIn. Ideally, your LinkedIn marketing strategy should be part of an integrated, holistic strategy to engage consumers across channels while preserving a consistent brand narrative.

LinkedIn messaging should not simply be copied and pasted from another platform, though. Content should be specifically tailored to the channel. In 10 Things You Need to Know Now about OmniChannel Marketing, consultant and author Mark Schaefer points out, “If the experiences in each channel are not uniquely helpful, you risk annoying customers.” For best results on LinkedIn, feature distinctive, signature elements that match the professional & aspirational context of the platform.

Pro Tip #2: Embrace an audience-first perspective with customer experience maps

To understand what content will engage your audience on LinkedIn, you should have a big-picture view of the buyer journey. When you understand buyer concerns throughout the funnel, you can create relevant messaging for your Company Page, Showcase Pages, Sponsored Updates, and other forms of branded content that are personalized for the specific audience you are looking to engage.

In an interview featured on The Lede podcast titled, How Customer Experience Maps Help You Develop a Smarter Content Strategy, Brian Clark of Copyblogger suggests taking this a step further by creating an empathy map to “walk in their shoes, from their perspective, and understand the hurdles they face.” Imagine your buyer at each stage of the customer journey: What are they thinking and feeling? Taking this customer-centric approach can help mold strategic content you can use throughout the buying cycle on LinkedIn.

Pro Tip #3: Implement a balanced social sharing plan to promote your content

Creating blog posts, whitepapers, and other content requires significant resources, and it’s important to get a return on your investment. Generally, you’re not going to achieve maximum reach or visibility with a single mention on LinkedIn. On the other hand, promoting the same content too often can annoy rather than engage.

In her article titled Are You Missing These 5 Social Sharing Powerhouses?, Heidi Cohen suggests you “provide your target audience multiple impressions of the same content over a period of time.” You can get maximum reach, she suggests, with a balanced plan to distribute content. On LinkedIn, you might use Company Page updates, Sponsored Updates, Sponsored InMails, and leverage your employee profiles to ensure your strategic content finds the right people.

Pro Tip #4: Inject storytelling into your content marketing

B2B marketers understand that engaging audiences isn’t about broadcasting product specs or features. Instead, it’s important to convey a compelling brand narrative that highlights the value your brand provides to the marketplace. And while B2B marketers have traditionally struggled to effectively use storytelling on social media platforms, high competition for attention is causing more B2B brands to infuse creativity into their campaigns.

In How to Make a Boring Business Interesting, Jeff Bullas notes, “Business to business brands often have great content, it’s just that many aren’t accustomed to publishing it to social networks.” Jeff provides examples of how GE is serving as a model for making a “boring” business interesting. Telling compelling stories about the real-world impact of products and services can add life to any business offering, no matter how “boring.”

Pro Tip #5: Establish thought leadership in your industry

As a marketer, you understand how important credibility is to your brand. Establishing yourself as a thought leader can inspire confidence in your company and the solutions you offer. LinkedIn consistently ranks as the most-trusted social media platform for B2B professionals researching products and services, making it an ideal venue to establish your industry influence.

In What Is Thought Leadership? Why You Need It. And Steps to Get It Right, Michael Brennersuggests being a thought leader “is simply about becoming an authority on relevant topics by delivering the answers to the biggest questions on the minds of your target audience.”

Some ways to demonstrate your expertise include:

• Answering questions and starting industry discussions in LinkedIn Groups
• Crafting a compelling Company Page that addresses the matters important to your audience
• Posting articles about industry issues on the LinkedIn publishing platform
• Sharing and commenting on the content your audience finds insightful and interesting

It’s important to provide value to your network without the expectation you’ll necessarily get something in return. By unselfishly offering insights and answers, you can establish yourself as a credible authority, which is usually much more effective than being just another marketer with a sales motive.

Adopting these five pro tips can help you ride the wave to LinkedIn marketing success in 2015. When you create cohesive, compelling, consumer-first experiences through your marketing, you can build brand affinity while casting your company as a trustworthy industry leader. 

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