8 ideas for leveraging LinkedIn for b2b marketers
February 10, 2010 at 9:30 pm 1 comment
LinkedIn is the most obvious of the social media offerings for b2b marketers.
Here’s a few ideas I’ve come up with so far:
- Make sure you look serious. Get an account, connect it to your twitter account, complete your profile and add a photo.
- Search for groups that match your business interest. Request to join active (many members and lots of discussion) groups. Do this for many groups.
- Once you’ve joined a group you can look at the members in that group. Should any of these people be in your network? Invite them.Look at the discussions taking place. Join in. Post new threads and comment on existing ones where you have something to add. Don’t be overtly “salesy” you’ll get kicked out of the group.
- Start your own group if there isn’t one already on your area of interest.
- Post your event in the events section. And tell your network you’ve posted it. Ask people to RSVP.
- Search for other events in your area of interest. Look at who has RSVP’d to that event and invite them to join your network and then your event.
- Search in Answers for questions being posted in your area of interest. Go and answer some (but only if you have something real to say) add your url at the end of the answer. Conversely, post some questions “I’m looking for an expert on email marketing in Melbourne, anyone know anyone?”
- Market you LinkedIn presence. On your email signature, your website, your blog…
Here’s another article on this subject http://www.michaelflavin.com/4-tips-putting-linkedin-to-work-for-b2b-marketers/
Anyone any more tips?
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Jules Phillips | March 15, 2010 at 6:37 am
Hi Sharon, great tips, I’ve got some others to add from a training session I did recently with sales managers..
1. Your profile
Fill out your profile completely, the more information / experience / qualifications that are shown, the more credible a contact you become. Add in the highlights from your CV. Also add a photo, people like to be able to see who they are doing business with.
Unique URL – in LinkedIn you are able to make a linkedin.com/in/yourfullname URL – this also improves your personal search results in Google rankings.
2. Status updates
Use status updates to subtly remind people of what you do, and what you’re working on.
Twitter – make sure if you have a Twitter account that you link it to LinkedIn. This means your status updates in LinkedIn will also be posted in your Twitter account.
3. Your connections
Its very important that you build your network of connections. Quantity doesn’t override quality but its important to show that you aren’t a basic user. Basic users usually haven’t got past connecting with their family, friends and current work colleagues. You need to show you have an extensive personal network.
Find past sponsors and speakers that you have done business with and add them to your network.
The LinkedIn toolbar for Outlook provides an easy way of inviting your Outlook contacts and people you email regularly to connect with you.
When you’re connected to someone you can see their connections (if they haven’t hidden them) go through and look for their suppliers or competitors – and contact them.
4. Recommendations
Your connections can recommend you as a business partner. Send a message to your past sponsors *if you have a good relationship and ask them to recommend you.
Also, give a recommendation in order to receive one as a courtesy.
5. Search function uses:
*People – add specific people to your network and get introduced
*Companies – find new contacts in companies that you haven’t yet broken into
*Groups – join relevant groups for the sectors that you are working in – these are extremely powerful communities
Advanced search function / filter by:
Job title
Company
Industry
Country
6. Groups
Join groups that are relevant to your sector. Use these groups to extend your reach. Eg. Mining in Africa.
Pick the good ones (with lots of members and active discussions) – then become active too.
Invite relevant people within this group to connect with you. Post messages onto the group’s discussion board.
Answer questions that people have posted on the discussion board if its something that you can help with. You can develop a reputation for knowing what you are talking about. Offer your event as a solution to various problems posted by group members
Our groups – the marketing manager for your event will have set up an event group. If you notice that there is a gap in the group space in your industry sector – create your own one.
7. Events section
The marketing manager for your event will have set up an event listing. Look in the events section for competing events and see who is attending them – and contact them too.
8. Answers
There is a Q&A section that you can search within, people ask business related questions and wait for other LinkedIn members to suggest answers
Eg. Q. Can someone recommend a digital agency in South Africa? A. Yes, visit the Internet Show to source digital solution providers…