Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn: Engaging New vs Existing Connections

I don’t like to blow my own trumpet, but I think I can safely say that I know LinkedIn like the back of my own hand.

Trust me – if you’d spent as much time on the most popular business networking platform on the planet as I have, you’d think the same thing.

So, when it comes to helping people like you find new and interesting ways to build more successful relationships on LinkedIn, I like to think that I’m the guy for the job because I know how to leverage it best.

So today, I’ve got a “LinkedIn hack” to share with you that might just blow your mind.

Ok, I hate the word “hack”, but it sums up this approach well.

Think about your CURRENT network on LinkedIn. How many connections do you have right now?

1,000?

5,000?

10,000?

20,000?

Whether you’ve got what you would consider a small network or a large network, the question I have for you is:

Are you really engaged with all of these current connections?

Based on my experience in working with people with huge LinkedIn networks, my guess is probably not.

Don’t worry – you’re not alone.

If so, this means you’re missing out on a massive opportunity to build key relationships that could lead to huge business or career growth!

That’s why today, I want to discuss how you can start to take full advantage of your existing LinkedIn network – whether you have 500 connections or 5000 connections – to achieve your business goals.

After all, what’s the point of spending so much time building your network if you’re not going to spend any time nurturing it?

Let’s get into it.

Leveraging LinkedIn: How to Engage New vs Existing Connections

Q: How often do you reach out to your existing connections?

For most of you reading this right now, I’m guessing that there will be two answers to this question that come to mind.

The first will be your ideal answer:

Every day.

At least twice a week.

The second one that comes to mind will be the more realistic answer:

Once a month.

Not often enough.

I can’t remember the last time I reached out.

Don’t worry, I’m not here to judge.

I’m here to help – and the first step to doing so is opening your eyes to the current state of play, as well as the huge opportunities that your existing network can offer you.

So long as you’re willing to put in a little time and effort.

Of course, I get it.

At the end of the day, most people feel like they don’t have the time nor the inclination to sit down and send out a message to 5,000 connections that they haven’t spoken to for several years now, just to ask how they’re doing.

Unfortunately, however, until you start to dedicate some time to the cause, you’re massively underutilising the opportunities in your existing network.

So, what can we do about that?

Start by getting out of the “I need new connections” mindset

One of the things I see most often on LinkedIn is that, when people see the size of their existing network and feel overwhelmed or don’t feel compelled to try and reconnect with any of them, the first thing that comes to mind is to immediately seek out new connections.

“If I get more connections, then LinkedIn will work better for me.”

Not necessarily (if at all, really).

The problem with this thinking is that unless they then get the instant gratification of winning a deal through any of those new connections, they will all typically get thrown into the abyss with the rest of the existing connections – never to be spoken to again.

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See, we’ve all heard that finding new clients is often 3 (or more) times more expensive than nurturing your existing ones.

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However, I’m still constantly working with businesses of all different types and industries that are always looking for new potential leads. New, new, new.

But what they seem to forget is that their existing customers have already been exposed to them. There’s a warm connection there now.

The same goes for you and your existing LinkedIn network. Your connections have already seen you around. They know who you are and what you do, especially if you’re regularly posting content on LinkedIn.

All they need is a little conversation.

It’s time to get the LinkedIn conversation started

Let me break this part down to make the idea of reconnecting with your existing connections much less overwhelming than first thought.

1.????? Filter your current connections

To start off, you’re going to want to use LinkedIn to filter your connections down by certain industries, companies, job titles or whatever demographic you want to target. Why? Well, let’s say you’ve got 10,000 connections. You’re not going to run a campaign targeting every single one of them in one go, are you? No, you’re going to start by selecting a single demographic to target that will bring the most benefit to your business.

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2.????? Create a simple but specifically targeted message Once you’ve filtered your list down to a more manageable number, start with a simple message that says something like: “Hey [NAME], I realised that I haven’t touched base with you in a while, so I just thought I’d give you a quick shout. How’s everything going on your end in [INDUSTRY]?” If you’re really feeling stuck for words, don’t worry. In many cases now, LinkedIn will prepopulate the message field for you as soon as you click on an existing connection that you haven’t interacted with in a while.

3.????? Converse with them from there! You’ll be surprised at your hit rate and even more shocked at how often you’ll make a conversion – because they already know you!

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Honestly, reconnecting with a simple conversation has never been easier.

Once you get the ball rolling, you’ll soon find that a lot of your existing connections will be far more open to having a conversation than new connections typically are.

By now, I think I’ve made a pretty good case for the whole ‘target your current connections’ argument – and you now know that you no longer need to overthink it.

So, how can we put this all together to achieve maximum results?

The key is to target both new and existing connections concurrently

Let’s get one thing clear:

I’m NOT saying that targeting new clients or connections is something you shouldn’t be doing. That’s definitely not the case.

What I am saying is that you shouldn’t forget about your existing connections either.

In other words, you should be targeting both new and existing audiences at the same time.

In fact, it seems crazy to me that more businesses don’t have two campaigns running side-by-side targeting each audience nowadays – especially when LinkedIn and its associated tools make it so easy to do so.

Think about it.

It’s no different to a business that runs TV advertising to attract new customers while simultaneously running an EDM campaign targeting those that have already purchased from them in the past.

It just makes sense.

Of course, the key to success with both audiences is to establish a communication plan based on consistency.

Whether it’s every 3 months, 6 months, 12 months or however often you choose, take the time to reach out to your connections and maintain that engagement with them.

For example, you might decide to target all the accountants in your existing connections, while simultaneously running a campaign to make new connections with more accountants.

In 12 months’ time, you could have an extra 500 accounting connections that you continue to nurture and engage with regularly – some of which may eventually grow into a valuable business relationship.

Honestly, this entire LinkedIn lead generation process is such a simple rinse and repeat. It’s not rocket science, but it is a strategy that is being massively underutilised on LinkedIn right now.

Let me leave you with one final thought

I want you to start thinking about it this way:

An existing connection is already halfway to becoming a customer.

Like I said earlier, these people already know who you are. They already know what you do. They’re warm LinkedIn connections.

All it takes is a quick hello to reconnect and get the conversation started.

If you want to maximise your time on LinkedIn, this is the new mindset that you need to adopt.

Of course, if you’re looking for more help with engaging both new and existing contacts on LinkedIn, I’m here for you.

Speak to me or my team at HRS to discover how we can help you get more out of your new AND existing LinkedIn connections

As a LinkedIn expert, I understand how difficult it can be to establish and nurture relationships with new or existing contacts in your network.