For business development, networking has become increasingly important. Unlike in the past, networking can be done entirely online. 60 percent of buyers now use social media to look up firms before they buy a product. Due to this, it is increasingly important to have a solid social media presence and strategy in place in order to protect your online image and promote business growth.
1. Use LinkedIn Groups to build a brand.
LinkedIn Groups are designed to connect people who have the same professional interests. This means instead of marketing to a wide group of users who may not need your services, you can connect directly with the people who want your help. As you begin to join groups, narrow down your target audience. To make the most of your time, you need to focus on groups that have the same interests as your target audience.
If you are struggling to find groups in the same niche, look at the profiles of your clients and prospective clients. You can see the groups they have joined, which gives you a head start on deciphering which groups will help your business. Ideally, you should select groups with active discussions because they are more likely to provide you with the opportunity to showcase yourself as a thought leader and industry expert.
Once you have joined the group, you can begin commenting on topics or asking questions. Additionally, by starting a new discussion, you can gain visibility and showcase your knowledge. Linking to your content and blog posts can help to raise your visibility, but you have to make sure you do not become too self-promotional. When done right, LinkedIn Groups allow you to broadcast your expertise and reach out to prospective clients.
2. Drive traffic from LinkedIn to your company.
The goal of becoming active on LinkedIn is encouraging users to connect with your company and become clients. Without having to spend money on marketing, you can use LinkedIn to garner leads and conversions. Start by posting your content on LinkedIn’s news feed. This allows it to be shared with your connections, and interested connections may even click through the post to reach your website.
Visitors can be directed from a group discussion to your website. By posting relevant, useful content, you can network with potential clients and drive traffic to your company’s website. In addition, people may discover your posts through searches of LinkedIn for information on a specific problem. Try to ensure you, your employees and your company’s profile all have “Contact Information” sections. This ensures someone who happens to stumble across one of the profiles can easily find your website and start a conversation.
3. Connect with potential prospects.
While LinkedIn is excellent at encouraging lasting relationships, it is new relationships on which you want to focus. Social media websites can be an important tool for reaching out to new clients and prospects. The easiest way to do this is by finding someone whom has a lot in common and asking them to introduce you virtually.
On LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator, you can get up to 700 search results that include potential prospects. Once you find the right prospects, you can use the direct-mail feature, InMail, to e-mail prospects and start a conversation. LinkedIn guarantees InMail will be delivered, so you can be certain your prospective client and InMail recipient has received your message and been introduced to your services and products.
Social media is a free, easy way to reach out to prospective clients and position yourself as a thought leader in the industry. With the right approach, you can develop new leads and connect with fellow leaders in the industry. Start by developing a professional profile. Before you sit down to write out content, take the time to create a long-term strategy for appealing to readers and funneling leads.
Feeling a little overwhelmed by all of this? No problem. CreativeOne offers digital marketing services to help you optimize your social media profiles through our digital marketing program, Social Media Elite. Our team uses proven strategies and best practices to ensure your plan is completed in a timely fashion. We also offer digital marketing solutions. Our digital marketing experts will look through your website to determine if and where there are opportunities for improvement, before developing a personalized and detailed plan to make it more than an online business card using custom websites, lead capture programs and an on-site SEO audit. Digital marketing can be a time-consuming endeavor, but with CreativeOne’s help, our team will ensure your social media profiles are optimized.