??LinkedIn Marketing 101?? What You Need To Know To Make LinkedIn Work In 2024

I was speaking at a hugely popular business event in Huddersfield recently, and I focused my talk on getting the basics right for success on LinkedIn in 2024 . . . namely your LinkedIn Profile.

Now I know you may think LinkedIn profiles aren't the most exciting BUT they are important part of your LinkedIn strategy because they are the foundation to success on LinkedIn.

It is your shop front, people will make a decision instantly about you from your profile and importantly it's your opportunity to get . . . ??NOTICED ??

Plus, your profile is working 24/7 supporting all your other marketing activities, your networking and those lovely word of mouth referrals that make such a difference to our businesses.

Finally, LinkedIn is changing all the time – features come, they go and, in some instances, come back again! So, it’s good to review your profile and ensure your maximising the changes for your business.

This includes how does your profile look on the mobile? LinkedIn recently quoted that 70% of traffic to LinkedIn is now from the mobile. Which means using fewer words and bolder graphics if we want to be seen and noticed.

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LinkedIn Marketing 101 in 2024 . . . Start Here!

1?? View LinkedIn as more than just a social media platform

LinkedIn is the #1 online networking platform and marries beautifully with your face-to-face networking.

"Let's connect on LinkedIn" . . .

It's what we do now isn't it when we're out and about networking, we connect on LinkedIn.

And LinkedIn makes it easier for us to connect by giving us all QR Code associated with your LinkedIn profile.

I’ve downloaded my QR Code as an image and have it on my business cards and other marketing collateral. There was even someone at the expo with it printed on the back of their jacket!

2?? Make The Most of Your Header Banner

The 'Header section' of your profile, right at the top of your profile includes your header banner, photo, name and headline.

And your header banner is a fantastic opportunity to visually say what you do - for example, would you know what these people do from their header banner?

If we remember that 70% of traffic to LinkedIn is form the3 mobile we want bold graphics with fewer words so that your header banner stands out.?

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3?? Your Profile Photo:

I am sure by now you know you need a photo and that it needs to be a photo of just you, but did you also know that you need to be zoomed in on your photo??

People need to be able to identify you from your photo and recognise you.

So in this example, if you're on LinkedIn mobile app, it's really hard to make out Caroline's face from her profile photo below:

4?? Don't Forget Your LinkedIn Headline

In the above example, you can see Caroline's headline is: "Business owner - passionate . . ." and then it truncates and you can't anything else.

So unless you know Caroline would you know what she does from her headline?

You need your most important information within the first 40 characters – take mine for example - just in case you didn't know I do LinkedIn Training ??

5?? Should You Pay For LinkedIn?

Should you pay for LinkedIn is a perennial question. And, at the moment LinkedIn is using a series of sticks and carrots to encourage us to upgrade.

One of the sticks is a limit on the number of personalised connection requests you can send, which makes no sense to me, but that’s LinkedIn for you!

One of the carrots? is having a custom button such as ‘Visit My Website’ OR ‘Book An Appointment’ which is very visible on LinkedIn.?

But with Creator Mode you have the option of adding a link to your header section.

Note: Creator Mode has basically gone, but all that LinkedIn has done is switched it on for everyone so you no longer switch it on and off from your profile.

To add a link using what was Creator Mode, if you edit the Intro section of your profile (the first pencil icon just underneath your header banner) it opens up the window below and if you scroll down you'll find the `Custom Button' option below.

Click on 'Edit Custom Button' and it opens a second window allowing you to add a link AND some link text to customise how the link appears.

The only thing I would say is think about WHERE you sending people off LinkedIn. Send them somewhere specific, for example, a page where they can download your free offer or book a call using a Calendly link or other calender tool.

? 6?? Have A Strong LinkedIn Password

Unfortunately, LinkedIn?does get hacked and basically when that happens you get locked?out of your own account and the hackers go message all of your connections?inviting them to click on a dodgy link.

And because we know?the person or we're connected to them we feel we?trust them, click on the link and hey?ho downloaded some malicious code!

Make sure you've got a secure?password. Check does your password need to be updated and make stronger?

I use a tool called Bitwarden to test the strength of a password.

Go for a key phrase. A series of 2 – 3 words with spaces in between as this takes centuries to crack unlike Hello123 which takes seconds!

Here's a review of the slides from the to give you more ideas

Need more support with your LinkedIn activity?

?? If LinkedIn isn’t working hard for you or you’re not sure where to start with using LinkedIn, email [email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn to chat about how I can help.

Or book a virtual brew here and let’s make LinkedIn work for you . . . ?

Your LinkedIn profile is the foundation to success on LinkedIn so start improving your LinkedIn results today by downloading my free LinkedIn Profile ebook here: https://judithparsons.com/ebook

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I run regular LinkedIn LoveIns which are short 30-minute learnings over lunch, often with guest experts to help improve LinkedIn results. If you'd like to be notified of new events why not join my LinkedIn LoveIn group. You can also find the recordings of previous LoveIns as well as tips and updates: https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/9016385/

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JUDY Parsons Independent LinkedIn? Training & LinkedIn Marketing Mentor

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