Did you know that LinkedIn is a hidden gem?

Among all the social media platforms out there, LinkedIn may not be the most popular one. But if you know how to use it in the right way, this power-packed social media platform will benefit your business in ways you never knew about.

LinkedIn, with currently over 610 million members, is not all about professional networking and job searches. Yes, professionals do use it to find employees and grow their networks, but LinkedIn can also be used to grow businesses. Adding this social media platform to your digital marketing strategy will make a mark of your brand amongst the professionals that you would surely want to connect with.    

Here are 7 LinkedIn marketing hacks you can incorporate to expand your reach, build connections and grow your business.

1. Optimize your profile and Company Page

A LinkedIn profile is your personal profile as well as all the other employees working in your company. All these profiles put together is what will make help your company appear across as a trustable brand not only to potential customers but to other competitors as well.

LinkedIn is an excellent platform where you can showcase your experience and achievements. Here are a few tips to help you make your profile stand out from the rest:

• Make your headline eye-catching
• Also, choose a great photo (a professional looking one, I suggest)
• Take out some time and write an outstanding profile summary
• Highlight all your skills and achievements
• Show your numbers regarding past results
• Include recommendations
• Attach articles, PDFs, case studies or images that show your performance

Your profile is the pathway for people to first connect with you and then ultimately with your company. So, the information that you display here will play a vital role in building connections for the company.

Bonus Tip: Keep coming back to your profile to add new skills, achievements and milestones. Why hide all of that hard work from your audience?

Update your Company Page
When was the last time you updated your company page? Was it when you set up the page for the first time?

Well, it’s time to go back and give it a review.

92% of Fortune 500 companies use LinkedIn to build connections. I am sure that you don’t want to be left behind on that matter.

Are you thinking - “Do I need both a Personal Profile and a Company Page?”

Yes, you do.

A profile page is your personal page managed just by you, written in a particular tone. On the other hand, the company page can be managed by more than one people working in the company and helps in giving a broader visibility to the company itself. 

Just keep in mind that LinkedIn has character limits, so prepare your description likewise. Also, include your keywords in your content for a better search result. Upload a professional picture, not just a random one. But make sure that it is consistent throughout the page. And not only in LinkedIn, but your images, colors and the brand story should match with the content present in other social media platforms as well.

Bonus Tip: Write your headline in a way that will attract customers to hit that click button. Also, add your valid location so that when potential customers come looking, they can easily find you.

2. Find Targeted Customers and Build Connections

LinkedIn is one of the most reliable places where you can find and connect with potential customers and build trustworthy connections.

LinkedIn provides Sponsored Content ads that allow you to reach out to those audiences that take an interest in your company but may not be able to find you through a random search. These ads give you detailed information like age, gender, location, job title, experience, skill sets, etc. about your potential audience. You can then run similar ads to various kinds of audiences by dividing them into targeted groups.  

3. Post Engaging Quality Content

Ok, your profile is set up, your company page is optimized, and you have your target audience listed.

So, what’s the next step?

Start with sharing content. Content that is top-notch in quality, engaging and interactive.

In LinkedIn, there are various post types available – articles, images and videos. Make use of these post types. My recommendation would be to write an eye-catching headline, give a brief preview and then link it to your blog site. This way, you can direct the traffic to your actual website as well. Or, upload motivational images and videos to catch your audience’s attention.

3 million LinkedIn users share content weekly. This means that you have a lot of competition around you. So, you have to ensure that your content is different from the rest and is providing actual valuable information to the readers.

4. Join Targeted Groups

One suggestion that I strongly request you to follow would be to search for groups related to your niche and join them. By doing so, you will be able to connect with similar thinking professionals. 

This is an excellent way for your business to learn what other business owners are talking about, what their mindset is and get some professional advice. Also, you can add in your thoughts and create a healthy interactive environment.

Some professionals have built their entire businesses with just the help of this. So, how can you benefit?

Well, when you join a group, you get to add your website URL there. Then, when other people join this group, the first thing they see will be your URL and your information. This drives traffic to your site and generates potential leads. With consistent quality content over time and effective interaction, this can surely benefit your business.

5. And Create Your Own Group as Wells

On top of joining existing groups, you can create your own groups as well. This way, you can ensure that the group that you create will cater your targeted niche only. 

When you create your own group, it gives you an opportunity to stand out as a leader in your domain.

To invite as many prospects as you can, you first need to make use of the groups that you have already joined. LinkedIn allows you to join up to 50 groups. You need to find prospects within these groups by working on the Members page. When you get to the Members list, note down the prospects with respect to their job titles and then send them requests to join your group. When they accept the invitation, your group will be filled with members that you handpicked.

So, now the content, advice and anything that you share there will be heard by these targeted prospects which in turn, will aid you in generating leads and boosting your company.

Conclusion

In this age of competition, finding potential leads can be a daunting task. Nevertheless, be assured that if you incorporate LinkedIn tools into your marketing strategy, then this very daunting task will slowly vaporize to become an assured lead generation tool.

Remember that it is very vital to keep adding fresh content to your page. By fresh, I mean profile content that gives your brand a story and will entice customers towards you. Your story should mirror how your company was formed, who your company is, what you do, and what you can provide for them. Content marketing is one form of marketing that will always be a definite way to show your consistency in the digital world. And in LinkedIn, the story is the same.

LinkedIn is an under-rated yet a powerful platform that will help you to achieve your business goals. Take out some time and make LinkedIn an integral part of your business’s digital marketing plans and the fruits will surely start to show soon.