How to use LinkedIn effectively for your business

Most of us have had enough of social media. We are getting tired of checking each social media channel daily. Moreover, most people believe that social media channels contain false information. We get it; social media can overwhelm us. However,?LinkedIn?is much more than just another social media network. It is the suit and tie version of Facebook. So, if you want to know how to use LinkedIn effectively for your business, you need to read our tips below.

LinkedIn is a core?digital marketing?channel that should not be underestimated yet many businesses are not taking advantage of this awesome professional platform. It can not only help business professionals grow their brand, but it is great for networking with like minded people, and even finding your new employee.

LinkedIn is great for both individuals and businesses. Individuals can use LinkedIn effectively for their business to build a personal brand and promote their skills whereas companies can leverage it to raise brand awareness, find new leads and manage their recruitment processes. More importantly, you can grow an audience that can help you achieve anything! Companies are still run by people, and people are social beings. When we combine that with professionalism, LinkedIn is a perfect incubator to start new business relations. Here is how!

The 3 most effective ways of using LinkedIn

Now, we will dive deeper into how to use LinkedIn more effectively. By doing so, we are hoping that some of you might stop underestimating the power of LinkedIn. Without further ado, let’s get started!

1- Brand awareness

Let’s start with the definition first. Branding is creating a strong perception of a brand so that when consumers see the brand, they can recognise it immediately. Easier said than done; creating a solid brand requires patience and a lot of investment.

Brand awareness and branding are closely related because they both strongly focus on the recognition factor. Although, brand awareness could be a marketing goal. We need around 5-7 impressions per consumer so that they can recall the brand.

For example, you have a personal brand and have just started marketing. You can set a brand awareness goal such as “I will reach x people y times”. That’s just a perfect example of a smart goal.

LinkedIn would be the?perfect place?to accomplish this marketing goal because the organic reach is still relatively high. LinkedIn’s advertising platform is also worth considering because its targeting options are just spot on. Nothing compared to Facebook or Google, as you can target certain professions.

You might be asking how it is possible to create brand awareness for a B2C business on LinkedIn.?Remember, we are not trying to sell on LinkedIn but to create a brand perception.?For that, you obviously won’t go after reaching out to your clients but rather tell client stories or use cases.

Sometimes, consumers use LinkedIn to reach out to senior managers or even C levels in some brands. Some brands smartly turn these cases into opportunities, such as offering a gift card for the next purchase or free servicing of the goods, etc. These posts can go viral, and the measured brand awareness skyrockets instantly. For us, this is one of the most effective ways to use LinkedIn.

2- Generating leads

Now that we covered brand awareness, the very next effective way to use LinkedIn is rather sales oriented: because this time, we are talking about finding marketing and sales-qualified leads on LinkedIn. Let’s face it though, lead generation in LinkedIn for B2C doesn’t make much sense. But when it comes to B2B businesses, things start to get serious, especially if we are talking about SaaS and technology or solutions in general, such as an HR or an accounting solution.

Well, lead generation on LinkedIn is pretty straightforward. Pre-sales teams would first put together a prospect list of companies. The number of companies added should be closely tight to your revenue goals. Once you get the companies, you can start finding strong candidates from each company to reach out to. So we will create a spreadsheet consisting of companies and contact people.

Next up, we will start pitching our goods or services. If you noticed, first, we created our marketing-qualified leads and then by pitching to those people, we are trying to figure out who are sales qualified. Once we narrow our list down to sales-qualified leads, we can start selling, so as you can see, things can move really fast on LinkedIn. That’s exactly why?lead generation?is one of the best uses on this platform.

3- Recruitment or finding a job

LinkedIn can also be defined as a job marketplace since millions of jobs are created, and people can find and apply for new jobs very effectively. It’s effective because both parties are already there. According to LinkedIn, there are 1.6 million engaged?talent professionals?actively using the platform. Recruiters can use advanced filters to find their next talent out of 740 million plus active members. Thanks to LinkedIn’s in mail technology, once a talent pool is created, talents can be contacted via e-mail. The recruiter panel works like a charm; all the applications can be sorted for further consideration.

As a result, LinkedIn significantly reduces the days-to-fill time, increases workforce diversity and improves hiring accuracy. For job seekers, it’s not very different. Job seekers can do magic and land jobs in no time, even in the free version. That’s why one of the most effective uses of LinkedIn is indeed HR related.

Bonus Use – Networking

We saved the best one for the end. One of the most effective yet easiest uses of LinkedIn is networking. There are groups that we can join and connect with like-minded professionals. When you have a good network on LinkedIn, that can allow you to raise brand awareness, generate leads and recruit people all at the same time.

You can raise brand awareness because the best type of marketing is generally word of mouth, and networking gives you the perfect opportunity to do so. Networking also makes it easy to generate leads because people make purchase decisions based on trust. Once you pitch a product or a service to your network, they would be much more likely to act on that. Networking also works very well for recruitment purposes or, if you are on the other side, job hunting. Since you know people in your network more in-depth, you can have an idea of who could be the right human resource for the position at hand. The best hiring decisions are often based on networking, not job ads.

As you can see, LinkedIn is much more than traditional social media if you start using it effectively. You can hit every stage of the customer journey, awareness, consideration and decision. Besides, it’s a platform full of networking opportunities, and networking can be compelling for business leaders.

Suppose you have been wondering how to use LinkedIn effectively. This is now sorted, and you can start building those valuable connections now.

Are you time-poor and/or not sure where to get started? As usual, we are here for you, just give us a call at 1300 168 311, and we are more than happy to discuss the best strategy for your business.