How to Leverage Social Media for Professional Networking

Just as any face-to-face occasion can provide a networking opportunity, all of the popular social media tools, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Google+, have potential for professional networking use.

Later in the article, we will focus on LinkedIn, the only platform solely geared to business needs, but it is worth being aware of opportunities elsewhere.

Facebook

Established in 2004, Facebook had 1.65 billion users logging in per month by 2016. As well as its purely social dimension, the site has features that lend themselves to professional networking, such as the ability to create interest-themed groups, public pages for organisations and brands, and event promotion and tracking. Connecting as ‘friends’ on Facebook keeps you abreast of one another’s ‘status updates’, a microblogging feature which lets you share media and links, and tell people what you are doing as it happens.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn has been an exclusively professional networking tool since its launch in 2002 and is designed to connect people who share professional interests. Because it acts as a shop window for your professional self, it is important to keep your profile page up to date.

Like Facebook, LinkedIn suggests connections based on your existing network, and allows you to share articles and updates (including those from other platforms, such as Twitter). An important debate around LinkedIn is whether you should connect with everyone who asks, or restrict yourself to known contacts in order to safeguard trust and reputation. Advocates of linking to unknown contacts point to the value of new opportunities from unexpected quarters, but LinkedIn imposes sanctions on networkers who make nuisances of themselves with unwanted approaches.

Twitter

Founded in 2006, Twitter allows you to connect with organisations and people, whether or not you have any prior links. It is entirely your decision to ‘follow’ an account, meaning you can assemble your own selection of organisations and individuals important to your specific industry interests. Twitter’s famous 140-character limit makes it an ideal medium for sharing thoughts, links and images quickly. While it spans both social and business uses, its overall simplicity and the ‘hashtag’ feature’s wide reach have made it particularly popular with users sharing business information.

Visually driven platforms

The increasing importance of visual communication has spurred the growth of visually driven platforms, such as Instagram, Pinterest and Flickr. Depending on your professional specialisation, these can be very useful (e.g. for designers or visual artists), but even professionals from other areas can benefit from the power of images to communicate emotion. This can include excitement about achievements or new projects which will be of interest to their network.

Google+

Launched in 2011, Google+ (pronounced ‘Google plus’) is worth a professional networker’s attention, if only because of the industry power of its parent company. Conceived as a platform where users can follow their interests, it has the feel of an online magazine tailored to your individual enthusiasms (including professional ones). Offering many of the benefits of rival platforms, it boasts idiosyncratic features such as ‘Circles’ (allowing users to define, and post to distinct groups, e.g. professional and personal). Google+ integrates with other Google products including YouTube, which makes their combined use more straightforward. Google Hangouts, free online video chats, have professional networking potential alongside their social value.

Making LinkedIn work for you 

Once you’re set up on LinkedIn, how do you get it to work for you? It helps to have an overview of what you want to achieve.

Even before you start creating or editing your profile, jot down the main points of your ‘elevator pitch’ on a piece of paper to keep you focused on the impression you want to communicate. Keeping a sense of the overall purpose of your profile will help you create or update it in short chunks, to prevent it from becoming a tiresome task (given the system’s seemingly inexhaustible interest in the details of your life and experience). Having an overview also helps you to be intelligently selective about what you include – which is part of the skill of building a profile on LinkedIn or any other platform.

There are plenty of ‘how to’ videos about how to use LinkedIn, available on the internet. The most up-to-date ones are from LinkedIn itself. This is not to deny the potential value of other material from marketing consultants and experts, but don’t forget that they are sharing this information as part of their own networking activity, hoping to establish their credentials with potential clients and customers. You can learn a lot by watching them, not just about what might or might not work on LinkedIn, but also about good (and less good) self-promotion by networkers.

Make sure that the information you give on LinkedIn is of good quality. It is difficult to offer a definition of quality, but remember the three Rs, which says that information should be Relevant, Reliable and Robust (Bentley, 1998). Let’s apply it to the information you might present on LinkedIn:

Relevant

High-quality information should help its users by being concise and sufficient for the purpose. Because LinkedIn is a professional networking platform, the information you share needs to be relevant to professional issues. By all means, include details of personal interests, but in such a way as to highlight skills and experience relevant to your professional identity.

Similarly, your profile photograph should show you as friendly and approachable, but business-like. It would be irrelevant to use an informal or jokey snap. Choose a professional-looking headshot; consider getting an ‘official’ photograph done with a high-quality digital camera. We remember faces much better than names, so don’t underestimate the importance of this aspect of your profile.

Another way of enhancing relevance is your headline. This could be your job title, but make it more relevant to other users by expressing what you do in a pithy phrase. Aim to be memorable and concise.

Your summary requires more detail. Base this on your elevator pitch to grab your reader’s attention and get as much information across as possible in the minimum time. When adding or updating details of your experience, avoid the temptation to lift material direct from your curriculum vitae or resume. Consider how relevant each experience is to your intended network.

Reliable

Reliability means that information is accurate and verifiable. While ‘more’ is not necessarily ‘better’, make sure that the information you provide is sufficient and accurate with regard to dates and detail. Ensure your profile is as complete as necessary for networking purposes. You should feel in control of the information you release, but the more complete your profile, the higher up you will appear on search results. You can make yourself easier to find by including key words.

If spelling or grammar are not your strong points, get someone you trust in this respect to check your profile and rectify any errors. Verifiable information requires something to back it up so, when making a claim for your skills or experience, accompany it with evidence. For example, if you are stressing your customer-facing skills, make reference to paid work or volunteering which demonstrates them.

Robust

Essentially this means information that can stand the test of time. The advantage of an online statement of your skills and expertise is that you can update it whenever necessary – be prepared to do so. Jacobs (2009) suggests that two hours a week is a realistic time budget for online networking.

Joining relevant groups to network with like-minded people, and approaching people to write recommendations for your profile, can enhance its currency.

Getting closer to your customer through social media 

The growth of social media has not been lost on businesses, with over 80% of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using social media to aid growth in 2016, according to LinkedIn.

Looking at how businesses of all sizes are implementing social media strategies can inspire you with ideas for promoting what you have to offer to your own customers (using this term to denote potential employers, collaborators and/or clients).

An interesting example of how a large company has embraced social media to ‘get closer to [its] customers’ is Maersk Line, which describes itself as the world’s leading container shipping company. Even if you’ve never heard of Maersk, it’s highly likely that it’s played a role in supplying products that you use and consume every day.

In 2011, the Maersk board took a strategic decision to engage with social media in order to strengthen relationships with the companies that use its services to transport goods and materials, confident that this would promote trust and customer loyalty. In an industry facing oversupply and falling prices, Maersk was determined to give its customers a reason for choosing it over others that was not entirely dependent on price. You can see its social media strategy playing out over multiple platforms at Maersk Line.

Professional networkers face similar challenges to those faced by Maersk.

• How can you differentiate yourself from others in a crowded market?
• How can you increase understanding and knowledge of what you have to offer amongst existing and future collaborators and clients?
• How can you harness the strategic potential of social media in the process?

There is much to learn from Maersk’s example. A quick lesson to take away is how the shipping line differentiates its use of different platforms. It sees Twitter as the place to go for immediate access to breaking news, LinkedIn as a site for engaged dialogue with experts, and Facebook as a way of conveying the human side of the organisation. Ships and the sea are highly visual subjects, so Maersk also makes striking use of visually oriented platforms like Flickr and Instagram. In acknowledgement of its global presence, it also runs an account on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like service and the most popular social media platform in China.

Spend some time exploring Maersk’s social media activities. You can comment on them and share examples in the discussion below of how you or your organisation use social media. Alternatively, you can use an example from any organisation or individual whose social media use you find interesting.

Writing for online readers

Building on the experience of our experienced networkers, here is some guidance for effective online writing.

Know your audience

To succeed at any kind of writing it is essential to consider your audience. This is especially the case for networkers seeking to make links online. As you plan what you might write, consider the following questions about your intended readership:

• Who are they?
• When, where, and how they will access your article or blog?
• Why will they want to read it?

The answers to these questions will be different from one networking situation to another, but there are common themes. The people who read your work online are likely to be similar to you in many ways, working (or aspiring to work) in the same industry or a related one. Some may be more experienced than you, but all will be in search of helpful news or insights about professional issues.

As for when, where and how they are likely to access your post or blog, it will most likely be on the move on a smartphone or tablet, in a hurry. This explains Twitter’s popularity, and makes a compelling case for blog posts or articles being as concise as possible. Your audience’s motivation for reading your work will be a search for new information. Help them find what they are looking for with a meaningful title, helpful tags or keywords, and a clear structure.

Make it easy to read

People read online differently from how they read print. Eye-tracking studies reveal that readers skim and scan websites, actively searching out information, rather than using the more linear methods associated with reading printed material.

Make it as easy as possible for your reader. Use short sentences and paragraphs with meaningful subheadings. This is especially important for longer pieces. Ultimately, the length of your article depends on what you’re writing about, but remember your readers will usually be in a hurry, meaning 500–1000 words is as much as they will be prepared to read.

Select your fonts and colours carefully – Sans Serif fonts are easier to read online and you should always try to get a good contrast between the text colour and the background. There’s some great advice on WordPress’s The Daily Post blog.

Write in a way that will connect with your audience and keep them engaged with relevant information. You want your readers to keep coming back and subscribe.

Include pictures

Pictures can also break up text and make it easier to read. A good picture can illustrate your theme and really help to catch your audience’s imagination. If it isn’t an image you have taken yourself, get permission before you use it if it is protected by Copyright law or follow the applicable conditions if it is covered by Creative Commons.

Pick a title to entice readers

Your title and opening lines need to grab your audience’s attention. The title is what will make visitors decide if they will continue reading. Captivating titles asking questions, making promises, or heralding useful lists are popular.

Making it discoverable

Including one or two carefully selected key words in your title can also make you easier for search engines to find. You can use free web tools to analyse which terms feature most frequently in searches. Choosing the right words in your blog or article title and body text will help you connect searchers to your site by the process known as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Select the words on the grounds of being simple and relevant to your subject matter.

This article started by discussing the benefits of online networking and went on to cover how popular social media platforms other than LinkedIn have potential for professional networking, with due regard to the four Ps of online protocol (policy, professional, positive and prioritise).

You went on to create or improve your LinkedIn profile, guided by the three Rs of information quality (relevant, reliable and robust). You saw how engaging in active participation on the platform creates mutual value for networkers. After considering what makes for effective blogging and microblogging, you went on to write a LinkedIn post for optional sharing with other learners.

References

• Bentley, T. (1998) ‘Managing Information: Avoiding Overload’, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Kogan Page.
• Jacobs, G.H. (2009) ‘Online professional networking’, Contract Management, August, pp. 10–14.