LinkedIn is becoming a better and better way to connect to your potential client base and let other professionals in your industry know what you’re all about. That’s why what you put on your LinkedIn page is so important.
Your Profile is Essential
The first thing you want to tackle with your page is your profile and the most important parts of your profile are your headline and your summary.
The LinkedIn blog wrote all about how to make your profile something that attracts attention but allow me to summarize.
Think of your headline as the way you say hello to your prospective clients. You want it to be something that makes people take notice of you and your business.
Next up, your summary. The blog says, “If the headline is your salutation, then the summary is your media-enhanced elevator pitch. What do you really want readers to know about you if they read nothing more? Professionally speaking, what’s your purpose? Think along these lines when you craft your profile summary.”
Add Rich Media
LinkedIn pros call it rich media because it’s not just any old content that you add to your page. Think of this as a resume, you want to add the best and most interesting content and it’s more than just text.
Rich media is videos and presentations and links to webpages and designs that you have created.
Rich media is a collection of visual masterpieces that you want to represent you.
It gives every visitor to your LinkedIn site an idea of the quality of work that you can do, so choose your best stuff.
Post Regular Status Updates
Like the social media sites Facebook and Instagram, regular updates are a must on LinkedIn. The updates will help people keep an eye on what you’re up to. Use LinkedIn to brag about the success of your business or talk about the projects you have in the works. Let people know that your business continues to work toward bigger and better things.
Participate in Groups
If you want people to take notice of you, they need to start thinking about you as an expert in your field. When you join and participate in groups that are linked to your industry, you can start to establish yourself as an expert.
Think of this as the marketing long game. You’re making contacts, improving and exhibiting your knowledge, and of course, making an impression along the way. This is something you have to invest time into to see results.
Publish Quality Content
LinkedIn is an interesting space because it’s a little bit of resume, a little bit of blog, a little bit of social networking. Take advantage of this hybrid space and publish your best blog content here. Share links to your best stuff.
When you publish quality content on LinkedIn, you can get noticed not just by colleagues and connections, but by people outside of your circle.
Just make sure that whatever you post on LinkedIn is well thought out, well written, and well researched.
Advertising is an Option
All of the ideas listed above are free to do, which is why they are so appealing to users. There is one more option that’s not free and that’s advertising. Like all social networking sites nowadays, LinkedIn offers the opportunity for paid advertising.
Use it wisely. Any advertisement that you create must seem like a part of the site and you want it to go to the right people. Be sure you do your research before you start paying for advertising on LinkedIn.
For some great tools to help you you improve your overall social media strategy, check out this previous post.
Written by Erika Towne