.svg)
LinkedIn has always been that networking site that people just don't really "get" — coming in second perhaps only to Twitter. In reality, both are invaluable tools that you can use to grow your business. In particular, with the right digital marketing strategy that has the goal of boosting your engagement, you can use LinkedIn to give your lead generation a serious nudge. This platform might look modest and unassuming, but it packs a serious punch. Keep reading for 12 LinkedIn tips that will help you generate more leads.
Network With Others by Hitting "Connect"
We know it's kind of a given, but people still don't take advantage of its full power. This is one of the simplest but most powerful LinkedIn tips for generating more leads on LinkedIn. The more connections you have, the more leads you can collect.
Bear in mind, though, that quality matters as much as quantity, if not more. Don't connect with as many people as possible just for the sake of seeing your "friend" count go up. If they aren't quality connections, then they don't really matter.
You should always have a reason for wanting to connect with someone. Maybe they work in your industry, you're interested in doing business with them, or you have a mutual connection.
When you go to add someone on LinkedIn, the platform gives you the option to add a note. Otherwise, it's the default message that automatically appears. This is a nice opportunity to customize your message, add a personal touch, and stand out from the other connection requests that person is likely getting.
Grow your network and you might grow your lead generation, while you're at it.
Join Relevant Groups
Did you always think LinkedIn wasn't that social of a place? Incorrect! Similar to Facebook, LinkedIn has groups — and you should join the ones that make sense to you, your business, and your goals.
These are more people you can connect and network with, and it's a chance to communicate with like-minded folks and possible leads. There's no easier way to get a lot of people with similar interests under one metaphorical roof.
You might even consider starting your own group. What better way to establish yourself as a leader? Just be sure to allocate time to maintain and grow it.
Ask for — and Give — Recommendations
Recommendations are everything. They're like product reviews for humans. You know what's even better than saying nice things about yourself? Other people saying nice things about you. And make no mistake about it — prospective clients and leads are going to take their words much more seriously than your own.
Recommendations matter! Don't forget to pay it forward, though. When someone leaves you a recommendation, if possible, return the favor. Not only is it a nice thing to do (which is enough of a reason already), but it helps to better position you as a professional and an authoritative figure.
Publish Articles on Your Page
Fourth on our list of LinkedIn tips is a feature far too few people are using. Want to get your name out there, build trust and authority, and improve your lead generation? You should be publishing articles on LinkedIn.
This feature is so powerful because it's basically like a mini blogging platform within LinkedIn. You can create beautifully optimized and visually appealing articles that help your followers solve a problem, learn more about a topic, or otherwise gain valuable information.
Don't forget that just like with blogging, SEO matters. Include important keywords, headings, images with relevant alt texts, and high-quality links that point to outside sources as well as your own site. To improve your user experience, you can use, for example, the Rebrandly in your texts to not only shorten a link but also put your brand name on it.
Is it a bit of a time investment? Of course, but it's more than worth it when you consider it could ultimately help you bring in new leads. Hint: That's the audience you'll want to write to: your leads. What's something they would be interested in reading about? Look at their problems and pain points, and write about them!
Post Consistently — Aim for Once a Day
LinkedIn is not unlike other platforms in that if you go too long without posting, you're just going to get buried in people's news feeds. How are you going to get more leads if your page is nearly silent? Don't stress about trying to come up with original, in-depth posts every single day. This can be a fairly easy task. You can alternate between blog posts and pages from your own website, resources from outside sites, and sharing posts that others put out on the platform.
Bear in mind that LinkedIn is no different from other platforms in that visuals are huge. Be sure to include photos and videos. (Worth mentioning, though, is that text-based posts seems to perform better on LinkedIn than they do on other platforms. In fact, they might perform best of all. Test them out and see what kind of response you get.)Don't forget to make your posts "pretty." If you type a rather long caption to go with whatever you share, break it up by writing short paragraphs and maybe throwing in a few emojis. It'll make the post more appealing to the eye and reader-friendly.
Another cool little ninja trick? Like and comment on your own posts — even if nobody else has yet. This isn't a vanity thing! You might very well notice a bump in engagement. People are likelier to like posts when somebody else already has. Get the ball rolling and nab your first like — from yourself.Make things easy on yourself and schedule out a bunch of posts ahead of time — also known as "batching" your work — using a social media management tool like eClincher. Dedicate a bit of time every Friday and schedule all your posts for the following week. There. You're done.
The goal is to stay visible and relevant.
Fill Out Your Profile in Its Entirety
Ugh! What a pain. Filling out your job history, volunteer experience, a thoughtful bio? It all takes way too much time, so you'll probably just do it later.
No! Do it now!
These details matter. If you want to be collecting leads, you want them to have as much information as possible when they visit your page. This is not the time to be mysterious. Plus, when you fill out your entire page, you have a much better opportunity to optimize it, which brings us to our next point.
Optimize Your Profile With Relevant Keywords
Remember that people use LinkedIn like Google — like a search engine. They go on LinkedIn and type a search query, very often someone they're looking to hire. A results page then loads, and they likely pick one of the first few results they see to explore further. You want to be one of those first few results! But how?
You need to optimize your LinkedIn page the way you'd optimize a blog post on your website — by sprinkling relevant keywords throughout. Put yourself in your leads' shoes and imagine what they're going to search on LinkedIn when they want to find someone like you. Then, take those search terms — read: keywords — and use them in your headline, about section, and even job descriptions.
As always, avoid keyword stuffing — unnaturally cramming as many keywords in there as possible. LinkedIn doesn't like this, and neither will people reading your page. You should only use keywords where they fit in seamlessly.
Make Sure Your Posts Are Public
When you go to post a new update, you have some control over who sees it. For example, you can choose to show it to anyone (meaning it's public) or you can limit it to your connections. Don't do the latter of the two.
You want people to see what you're sharing, even if you two haven't yet connected. In fact, this could bring comfort and trust, encouraging them to interact with you more. LinkedIn is a networking tool. You don't have much reason to be hiding, anyway.
Upload Videos Natively to LinkedIn
Sure, you can share videos through a link. You know what's even better, though? Uploading them directly to LinkedIn. Doing this is especially easy on mobile. This is one of those lesser known LinkedIn tips that can really bump your engagement.
We upload videos natively here for the same reason we do it on Facebook: LinkedIn favors native videos. Social media and networking platforms want you to stay on their site as long as possible. If you link to a YouTube or Vimeo video, you're sending people away from LinkedIn. LinkedIn doesn't like that.
Instead, upload the video natively. They perform well and LinkedIn will be happy. It's a win-win.
Make Good Use of Your Profile Picture and Banner Image
We all love a good selfie, but now's not the time. You don't need to spend an arm and a leg getting professional pictures taken — although working with a pro is never a bad idea. Just know that it's not totally necessary for this.
Put on a nice shirt, get in front of a plain background with good lighting (natural lighting is always best), and either have someone snap a photo of you or set the timer on your phone, so you can take one of yourself.
The banner/background image is a great opportunity to highlight some of your strengths and experience. That's right – it doesn't need to be some random photo or pattern. Using a simple tool like Canva, you can create a banner image with a text overlay that points out some of your qualities.
Are you a trained SEO specialist? Do you help brands make money with email marketing? Are you one of the most successful real estate agents in your area? How about customer testimonials and reviews — got any?Mention them on your background image by customizing it with text in Canva.
Use Hashtags — They Work!
In the past, hashtags were totally not a big deal on LinkedIn, but that's changed. Now, not only can you search hashtags but you can even follow them — just like on Instagram. What hashtags do you want people to find you for? Use them!
As with keywords, don't go crazy and add as many as you can to every post. You still want to be strategic. But a few well-placed hashtags can go a long way.
Double-Check Your Profile on Mobile
You don't need us to tell you that mobile is huge, but we will anyway. Mobile is huge. There. We said it. Because LinkedIn has its own app, odds are your page looks just fine on mobile already — but do you really want to take that chance? Of course not. So many people will be visiting your page from their smartphone, and you don't want to turn potential leads away because something looks funny.
Hop on your phone right now and take a look. We're serious. Right now. See anything you don't like? Get to work fixing it!
LinkedIn is honestly no different than the other platforms you're on. It can really work wonders for your business, but you have to invest in it. Determine your goal, craft your strategy, and reap the benefits.
