Navigating the LinkedIn Landscape: A Business Owners' Guide to Social Media Marketing.
If you're reading this, you've probably realised that LinkedIn isn't just a platform for job seekers and recruiters. It's a goldmine for entrepreneurs and business professionals to grow their brand, network, and generate leads. So, let's dive into the world of social media marketing on LinkedIn, and how you can utilise it for your brand.
Why LinkedIn Matters for Brands and Business Owners
LinkedIn isn't just another social media platform; it's a powerhouse for professional networking and brand building. As a brand or business owner, this is where you can:
- Connect with Your Tribe: LinkedIn boasts over 774 million professionals worldwide, making it an excellent place to find like-minded individuals, potential clients, and partners who get what you're about.
- Show Off Your Expertise: Showcase your skills, experience, and accomplishments on your LinkedIn profile. Let your future clients and collaborators know you're the real deal.
- Lead Generation Goldmine: Looking for new customers? LinkedIn's advanced search features let you pinpoint your ideal clients and connect directly with decision-makers.
- Build Your Personal Brand: Share your story, values, and insights to establish your unique personal brand.
Getting Started with LinkedIn Social Media Marketing
Now, let's break down how you can get started with social media marketing on LinkedIn:
1. Optimise Your Profile
Your LinkedIn profile is your digital business card, so make it shine:
- A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words: Upload a professional (but approachable) profile picture that captures your personality.
- Craft a Captivating Headline: Use your headline to convey your mission or expertise in a few words.
- Tell Your Story: Write a compelling summary that shares your journey, passion, and what sets you apart.
2. Create Engaging Content
To get noticed on LinkedIn, you need to be active and share valuable content:
- Share Insights: Post industry news, your take on trends, or valuable tips that showcase your expertise.
- Long-Form Content: Write articles on topics relevant to your industry or business. It's an excellent way to establish yourself as an authority.
- Multimedia Magic: Don't limit yourself to text—share videos, infographics, and eye-catching visuals.
3. Build Your Network
LinkedIn is all about connections. Connect with:
- Industry Peers: Network with fellow professionals to stay in the loop on industry trends.
- Clients and Prospects: Send personalised connection requests to potential clients.
- Influencers: Following and engaging with industry influencers can boost your visibility.
4. Leverage LinkedIn Ads
Investing in LinkedIn ads can be a game-changer:
- Sponsored Content: Promote your posts to reach a broader audience.
- InMail Marketing: Use personalised messages to engage with prospects directly.
5. Measure and Optimise
Analytics are your best friend. Use LinkedIn Analytics to:
- Track Post Performance: See which content resonates most with your audience.
- Audience Insights: Understand who's engaging with your content.
- Conversion Tracking: Monitor the success of your lead generation campaigns.
6. Be Authentic
Millennials and Gen Z audiences value authenticity. Be yourself, share your challenges, and celebrate your wins. Authenticity builds trust, which is crucial for business success on LinkedIn.
7. Engage and Network
Join LinkedIn groups, participate in discussions, and be genuinely helpful. Remember, it's not just about self-promotion; it's about building relationships.
LinkedIn is a fantastic platform for millennial business owners to grow their brand, connect with the right people, and generate leads. Use your profile to tell your story, share valuable content, network with authenticity, and keep an eye on your analytics. In no time, you'll be rocking the LinkedIn scene and taking your business to new heights!
Want to sit down with our team to chat LinkedIn Strategy? Get in touch today.
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4 Ways To Build Your Personal Brand
Regardless of whether you’re a business owner, employee or on the hunt for new work, developing a professional personal brand on and offline is a great way to establish authority and credibility within your industry.
So how can you build your personal brand, in order to showcase the best 'you' possible? Here are 4 places to start.
1. Audit your online presence:
Do a quick google search on your name. Are you happy for a potential client or employer to see those search results?
One of the simplest and easiest ways to start creating a professional personal brand is to audit your online presence. That means going through all your social media channels and removing any unprofessional images or content so you can put your best foot forward! Yes - that means deleting those party pics from your high school days. Make sure you use a professional profile picture and only post content you’d be happy for a client or potential employer to view.
(If you're not quite ready to remove your historical happy snaps, you can always set these particular social media profiles to private. Just be careful when accepting friend requests from co-workers or industry peers.)
2. Create a LinkedIn profile:
After you’ve audited your existing online presence, the next step is to create a LinkedIn profile - if you don’t already have one. LinkedIn is a great way to showcase your experience and skills, search for jobs, seek new business opportunities and network with likeminded industry professionals.
It’s important that you create a standout profile that will draw the attention of potential clients, customers or employers. Here’s how!
3. Secure a personal website:
If you really want to stand out from the crowd, why not create your very own personal website? Having a personal website is one of the best ways to increase your name ranking on Google and provide a professional hub where you can present your experience, skills and expertise in your field. Don't worry, your website doesn’t have to be extensive, it just needs to showcase your resume, some great blog posts, an 'about' section and contact information.
4. Add some value:
In order to separate yourself from your competitors and present yourself as an authority in your industry, it’s always important to provide value to those you connect with. A good way to do this could be by writing a blog on your personal website, adding some great tips and tricks to your social media posts, or offering to help out a new connection to make a lasting impression.
Do you need help showcasing your personal brand online? Here at Melbourne Social Co we are experts at getting your brand “out there!”
Contact us now for more information.
e: [email protected] – P: 1300 386 165
Five Tips For Networking Success
Whether we like it or not, an essential part of our careers is networking, as it’s a vital way to meet new customers/clients, share new ideas, drive word-of-mouth recommendations and perhaps make some great new likeminded friends!
If you’re unsure of how to nail your next networking event or meeting, read on below for our top tips.
Be prepared:
Whether you’re about to walk into a meeting with potential clients or attending an event, make sure you are prepared! Being prepared means thinking of some great conversation starters or questions and determining what your “elevator pitch” is. An elevator pitch is your chance to explain who you are, what you do and what you are passionate about in around 30 seconds. The trick is to practice this pitch so you capture your audience’s attention and entice them to stick around and continue to talk to you.
Other ways to be prepared include planning the right outfit ahead of time, figuring out how to get there, and making sure you get to the meeting or event early so you're not feeling rushed or stressed out when you arrive.
Be friendly and conversational:
Coming across friendly and approachable will go a long way in helping you to meet new people and make great connections. This means being aware of your body language, your tone of voice, the way you speak and make sure it is coming across as approachable and relaxed as possible.
Ask questions:
For those of you who don’t like to talk to much (and for everyone else as well!) make sure you ask questions. Asking questions is a great way to learn more about other people and to become inspired by other’s passions, skills and experience.
Share your passion:
Everyone has a story, but what captures people’s attention is when you share your unique selling point. What is it about you that makes you stand out from the crowd? Usually that will be what you are passionate about, the very thing that makes you tick! Sharing your passions is a great way to win people over with your enthusiasm and make a lasting impression.
Follow-up:
Now that you’ve done a great job at networking, remember to follow up. Ensure that you exchange business cards, or connect via social media so you can continue the conversation and make lasting friendships or business relationships. LinkedIn is a great platform for keeping in touch with likeminded professionals or potential customers/clients so don’t be afraid to add your new connections. As a general rule, it’s best to follow up within 2 days of meeting the person so that you're fresh in their minds.
Do you need help getting your personal brand or business out there? Your digital marketing experts Melbourne Social Co can help!
Get in touch with us now to find out more:
e: [email protected] – P: 1300 386 165
Easy Ways to Leverage Your LinkedIn Account
One of the most popular social media platforms for business professionals is LinkedIn, as it’s a great way to showcase your experience and skills, search for jobs, seek new business opportunities and network with likeminded industry professionals.
If you have a LinkedIn account or are looking to create one, try these easy ways to leverage your profile now:
Raise your profile:
Your profile is at the centre of all the activity you do on LinkedIn so it’s vital to make sure it represents who you are and your experience in the best way possible. From using a professional photo, to creating an engaging and captivating summary and adding detailed experience sections, it’s important to dedicate some time to creating the best LinkedIn profile you possibly can.
Unsure how to raise your profile? Read our checklist for creating a standout LinkedIn profile.
Get recommendations:
A great way to make sure your LinkedIn profile stands out from the crowd is by utilising recommendations. These could be from customers, clients or past and current employers. Recommendations help to enhance your professional credibility and give your profile a point of difference.
Network!
LinkedIn is a social media platform after all, so make sure you network and connect with likeminded industry professionals that could even become potential clients or customers. You’ll be amazed at the people you’ll find on LinkedIn so don’t be afraid to connect with other industry professionals and join relevant industry groups.
Create a company page:
LinkedIn is one of the top social media marketing platforms for business to business marketing, so if you own a business you need to make sure your company has a page. Having a company page is a great way to share relevant news and updates on your business, provide useful information about your services or product and increase brand awareness through posting regular updates.
Post updates:
Regardless of your reason for being on LinkedIn, posting updates to your network helps to put your personal profile in front of the right people. By sharing relevant articles or even commenting on and liking other people’s updates, you can get your name out there, showcase your expertise in your field and be found by potential clients or customers (or employers!)
Do you need help leveraging your LinkedIn account to attract new clients or business? Here at Melbourne Social Co we are experts at creating and managing professional social media profiles.
Get in touch with us today to find out more:
e: [email protected] – P: 1300 386 165
Building A Professional Personal LinkedIn Profile
Not sure where to begin when it comes to LinkedIn?
Here's our checklist for building a professional personal LinkedIn profile:
- Create an informative headline
Your LinkedIn headline is one of the first things people will see on your LinkedIn profile so make sure it is direct, clear and to the point. It’s important that your headline includes your job title and industry keywords that will be instantly recognisable for people searching.
- Choose a professional photo
Having a high quality and professional headshot for your profile’s photo is a great way to personalise your LinkedIn page.
- Add important contact information
This means your email address, website, business/company name and other vital information people will instantly be looking for when browsing your profile. It’s also a great idea to edit the URL of your LinkedIn page to include your full name for professionalism and search optimisation. Find out how to do this here.
- Create a catchy and engaging profile summary
This is a chance for you to show off your skills and experience. Your profile summary should resemble the first few paragraphs of a well-written cover letter, ensuring it is concise and direct, pin pointing your goals, passions, qualifications and experience. Make sure your profile summary is easy to read and not too long. Bullet points or short paragraphs are a great way to easily highlight these key areas.
- Fill in your education and experience sections
Similar to your resume, this area on your LinkedIn profile is where you add in your qualifications, education and experience. You don’t have to list them all! Just select 3-5 past work vocations with short summaries on your job description, roles, achievements and skills.
- Show off your skills
This area is a great chance for you to show off your skills and get colleagues, boss or friends to endorse your specific skills and abilities. Make sure you include general skills as well as industry specific skills to show a great variety of capabilities.
- Add media
Now that you’ve got the basis of your LinkedIn profile complete, it’s time to make it visually appealing! A great way to do this is to show off your past or current work by adding website links, images, documents, presentations, videos and more to enhance your profile. Go to your selected experience section, click the pencil on the right hand side and click add media.
- Connect!
An easy way to start networking with people on LinkedIn is to connect with people already on your email database. Simply go to the top menu and click connections, add connections, type your email address and LinkedIn will pull up all of your contacts from that email address who have a LinkedIn profile. If you want to connect with potential or current clients, businesses or agencies, you can search them in the top menu, click on their name and request to connect.
- Join A Group
LinkedIn is a great platform for you to join groups with people from likeminded businesses or industries. You can search the groups in the top menu, or if you need a little inspiration, search for a client and see what groups they have joined on their profile and join! Now that you’ve joined, why not post something relevant or comment on a status update by the group? This will help make your profile more visible and will start the networking process.
- Update
All the basics of setting up your LinkedIn profile are done! Now all you need to do is update your status a minimum of once a week. The best days of the week are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before work 8:00am - 8:30am, or towards the end of the work day 4:00pm -6:00pm.
Updates could include:
• Links to your company blog
• Interesting and relevant articles
• Events you’re attending
• Recent projects
• Industry tips and business news.