As a B2B business owner, you’ve no doubt heard of LinkedIn before. Perhaps you’ve even made a professional profile, but you don’t log on very often. You already have accounts on other social media platforms. What’s the big deal with LinkedIn?
While LinkedIn is a social media networking site, it’s different from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It’s a place for professionals to connect. It has more than 756 million users in more than 200 countries around the world. Many of the members on the platform use it to advance their careers and grow their businesses.
It’s not enough to create a professional LinkedIn profile and gather a few contacts. Being active on the platform is what’s going to help you grow your B2B business, especially when you act with a clear purpose. In this article, we’re going to share several ways you can make the most of LinkedIn.
How to Network on LinkedIn
Connections are everything on LinkedIn. More specifically, relevant contacts are everything. A strong network can help you build your professional relationships, unlock new opportunities, and grow your B2B business.
Several other benefits come from growing your professional network on LinkedIn:
- Your business becomes more visible in LinkedIn search results
- You can get more profile views
- You increase your endorsements
- Your content reaches more people
So, how do you make connections on LinkedIn? Start with people you know. When you send a request, make sure to include a brief message. If the person doesn’t recognize your profile immediately, the message should remind them of who you are. Once you connect with someone on LinkedIn, you can see their profile and send private messages. You can also view their contacts, which can help you make additional relevant connections.
How to Reach Out to Prospects on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great place to find and reach out to prospects for your B2B business. Before you start reaching out, though, you want to make sure you optimize your profile for lead generation. After all, your LinkedIn profile is likely a prospect’s first stop after you contact them. That will give them an idea of who you are and whether or not they want to take the next step to network or begin building a relationship.
Now, where do you find prospects? One of the easiest is to start with the search function. With a basic search, you can enter specific keywords, such as a person’s name or the name of a business. You can then refine your results by applying filters such as “people,” “jobs,” or “companies.” If you want to narrow down your results even more, click on “All Filters” and select options such as “location,” “industry,” or “service category.”
Another option to consider is upgrading to LinkedIn Sales Navigator. With this paid option, you can set specific search preferences, such as geographic location, industries, and business size. These filters then allow you to find relevant prospects. Sales Navigator offers unlimited searches, the ability to save searches, and get notified when new prospects matching your search criteria appear in the system.
Other ways to find prospects include:
- Seeing who’s viewed your profile
- Checking out the “people also viewed” section of your current contacts’ profiles
- Going through members of groups you’re in
- Looking at your competition’s contacts
After you find prospects, it’s time to reach out. You may feel awkward at first, but here are some things you can do to try and break the ice
- Engage with their content first
- Respond to what they say in group discussions
- Try to get introduced by a mutual connection
- When sending a message, highlight what you like about their work, mention something from one of their posts, or share relevant news or metrics you think might interest them
Post Professional Content
Using LinkedIn, you can create and share professional content. You can post media such as text, images, and videos that you’ve created yourself. Some examples include client case studies, conference photos, or promotional videos for new products Or, you can share content from someone else. Sharing quality content helps to increase your visibility. It also enables you to establish yourself as an industry thought leader.
When it comes to posting content, you can publish it directly on LinkedIn. Alternatively, you can publish content on your company’s blog and create LinkedIn posts that include links that lead back to your website.
In addition to sharing content on your professional profile, you can also share information, articles, and more in group discussions. Anything you share should be relevant to your business and provide something of value for the readers and viewers.
How to Find New Employees on LinkedIn
LinkedIn isn’t just for connecting with other businesses and finding new prospects. With so many professionals on the platform, it’s also the perfect place to find and hire employees. One way to go about this is to ask your current connections for recommendations. Alternatively, you can search for potential candidates by job title, industry, location, current company, and other filters.
Your other option for finding potential employees is to use LinkedIn Recruiter. With this subscription, you can expand your searches, apply specific filters, and take advantage of recommendations. You can then reach out to potential candidates using InMail. You can also use LinkedIn’s Job Posting function to create a detailed job description, reach qualified candidates, and review your applicants.
Keep Up with Industry Trends
Staying on top of the latest trends in your industry is vital for staying relevant and building upon your current expertise. It’s also essential for maintaining the trust and respect of your connections. Pay attention to (and engage with) the posts your professional contacts create. Join groups related to your niche. Keep tabs on your competition to see what they’re doing. Investing in quality relationships and staying up-to-date with the current happenings in your industry can help you grow into a connected and respected business leader.
Grow Your Professional Network and B2B Business with LinkedIn
Using LinkedIn, you can expand your network of connections, find and contact new prospects, and even recruit top talent for open positions within your company. When you make the most of your LinkedIn account, you can expand your network and grow your business.
If you need help generating leads or growing your network on LinkedIn, Cleverly is here for you. Schedule your free consultation today to learn more.
