With approximately 675 million monthly active users[1], LinkedIn is an excellent resource for your business to connect with other professionals across the globe. While there are many social channels available to use for business growth, but growing your network on LinkedIn can be massively beneficial because it focuses heavily on B2B connections.
Growing your network on LinkedIn means connecting with others in your industry and even those who are not but may serve as excellent leads and be a source of referrals.
Making the right type of connections is critical for your career success. Connections should be meaningful interactions that build relationships.
There is a right way to connect with others on LinkedIn. To effectively grow your network, there are a few basic guidelines to follow.
Optimise your profile
When your profile is complete and appears professional, the immediate impression you give is going to be a positive one. You want your profile to be ready for visitors. If a potential connection decides to visit your profile with the intention to connect, you want them to arrive at a profile that looks professional and well-tended. Not only does this reinforce your standards, it also instils a sense of confidence in the person who wishes to connect with you.
Identify your Targets
On LinkedIn, your targets are not just those to whom you wish to sell your products or services. Create connections with other professionals and businesses you hope to partner with, and aim to connect with industry leaders who can be a valuable learning resource.
Connect with thought leaders, people who post content you find interesting or helpful. Engage with content posted by all of these groups and increase your exposure. This will support your network growth.
Get Personal
When you want to connect with another user, make it personal by adding a note with your connection request. Instead of simply asking to connect, elaborate on why you want to connect. How do you know them? How will both parties benefit by connecting? Adding a personal touch to your connection request will make it clear that you are actively interested in an authentic and mutually beneficial connection.
Post Regularly
Keep up appearances by posting regularly. Showing others you are active in your industry will improve your reputation and increase the likelihood that others will view your content as well as your profile.
When your existing connections engage with your posts by liking, commenting, or sharing, their connections have the opportunity to see your profile too. This is why finding the right connections is so important; if a person or business is not directly related to your work, they may have connections who are. If those indirect connections like what you share, they may be inclined to connect with you directly, which will ultimately grow your network.
Interact with Connections
When your connections post content that you find interesting and enjoyable, tell them. Like their post, share it, or comment. Not only is this considerate and helpful for them, it also helps to increase your exposure and encourages further interaction.
Very often we tend to mindlessly scroll through social media sites until something grabs our attention. Try to avoid such behaviour on LinkedIn. Instead, pay attention to what your connections are doing and who they are connecting with.
Leverage other Channels
Every social platform you use offers the opportunity to create a concise, informative bio about your business. Increase engagement with your LinkedIn profile by adding its URL to your other social bios. Potential connections who find your business on a site like Facebook or Instagram will see your LinkedIn URL and may be eager to connect.
Take it a step further by adding your LinkedIn URL to content you share on social channels.
Add Keywords
Add relevant keywords to both your profile and your shared content. Not only does this boost your ranking on LinkedIn’s own search pages, it also increases your ranking on wider reaching search engines, like Google and Bing.
Request an Intro
Ask your existing connections to introduce or refer you to their connections. Users are more likely to accept a request to if they can see you have mutual connections.
Set Realistic Goals
Be realistic in setting your goals for growth and identifying targets, and approach them professionally. Impressive network growth may not happen overnight, but if you follow the steps outlined above and are consistent with your LinkedIn presence, then steady growth is likely over time.
While building your network, don’t forget about your existing connections. Essential to gaining and retaining more connections is improving your overall reputation as a business and standing tall as success-oriented, forward-thinking business that can offer benefits for anyone who chooses to connect.
If you’d like more information on LinkedIn or support setting up a LinkedIn strategy for your business, please reach out to us at Mint Content – get in touch.
Sources:
[1] Cooper, P., 2020. 16 Linkedin Statistics That Matter To Marketers In 2019. [online] Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. Available at: <https://blog.hootsuite.com/linkedin-statistics-business/> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
