80% of BtoB leads generated on social networks come from LinkedIn. 80%! Yet, at all levels, many people neglect their business and don’t think about developing their LinkedIn network. The reasons? “Too time-consuming”, “my audience is not there”, “not the experience of the network”, “I do not like to network”…
Yet, LinkedIn can be a powerful lever for your career and your business.
1. It’s not that time-consuming to develop your LinkedIn network
In fact, you can develop your network in 20 minutes a day. 20 minutes with an incredible return on investment!
Because in those 20 minutes a day, you can :
- Reach numerous people with posts that land on their news feed.
- Make yourself visible by posting relevant comments.
- Approach 80 to 100 prospects per day.
- Meet new people and create partnerships.
Not to mention the fact that it’s a great opportunity to exchange on common interests and a good way to develop a file of interesting contacts.
All you need is a simple 20-minute daily routine, a clear strategy, and you’re on your way to generating hundreds of qualified leads per month.
2. Developing your LinkedIn network doesn’t have to be about sending invitations and automation
Yes, we at Waalaxy, the automation tool for LinkedIn, say that. Developing your network isn’t done. Quality is as important as quantity. In fact, there are other ways to develop your network on LinkedIn than just sending invitations:
- Post relevant comments on publications that interest you.
- Follow and visit profiles in your industry or potential prospects to draw their attention to your profile.
- Publish relevant content, talk about your business, and address your prospects’ issues.
Get your first customers this week
Take advantage of the power of Waalaxy to generate leads every day. Start prospecting for free, today.
3. Your professional showcase on the internet to find clients or get the attention of recruiters
In general, if someone searches for you by your first and last name on a search engine, the first result will be your LinkedIn profile. This is your professional front page on the internet.
Now, I’m not going to say that having “+500 connections” on your profile makes THE difference. But it shows that you are professionally invested and lets your visitors believe that you can have reach in your professional network.
In any case, the larger your LinkedIn network and the more optimized your profile, the more your company’s name will be associated with your profile in Google searches (especially if you are in a company with a small workforce). An opportunity to gain visibility on your person.
I still remember when we started to publish on LinkedIn: all the people around us and the entrepreneurial ecosystem we met said “wow, your business is growing, I saw your publications on LinkedIn”. But nothing had changed, we were just making public things that were not public before!
4. Develop your LinkedIn network to test a market
What better network than LinkedIn if you are selling to companies to test a market, an idea or a target? We use it daily for this purpose!
On LinkedIn, you can address a specific target by doing a qualified search, with a specific invitation and message.
You have an idea for a product you want to test? Just create a dedicated landing page to offer to sign up for a beta release, send an invitation campaign to the potential target on LinkedIn, and you’re done.
You want to test a new pitch? A new target? New sales techniques? And then iterate on other channels (advertising, cold calling, emailing, trade shows…)? Run a targeted campaign with an automation tool to measure your performance. You will get incredibly rich and qualified data. You will interact with your potential customers (rule #1), who will give you feedback on your approach and your product.
5. Expand your LinkedIn network
The competition is not tough if you want to prospect and expand your network
Unlike social networks like Facebook or Instagram, where competition for visibility is tough, LinkedIn is still an under-exploited network when it comes to content creation and publishing. It is very easy, with a few tricks and good content, to get thousands of views on publications and attract the right people. 👀
And who says thousands of views, says hundreds of potential customers and new contacts. To discover these tips, you can sign up on Groowster.co’s academy, where dozens of tips on lead generation via LinkedIn are shared.
6. Algorithms are simple and forgiving
In recent years, professional social networks have tightened their algorithms to limit the organic reach of posts and favor ads. This will probably happen soon enough with LinkedIn.
But today it is possible to easily make thousands of views by respecting the standards of publications and by using “pods”. Pods are groups of engagements intended to make the algorithm believe that your post is very popular. You can therefore, by publishing 2 to 3 times a week, get maximum visibility for your business and your product.
7. Generate leads
I’ve been talking about it since the beginning of this article: LinkedIn is the social network to find new BtoB customers. Today, LinkedIn has 600 million users, including a very large share of decision-makers. Chances are, your customers are there!
To find out, all you have to do is perform a few keyword searches to find YOUR prospects, then start sending invitations and follow-up messages. Manually if you’re a bit of a masochist, or with an automation tool like Waalaxy if you want to save time and like simplicity.
8. Create (professional) relationships on LinkedIn
If your customers are not there, your potential partners are.
Obviously, not all types of customers are there. It all depends on who your targets are.
If you address hairdressers or archaeologists, it is true that they are not numerous. On the other hand, you can find investors, mentors, entrepreneurs, potential partners… And you have to make yourself known to them too!
Because we are all victims of the “exposure effect”, a persistent cognitive bias that shows that the more we are exposed to something, the more likely we are to like it. Maybe these people, if not buying your product, will recommend it.
9. Boost engagement on your LinkedIn network
LinkedIn is a professional network. However, you can talk about any topic. Obviously, it’s not about saying you just met the woman of your life or posting your vacation photos in Malaysia.
But you can talk about political, cultural, marketing strategy, economic, societal and even personal topics (your motivations, your opinion on a debate, your problems…). So many topics to address to publish and make yourself known.
10. The human prefers the human
Unlike Facebook or Instagram (still them) on which brands communicate in their brand name, LinkedIn is above all a social network based on people.
Company and brand pages have little organic reach. Content is published and shared by “people” accounts. This is the strength of this social network that allows you to develop a reputation around a particular profile and work on your “personal branding”. This is an opportunity to create real relationships with other users, who may soon be new customers or new ambassadors for your brand.
So now you know why you need to use LinkedIn.
FAQs: How do I use LinkedIn well?
Have a fixed goal when using LinkedIn.
For example, if you’re looking for a job, then gear your profile to the position in question and post quality content to set yourself apart from other candidates online.
Always offer more than your competitors to build a handpicked network.
How do you build a professional LinkedIn network and reputation?
- Update your LinkedIn profile to stand out.
- Add B2b users that match your target on LinkedIn.
- Follow groups and #s that interest you.
- Learn what you need to know about the LinkedIn algorithm.
- Clarify your purpose on the network.
- Find out how to send automated personalized messages for free.
- Publish your own content to build your brand.
There you go, developing your LinkedIn network no longer holds any secrets for you!
