Tips and ideas on how to make the most of your LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn is a platform used by professionals across the globe. It was estimated that in 2018 around 500 million people had a LinkedIn profile, 250 million of these are active users.

LinkedIn is a great platform that allows you to connect with industry professionals and share relevant content. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to connect with those people involved in the decision-making process, people you wouldn’t normally have access to.

This blog will help you make the most of your LinkedIn profile.

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ADVANTAGES OF LINKEDIN

There are many advantages to having a profile if you are a B2B business. This is the platform company professionals will use - it is proven to be one of the most effective for product launches, for example.

If you need new staff, LinkedIn gives you access to a pool of people looking for jobs with millions of online CVs so you can handpick your candidates.

With LinkedIn you are also not restricted with regards to content. Your profile can support articles, blogs, personal images and studies that have been conducted. These features are particularly appealing in the pharmaceutical industry, and any industry in fact, because it gets people interested in your profile and your company.

There are many advantages to using LinkedIn, but a simple mishap can mean your profile doesn’t take off and gets lost in a sea of other company profiles. If you are worried your profile isn’t gaining traffic, there are simple things you can do to make sure you stay relevant. Let's look at a few things to consider.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN USING LINKEDIN

BE PROFESSIONAL

As a business, you will have an image/logo which will be the way people will see your company, usually consistent throughout your social media platforms. Your company profile image needs to be professional; a company logo instead of your profile picture or gravatar.

KNOW YOUR CONNECTIONS

Know who you are connecting with as you only want to connect with people who are interested in your company and what you sell. Having family friends isn’t necessarily important for a company profile unless they are actively engaging with you.

BUILD A RELATIONSHIP

When you are connecting with people make it feel personal and make that person feel like it’s important to you that you have them as a connection. Try and relate the connection message to something on their profile. It doesn’t need to be personal, just change it from the generic message you often see. Sometimes being quick and not taking the time can have a negative effect, your connection can be reported as spam. If this happens too many times your profile can be restricted.

DON’T BE FORCEFUL

Be careful with how you treat your connections because you might end up losing them. These people have connected with you so they can see your content when they choose. Don’t start sending sales pitches in a personal message because this is almost guaranteed to lose your connections.

TAKE PRIDE IN COMPANY ACHIEVEMENTS

Use your profile to show everything your company can offer and make sure your summary is detailed. Try not to leave anything out, make it clear that your business is the one people should be engaging with, rather than your competitor's. Make the most of what LinkedIn will let you do. Don’t leave anything blank, include your website link, say how many people work for you, explain your industry and tell them what you specialise in.

TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOU DO

Make it clear to your audience what the company does, you can use the “industry and specialities” sections in the about tab or you can use the summary to help you convey this message. The best way to tell your audience what you do is through your content because this is what will show on their feed.

ALWAYS PROOFREAD

Check your posts via a grammar-checking tool! Getting a post on your LinkedIn profile correct is just as important as getting a whitepaper accurate. There cannot be any spelling or grammar mistakes because it can be interpreted as lazy and untrustworthy. Mistakes can be corrected later, of course, but you don’t want to have to do this. Check all your links and images. Don’t post broken links if you do your post is effectively irrelevant.

BE SURE TO HAVE YOUR CUSTOMER IN MIND

Think about your followers and remember you are working from a company profile. Content that you find interesting might not have the same effect on your connections. Posting the right content will get you more engagement. Don’t post to your business account what you would post on your personal account.

DON’T FORGET TO SCHEDULE

Don’t neglect your profile, you can’t forget about your connections once you have them engaged. Posting regular content is important, making at least one post a day will help you stay relevant. Don’t make lots of posts all on the same day at the same time because the first content you post will get lost on your own page.

NOT ALL UPDATES ARE RELEVANT

Be careful when updating your profile, updates like opening a new office are ones that you want to be sharing on your page, but you don’t want people seeing every time you update your profile picture. Make sure your notifications are turned off when you are making updates otherwise it will continue popping up on the timeline which some people may find irritating.

RESPOND TO COMPLAINTS IN PRIVATE

Know what you are saying, social media is an easy way to attack companies and people will try to do so. Be sure to respond in the correct way if this happens to your business. If a customer is complaining about a product on your page reply to them in an appropriate manner. For example: “We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you, message us privately and we will look to resolve this.” Don’t start arguing with your customers on your page.

LESS IS MORE

Sometimes having short and snappy content will work better than lots of information. You are aiming at industry professionals who have long days and busy schedules they don’t have all day to look on social media. Making your posts short will get a better response.

LOOK TO GENERATE LEADS

If your objective is to gain leads, then LinkedIn is a platform that makes this very simple with a feature called groups. First, check to see if there are any groups for your industry if there isn’t then create one this way you know the people who are joining the group are interested in your industry.

YOU’RE NOT INVISIBLE

Everyone wants to see what their competitors are doing but remember you’re not invisible. If you don’t change your settings then all the pages you visit will know you have been there. Do the following for the LinkedIn account that is connected to your company profile.

• Go into the settings click on privacy,

• Locate “how others see your LinkedIn activity” on the left-hand side and click on it,

• Go to profile viewing options and press change

• Select anonymous LinkedIn member.

WHY DO PEOPLE USE LINKEDIN?

Social media is a growing element of digital marketing and used on a regular basis - a social media benchmarking strategy is recommended to kick things off. LinkedIn is a great place for B2B businesses that don’t want to be disturbed by posts that have no relevance. It is also a great method to get connected with industry professionals.

If you want to grow your profile, then you need to do it right because simple mistakes will make you look unprofessional against the other businesses. LinkedIn is a competitive platform which you must get right to stay at the top of your field.