By Judy Parsons
In this blog we are going to focus on being active on LinkedIn to help your target audience find you by using content and engagement tactics to attract clients to us.
In my last blog – Get more of your ideal clients coming to you, I said that if you want to generate inbound enquires on LinkedIn you need to make it easy for your target audience to find you, and that there are 2 ways to do this:
1. Via LinkedIn searches
2. By being active on LinkedIn
In this blog we are going to focus on being active on LinkedIn to help your target audience find you by using content and engagement tactics to attract clients to us.
Question: When was the last time you went to your local travel agent branch to book a holiday?
Probably not for some time, because instead of speaking to a travel sales person about what’s available, we are starting our search online, checking out websites like Trip Advisor and asking for recommendations on social media to help us research and hone down our options.
So, the buying process has changed thanks to the internet and social media, and as consumers, we are firmly in the driving seat. And it’s the same for B2B buyers.
They are also online researching their options and looking for recommendations.
In fact, according to research by Google & CEB, more than:
“60% of a buying decision is made before you are even in the conversation . . .”
This means that you need to be influencing those buying decisions, even though you don’t know who is looking or where they are in the buying process.
And to do that you need to be VISIBLE on LinkedIn whilst your ideal client is doing their research, so that when they are ready to move forward, it’s you they want to speak to.
Being active on LinkedIn has numerous advantages:
• Builds your credibility and gets you seen as an expert in your field
• Drives traffic back to your profile – very important if you want to generate leads on LinkedIn
• Helps you start conversations and build relationships
• Keeps your name in front of your network AND top of your prospects mind for when they are ready to move forward
Getting active on LinkedIn requires you to:
SHARE Content
Relevant
Useful
Informative
Educational ENGAGE
On other people’s content
In your newsfeed
On comments made on other people’s content
What content should you share?
When it comes to sharing content, you can use a mix of your own content and 3rd party content. 3rd party content such as industry news, research, trends and what’s topical is a very useful way of demonstrating your expertise, as long as when you use it you also position it and add your spin as to why it’s important.
When should you share content?
As a business network the rule of thumb is business hours. HubSpot recommends the start and end of a working day (7am – 9am & 5pm – 6pm, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday) whilst LinkedIn tell us key business times are morning and midday Monday – Friday.
The thing to remember is that you will get more engagement when there are more people on LinkedIn. I personally have found Friday afternoons don’t work very well!
Engaging . . . even more important than sharing?
What I often find more exciting though is the opportunities to engage on LinkedIn.
So it’s not just about pushing your content out, we want to create conversations. By taking the time to engage with your connections, it gives you the opportunity to find and to be found by 2nd degree connections that you don’t currently know who are also interested in the same conversations as you. And it makes a great way to start building relationships.
I always recommend engaging daily on LinkedIn. Review your newsfeed, where can you add value? Look at who else is commenting and comment on their comments; and remember to follow your clients and prospects company pages.
In summary . . .
To help your ideal client find you and see you as the expert they need, incorporate LinkedIn into your daily marketing and business development routine, consistently engaging and/or sharing useful content, answering questions and engaging with your network.