A Smart LinkedIn Strategy Can Help Generate Leads

A Smart LinkedIn Strategy Can Help Generate Leads:

LinkedIn isn’t just a great networking tool; it’s a powerful Inbound Marketing tool, too. We’re following up last Friday’s post highlighting the basics of LinkedIn with a step-by-step strategy for taking full advantage of LinkedIn as a way to generate traffic to your website and pull in qualified leads.

Step 1. Start slow and aim low. 
Consider getting your feet wet using one of two approaches: 1) Substitute this “online networking” for a piece of your traditional “offline networking” — perhaps a networking event that isn’t producing results; or 2) Set aside 10 minutes after work or first thing in the morning to do LinkedIn tasks (joining groups, updating your profile, making contacts, answering questions, etc.). Be patient: you won’t see results overnight, but with consistent effort, LinkedIn will yield good prospects, referral sources, business partners, and valuable information.

Step 2. Create a solid profile. 
Assuming you already have a LinkedIn account, sign in and click on your profile, then click “Edit.” Fill in important information about past positions, accomplishments, goals, etc. LinkedIn helps you with suggestions for a more complete profile, and you want to keep at it until LinkedIn shows that your profile is complete. Look at other people’s profiles (especially those with lots of connections) to see what kinds of information you might include. And don’t forget about recommendations from peers; it’s critical to your credibility.

Step 3. Add connections. Connect with people in your office, vendors, partners and former coworkers – anyone with whom you’ve worked or knows you professionally. LinkedIn allows you to send a request to connect, and it includes a default message, but don’t take the easy way out – click on the default message and type your own personalized note (i.e., “Hi, Sam – I thought it was about time we connected, since we both know so much about the engineering business and this makes collaboration easy.”) Don’t accept requests from people you don’t know (they’re either trolling for connections or spammers), and the same goes for asking for connections from people you don’t know (don’t do it).

Step 4. Find relevant groups.

• Search for relevant groups by keyword in the LinkedIn search bar; focus first on keywords relevant to your prospects
• Look at the profile of each group that LinkedIn suggests to you. If the group is small (150 or less) and not active, it’s probably a waste of your time; if the group is very large (100,000+ members), you may not stand out
• Look for groups related to trade associations you belong to or conferences you attend
• Look at the groups populated with people with whom you already network.
• Join just a few groups at first and monitor what is being discussed and determine how active they are

Step 5. Weed out groups. 
Eliminate groups that don’t interest you or that don’t generate much activity. The goal is to find just a few that have enough activity by the right people to make it worth your while. Adding and weeding out groups takes some time at first, but slows down once you find where you truly fit.

Step 6. Start to comment. 
After you’ve followed a few groups for a while, you’ll get a feel for what a good comment looks like: cordial, concise, valuable…and not overly self-promotional! If your comment is all about you and your company, it’s too much. You’re trying to establish relationships and credibility, not sell (do the relationships part well and the sales will follow).

Step 7. Start discussions
. After a while you’ll see which discussions have ongoing interest and attract comments and you can start discussions yourself. One of the best ways is to ask a question. But don’t just ask the question and watch from the sidelines; respond respectfully and encourage further interaction with additional questions. Your engagement is how people learn your name and understand your value.

Step 8. Share content. 
Now it’s time to share relevant content with your groups. This content can be a blog post, article, survey results, white paper or PowerPoint presentation — anything you can link to. Make it relevant to an ongoing discussion or tie it directly to a question you asked in order to start a discussion. Don’t just promote your latest blog post (unless it’s relevant to a discussion); it comes across as promotional and will dilute your credibility. Content doesn’t even have to be your own (though that’s ideal) – by providing valuable content, regardless of the source, you become recognized as a valuable contributor prospects will seek out.

Step 9. Deepen relationships. 
Your strategy should now be resulting in new prospects because you’re engaging with potential clients, referral sources and business partners. Feel free now to initiate an email exchange using the LinkedIn email, and try to set up a casual meeting or simply talk about opportunities to work together. Most everyone on LinkedIn is there to connect, so chances are you’ll get a positive response.