7 Powerful Steps To Leverage Linkedin in 2014
Over the past few years, Linkedin has really separated itself from other Social Media Networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Its current user base exceeds 259 Million and with over 2.1 Million interest groups within Linkedin, and a new sign up number of 172,000/day, it is a significant channel that should be on your promotion short list in 2014.
Assuming you are active on multiple social media channels, your website is likely getting visitors from these sites. One of the key differentiators I found is that the audience visiting your site from Linkedin tends to be predominantly business focused.
With so much to offer, the question becomes, how can you leverage Linkedin for your business in 2014?
Here are 7 Powerful Steps to Leverage Linkedin in 2014.
1) Understand visitor-to-lead conversion by social channel:
If you are using Google Analytics, you can easily set up a custom reporting dashboard that shows you Goal Conversions such as leads form submissions, newsletter sign-ups or coupon downloads, all broken down by channel. You will be able to see how many leads came in from Paid Search, Organic Search, Referral Traffic, Direct Traffic as well as the Social traffic. If you click on Social traffic, the report will drill down to show you all the specific social media channels (Linkedin, Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Yelp, etc.) contributing to visitors and conversions on your website. Statistically, it is known that Linkedin has a 3 times higher visitor-to-lead conversion ratio compared to Facebook or Twitter. Armed with this information, you can redirect your Social Media Strategy to get the biggest bang for your buck. If the strategy above sounds a bit too “technical” just send me a note and I’ll be happy to walk you through the steps.
2) Write posts to ensure high visibility at opportune times:
Most users write posts expecting a level of engagement and are disappointed when no one cares or comments on their posts. You need to build a simple habit to ensure the highest possible visibility for each of your posts and updates. Here is an easy tip to increase the response rate: try posting during the week, Monday to Friday, especially during morning hours when viewers are most engaged. The opposite is true for Twitter. If you want to get more engagement and visibility on Twitter, you should post in the evenings and weekends. In addition, make sure everything you post on Linkedin provides value or could be of interest to the audience. In other words, the content, from a business standpoint, is key, whereas the other channels (Facebook/Twitter) allow for a more personal or casual approach. [see point # 4 for details].
3) Increase OR decrease the frequency of posts:
I often see a business contact of mine using Hootsuite or other auto-posting tools to post every hour on Linkedin. The repetitiveness of seeing his picture on my newsfeed that many times causes me to ignore his posts, even though they may be pertinent. This creates a diminishing returns scenario because most groups you are a part of on Linkedin will move your post over to a promotions area if they think you are spamming. The lesson here is to avoid looking “spammy” with your posts, and not to use auto-post sites. The ideal number is 20-30 posts a month, which will allow you to reach about 60%-70% of your audience. You don’t have to worry that people are not logged in and checking their newsfeeds at the exact moment you post. The social media channels have overcome this and they cycle through posts. This is the reason you will see a post on the top of your newsfeed that may have been posted several hours ago.
4) Know your audience:
Instead of going out and finding anything and everything to fill your posting goal for the month, take some time to really figure out what your members are interested in. As a general rule of thumb, and if you have been connecting with the right people on Linkedin for your particular business/industry, you will find that 60% of the members are interested in Industry Insights and 40% of the members are interested in new Products and Services. Use this knowledge to prepare a plan on what to post and when to post it, in order to cater to the needs of all your followers.
5) Include Links and Images with your posts to drive up to 200% more engagement:
Linkedin makes it quite easy for you to paste links in the status updates. It even displays a thumbnail of the page you will end up at – if you click on the link. I have always found that if you write a great headline in your post and link it back to your blog or a page on your site, you can bring that traffic to your website. Assuming your site has been built with visitor-to-lead conversion in mind, you have the home court advantage to convert that visitor into a lead.
6) Link to YouTube Videos:
A popular stat I read a while back said 1 in 8 people make a decision on purchasing a product or signing up for a service after watching a video. It does help that a majority of the population are visual learners. If your company or you have a YouTube channel, linking to YouTube videos will result in a 75% higher share rate. Remember, you can track how many of the visitors from YouTube came back to your site using that report from Google Analytics that I spoke about in my first point. If you want to get more complex and discuss attribution (how much weight to give to the Linkedin Post and how much weight to give to the YouTube Video in order to do lead attribution models), well… that is for another post. J
7) Be original:
Sharing content from others about your industry is great, however if you want to build a level of credibility or authority for yourself, you have to be able to produce original content. If you or someone at your company can produce that content, you are well on your way. Here it is by the numbers:
- 61% of consumers have made a purchase based on a blog post that they read.
- 60% of consumers feel positive about a company after reading its blog.
- 70% of consumers learn about a company through its blog versus ads.
If you are not already leveraging Linkedin, or, after having read my post, want to make this a new resolution, then follow the 7 powerful steps I have outlined above to get ahead of the competition. If you have other ways that you feel are worth mentioning, feel free to leave a comment or connect with me on Linkedin. And, of course, if you have questions, please reach out! I may just have the answer.
About the Author : Google
A serial entrepreneur with extensive background in franchising and interests in multiple online business channels, Jamshaid (Jam) Hashmi has played an instrumental role in the franchise development and success of a renowned international franchise company. His most recent entrepreneurial interests include launching ClickTecs, a Digital Marketing company specializing in Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Marketing as well as Website and Mobile Application development. In 2007 he co-founded WSI Search Result, an online marketing company that supplies services to Internet Marketing Consultants. A sought after public speaker, Jam has been the featured keynote at many franchise conferences and international summits. He regularly trains ‘C’ Level Executives and supports both new and seasoned business owners on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Optimization, Mobile Marketing, Brand Reputation Management and Conversion & Measurement through web analytics. When he’s not scaling the heights of the Internet world, Jam ‘unwinds’ on extreme thrill-seeking adventures from the jungles of the Amazon to the highest summits. His passions include working with NGOs on humanitarian missions to areas around the world affected by disasters and poverty.
