You already know this: as an entrepreneur, it’s crucial to have a social media presence. Depending on the sector you’re working in, LinkedIn might be the perfect channel to build your presence. But Amongst all social media channels, LinkedIn is known as the professional one. People are using LinkedIn for professional purposes, like looking for a new job or post jobs to find new talent, but also to stay updated on the latest business trends, get inspired and get some business help. So with a good presence you can raise your and your business visibility, build relationships and maybe find your next customers. how can you use this channel to make your visibility go to the next level?
There are two important aspects when it comes to LinkedIn: your profile and your activity. Your profile is the first thing you want to work on, it’s like your digital resume. It’s the first thing people see when they want to contact you so you better optimize it to make that good first impression.
Want to make a good first impression?
Once your profile is updated, it’s time to work on your activity. Only your activity will help you being visible and build your presence. You might think: there are so many people active on LinkedIn, how am I going to be more visible and reach the right people with my content? Well, let us explain you in 3 steps:
1. Build your network
If you want your content to be seen, you must start by building your network. Make connections with people you know, colleagues, ex-colleagues, customers but also with people you don’t know yet. Whether it’s someone you’d like to do business with or thought leaders in your industry to get inspired, ask them to connect with you in order to see each other’s content. Little tip: you can add a personal note when you send an invitation to connect, do so! It will make your approach more personal and break the ice for future conversations. You can also join groups which can be interesting for you and your business, or even follow competitors to stay alert on their activity.
2. Be active
Your network is growing, it’s time to be active and share your expertise. By publishing posts, writing articles and engage with other people’s content, you’ll be able to demonstrate your expertise, interests and communicate with relevant people for your business. If you want to boost your visibility on LinkedIn, you must be aware that some factors can help you following LinkedIn’s algorithm. LinkedIn algorithm will, among other things, decide whether your content will be shown on people’s newsfeed or not. Obviously, we don’t know exactly know how this algorithm works, but here are some tips & tricks to maximize your chances to be visible! Next to a strong profile and an important network, you can:
- Interact
To interact is crucial for your visibility. LinkedIn wants his members to communicate, engage and share on professional topics because that’s what makes the channel so interesting. Interact with content you like by sharing, liking or even better, by commenting it. Comment is the most powerful engagement for LinkedIn and will give a lot more visibility to the content you comment compared to likes and shares. Why? When you comment, you start a conversation and that’s what LinkedIn strives for. Another way to interact is to send out private messages to people you want to discuss with.
- Personalize your content
To make people want to stop on your content while scrolling their newsfeed, you should make your content appealing. Put the focus on your picture or video, that’s the first thing people look at. Make it personal, be authentic, that’s what people are looking for. Pictures/videos of you, at your office, working on your business, with clients or colleagues will work better than high-end branded visuals or stock images. Tell your story, explain your passion instead of selling your business in an impersonal way. If your content is personal, people will take time to look at it and interact with it, which will increase your visibility. Post content regularly but don’t post too much – not more than once a day.
- Use #
Hashtags will boost the visibility of your content by reaching people you’re not connected with but who might show interest in what you’re telling.
How does it work? Every profile on LinkedIn can follow hashtags. The hashtags people follow will be directly linked with its interests. For example, someone in the event sector will be following, #eventmanagement, #communication or #promotion.
Now, think the other way around. When you communicate about your brand, think of who you’d like to reach and add hashtags they might be following. Watch out, those hashtags have to make sense with your content and your business. To stay relevant and build your visibility, pick up a few hashtags that you can use on a regular basis according to your brand and your target group. If you’re not sure which hashtag to use, type them in the search bar on LinkedIn and you’ll see how many followers that hashtag aggregates. The more followers, the bigger the chances to reach more people.
3. Measure
Now that you know how to be more visible, don’t forget to measure your efforts. To do so, you can check 3 indicators. The first indicator is the amount of views your publications generate. You can see that underneath your post. Compare different publications and see which one had the most views. It will help you understand what kind of publication works best for you and your network.
The second indicator you can measure is your social selling index. The social selling index is an indicator on how effective you’re using LinkedIn based on 4 factors. Learn more about the social selling index here (www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi). This index is updated daily and will increase if you’re applying the advices given above. The third indicator is the number of connections you have. Let your network grow, it will increase your visibility as well. Check these 3 indicators regularly to keep your efforts on track and motivate yourself to continue being active on LinkedIn!
Conclusion
LinkedIn is the professional social media channel, where people are actively looking for business solutions. Don’t wait, optimize your profile and stay active following the advice given above. You will see a difference in visibility and can start building interesting relationships for your business!
