76 LinkedIn marketing ideas.

LinkedIn is a great source of guidance, support and new business leads. I use it every day to communicate with people and share advice. ??

But let’s face it, LinkedIn is becoming a bit of a hot mess, isn’t it? ??

The problem with LinkedIn is the vast number of us (and I include myself in this, because I was awful at first) who don’t know how to use this platform. If you don’t know what I mean, check out the State of LinkedIn Twitter account. Speaks volumes.

Yes, you, Mr ‘Number 1 CEO | Influencer | Guru | Keynote Speaker’ I’m talking to you. Stop annoying everyone. And you, Mrs ‘Working with ambitious individuals to raise their game every day’ this post is for you, because you need to chill.

So, here’s a big fat list of free things you can do this month to improve your LinkedIn game* (*avoid being another douchebag).

*Disclaimer: this is my opinion based on the stuff I noticed. If it's not relevant to you, that's completely fine. If it's helpful in some way, let me know in the comments!

As always, I’ve sectioned it so busy people can find relevant bits, fast.

?? Your profile

?? What to post

?? How to win business

?? The 20 commandments of LinkedIn-iquette

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?? Your profile

• Use your actual job title. Because nobody wants to see what you do expressed as a sentence with 10 verbs in. Yes I’m talking to you ‘Working with ambitious leaders who want to optimise their business’. Pffft. Nobody ever applied for that job. Just put what you actually do and stop being a douchebag.
• No seriously, put your actual, real life job as your title.
• Guys, if you’re not a keynote speaker, don’t say that you are.
• And don’t be duped by any ‘LinkedIn Guru’ that is trying to convince you in a douchey webinar that your job title needs to be a long, capital letter-ridden sentence like TRANSFORMING BUSINESSES A***** because they are lying to you, and they want your money.
• Be yourself. At all times. Sound like you. Write like you. Share honest stuff about what you do. Don’t make stuff up. Don’t brag.
• Don’t write an asshat description of what you do. ?? Write a description that shows how you can help others.
• Ask for references.
• Give references, regularly.
• Ask people to vouch for your skills, if you worked with them.
• Validate other people's’ skills, because it’s a nice thing to do.
• Think carefully about what groups you join, and actually engage with the ones you’re in. Otherwise, leave.

• Think carefully and deliberately about what causes and businesses you follow, because it shows up ??on the footer of your profile.
• ?? Choose a profile photo that looks like you. Don’t be a douchebag and pose in front or a tiger or BMW. Or a driving a BMW over a tiger.
• Choose a background banner that reflects what you can offer. Don’t brag about all the awards you’ve won. And if you feel like bragging, just remove the background, and go blank. It’s fine.
• Be honest about your job history ??, what you did in each role, and what you achieved. Don’t lie about how long you worked anywhere, or what you did.
• Use the ‘Links’ section in your profile to hyperlink to stuff you’ve done – articles, evidence of projects, videos, websites. This is a great place to showcase what you’ve been up to.
• Saying less is better than saying more. Use your posts, comments and messaging conversations to offer value. Have the awareness that other people are busy, and the more concise you are, the more likely they are to work with you.
• Don’t ever, ever worry about what your competitors are up to. Be yourself. ??

?? What to post

• As obvious as this may sound, be honest about what you post. If you’re not ‘delighted to announce’ something, don’t announce it. If what you’re posting doesn’t help people, and just presents you as some kind of martyr / genius, then don’t post it. ??

• Don’t post every goddamned day. Nobody needs that much information. ??
• Post something once a week, if you have to. Think about what you’re posting and make sure it’s useful to people. If it’s just a brag about an award you won, then step away from the keyboard, because you’re being douchey. ??

• Be vulnerable about what you’re actually going through.
• Share how your week really went, talk about peaks and troughs, and how you got out of the troughs.
• Share pictures of what you’re actually doing.
• Share videos, but not all the time. Don’t share a video unless you have something of value to say. We’ve all seen enough talking heads for one week.
• Don’t post corporate, branded pictures that don’t feel real. People don’t like being sold to. Offer value, in terms of guidance or support.
• Engage in other people’s posts. Comments, replies and likes are where business conversations begin. Don’t just spam the world with guff and expect everyone to come running. Comment underneath posts offering genuine support and guidance.
• Write a LinkedIn pulse article from the heart ? about something you care about.
• Write a LinkedIn pulse article interviewing your hero.
• Write a LinkedIn pulse article about a story with your favourite client, and what you learned.
• Write a LinkedIn pulse article about something tough you went through in your career, and what other people can learn from it.
• Share a relevant job opportunity with your followers. Unless you’re a recruitment agent, because if you are you’ve probably already shared five today.
• Like a post if you actually, genuinely like it. Don’t bother liking things you don’t really like, or you risk LinkedIn showing you more of that sort of content. What you like determines what you see, so think carefully about it.
• Share someone else’s post, if it’s worth sharing.
• Add 20-30 new contacts every week, in your field, with your job title.
• Add 20-30 new contacts each week, in your sector with your ideal customer’s job title.
• If these requests aren’t answered in 3 weeks, you can withdraw them. If someone adds you as a contact, cool.
• Just because you’re connected with someone doesn’t give you the right to sell to them. Offer help if they ask for it. Offer something genuinely of value. Don’t try to sell your douchebag SaaS product directly into someone’s messaging, though.
• If you wouldn’t say it to your best friend without fear of being punched in the face for being a douchebag, don’t post it on LinkedIn, partner. ??

• If you wouldn’t announce it round a dinner party table, don’t post it on LinkedIn, Mr Bragface.
• Don’t ever, EVER worry about what other people are posting. You be you.

?? How to win business

• Winning business starts with knowing who your customers are. Make sure you have an ideal customer persona sorted. ??
• The next key way to win business is to understand what your customers actually need. Post about things that could help your customers. Don’t sell directly.

• Have a purchase funnel ready. If you want to win new business, how does that conversation start? What happens next? Then what? If your marketing team don’t already have a simple system for generating new sales, put one in place. There’s plenty of software out there to help you do a good job of collecting data, Mailchimp, Typeform and Hubspot all have free packages. Know where your customers need to go, what they need to do and where you want them to end up.
• Add people with your ideal customer job title using the search filters.
• LinkedIn allows you to add 100 new contacts per day (yes that’s right) but don’t go over 400 invitations, or you’ll need to rescind them.
• Regularly go in and withdraw invitations that don’t get accepted.
• If someone connects, say hello. But don’t sell your douchebag service straight away, mate. If someone doesn’t want to reply, respect that. Don’t keep sending messages, it’s rude.
• Keep up to date with the conversations you’re having in the LinkedIn messaging function, but don’t EVER use it to chat people up.
• Search for your business keywords and ‘needed’ in the search bar (filter by ‘content’). This can lead to new business leads really fast, pals. People often ask for help on LinkedIn, and adding yourself to a post asking for help can lead to an Inmail conversation, and a sale, really quickly.

Click 'content' to show posts.

??

• It’s worth making a habit of doing this. Search every week for your business and ‘needed / wanted / looking for’ and respond appropriately to posts asking for help. Move over to private messaging if it’s a good fit.
• Start conversations with these people under their posts. If it’s a good fit, crack on! You’ve got nothing to lose by throwing your hat in the ring.
• Ask for referrals from past clients.
• Keep an eye out for webinars, Twitter chats and industry events. Could you join anything relevant this week? Start a conversation with someone who is going, what have you got in common?
• Signpost people to your services indirectly. Is there a helpful, relevant blog you wrote on that? Is there a case study on your website that applies? Feel free to share it, when it’s genuinely of use.
• Don’t ever, every copy your competition. Just because they’re spamming LinkedIn with cringey ‘offers’ doesn’t mean you need to. It’s a social network, not Teletext. Direct selling is for douchebags. Don’t be a douchebag.

?? The 20 commandments of LinkedIn-iquette

1. Be honest.
2. Use your actual job title.
3. Be open.
4. Be humble.
5. Be vulnerable.
6. Share real stories.
7. Share real pictures.
8. Share real experiences.
9. Don’t sell to people directly.
10. Don’t abuse the messaging functionality.
11. Respect people’s privacy.
12. Search for relevant content.
13. Search for relevant colleagues.
14. Search for relevant customers.
15. Comment on posts offering your help.
16. Add colleagues you’d genuinely like to connect with.
17. Add people who’d genuinely benefit from working with you.
18. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t say out loud to a friend.
19. Don’t post every day.
20. Don’t brag.

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