It’s been quite some time since I first published this article keeping in view the struggles of B2B marketers trying to generate LEADS via LinkedIn. Since then, LinkedIn has not just grown into the ultimate sales powerhouse in the B2B segment but has also updated several of its features to a much more sophisticated level, convincing me that its about time to update my previous posts and keep my audience abreast with the latest happenings on LinkedIn.
The previous four instalments have set the stage for you to harness the power of LinkedIn to boost your social selling initiatives.
Part 5, Strategies for Social Selling using LinkedIn, is the culmination of your journey on the L.E.A.D.S series with me. To recap, you:
In short, this instalment brings together the aforementioned posts to provide you with a workable strategy towards social selling success.
Social selling as we have now come to understand is all about getting ‘Timely Referral Leads’. [bctt tweet=”Today, more than 2/3 of the marketers are using LinkedIn to supplement their sales activities.”]
In this article we tie up everything we’ve learnt together with the overall strategy.
YOUR PAIN
The pain I’ve noticed in even seasoned LinkedIn members is that they’ve got the basics right, but do not have a clear strategy to use Social Selling to generate L.E.A.D.S for their business. Some of the Pains they’ve expressed during my workshops and via e-mail are:
– Who should I connect with on LinkedIn?
– I’ve got a great network, but how do I communicate with my connections?
– Should I accept requests from a person I do not know?
– How much time should I invest to reap the benefits of LinkedIn?
– What type of content should I post?
– How can I select Groups/Companies to connect with?
– How can I gather intelligence from the network?
The list goes on….
In my experience, most of these questions sprout from the fact that there was no clear online strategy in the first place!
Since I understand some of these pains, let me attempt to prescribe some actions that will help clear them.
MY PRESCRIPTION
Remember the end-game of L.E.A.D.S and your presence on LinkedIn – becoming an influencer in your area of expertise!
[bctt tweet=”A prerequisite to becoming an influencer is building T.R.U.S.T.”] You became familiar to what it means when we discussed how social selling and LinkedIn are connected to each other.
To jog your memory, let’s expand the abbreviation…
T – Transparency – Your communication needs to be clear, honest and open
R – Relationship – Commit to building and nurturing relationships with members
U – Unique – Add value by contributing useful, relevant information
S – Simplicity – Keep It Simple, Stupid
T – Timing – Your communication needs to be timely a
Flip back to Part 4 of our series to get a quick refresher course on T.R.U.S.T and how being S.O.C.I.A.L plays a pivotal role.
Have a look at my prescription to help you implement your Social Selling strategy via LinkedIn. Remember, unless these are adhered to, your strategy, no matter how solid, will not work (think building the tallest, technologically advanced building with a weak foundation!).
- The Foundation – Personal Profile, Company Page and LinkedIn Groups
Your personal profile is the foundation of your LinkedIn presence. Ensuring you’ve achieved ALL-STAR status is an indicator of fully complete profile. [bctt tweet=”Obtaining endorsements and recommendations from your superiors and clients on LinkedIn can add a lot of value.”]
Next comes your organisation’s Company Page. Make sure all the relevant details have been added and your products/services are showcased accurately (with links back to your business website). Do not forget to obtain recommendations from customers for your products/services once you’ve served them.
The third step to building a solid foundation is via Groups. [bctt tweet=”LinkedIn Groups are an amazing platform that set you up to learn from role models and industry experts. “]Also, groups help you take part in ongoing conversations in your area of expertise, thus exposing you to a lot of networking opportunities. Becoming a member of groups that deal with the type of products/services you offer, allows you to gather intelligence about your target market, their needs, and also identify prospective clients.
- Making Connections
Identify people you’d like to connect with (former and current colleagues, clients, influencers, opinion leaders, role models and stakeholders) and take action. Connections do not need to be limited to LinkedIn members. You may also connect with relevant LinkedIn Groups and companies to get regular updates from them. Groups help you expand your connections beyond the people you already know.
These will help you grow not only your 1st degree connections, but also your 2nd and 3rd levels.
- Building your network
Make connecting with new people a priority and continue to add useful members to your network. Every new contact you make is a potential customer or business partner. Today my network has grown to encompass over 12+ million 3rd Degree members. That’s over 5% of the total membership on LinkedIn!
- Type of posts and timing
[bctt tweet=”What you contribute towards your network can make or break your online reputation.”] Ensuring you post valuable, useful content will set you apart from most others and help you attract new contacts, while helping you towards the road to becoming an influencer on LinkedIn. Posting on LinkedIn is different when it comes to posting via your personal profile, company page or group. Click here to find out how each of these, when done right, can help you build your online reputation.
Would you believe it if I told you that you can get the best out of my prescription by starting from 10 minutes a day on LinkedIn?
MY PILLS
You’ve got my prescription. Here are the Pills I prescribe to set the stage for you to generate leads via social selling for your business.
Your strategy to harness the power of social selling revolves around you establishing your professional reputation as an influencer (which requires you to build ample trust amidst your network by being social). My love for acronyms will help you identify what goes in to becoming an influencer on LinkedIn. The points are pretty much self-explanatory.
Now it’s time to take ACTION! To ensure you’ve got the right strategy to help you harness the power of LinkedIn for your social selling efforts, I’ve given you a check-list. Compare your present LinkedIn presence with it and take corrective action today!
| Item | Features |
| Personal Profile | Clear profile picture |
| Keyword rich headline | |
| Clear summary of yourself | |
| Work experience | |
| Your skills are showcased | |
| Endorsements and recommendations | |
| Educational experience | |
| Interests & Contact details | |
| Company Page | Main page banner |
| Fully updated details | |
| Products/services | |
| Are all employees following your company page? | |
| Are the posts being monitored? | |
| Groups | Follow specific groups relating to your industry to gather intelligence on target market, prospects and other stakeholders |
| Contribute useful, relevant information | |
| Objectives | Have you defined your objectives and target market? |
| Connections | Are you actively seeking out members to connect with, such as: |
| Employees | |
| Clients | |
| Stakeholders | |
| Influencers | |
| Role-models | |
| Updates / Posts | Personal |
| Company Page | |
| Group(s) |
Finally, take advantage of LinkedIn Social Selling Index to measure how well you are performing with respect to creating a professional brand, finding the right people, building strong relationships and engaging with the right insights.
There you go, I’ve presented to you a check-list that arms you with the actions you need to take to leverage in and taking your social selling game to the next level.
Stop by solomoIT Academy’s company page, follow us and do check out the recommendations we have received. You will see how well my training pills have helped professionals like yourself take advantage of LinkedIn to achieve their goals and objectives.
Do let me know how your journey on LinkedIn has been thus far by dropping a line in the comments section. Also, let’s connect on LinkedIn.
This concludes our L.E.A.D.S instalment in the Pain, Prescription and Pills series. For regular updates on all that’s LinkedIn and the amazing world of social selling, follow solomoIT Academy on LinkedIn and check out our updates.
If you are a small and medium enterprise seeking to improve your social selling skills by mastering LinkedIn and get the most out of this B2B social selling platform, then we can help! We can assist you in developing and maintaining a strong LinkedIn presence allowing you to build a solid online identity, find and connect with the right people, engage effectively and foster stronger and meaningful relationships with your target audience.
Feel free to contact me via LinkedIn or our website for my customised training sessions!
About solomoIT
SolomoIT is a digital transformation agency, based in Sydney, Australia, offering fully integrated social, local and mobile marketing solutions.