BC Business
To keep potential customers top-of-mind on LinkedIn, follow these steps for boosting your frequency and reach
The more times you can put your brand, product or service in front of your target audience, the more aware they become of the solutions you offer. Because statistics show that buyers are more than halfway through their decision-making process before they reach out to a salesperson, you need to stay top-of-mind with your prospects so they think of you before your competition when they’re ready to buy.
The concept of frequency and reach is easy for most sales and marketing professionals to understand. After all, traditional media channels have been measured by these variables for as long as storefront signs, billboards, magazines, radio and TV have been around.
But what many professionals don’t understand is that you can create your own frequency and reach on LinkedIn. The best part is, you don’t need a massive advertising budget to increase exposure for your brand, product or service. You can accomplish this with LinkedIn by using it proactively for as little as 15 minutes per day.
Here are a few ways to boost your own frequency and reach and stay top-of-mind with potential customers on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn posts
A LinkedIn post is a status update where you can share articles, photos, videos and ideas. Typically shorter than articles, these posts get pushed to your connections as a notification. But you should be posting frequently to ensure that the content you’re sharing doesn’t get lost in the news feed.
According to LinkedIn research, 65 per cent of buyers feel that the vendor’s content had an impact on their final purchase decision. And if you’re sharing valuable info that helps people do their job better, they’ll see you as a topic expert who can help them advance their career. Just make sure to test and measure the days and times you post to see what works best for your audience.
LinkedIn articles
One of the main advantages to publishing articles on LinkedIn is that they show up on your profile below your summary section. As a result, your prospects will be more likely to see those articles if you’re proactively attracting visitors to your LinkedIn profile.
Another key benefit of writing LinkedIn articles is that the content is searchable (both on LinkedIn and Google), making it easier for professionals to find.
Writing informative LinkedIn articles will help position you as a trusted expert. When writing these stories, think about addressing topics that your prospects would find helpful. Do not write LinkedIn articles that only promote your product or service.
LinkedIn groups
Join LinkedIn groups that your target audience belongs to, and share valuable content as “conversations” in the group. Not only can these group conversations be viewed, liked and commented on, but members receive email updates whenever new conversations get posted, giving you higher exposure to your target audience.
Sales Navigator features
First, let me be clear that you don’t need to upgrade to LinkedIn Premium to get value out of using LinkedIn for prospecting. However, LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator plan has several features that will make you see the premium account as a good investment in your business growth.
Here are just a few of those features and their benefits.
1. Lead and account updates: When you “save a lead or account” in Sales Navigator, your homepage will show updates whenever those leads or accounts share updates or articles or get mentioned in the news. This gives you an uncluttered stream of relevant, timely information about your prospects.
2. Saved search Changed jobs in past 90 days: Remember, newly hired decision makers are 10 times more likely to make a purchase decision. When you see that targeted prospects have changed positions, it’s a great time to view those prospects’ profiles—and even congratulate them on their career advancement.
3. Saved search Mentioned in the news in past 30 days: Any time one of your prospects is mentioned in the media, they’re going to be excited about it. This insight offers a timely opportunity to congratulate them.
4. Saved search Posted on LinkedIn in past 30 days: If your prospects are sharing information on LinkedIn, they want the world to know about it, so help them out. Spread the word by sharing their post. Like and comment on that post, and engage with the author.
All of these tactics will help you stay top-of-mind when your prospects are ready to buy. If you use them properly and consistently, you’ll find that more opportunities will come your way by leveraging the frequency and reach power of LinkedIn.
This article is the seventh in a series about how sales and marketing professionals can leverage LinkedIn to turn cold leads into warm prospects and more clients for their business.Click the numbers for parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
Trevor Turnbull is CEO of Vancouver-based Linked Into Leads and founder of the 30 Day Sales Machine online training and support system and the LinkedIn Accelerator Program. For more information on how you can leverage LinkedIn for your business, click here.