Do you want to expand your LinkedIn network?
Interested in ways to find and attract quality connections?
Growing your LinkedIn network helps gain exposure and can be a vehicle to establishing yourself as an expert in your field. In the B2B environment especially, it’s imperative you build a positive reputation for both yourself and your brand.
LinkedIn is the best social network for B2B marketers to communicate with other businesses, share content, as well as engage with prospects. According to The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide, 94% of B2B marketers on social media use LinkedIn to publish content.
In this article, you’ll discover five ways to help increase your LinkedIn connections and grow your network.
1. Post Frequently
I know, sounds obvious, right?
But here’s the thing…
Firms know posting consistent content is important, but how many are actually following through with a strategy? That’s the real question.
For example, in the early stages of growth, many businesses tend to get in the habit of posting consistently on LinkedIn. Great! That’s what you want! However, after a short period of activity, they start to post less because they’re not seeing a positive ROI from their efforts.
But here’s the problem…
You need to give your posts TIME.
If you are relatively new to the LinkedIn world in terms of consistently staying active, your page will need time to grow so it can reach an audience. And in order for that to happen, you must be dedicated to posting A LOT. That means posting multiple times a day or at the very least a few times a week.
When you consistently stay in the feeds of your followers, there’s more opportunity to comment, like and share your posts. This interaction gets you introduced to their connections and gives you another way to grow your network.
Be sure your posts are adding value by talking about your business as well as industry updates.
For instance, if your company provides resources such as consistent blogging or webinars, share them! Get in the habit of promoting new content as well as company updates to your page. After all, if you are going to have a LinkedIn page, why not be as active as possible on it?
Want to make these posts even more appealing and enticing for your readers? Include a CTA!
2. Engage With Your Connections
Review your LinkedIn feed regularly and share, comment on and like updates posted by your connections.
You can start relationships with new connections by commenting on their updates and joining conversations on popular posts. All it takes is one helpful response on a post for that prospect or firm to notice you and check out your page. Do this enough times, and you will encounter people who want to learn more about you. That’s when your network can really start to grow!
3. Add LinkedIn URLs to Emails
Your LinkedIn profile can work for you in many ways: as a resume, a collection of previous client work, awards and accomplishments, testimonials, etc. all in one convenient spot.
We all send emails, right? Sometimes hundreds a day to clients, prospects, and leads.
In your email signature, start adding your LinkedIn URL at the end! Sending prospects to Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms may work, but none of those platforms provide the benefits and opportunities that LinkedIn does.
4. Add Keywords to Your Profile
Just like writing for SEO to get your content ranked on Google, keywords in your profile will help prospects find you. The main areas to focus on are your “Headline,” “Summary,” and “Experience” sections.
These sections are all searchable and are where your traffic will spend most of their time.
When filling out these sections and writing for SEO, tell stories, be creative, and use any keywords that you believe are most relevant to your content.
Try putting yourself in your prospects’ shoes. Think about something you like to search and learn more about. What are the words that you’re actually typing? And how are the results that come up related to what you wrote?
Now work in reverse order to make sure the keywords you would search for are prominently featured on your page!
5. Personalize Your Connection Requests
When you’re scrolling through your feed and click the ‘connect’ button on someone’s name, LinkedIn will send a pre-written message that’s cold and impersonal. Something along the lines of, “Let’s connect!” These types of requests are typically ignored.
Visiting someone’s profile and sending something like, “Hi! I’d like to join your LinkedIn network” is also ineffective because it comes off as simple and lazy.
Instead, visit the person’s profile and put some time and thought into your connection requests. Write a personalized note that is friendly and inviting. You’ll also want to explain why you want to connect and the advantages it can bring to you both.
Whatever you do, DO NOT make it a sales pitch! Remember, we are trying to connect with these individuals to build rapport and grow each other’s network. There is a time and a place for closing a sale, and trying to connect with someone new on LinkedIn is not the time or the place to be pushy with sales.
Recap
As mentioned earlier, getting peers and prospects to land on your LinkedIn page is the end goal. Post frequently using keywords, be active on feeds, use URLs in emails, and personalize your messages.
When done correctly, this gives you the best shot at leading prospects to your page. And the more prospects you can funnel to your page, the faster you’ll grow your LinkedIn network!
To learn more tips and strategies like these, check out our blog or get in touch today!
