LinkedIn 101 - Brighton Chamber of Commerce

LINKEDINBrighton Chamber of

Commerce

•Contract CMO

working for companies that don’t have senior/strategic leadership, on a contract basis

•SMB Marketing Strategist

working with companies to align brand, develop marketing plans to reach business goals, connect with resources, assist/advise as needed

•LinkedIn Evangelist

helping companies and individuals understand and effectively utilize LinkedIn

Today’s agenda•Understand WHY LinkedIn is important for business

•Learn basics to getting YOUR Profile and your COMPANY Page set-up or improved

•Using LinkedIn to grow business

Why LinkedIn?•B2B uses LinkedIn to find employees, sales leads, resources and expertise

•Increase your company’s organic search•Increase traffic to your company website•Demonstrate your expertise; promote your company and offerings

•LinkedIn offers credibility

2 Components to know Company Page

•Increases SEO•Keeps company news current

•Highlight products & services in Showcases

•Post job openings•Customer testimonials

Your Profile•Add to your brand –have a robust profile

•Add your visibility and credibility

•Demonstrate your expertise•Highlights career accomplishments

Top 5 Things Your Profile Must Have1. Keyword Descriptors

(words others would use to look for someone with your expertise)

2. Excellent picture

3. Contact details

Top 5 Things Your Profile Must Have (con’t)

4. Impressive summary: what makes you different?

5. Expanded experience: what did you accomplish? (not a job description)

5 Features you should capitalize on1. Connecting

Make it personal

2. Feature documents, presentations

5 Features you should capitalize on3. Recommendations

these are gold dust

4. GroupsJoin, but thoughtfully!!

Posting to GroupsEASY STEPS

• Set Google Alerts for content• Post to LinkedIn main (home) page• Share with your groups

or

• Re-post someone else’s post with a comment

or

• Post a question, statement or “thought for the day:

5 Features you should capitalize on5. Projects

Link to YouTube, Slideshare

LinkedIn Premium• 4 different pay-for plans

• Job Seeker- designed for job hunting•Business Plus – expand network to the 3rd degree•Sales Navigator – lead generation focused•Recruiter Lite – tools for talent searching

Maintenance•Check regularly

•Participate in discussions and/or post weekly/bi-weeklyUse “share”, re-post from other sides, or just toss out a quote

•Update profile regularly…while it’s fresh

Handy Little Tips

Tip #1: Check Their Message First

Tip #2: Look Under Pending Invites For People You Know

Tip#3: Messaging From Within a Group To Non-Contact

Tip #3: Turn Off Competitors Showing Up In Your Profile

Tip #4: Turn Off “…also viewed” In Settings

Tip #5: Check Activity and Number of Contacts

Tip #5: Check Number of Followers

Tip #6: Be Specific in Search

LinkedIn Company Pages

Top 6 Things Your Company Page MUST Have1. Company Logo

2. Consistent Company Name

3. Same image as your Website

4. About content that matches your website and other materials. Use keywords.

5. Highlighted specialties

6. Contact details

Top 6 Things Your Company Page MUST Have

5Things Your Company Page Should Have1. Followers

2. Showcase pages

Top 5 Things Your Company Page Should Have3. Regular Updates

Top 5 Things Your Company Page Should Have

4. Groups your company is following

Top 5 Things Your Company Page Should Have

5. Recommendations

Things to Add to Your Company Page•Photo of products•URL directly to the product or service page on your website

•Additional contacts in your company•A promotion!•An industry or other business event you’re attending•A YouTube video – think demo or testimonial•Employee opening and hiring

Putting It All Together• Demonstrate your expertise; keep content current; utilize Google

Alerts• Join groups and be part of the discussion; offer advise, make

connections• Offer informative customize material via Slide Share, YouTube and

webinars• Use LinkedIn Mail to reach prospects with specific asks or offers but

not aggressively• Use analytics to see what posts are reaching your audience, make

adjustments• Search by title, company, location to find prospects; use

connections to get introductions

Ginny Brandrethginny@brandrethworks.com585.314.7364Some images licensed under Creative Commons, other through paid permission from FreeDigitalPhotos.com

• Connect with me on LinkedIn

• Follow BrandrethWorks

• Join Brighton Chamber of Commerce Group

Last But Not Least….