This is the last of a four-part series aimed at helping our readers understand
how best to use LinkedIn for their companies’ benefit. It assumes some
beginning familiarity with LinkedIn, but nothing approaching proficiency.
In the third installment of this series we looked at how to build your LinkedIn Company Page, and outlined some approaches to filling it in and leveraging it to solicit followers and recommendations. Today we’ll look at our last five business-building LinkedIn features…
LinkedIn People Search.
This is a terrific tool for salespeople, people looking for jobs, or B2B owners who want to get their foot in the door at a large corporation. Just do a people search for your target company using the upper right-hand search box. When you generate results, use the refining options on the left to view your first (also known as direct) connections and your second connections. Assuming you have no first connections, filter by checking off the “2nd connections” box. This will return a list of names of people at your target company. On their individual profiles, you’ll see a list of your shared connections. From that point on, it’s a cakewalk: just ask your friends to introduce you via LinkedIn to the people at that target company with whom you want to connect. Bingo, you’re in.
LinkedIn Applications.
One of the more interesting places to visit on LinkedIn is the Applications section. This is where you can find and add new and interesting apps that can improve the experience people have on your LinkedIn page. For example…
- let people know what business books you’re reading with Amazon’s ReadingList app;
- set up simple polls to find out what’s on the minds of your customers and prospects;
- for lead gen, there’s an app that pulls your recent blog posts onto your Page.
LinkedIn Status Updates.
It might seem like overkill to post updates on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn …but it’s not! LinkedIn is a more professional social networking site than Facebook or Twitter, so it’s likely that you’ll have different followers here who will benefit from seeing your updates. It’s OK to re-purpose content across all of the social channels, as long as you’re not merely duplicating the content.
LinkedIn Connection Invitations.
Once you provide value via Answers and Groups, people will start inviting you to connect with them on LinkedIn. Don’t just ignore these invitations. Unlike Facebook, you don’t need to personally know everyone that you connect with. LinkedIn automatically sorts your connections based on how you know them: whether through a current or previous job, a business transaction, or through a Group. So don’t ever be concerned about having a network that’s too big to keep track of.
LinkedIn links on your website.
Keeping your company’s LinkedIn profile page a secret from your website visitors isn’t a good idea, since these are the very people most likely to actually follow you. Add a LinkedIn icon to your website to increase awareness of your presence on LinkedIn. Always make it easy for your visitors to connect with you in social media.
You can get a “Follow us on LinkedIn” button for your website, as well as get client recommendations (without their having to visit LinkedIn) via buttons available to the administrator of your company’s LinkedIn page. There is also a LinkedIn Share button that does exactly the same thing as a Facebook Share button …although in one key exception, it also updates your LinkedIn network connections.
Series conclusion: LinkedIn is perhaps the most-used social media tool for B2B marketers. As much or more than the other social networks, LinkedIn should therefore complement your current online and offline marketing strategies. Leverage it for its power to create professional communities and establish your company’s reputation among those communities, and you’ll unlock the true potential of LinkedIn.
