LinkedIn is an amazing networking tool. It provides a valuable opportunity to connect with decision makers, business leaders, and other professionals within your industry. That said, it is best to include LikedIn into your social media marketing mix.
An optimized LinkedIn profile will contribute to better networking opportunities and help you stand out from the competition.
Need help optimizing your LinkedIn profile? Here are 6 easy tips to get you started.
Create a banner photo that represents your brand
This is the background image at the top of your profile. It is usually the first thing people see when they visit your profile. Optimizing this section will help you stand out, attract ideal clients, and woo them into your funnel.
Your banner image should capture the full picture of who you are and what you can offer. Think of it as your company’s billboard. It’s the perfect place to showcase your work, products, or services in a creative way. For example, you can use a quote that describes the service you provide, a picture of your office space, or tools you use in your everyday work.
Don’t forget to include a clear call to action to encourage visitors to take the desired action.
Choose the right profile photo
Your profile picture matters. It reminds people that there is a human being behind your online persona.
According to LinkedIn, profiles with professional head shots get 14 times more views and nine times more connection requests than those who don’t. So if you want to increase your acceptance and engagement rate, you need to invest in your profile picture.
It might seem obvious, but your profile picture should be up-to-date and professional-looking. However, professional doesn’t necessarily mean serious or intense. Smiling makes you look more approachable. So choose a profile photo that looks professional, authentic, and confident because that’s what you want to convey.
Do not use a selfie, your company logo, group photo, or a cropped picture.
Make your headline more than just a job title
A headline is the line underneath your name. It lets you communicate your entire professional brand in under 5 seconds and give prospects a reason to click on your profile.
Simply adding your current job title and company name isn’t going to work. You want your headline to be impressive and attention-grabbing. It should explain exactly who you are, what you do, and what you can bring to the table. Take time to create one solid statement that shows your awesomeness in 120 characters or less.
Turn your summary into a story
Profile visitors are hoping to get a glimpse into what makes you unique professionally.
While the headline allows just 120 characters, you’re given about 2,000 characters for the summary. Here’s your chance to share your story and blow people away with a 360-degree snapshot of who you are, what you have to offer, and what makes you awesome.
LinkedIn only shows the first three lines of your summary, so make it count. Start with a catchy hook that would encourage readers to click “see more”.
Tell a cohesive story, offering an overview of your skills, career highlights, unique value proposition, and your mission. Make sure you focus not only on what you do, but also on why it matters.
Be sure to incorporate keywords relevant keywords in your summary to improve your profile’s search visibility. Lastly, end your summary with a clear and concise call to action.
Highlight your experiences
Your work experiences are a big part of who you are today, and you should include them on your LinkedIn profile.
List down all the relevant jobs you deem relevant to where you want your career to go. Include a short overview of what the job entails. Use action words to show what you did, the impact you’ve made, as well as what you’ve accomplished in each position.
Get endorsed
One great way to have your skills validated by others is to get endorsements from other LinkedIn users. These seemingly simple endorsements can help make you and your profile stand out from the millions of users on the platform.
You are free to add up to 50 skills on your profile. Sure, having lots of skills can be quite impressive. However, there is no point in adding 25 skills that do nothing to help you stand out.
Be strategic with your endorsed skills and only list down skills you want to be known for. Then, have people in your network endorse you for these skills. Endorse fellow professionals and they are more likely to return the favor.
In today’s blog, we are going to cover LinkedIn, and LinkedIn is actually the oldest social media platform. It has been around since 2002 but it wasn’t considered a social media platform back then. As of now, there are over 660 active monthly users and in 200 countries and over 30 million companies on LinkedIn that are actively using it each and every month. This is huge, this is huge. LinkedIn, I feel, is a very overlooked platform. A lot of people still think of LinkedIn as just a recruitment tool, just to find jobs, and that is not the case whatsoever. LinkedIn has come such a far way and they have really implemented some really cool things to help you grow your business, and it is… I see a lot of B2B but I also do see a lot of B2C, business-to-business, and business-to-consumer.
I wanted to cover today the differences between your personal profile and a company page. LinkedIn works similarly to Facebook where you have one username and password and from that username and password, it brings you to your personal profile which then you can get into your different groups and your company pages. Once you log in, this is what you’re going to see. You’ll see your personal profile over here, you’ll see your news feed which is the people you’re connected with, the topics you follow, the company pages that you follow, this is where it’s coming into your personal news feed, okay. Then you have your pages on the left-hand side, you have different groups that you’re a part of here if you’re doing any events, also hashtags. Hashtags are huge on LinkedIn which is great because you can really find those niche hashtags and follow them similar to Instagram.
Personal LinkedIn Profile Tips
On your personal profile, there are a few things that you can do on your personal profile that you cannot do on a company page such as write an article. This is great if you are actively blogging, you can write a… You can take some of the content from your blog or your entire blog and put it into here. You can have a weekly thought, you can have… If you are a physician, you can have maybe a weekly FAQ article that just highlights the questions that your patients had asked you through the week that you’re just typing in here, answering, and maybe each week can have a theme. You can add an image here, and this is a great way to just really add value to your personal profile. Now, with the personal profile, you can also add your photo, a video, and a document. These two things are just for your personal profile.
Again, it’s similar to Facebook in a way that you… It’s easier to get connections on LinkedIn and when you post onto your personal profile and you’re building that personal brand, you’re going to get more engagement than you would on your company page. It’s important to use both of them ’cause they each have great features and they each serve a purpose. If you’re utilizing LinkedIn, make sure you’re utilizing this write an article feature and you’re posting to your personal profile as well as your company page. If maybe you’ve had LinkedIn for a long time, but you haven’t updated your profile, let’s start there. So making sure that your profile is filled out. This is space for advertising or your personal brand. To me, this image speaks of digital marketing. We’re always on the computer and this is something that I really… It just kind of resonated with me. You have a professional headshot or it’s you, it’s not you and your kids or you and your husband, this is more about you and your expertise than it is the personal side of things. You want to make sure that you have all of your information filled out and that…
One great thing about LinkedIn is it will tell you what else you need to add to your profile. It will give you a percentage of your profile as, like here, you can add… It’ll tell you what else you need to add. And they’re always adding new things it may not always be 100% filled out. You want to make sure that you have the about section filled out that this is talking about what it is you do use keywords in here: Healthcare, digital marketing, content marketing. Make sure that you’re utilizing those keywords of what it is you do. You can also have featured videos and this is something that you want to make sure you update and as you can see, I have not updated I’m going to come back in here and make sure that I update my featured videos as well. And maybe add that to your monthly list is as you’re creating different videos and blogs or infographics, you can add different things to this featured section, you want to make sure that this stays up-to-date or even if it is maybe a year old video, but content that’s super valuable and things that are able to provide that value to your audience even if they click on it and it’s a year old.
This is just your profile, this is your activity, this is what I’ve posted, things that I’ve liked, things I’ve commented on, things I’ve shared, this is what your activity is. And then it goes into your experience. You do want to make sure that your profile is 100% filled out before you start posting because people are going to view your profile and they want to know who you are and what you do. Once you have your profile updated and you start utilizing these different features on your personal profile in what’s called My Network, you can start adding connections, and, again, with LinkedIn I love how niche you can get. You can really look for those people that you want to connect with and as you can see, I have a ton of invitations. I’m very picky about who I want to connect with, sometimes, I will let them sit here. I’ll look at their profile, I’ll see if it’s really something that makes sense for me to connect with. If not, then I click ignore.
My connections on LinkedIn, I want to make sure that they are quality over quantity. I don’t care about this number but I want people that I’m connected with that are going to engage on my posts and make sure that we have things in common. Maybe they would be a great referral partner, maybe a potential client, and that’s the important thing about your connections. LinkedIn is going to give you suggestions on who to connect with based on your profile. This is going to say similar roles as me or in the location, I’m in. This is great because, again, it gives you that opportunity to connect with people that you may not have a chance to connect with and one of the great things is once you hit this connect button, you can also, you can click connect but then you can, if you’re searching for someone, let’s say… I’ll just say a family, let’s do a family physician. Okay. And I’m obviously wanting to search in people because I want to connect with these people and right here… Oh, great. Ken, I want to connect.
Once you click connect, I can add a note, “Hi, Ken. I was looking at your profile. I love what you’re doing.” So before you click that Connect, be sure to click on their profile, learn a little bit about them, see if they’re actually active. Right now, it says that he has commented on things. You can look at if he’s posted any articles, you can see when the last time he posted. And the reason why I say… he hasn’t posted anything for a year. The reason I say that you want to do your research on someone before you connect with them, again, is that quality. You don’t want to connect with people that aren’t active because then they’re not seeing your messages and they’re not going to be responding because they are not actively using LinkedIn. Make sure that before you click that Connect button and you add a note that you take a look at their profile and more importantly, their activity. What have they been posting?
Even if they haven’t posted anything but they have shared a lot of things or commented on things, that’s okay. A week ago, he liked this post that’s great. He may not be actively posting but he is actively using LinkedIn. That’s a great connection. So this is how you build the personal side of your LinkedIn account. Now, let’s go into the company page side of things. If you click here underneath your profile and you go down to, it will say, company and we have a few company pages but we’re going to go to Social Speak Network. And on here, this is your company page. Again, you have this header, utilize it to highlight what you do. Digital marketing management for healthcare professionals, that is what Social Speak does. I’m here and it is… I keep referring back to Facebook because when you have, especially now, if you just set up a Facebook business page, to increase those likes, it’s hard because you have to actively be inviting people or paying for ads, and that’s how LinkedIn is as well. It’s hard to increase this follower unless you are actively doing an ad campaign on LinkedIn to increase those followers or inviting people.
This is a great way to do this: As you’re adding connections, you can click here and invite more connections and you can look at… Again, I don’t want every single person I’m connected with to like my page, I want specific people that I am connected with that are in the healthcare and health and wellness industry to like my page because our content’s going to resonate with them the most. Again, each month as you’re adding that featured content to your personal profile and you’ve been adding new connections each month, invite them to like your company page. This helps increase the followers and it gives you your analytics, how many visitors you’ve had. We’ve had six new visitors in the past 30 days, which is down from last month, that lets me know. We have no new followers, hat lets me know, “Okay. Is my content not right or I’m just not getting people to the page?” Monitoring those analytics is a good idea to do, and you can really dive deeper into what does this means and it will let you know to share trending articles, invite your connections to follow.
Using LinkedIn for Business
LinkedIn does a great job of actively promoting you on what you need to do, or prompting you on what you need to do next. This is your company page, these are the hashtags that we follow, these are the posts that we put up every day. We do post daily on our LinkedIn platform and you need to create that content strategy of what works best for you. And so, you just need to know, is it going to be one time a week, is it going to be three times a week, five days a week, what does that look like for you and stick to that consistent schedule. One thing with LinkedIn, and you can see, you can add a document to your LinkedIn company page but you cannot do the article. You can, however, do a poll which is great to really dive into your audience and see, what are they thinking? How can you interact with them? And maybe doing different polls as a piece of your content strategy to help increase that engagement is a great idea try out that feature for your company page.
The other thing is, on your Facebook business page, you can go to your page and can click the little share button and post it directly to your personal profile. With LinkedIn, you cannot do that. What you would do is follow your own company and then as you post to your company page, it’s going to show up in your news feed and then from there, you can click share. And when you click share, it’s going to bring up exactly similar, again, to Facebook. You can type in, “This is a great blog that we just published.” Make a comment to the post that you put up, add hashtags, and then click post. These are just a few different ways to utilize LinkedIn to increase your network, grow your followers on your company page and start building your business.
Utilize LinkedIn just as you would Facebook. Take the time to engage yourself on here. Take the time to upload a video to your personal profile and to your company page and if you’re utilizing a scheduling tool such as Buffer or HootSuite, you can also schedule posts to your personal and your business account. If you’re utilizing HootSuite, you can upload a video to HootSuite for your company page but you cannot upload a video to HootSuite for your personal page. If you want to do those videos, I suggest just coming directly to LinkedIn and posting. You can also download the LinkedIn app and post directly from there, which is great. It’s very user-friendly, just jump on there. The mobile version’s great. You can upload your videos, your pictures, write an article from the app as well. Just figure out how you want to use LinkedIn, jot down some ideas, jot down who do you want to connect with. If you don’t have a company page, if you go under Work and at the bottom, it will say Create Company Page, that’s where you can create your page there.
Groups are great for LinkedIn and, again, you’re going to be posting in those groups as your own personal profile but groups are a great way to be able to share your blog posts, your videos, answer questions, ask questions and get involved with very niche groups. You can browse groups and make sure that they are a good group for you. And then, if you do have a job, you can also post a job on here utilizing LinkedIn Premium, or they have different options depending on what your needs are. Take time to go through your LinkedIn profile and see how you can have it work for you and implement this into your social media strategy. If you are needing help with LinkedIn and you just don’t know where to start or what that strategy should look like, let us know. Let’s schedule a free consultation and go over your LinkedIn strategy. Thank you.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/How-to-use-LinkedIn-for-both-personal-and-business.png12602240Amber Irwinhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngAmber Irwin2021-04-28 10:00:322021-06-18 14:40:16How to use LinkedIn for both personal and business
UPDATED BLOG POST – You’ve heard LinkedIn is important but is it really? The short answer is yes.
LinkedIn is a social networking site that allows professionals and business people, regardless of their industry, to connect. With more than 600 million users in over 200 countries, it is the world’s largest professional network on the internet. Despite its popularity, many people ignore this platform simply because they do not understand how powerful it can be for exposing and growing their business.
Do you have a LinkedIn account? Here are 6 reasons to create one or dust off your long-forgotten one.
Opportunity to network
We’ve all heard the phrase “It’s not what you know, but who you know”. LinkedIn was built with that proposition in mind.
If you’re looking to build a strong network, LinkedIn is the best place to start. It is great for building strong networks with other healthcare professionals. It has a decent search feature that can help you find people in your industry. There are also numerous healthcare groups on LinkedIn that you can join. Use your LinkedIn connections to build a community. It is up to you to decide how much time and energy you want to put into this process.
When you’re an active LinkedIn user, your opportunities to interact with other healthcare professionals are virtually limitless. Professionals who are using the platform are open to networking, connections, and possibly, professional referrals. If you reach out to them in a genuine, non-spammy way, they’d be more than happy to have you in their network.
Demonstrate your knowledge and expertise
LinkedIn is essentially a digital translation of your CV. It is a great place for keeping all your career information. In fact, there is an entire section available devoted to recognitions and awards you’ve won. This could be an excellent way to tell your audience that you’re good at what you do.
Many people have a Linkedin account. The problem is that their profile is incomplete. Remember, your profile is the first professional impression people will have of you. Completing your profile with your experience, skills, and credentials will increase your credibility. Think of it as your online CV. Go ahead and show off your skills, academic accomplishments, and professional successes.
Content sharing
Unlike other social media platforms, where the focus of sharing is generally personal content, LinkedIn is a suitable platform for professional content.
The open publishing format of LinkedIn provides users an opportunity to both teach and learn. Here, you can share content that reflects your line of work and presents your thoughts and ideas to a wider audience. You can share blogs that have the potential to create a buzz around your name, participate in discussions and express your thoughts or views on certain topics.
Publishing high-quality content regularly creates trust with your connections and positions you as an expert in your field. If your post is featured on LinkedIn Pulse, your reach is exponentially increased.
In today’s competitive job market, it is important to stay up-to-date with industry news and trends in order to thrive. With new regulations and technologies affecting the healthcare industry, there are lots of industry news to stay on top of. LinkedIn makes it easier for you to stay relevant in today’s evolving healthcare landscape.
Joining industry-specific groups allow you to connect and interact with industry peers. From here, you can get the latest news, post, and announcements.
Be found online
Whether you like it or not, people are going to look you up on Google. And it’simportant that your patients, students, and other industry professionals find you online.
The good news is that Linkedin profiles have high authority with Google. That means, if you have a LinkedIn account, it will appear toward the top of the search results page.
LinkedIn is a great tool for managing and controlling your professional digital reputation since you’ll have direct control over how your online identity is presented. Plus, it will be easier for future patients to find you. Your profile will not only appear when they search your name but also when searching for your specialty.
Further your personal branding
Your brand is what people say about you. Try Googling yourself to see what comes up. These are the first impressions people will have of you.
In today’s digital world, first impressions are formed online, and Linkedin is the best place for people to “meet” you. Your profile is a showcase of your skills, experience, and achievements. It is a great way to present your professional experience, tell your story, and the goals you want to achieve. Make sure your profile is 100% complete. Don’t forget to update your profile photo.
Remember, you will never get a second chance to make a first impression, so make sure that you do it right. Make one that will differentiate you from the competition and reflect who you are.
By now, you probably already know that Linkedin is a great place to generate leads. And publishing valuable content on the platform positions you as an authority in your industry, so you started writing content.
You spent hours researching, writing, and editing. Finally, your article is ready for publishing. Beaming with excitement, you clicked “post”. A few minutes later, you checked again hoping to see some likes and comments. Unfortunately, there is none.
Here’s the thing… If you’re not getting views on your LinkedIn posts, then you’re missing out on thousands of potential leads. The good news is that you can boost your engagement rates with just a few tweaks.
Follow these tips to write Linkedin posts that attract views and engagement.
Headlines are crucial
If you’re not getting enough views and engagement, then you’re posts are probably missing one of the most powerful user attractions of all – an intriguing headline.
In a world full of noise, it is your headline that captures the attention of your audience. So take the extra time to consider what headline would grab people’s attention.
When writing a headline, you should always ask the question: “would this make me want to read on?”. If it doesn’t, then try again.
Create content that strikes a conversation
A lot of professionals and entrepreneurs are using Linkedin to promote their business. The problem is that many of them would just pump out content, promote their services, and then leave.
You see, you can’t just post content, leave, and expect unlimited traffic. It doesn’t work that way. Start treating your audience like real people. Talk to them. Genuinely ask people to give out their opinion on industry-related topics. Ask questions to get people talking.
By keeping the conversation genuine rather than salesy, you’ll leave a much better impression. Eventually, your engagement rate will rise, you’ll reach a wider audience, and grow your business in the process.
Tell your personal brand story
If you scroll through your LinkedIn feeds, you’ll notice that most people are sharing some tips, tricks, advice, etc. After all, we know that posting valuable, informative content is one way to capture the attention of your audience, right? Well, it does. But if you want to cut through the noise, then you need to differentiate yourself from the others — and telling your brand story helps.
If there’s anything the internet has taught us, it’s that everyone has a story. And believe it or not, people are more interested to read about your story than listen to your sales pitch. Your story may seem ordinary to you, but others may find it interesting. Go ahead and share your story with the world!
Make images work for you
You probably already know that social media posts with an eye-catching image get more views and engagements. It turns out, the same principle applies to LinkedIn. In fact, studies suggest that LinkedIn posts with images receive an average of 57,000 views; whereas, posts with no image only receive about 6,000 views. That’s a huge difference!
What does this tell us? Visuals play an important role in capturing the attention of readers. Using a visually attractive image with your content will make your posts standout in the LinkedIn feed.
Lower the reading level
Linkedin is a social media platform for professionals and entrepreneurs. The majority of them are well-educated, read frequently, and can understand complex content. So why would you lower the reading level? It’s all about the ease of comprehension.
Writing copy that is 5th to 6th-grade level is not talking down to educated readers. Rather, you want your audience to easily grasp and digest your content. If you go much higher than that, it will require concentration. Remember, the most powerful LinkedIn content is straightforward and easy to read.
You can use the Flesh-Kincaid score to determine whether or not your content is easy to comprehend. A higher score means the article is elementary.
Timing is everything
If you want to get your posts read, then you need to publish them at the most opportune time. You need to keep in mind that LinkedIn is primarily used by business professionals. That means you should publish your posts on weekdays.
Research shows that most articles are read between 1:00 and 2:00 PM, 4:00 and 5:00 PM, and 7:00 and 8:00 PM. Try to schedule your posts around these times.
Final thoughts
LinkedIn is such an awesome place for networking. It allows you to connect with some of the biggest names in the industry, as well as your prospects. One of the best ways to build a relationship with your connections is by providing value first — which you can do with your content.
Follow the tips above to establish your presence and strengthen your reputation. But if you need help writing killer LinkedIn content that hooks readers, we are here for you. Click that Free Consultation Link for a free 30-minute consultation.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/6-Easy-Tips-to-Make-Your-Linkedin-Posts-Standout-Blog-1-1.png12602240Kathlyn Angeleshttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngKathlyn Angeles2021-03-17 10:31:112021-03-17 13:27:496 Easy Tips to Make Your LinkedIn Posts Standout
LinkedIn is the world’s most extensive professional network, with over 675 million monthly users in more than 200 countries across the globe. It makes an invaluable addition to your digital marketing strategy – from making connections and improving brand awareness to generating leads and establishing partnerships. But in order for your marketing efforts to be effective, you first need to grow your network.
Building a bigger network on LinkedIn won’t happen overnight. These strategies will help make the idea of growing your connections more realistic and less intimidating.
Make the right impression with your profile photo
We all know that you can’t judge a book by its cover. But let’s face it. If the cover isn’t inviting, people won’t be interested to open the book and read its content.
In today’s digital world, a profile photo represents your sole opportunity to make a strong visual first impression.
Humans are innately wired to make a snap judgment based on appearance. You can’t control how everyone will perceive you. But you can do something to ensure that your picture will portray you in a positive manner.
Use keywords on your profile
A fully optimized LinkedIn profile can ensure your profile is fully discoverable on the platform and even on search engines like Google.
Keywords can make the difference between your profile attracting the views you want or being lost in the digital space, so it is important to understand which keywords matter to attract the right views.
If you work in an industry that has career-specific terms, use those keywords. You can add them everywhere in your profile, but there are 3 main areas that are most important – header, summary, and experience section.
Share content
While building a bigger network is your primary goal, you also want to use LinkedIn to build your relationship with your followers. One way to do this is by sharing valuable, educational content.
Publishing articles is one of the best ways to establish your personal brand and share your expertise in your industry.
It’s common practice to share blogs that you think will resonate well with your audience, but it would be better if those insights are your own. Plus, it creates additional opportunities for engagement since your network will be notified every time you post an article.
Make sure your content mix includes eye-catching visuals. We found that posts with video and visual content heightened the level of engagement on the platform.
Personalize your connection requests
Don’t just hit “connect” when you want to send a connection request. Always go to the person’s profile, hit the “connect” button, and briefly explain why you want to connect with them.
Personalization is the key to getting strangers to connect with you on LinkedIn. Spend a few thoughtful moments to compose a personalized connection request. If you can find a topic to bring up or if you have a mutual connection, that makes all the difference.
Engage with your connections
There are lots of activities that happen on LinkedIn – article mentions, new job titles, birthdays, and more.
Interacting with your connections when they have new things happening is a great way to develop a relationship. So go ahead. Comment on a status update. Say “congratulations” when someone gets a new job. Like new profile pictures. Thank people for their recommendations and endorsements. You never know where a single meaningful connection with another person can take both of you.
Join groups
Joining groups is one of the fastest ways to make hundreds of connections. Please note, though, that there is a difference between simply joining a group and being efficiently engaged.
If you are serious about using LinkedIn to your advantage, then make sure that you join the right groups. Look for 5 to 10 groups you can be active in.
Engaging in group discussions puts you in front of people who are already actively engaged with a particular topic. Spend a bit of time liking and commenting on other’s posts. Once you’ve been in the group for a bit, you can start posting your own content.
By providing valuable information, you’re showcasing your expertise around that subject and build relationships.
Add a follow button to your company’s website
One “set it and forget it” tip is to add a follow button to your company’s website. This simple addition can help turn your website visitors into LinkedIn page followers.
Before you hit the publish button on your next blog post, make sure that you include a CTA that would lead your readers to take action after they finish reading your posts.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Building-a-Bigger-Network-Blog.png12602240Kathlyn Angeleshttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngKathlyn Angeles2020-07-15 10:42:462020-08-28 09:39:577 Strategies for Building a Bigger Network on LinkedIn
According to a report in the Annals of Family Medicine, 45% of physicians receive new patients through referrals. Like any medical practitioner, you want to make sure that your practice is supported by your referral partners and your community.
We know that you are doing your part in referring patients to other physicians whom you feel are the best. But are they returning the favor of referring their patients to you?
If you’re looking for ways to get more referrals, keep reading. Let’s take a look at some of the best practices your office should maintain to maximize the potential of your patient referral program.
Get out of the office
In a fast-paced hospital setting, it can be especially hard to connect with colleagues. If you want to bolster your referral network and keep your business thriving, then you need to make the decision to get out of the office, even if it’s just once a month.
Meet new physicians and healthcare leaders in your community. Reach out to existing providers who you refer to and who refer to you.
Identify physicians you want to partner with. You’ll want someone who is a good match for your practice, share your values and hold themselves to a high ethical standard.
Build a relationship
The best way to grow your referrals is to build, maintain, and improve your relationships with referring providers.
Professional referrals are based squarely on sound relationships and expertise. Doctors and their staff will only refer their patients to people they trust, like, and feel are competent.
Make a continual effort to show your referring doctors that you value their partnership. You can call them up just to see how they and their families are doing, drop by with a frappuccino for them or take them out for lunch.
In most cases, it is not the doctor, but a key staff person who actually handles the referral mechanics. If you want to grow your referral base, then you should take the initiative to get to know not only the physician but also their staff. Be certain to identify and include the key gatekeepers. Capitalize on those connections and they will be more likely to pass your business card on.
Simplify the referral process
Most doctors would simply advise their patients to book an appointment with a certain doctor.
Unfortunately, 50% of professional referrals never result in a doctor’s visit. The referral process should be quick and simple.
Otherwise, you’ll be missing out on a big slice of the referral pie. Even if the referring physician and their staff adore you, they’re not going to send patients your way if your referral process is frustrating, time-consuming, and just plain clunky.
Simplify the referral process by investing in a secure online referral portal, where they can send you the patient’s information, including contact information, suspected diagnosis, and reason for referral.
Since you already have the necessary information, it will be easier for you to decide the course of action and how quickly the patient needs to be seen. As a result, you’ll be able to serve both the referring physician and the patient better.
Make referring physician look good
When doctors refer their patients to you, it means that they trust you. Your office will serve as an extension of theirs, so they are counting on you to provide patients with excellent service.
Often, patients report back to their primary physicians about their experience. Make a special effort to accommodate the referred patient as soon as possible. Also, make sure that you take good care of the patients and treat them right.
Ensure the referring physician that there will always be room for their patients at your practice.
Be grateful
We grow up learning the importance of good manners, and that usually starts with saying “thank you”.
If a patient is referred to you, take the time to call the referring physician to thank him/her for the trust and confidence. You can also send a hand-written note if that’s your style. Let the referring practice know that you appreciate the referral.
Stay in touch with the referring physician
When a patient is referred to you, it is always vital to follow up. This is a crucial step that many physicians do not do.
One study suggests that 40% of patients that follow through with a referral never went back to their primary physician after the care is initially provided. Always send the patient back to the referring physician. The last thing you want is for the referring doctor to feel that their generous referral has cost them a patient.
Let the referring practice know that the patient has already been scheduled and that you will continue to communicate about what transpires. You want to assure the referring doctor that you’re invested in their patients’ health and that the patient will be receiving the best care possible.
Shannon Kuykendall (Kirk-ken-doll) is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner and the Founder of Up Automation, Linkedin Lead Generation Services. She started Up Automation in 2015 after working in the Coaching and Personal Development industry as a Technical Virtual Assistant at Creative VA Services for 12 years.
As an agency owner, Shannon struggled to get new clients in the door. She tried building a lead gen funnel, Facebook Ads, SEO, Content Marketing; you name it. Then someone told her about using LinkedIn for lead generation. They said, “that 80% of all B2B prospects are on LinkedIn”. So she put her focus there, and her results have been tremendous. Once Shannon got the formula down, she decided to stop offering implementation and concentrate on helping other digital marketing agencies fill their calendars with their ideal prospects using LinkedIn.
In this interview, Amber and Shannon spoke about:
How businesses can utilize LinkedIn for lead generation
Current trends in digital marketing in 2019
The Before and After Grid as you create content that brings people in
How do identify your potential client’s pain points to be able to gear your messaging around them
Why your business needs a strong LinkedIn presence
The top 3 things that a business owner should be doing online to see a return from their digital marketing efforts
It was such a pleasure interviewing Shannon on our Podcast. Shannon is very knowledgeable about LinkedIn and how business owners can use it to it’s fullest potential to help grow their businesses
The 3 biggest takeaways for me were:
The before and after grid – how to identify your target markets pain points
LinkedIn is really about building relationships and asking questions. Your target marketing wants to know what’s in it for them when you give them time to talk about themselves and share their story.
The key components you need to have in your profile that will attract your target audience
LinkedIn is a great platform for B2B and it is very important to be consistent with your strategy and one bonus tip Shannon shared was about the LinkedIn Sales Navigator, how to be able to use this LinkedIn tool to get in front of your audience!
Before and After Grid
Listen to the Podcast Episode on Using LinkedIn to Grow your Business Online
Read the Complete Transcript Below
Hello everyone, this is Amber with the Social Speak Network. I’m so excited for our podcast today. We are talking about how healthcare centers can utilize LinkedIn to grow their business. We have Shannon on with us today.
Amber: Shannon, tell us a little bit about yourself and your company.
Shannon: Hi everybody, my name is Shannon and my company’s name is a automation and we specifically do LinkedIn and lead generation for digital marketing agencies.
The main reason we started focusing on that was because I myself had my own agency and we were having problems getting leads. We didn’t have a problem getting people to get calls, we just had problem closing sales, and I needed a consistent way to generate leads and so through some discovery and some conversations we started focusing on digital marketing agencies, and then I turned my business around to completely focus on bringing people in and showing them how to use LinkedIn, as well as, maintaining their own LinkedIn accounts.
80% of the leads out there or highly qualified prospects will be found on LinkedIn. And we’ve been in business for about two years, but I’ve had my own my own business of some sort online since 2005.
A: Wow, that is amazing. So walk us through – before we dive into brand messaging and how businesses can utilize LinkedIn – walk us though the process of how agencies can gain business using LinkedIn.
One of the main things is your profile, your LinkedIn profile is the key. One of the first things you want to do is you want to completely optimize your LinkedIn Profile – from the background header, all the way down through your summary.
Those business profiles or most agency profiles that I see when they’re using their personal profile, all they do is talk about themselves and quite honestly, when your prospects are trying to find you, they don’t really care about you, what they care about is, they’ve got a pain point and they wanna know if you can solve it. Does your agency solve their pain point?
You really structure your profile in a way that addresses pain points and ask questions that hit that button. That’s where you’re going to get your engagement.
When you start connecting with people the first thing they’re going to see is your Profile.
LinkedIn Profile Optimization.
I love how you were talking about these pain points because I think that that’s one of the top things that people miss because they are so worried about talking about themselves, they miss what the WHY for their client.
And so before we jump into the pain point I talk us a little bit about the brand messaging.
How can you incorporate brand messaging into that linked-in profile and are you doing that on both your personal profile and the company page or just one or the other?
We just use the personal profile, quite honestly, the company pages on LinkedIn as far as I’m concerned, they’re useless.
The only thing that we can do with a company page, is you compose articles and you can get people to engage, but we don’t have the ability to send them direct messages. That is why we use the personal profile, because that gives us the ability to directly engage with people who are likely interested in our products or services. The way that we incorporate the brand, we go through a pretty lengthy on-boarding process where we’re asking several questions, we’re really getting into the nitty gritty of what are their products and services who are the people they’ve been working with who are the people they would like to work with and what are some of the struggles that the agency deals with, and then we get into wanting to know more about their prospects, and really where we incorporate the brand is going to be when we ask a pain point or ask a question that addresses a pain point. How we incorporate the brand is when we offer the solution for that pain point.
So do you see any trends with LinkedIn, that businesses should be really paying attention to the side?
We’re going to talk a little bit further about identifying those pain points, but do you see any trends that businesses should really be following with LinkedIn?
The biggest thing with LinkedIn is don’t message somebody and start talking about yourself again. They don’t care.
I see a lot of people on LinkedIn just sending out messages talking about their podcast or talking about a service that they can offer, something that they can help them, and what they’ve completely missed is they didn’t bother to ask a question about a pain point.
All they did was just out the gate running like Me, me, me, we do this, we do this. Nobody cares. You might get a little bit of engagement, but you’re not gonna get a lot and anything you’re gonna turn people off and they’re gonna disconnect from you, so you really, you come at it with a short question.
One of my things is for example, cold calling, do you want to stop cold calling and have a consistent flow of leads coming in the door?
That’s a great question, and yes and it’s an easy question for them to reply back. Yeah, I do, or it now not interested in it, or I… And that’s a much better way to get people to engage. Then just coming right out the gate, talking about yourself.
You’re changing that whole mindset of that conversation to about your potential client. And they’re like, “Oh they really do care about me or they really do want to know what I love.” So, just asking that question and really wanting to engage with them. People like to talk about themselves. So when you ask someone a question that allows them to talk about themselves, that’s where you get the engagement.
Okay, so I am so excited when we had our call for obviously before the podcast, you had mentioned the before and after grid, so can you explain to that to a little bit more?
Absolutely, so the before and after grid. This is how you really figure out what the pain points are of your prospect.
It’s a really short little exercise, and in the podcast description there is a link to the article by Digital Marketer. And it was going through this exercise that really helped me develop the pain points that my prospects are dealing with.
What you do is you create a grid at the top, you’re going to write Before and on the next side, you’re going to write After. Then you’re going to put four lines: Feel, average, day, and status. These are the four questions you’re going to ask when you’re trying to figure out what are the pain points of your prospects? The first thing you’re going to ask is what?
So what did your prospect have before they start working with you – are they frustrated, are they annoyed. Do they have a lack of prospects?
Alright, so you’ll write that in that box, then you’re going to ask: ‘How does my prospect feel before they start working for me?’ Will likely they’re frustrated, they’re a little concerned, they’ve got cash flow issues all these different feelings. And then next you ask, so what is your prospects average day look like before they start working for you or working with you?
Well, the average day… They probably spend a lot of time cold-calling, and nobody’s picking up the phone. And again, there’s some frustration, because they’re cold calling where they’re knocking on doors or they’re going into businesses and it takes a lot of time. And then a question is what is the status of your prospects before they work with you, and the status again kind of a repeat of the first three questions to the grid.
They’re frustrated because they’re consistently trying to reach out to people and nobody’s picking up the phone or their sales cycles too, long, it’s just they’re frustrated. That’s how everybody feels before. Well then, you wanna ask, “Well what are your prospects feeling after they start working with you?”
So alright, what do they at an… They have a consistent… Now they’ve got leads coming in, they’ve got people who are interested in their products and services, and that’s a start that I… And then how do they feel after they start working with you? They feel great, that the pressure has been released. They’ve got a consistent. They’re consistently talking to people that are interested in what they have to offer. What is their average day like after they start working with you?
They’re busy, they’re doing what it is that they love to do, they get to offer their products and services to the people that are actively interested. And again, what’s their status? After they start working with you, they’re happy. They have a little more free time because this piece has been taken over and and now they can again do what it is that they love to do they can work, they can work on their business instead of in their business, and that I as a call the before and after Grid and it’s going through that little exercise that you start to develop. Okay, these are some questions I should be asking my prospects if there is. We’re cold-calling, but I would like an easier way to get leads then that’s how I’m gonna address that question.
Now that you’ve identified these pain points as far as what they’re struggling with, and what that life looks like, before working with you or individual and then that after… How do you tie those pain points into that brand message? Are you going off of the, before content or the after or how do you marry the two?
So at the beginning of when we do our write-ups for the summary and we start to develop their prospect profile in their messaging, we go out the before, because that’s where you’re going to be able to push the buttons, that’s where you’re going to get them to react and so once they react, and then they engage in the messaging that’s when we’re able to offer up the After. The after is the solution.
Alright, and again, the solution isn’t going to go in and you’re not gonna come in and be real craggy about what your company does. Again, you’re gonna talk about… So this is the solution to what also the… And if you want to talk to me and learn more about what we do, then let’s schedule a call.
I love that. I think that the whole online sales process is very overwhelming, for, a lot of it as one. But when you break it down and you really get in that space of your target market and who they are, what do they feel like, was their pain points? That sales process becomes a lot easier because then it turns into that conversation, you’re struggling with this, this, and this. How do you wanna turn it around?
So it’s a very simple process once you overcome those pain points, and really identifying what those are.
One making this sales can be intimidating anyway. So when you think of sales is we’re gonna have a conversation I’m gonna learn about you, you’re gonna learn about me. It makes the process that much easier and when it comes to whether or not someone wants to work with you, the biggest thing is they need to know you, they need to like you, and they need to trust you. And the way that happens is to that first conversation and maybe there needs to be other conversations after that but those are some three key ingredients that need to happen in before somebody decides to close with you.
I love it. And so, a B2B businesses, and really Otto crucial is it for them to have a strong line in presence and should they’re posting their content strategy also be around these, these pain points to relate with their target audience.
I highly recommend, especially when we’re working with clients twice a week. Post some content in your News Feed, so we’re consistently building up LinkedIn connections.
You want to stay in front of your LinkedIn connections. And we also make sure that when we’re creating and putting together the profile that we’ve got their brand, their logo, something that really makes them stand out is present. So you wanna stay in front of them it takes the average of seven times for somebody to see you before they actually will engage a and so get your brand out there, post a couple of things, a week and stay relevant and stay on top of it and stay in front of the people that you’re connecting with. It’s very, very important. If you don’t do it, maybe your process will be a little bit slower, but things tend to pick up when you’re consistently on LinkedIn and your active and you’re actively engaging with the people who are engaging with you, right? And what do you think that that sales cycle… We would get asked? How long is it gonna take before we see results within and really building those connections again you’re nurturing those relationships. How long should somebody give linked in to be able to see results for their business?
So six months a 100% of six months to a… We did 4-608 leads for a company called the draw shop in 1660s and that’s almost six months.
He was very actively involved in the process with us. And that’s one of the things we tell our clients as well. You can’t just come to us and then I set it and forget it. We constantly are working with you to optimize your message so that you get the highest engagement possible. I’ve seen people get engagement within the first 24 hours of us starting a campaign and I see people not get anything at all because there are some industries that LinkedIn just isn’t gonna work for, but sometimes we don’t it until we have a conversation.
And I’ve turned business away because of an industry that I’ve already worked with someone else comes to me in that same industry. I’ve turned it away, knowing that I can’t get them the results that I can get other business I think that that’s another key point is really knowing what social media platform is the best for your business because I know with us, we work a lot with the medical industries and so, LinkedIn is a big place where the doctors and office at last were there, they’re not on Facebook. So, it’s important as a business owner to know what platform is gonna work. So as… And you’re right, sometimes that’s only to figure it out is trial and error, so it… But you also… Those pain points can also help identify if your target audience is on LinkedIn, as well, right?
Okay, so what are the top three things that a business owner should be doing online to see a return from their marketing efforts?
So there’s actually a quote by a gentleman named harm and he says If you are consistent, you will get there if you were persistent, you will get there and if you are consistent, you will keep it. And I can’t stress that enough, I find that most people don’t give anything enough time to see results. Everybody wants a quick fix, and there’s just no such thing is that you have to be patient and you have to be consistent with what you’re doing at a…
I’ve been doing LinkedIn for a little over two years now and I have some weeks that are slow, and then I have some weeks that are really fast or they are really, really busy, so… So consistency been… If you’re coming into it with this is gonna be a quick fix, then first of all, you’re probably not gonna be an ideal prospect for me, ’cause you’ve got to think in terms of the long game.
Alright, most things that are quick fixes or if anybody calls it a quick fix, it’s a fly-by-night it’s only gonna last for a couple of months and then it’s gone because everybody felt on it and then it sort of runs it for everybody. So linked in is one of those things you’ve got to be thoughtful you’ve got to be mesoa.
And do you have any tools again? And I cannot agree with you more about the consistency. I feel like I’m always saying that to our clients. And you have to be consistent, you have to have a plan strategy for every aspect of your digital marketing and with Linkin and I would assume you need to know what articles that you wanna be posting as an ice. What type of post you wanna be putting up what type of videos, you wanna be doing and then that’s just the posting piece, then what that messaging piece. Who are you connecting with? So are there any tools or things that you use to help organize that LinkedIn strategy? So one of the things that we use is it’s called LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and that’s LinkedIn, social selling tool. It’s a vital piece when it comes to identifying and getting in front of your ideal prospects especially when you start connecting with people and bringing in leads.
And the reason we use sales navigators because they have a search function that is highly robust and it allows us to save the searches so that we can consistently get in front of new people, over a period of time as a… That’s one thing I… Now, there are some third party tools that help speed up the process. Like Lead Connect to or LinkedIn helper. And I think there’s a few others out there.
You need to be careful though. I don’t really endorse using those tools simply because LinkedIn doesn’t want you to use them and… And it’s too easy for people to abuse the process because they’re trying to speed things up, so definitely should be working with somebody who knows what they’re doing on LinkedIn and and making sure that they’re sending the right message on your behalf.
So in so having that strategy, and that’s with those tools, whatever with LinkedIn platform, there’s these great tools that are out there and then as soon as somebody abuses them, I pay all the fun out of it for all of us. But really… So you use the LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and then do you recommend putting a strategy together for your post the topics and curated content? And stuff as well, so we don’t typically do the posting, but we do encourage our clients to do it so, and if they have post and they don’t have time to post them, they can always send them to us and we’ll post on their behalf.
But ideally, what I typically tell them again to post a week, ideally, they can go back to previous blog posts and post those. And you can also through your content, only a certain percentage of people are gonna see your content at any given time. So you have 10 articles on your blog you’ve got five weeks of content, go back through and rotate it. There’s nothing wrong with that at… So you don’t always have to have new content, it’s just about staying relevant and staying in front of your prospect.
Okay, and how can people connect with you online, if they’re interested in your services or wanna learn more about what you do? Where can they find you?
So people can find me at automation dot com and right there, they’ll be able to book a call, they’ll be able to learn more about the services. Learn more about me and what I do or they can send me an email at Shannon@automation dot com.
Wonderful, well I really appreciate your time today than… And I’m so excited about LinkedIn. And it’s definitely kind of that hidden gem that people kind of underestimate with getting leads and really building their business, but it’s a platform that can really elevate their business to the next level.
A 100%. I swear by it. We’ve done very, very well.
The clients that we’ve worked with, that really engaged with the process and understand how we work and also done incredibly well wonderful. Well, we will make sure that we have the link to the before and after grid and the LinkedIn Sales Navigator in the description below, and if you, if have any questions or comments, we would love to hear from you, and again, please connect with Shannon on LinkedIn if you have any questions, check out on her website, thank you everyone.
For more than 10 years, Deb has worked with professionals to optimize their use of LinkedIn. As the founder of Wise Women Communications, a full-service marketing agency, she sees LinkedIn as a vital marketing tool for professionals at any level.
Throughout her career, Deb has worked with corporations and nonprofit organizations developing and maximizing their marketing and public relations efforts. However, senior executives often don’t see themselves as something that needs to be marketed.
Deb developed “LinkedIn for C-Suite” to provide the assistance busy executives require. By spending a minimal amount of time, professionals work with our strategists to create and optimize their LinkedIn Profiles.
With more than 20 years of experience, Deb also has a Master’s Degree in Marketing as well as a Master’s Degree in Communication Management. She has the experience and knowledge to help busy executives make an impact with their LinkedIn Profiles. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
In this interview we discuss:
Current trends for businesses using LinkedIn for marketing in 2019.
Tactics that were expected to perform well or had a lot of hype, but failed to take hold in 2018.
The top 3 things that a business owner or marketing team should be doing on LinkedIn to see a return from their efforts.
The top strategy that should be followed, but often marketing teams get it wrong.
To learn more about Social Speak, please follow our podcast on iTunes https://apple.co/2GPs1bt
Listen to Amber and Deb’s LinkedIn Tips and Tricks Interview:
Or watch the LinkedIn Interview:
Read the transcript:
Podcast with Deb Krier, LinkedIn Marketing Expert
Hello, everyone. I am Amber with the Social Speak Network. I’m really excited for today’s podcast, we have Deb Krier on with us.
LinkedIn in is something that clients ask us a lot about, and I feel like it’s one of those platforms that’s been around for a long time, but they’ve been in my opinion, in and out of the social media trends and I feel like in 2019 is something, it’s a kind of an untapped gold mine in a way, if you know how to use it. So Deb is an expert in LinkedIn, and we have some great topics we are going to talk to you today about.
Amber: Deb, tell us little bit about who you are and your background in digital marketing.
Deb: Amber, thank you so much for having me on your program. This is going to be so much fun. We actually know each other from Colorado and now we’re Southern girl so that’s very fun.
But I’ve been on LinkedIn, since I believe 2006. so it was one of the first platforms and I… Actually, it was the first digital platform that I got on some of the others didn’t even exist yet, but I got on LinkedIn because I was, I’m looking for a job. So you need to be on LinkedIn type of thing and then other things have come along. I don’t do tons because we can get overwhelmed, right?
You and I have business owners that come up to me and they say, “Oh well, I should be here and here and here and here and here and here and then their head goes.
I was like, No, no, no, pick one or two and go from there. I mean I’m still not on Instagram, I do really, but it’s just… I’m on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and that’s it. Those are the only digital platforms that I use. Because you can get overwhelmed or if you’re like me, it’s not overwhelming, it’s very distracting.
And I think that is one of the reasons why more and more people like LinkedIn or they’re coming back to it, because we can get so distracted on some of the other platforms. Looking at the pictures watching the cute cat videos that all of a sudden we’ve lost an hour and done nothing on LinkedIn at least if you’re getting distracted in you’re reading business articles you’re reading articles about your industry, you’re learning about people that you are networking with and so it’s not really a distraction, right? And so with LinkedIn, what are some trends that you see businesses going after in 2019, when you see more relevant with linen?
Well, I’ve seen just an increase in people using LinkedIn and especially the people who use Facebook a lot and yeah, I’m still one of those people that use this Facebook a lot, so but at its… It’s getting more and more divisive especially in the world of politics as there’s just so many things that are on Facebook whether it’s sports, where there is politics, religion, whatever it is that we don’t want to be there, and we certainly don’t want to be there trying to conduct a business. So then we don’t go at all.
And on LinkedIn, it is something where we’re back to focusing on business there and I think that’s why more and more people are coming back to LinkedIn, and they are adding new features in a… And they’ve got… They recently added being able to do live video as a… They’re just rolling that out to some folks. I have only, I have 4 5000 contexts on LinkedIn. I only had two that currently had the option to be able to do that and I do and people love it, on Facebook.
So I think that’s one of the things that LinkedIn is thinking about. Plus we… It’s fun because you could do say, a conference or a speech, or you and I could be doing this as LinkedIn also, so I so I think video is a big thing and businesses are starting to really figure out that they can have the business pages there.
Well, they catch on. They did a Facebook. Maybe… Maybe not, but I think, again, people are moving away from Facebook, but they know that they still have to be in that digital world.
So, where are they going to be?
And I think they’re training back towards LinkedIn in an… Now, do you think as a business owner, as a…
I know that one thing that our clients had struggled with Facebook is that personal business life balance. And so, we had a client that they just wanted their personal profile to be their personal profile, not to post any business, in business, just to be business and nothing personal, but I feel like those ways are changing now. People you want that authentic brand. Do you think with LinkedIn, the business pages and the profile that… What’s that combination of costing ARE YOU PUTTING… Obviously, you’re not putting your cats and your kids on LinkedIn as as much as you would face to but you still fill with that personal profile that you should be implementing personal and business. And where does that business page, we come in?
Yeah, I definitely think that we need to include some personal things on LinkedIn because as you mentioned is about being authentic to… We all know that we work with, people we know like and trust and… And so we get to know them. I-E… Why those little personal tidbits?
So it’s okay to have a little bit of that on LinkedIn I… And again, like you said, we’re not posting our cat pictures, we’re not posting things like that, but there’s little ways that you can still put that in there, so maybe it is a little bit about maybe if you were at a networking event, what personal thing would you drop in a…
Oh man, I… So maybe it was Han on a vacation. And on Facebook, you’re going to post the 900 pictures on LinkedIn, you might post a picture of your vacation, and maybe something business, I so I-I-I-E-B-A-book. You read what?
Right, right, yeah, yeah, recently went on vacation. Here’s the book that I read. Some things like that.
The art maybe it was you had a great customer service, the example that while you were on vacation or something like that.
Yeah, I, he and I, I, I… People look for those they really… Again, they want to connect with people on that personal level. That’s why I say we always want to include on our LinkedIn profiles, so what we do to volunteer at a past and present, and our education alumni groups are some of the greatest ways to network on LinkedIn. There’s something about it doesn’t matter when you graduated alumni. I want to help other alumni.
So you want to have that in there? But the volunteer is also another great place to be able to put that on LinkedIn to show that you are involved in your community that you’re not just business. All of these various things. Yes, definitely. Well, that kinda goes into… What are the top three things that business owners or marketing team should be doing on LinkedIn to see a return from their efforts?
Well, the first thing is on your personal profile, especially to really make sure that it is current and that is fully optimized.
I see so many people’s profiles, who still look like what they posted four, five years ago when they were looking for a job, so they cut and paste in their resume and then, they never went back and updated it.
We have to have as much content there as possible because people are really researching people before we do business with them.
So you want to have all that content, you really have to have some of the biggest, like a current photo which is always fun, for women because we change our hair styles, you all these various things and it needs to be a current picture. I tell people if I’m meeting someone for the first time, I need to be able to look at their LinkedIn photo and walk up to them in a crowd, and find them to a… A professional headline that needs to not just say President of founder of You need to take full use of the 120 characters there and then really fill out your summary. That’s where I see so many people have, like a sentence to sensing your summary is where you tie it all together.
Yeah, that… So someone doesn’t want to read about the specific experience that you had an X-Y-Z company, or what you did here there. Even when you went to school.
They will read the summary, and then the cool thing that that LinkedIn added I believe it was last year maybe even two years ago, is the Banner background, that goes behind your picture, and it’s kind of an ugly blue default. Right now it’s an… And so people need to take advantage of that. It’s a billboard behind your head. So, why wouldn’t you want to have that there?
So that really is one of the first steps. And I really just make sure that that is current that you’re updating it and then you want to post consistently. We all win.
So you’re comparing say Facebook and a line.
We go on Facebook, and we post 20 times a day. Maybe… Yeah, that’s too much on LinkedIn, yeah, but because people aren’t really posting on Linked-In A… When you do post something that is good content, the it will stand out to because it’s just one of those things where it’s not something that people are using. So when you post and have it great, stuff, you’re going to become that thought leader, right?
And then the other thing is, consistency. It’s always fun to go look and see when with somebody’s last post, so I… Yeah, I only was it yesterday, was it last month was it last year? We can accomplish a lot on LinkedIn in 15 minutes. A day to…
I just felt in utero.
So, I’m on LinkedIn while I’m eating breakfast, that’s kind of my 15 minutes I can do pretty much everything I need to do. I might check in a little bit later in the afternoon, but I don’t spend a lot of time on LinkedIn and you can still really make it beneficial.
I love that. And going back to the first… So the first thing you said about the summary, you also put videos in what you’re carrying right?
You can put video you can put work samples so say you’re a graphic designer, or you can show examples of your work, because you can have files that are uploaded. If you’re, say, a copywriter, you can have things like that, you can have your brochures, all these various things PowerPoint that’s always great. And obviously if you work for a company, you need to make sure that you have their permission to be able to post those things, but in most cases, you do a right, so I… Yeah, you give people those examples of your work rather than doing get the message you contact them, and then you might remember to email it just have it there so that people could go and see it and then make sure that you’re linking to your website A… So that’s the other thing that people forget is they don’t put their own website in there so he… And you can put three so you’ll put your website links in there.
Yeah, so, yeah, that contact information because the best a going to go and try to find you, but they can’t connect with you, they can’t contact you and made in “opole and… Well, and I tell people, put that information in your summary.
So yes, it is in other places in LinkedIn.
The attest a C, you want to make it easy and simple to find. Yeah, I want to open it and see, Oh, there’s the contact information, a back… Don’t put it in your headline.
I see people do that all the time.
No, no, don’t put your contact information there. Don’t waste that valuable character, right, but you put it in your summary so that people… And it’s the old marketing call to action. Hey, contact me at… If you’re interested, here’s all those various things because it’s right there, it’s right in front of them.
because again, we get side tracked. If I have to click another button to find your contact information that I might click out of your profile and do some definitely. So we work with a lot of health and wellness and companies in the helmet, and one thing that we get asked is, we have the let’s just say it’s a chiropractic office that has five locations and 10 chiropractors it and there is a line in business page and then each of them have their only “dipoles that they’re proactive. ENT, I go Really Franco pan. Are those individual people posting to the business page or the sharing content from the business page to their personal profile? How does that work with… Like I…
Oh yes, I it. And because you want as much content out there as possible, right, so I… You so the first thing you need to make sure is consistent messaging.
So, when the doctors, the office manager, whoever it is, they need to say the same thing about the business.
So for example, you wouldn’t want it to one profile to say, we have five offices: another profile to say, we have 10 offices another profile to look like it’s a stand-alone office.
Yeah, yeah, to come up with just a little bit of messaging that has the statement about them. So, it might say here at X, Y, Z, chiropractic. Our philosophy is so again, you’ve got that consistency because people look at multiple ones is… So in essence, it would be like them looking at several different websites and they get confused, right?
The one in the sea, they go somewhere else, so yeah, I… But then posting their own content and… And so it is a little bit on A… You need to develop probably a social media policy as to what is appropriate content, and in a… It is, especially if you’re on your personal page, it is your personal page, but if somebody’s posting content and this doesn’t happen nearly as often on LinkedIn as it does on say, Facebook.
Wait, I think want to have consistent messaging, so you want… But it’s okay to post it on both places or an or be sharing from your other offices, too. So say you and I are doctors in two different locations, right?
You’ve got great content. So I’m going to share it on my page also, yes, so it’s just kind of about sharing those resources because we only… I always tell people, We only have 28 hours in our day, and right, so… And it’s so, I too… So I don’t want to have to spend a good chunk of my time just looking for content, so ran, I can borrow from someone else or share their content, that’s where it really comes in. And so it might be that there’s one person that manages the business page.
Oh, and then people share from there but then they also are seeing from their own personal pages too.
Yep, and do you think that sharing strategy is still as in porn on… And LinkedIn is it as our platforms, I think it is because we see a is a LinkedIn runs on the algorithms just like the other platforms. So the more interaction there is, the more LinkedIn goes. Hey, this is somebody that is very active that they’re very authentic, that they’re, they’re a big power user. So, sharing, liking all of those various things are just as important as they are on the other social media platforms. Okay, and what… And we’ve talked a lot about the business pages and personal profiles and the top things that business owners or marketing team should be doing, but what is an ideas strategy behind LinkedIn, what I think, whether you’re using it as a business owner or as a business. It does help to develop what I would have called a PR calendar or something like that. So maybe a less… It helps you when you’re thinking, “What the heck am I going to post today?
Yeah, so maybe Monday you’re posting an industry article Tuesday, you’re posting something that’s going on in your community Wednesday, you’re posting something about an industry trend Friday, you’re posting something about your office, whatever it is, and then you kinda stick with that, that editorial calendar.
Yeah, so… And they can be, again, it does make it simpler because you’re thinking, “Okay it’s Wednesday. I need to be posting about X now. Clearly, if something comes up, because we want to take advantage of situations in the news a lot of those things. You and I were talking off the air, about Al tribe, and his cancer diagnosis. A lot of times, chiropractic can be involved in something like that, so… So you wouldn’t want to wait until the next time you’re supposed to post an industry article because you’ve missed that curve, so it’s okay to change things up, but kind of plan out your strategy on Monday. I post this and A… And to me, it doesn’t really matter time of day.
I mean, you know, they have a tether, so we really don’t see those. Well, Tuesday, at two is the best time to post strategies anymore because then it was everybody posts a Tuesday to… And then it was overwhelming. Just post whenever, but like I said, I’m on in the morning, so that might be when I post, but don’t get caught up in that and in it, and I think that’s the thing people are like, “Well oh my gosh, I have to be on LinkedIn at 9 o’clock in the morning. I have to post an article, I don’t have an article, I’m going to not go to and then the next day, they find another reason to do it to… Not the other is a Tibetan it is, it still has to be fun because if it’s not fun, if it’s not enjoyable, we’re not going to be there.
Yep, yeah, you still need to give that value, to your audience. You want them to… But now I know with other platforms, sometimes there’s tools like butter or hope to be able to schedule those folks about… Do you use any of those tools for LinkedIn, or are you just having your strategy, and then posting manually?
I do both, I use Buffer to post some things that I know are going out all the time and one of the things that I do is a business quote.
Actually, it doesn’t even have to be a business quote. When I did last week was from cookie monster so so to… But it’s kind of just cute little pithy quote.
I do three a week, so a variety of places. So I create the image and I go into Canvas.
Love Canvas, and so I create those images and then I schedule those in Buffer, so I can do a month at a time, but… And as you know I also have a podcast so we have some images that we schedule for that.
So that’s just kind of one of those things that’s done so to…
I’m a firm believer that if you can schedule something it gets it out of your way.
So then again, you’re not subbing. They only got his Wednesday. And I’m supposed to have posted this, I… You know I schedule it out, I post for my clients a lot of times scheduling things out because I’ll get a lot of things from them, a lot of content and… And now, I don’t want to have to remember to do something on Thursday, so I schedule it.
So I love the scheduling programs and LinkedIn likes the scheduling program here. A, A, A, A, A, A thing with Facebook doesn’t… It is A, I like it doesn’t care LinkedIn, just like content. And it was great. We talk about these things like their people a… But yeah, linking content, content, it doesn’t really matter where it comes from.
So I was on that. I “asanso I have been… This is all that LinkedIn has really been around that to building your business brand identifying your business voice and not once did we mention that LinkedIn was just for jobs?
Because that is what we all think a ritually like you said, the beginning a new… That’s what I was started for but it comes so far. So this is really a place that business owners can conduct business connect with their ideal target market. And really, in my eyes, LinkedIn can really be a really big lead generation tool, right, I… Yeah, and it’s all about developing your personal brand.
Yeah, I can and I…
LinkedIn is great for that, because when you change jobs or careers, whatever you still have your identity on LinkedIn and you’re not having to start over with whatever it is, so it’s a great place to really make sure that your personal brand is going to rock and the other big guy on the block. Google likes LinkedIn A… And so if you look for someone’s name, you’re right. I’m going to meet with you this afternoon, so I’m just going to Google your name to find a little bit about you. If you’ve been very active on LinkedIn, it comes up very high, in a Google search. So, it’s all about creating that personal branding that will transition for years to come, and go with you.
Yeah, I love that, thank you so much that… Tell us a little bit more about the services that you offer on how can people connect with you, your podcast?
So the easiest way talk about personal branding is to go to Deb queer dot com Deb I-E-R dot com, and there are links there to my podcast, which is the business Power Hour, which is a ton of fun and a lot of good business tips there, but I also focus a lot on linked-in trading and so we have LinkedIn, for C-Suite, which is a program or program services that we provide for executives, but you and I are executives also whether we have a company of one or two or a company of thousands, we’re leaders in that company, and so LinkedIn, for S-C-suite, it’s one of those mornings we just as a LinkedIn for C-suite is all about how we create that personal brand and we have that great profile and we got several different services that we provide here.
Whether you want to do it yourself, because it a… We can do that. Or if you’re so busy that you just don’t have time we can create that profile for you. So I love it, awesome, at I-E-career dot com.
Awesome, thank you so much for your time. I E-Go.
This has been wonderful yes, and guys I highly recommend connecting with her podcast are great. And I just think, again, LinkedIn is such a growing platform that the most of us raise your hand if you have a profile, you haven’t updated it, and over a year go to your LinkedIn profile, today, take these tips and update it today.
So I think you have a line.
And with both of us on like a… Please do, I have a great day,.
https://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Deb-YouTube-Podcast.png7201280Caitlin McDonaldhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngCaitlin McDonald2019-04-10 09:23:522019-04-11 16:06:55LinkedIn Marketing in 2019 an Interview with Deb Krier of the Business Power Hour
LinkedIn is, what I think one of the most overlooked social media platforms out there. A lot of business owners have a LinkedIn profile that they set up when they were back at their corporate job and maybe have updated it once or twice. Well, I am here to tell you WAKE UP and make sure you have updated your LinkedIn profile! In this blog we will be covering:
What you should include in your personal profile
How to create a company page
How you can add connections and build your network.
What Do I Need To Supply For A Linkedin Profile Page?
Top 9 things that you NEED to have in your profile
1. YOUR Picture
Do NOT use an avatar or cheesy image of yourself, people want to see YOU
You can use a current up-to-date headshot, or an image of yourself with a natural background, not a party or fuzzy image or a selfie. Take your time on this photo!
2. Headline and Header
Think of this as the first impression, this is what people are going to see with your name and picture.
Have your headline be intriguing, eye-grabbing, relevant and clear.
Include your company name and then your title or what you do.
You can now have a customized banner (1400×425), which you can create in Canva. This header should be relevant to who you are and what you do. Have fun with it.
3. Summary (Good for SEO)
Tell your story, what’s your WHY. Keep your summary in the first person.
Personalize your summary.
Your summary should be engaging, relevant and conversational.
In this area, it is great to demonstrate that you are an expert in your field/industry. Add media (Videos, PowerPoints, Presentations, PDFs. etc.)
Remember SEO when you are writing your summary. It is important to include your keywords in this section along with long-tail keyword phrases to have a higher rank within LinkedIn searches but also Google searches. Here are two pieces we did on finding your keywords so you know what you should be writing about. Finding Keywords and How to Use KWFinder.com
As I mentioned before add media to your summary! There is not a limit, I mean you don’t want to add your WHOLE YouTube Channel, but I would say between 2-5 videos, or maybe big presentations you have done, recorded webinars, things that give your audience value. Something they can learn from looking at your LinkedIn profile! AND this helps you stand out from everyone else. 🙂
We have spoken about what’s your WHY, creating that personal brand, your core values, brand message, you want to make sure those come through in your profile. People should be able to read your summary and understand who you are and WHY you do what you do.
Talk to your target market, at the end of your summary have a call-to-action
4. Experience
Start with the most recent position or company and give us details! What is your role, responsibilities, etc.
List the experiences you have had with each position or company
List our accomplishments and challenges you have encountered, what was the outcome?
Remember your target market and speak to them when you are adding your services and details.
You don’t need to list EVERY job you have had from the time you turned 15! Stay relevant list that last few with great detail.
5. Education
Where did you go to school? You can list high school and college
Remember to list your degrees, diplomas, certifications etc.
It’s important to also include dates and locations.
6. Volunteering & Causes
People LOVE to see that you are involved in your community or a certain cause. Cause marketing is HUGE!
List the non-profits you have helped, maybe sit on the board or have organized events for.
What causes do you donate your time, money and energy too?
7. Skills & Endorsements
We get asked this question a lot, should we include the skills and endorsements in our profiles? The answer is YES!
People have recognized you for a skill that you have, acknowledge it.
LinkedIn will have those endorsements show up by the ones people have selected the most. You can always go in and edit or delete these as you find needed.
Think of your keywords when adding your skills, you will notice in the image below, the last skill on the bottom right corner says DOGS, um, I do social media and digital marketing, BUT in my past experience I was a Vet Tech at an Animal Emergency Center, so I may think of deleting that one just because it is not relevant with what I am doing now.
8. Recommendation & Awards
We always encourage our clients to have people give them recommendations on LinkedIn and include them in your profile.
List any awards you have won through work, community, networking.
9. Interests and Groups
As a bonus to your profile included interests you have
Also, include groups you are apart of on LinkedIn
Now, that we have your personal profile taken care of it is time to move into business. You can still post business related topics to your personal profile, but there are so many perks to having a business page on LinkedIn. In the video below I show you how to create that company page, so if you don’t have a company already take a minute to create one and then we will talk about “WHY” you need to have one and all the benefits!
LinkedIn Business Page
You want to make sure you optimize your company page to build brand recognition. We spoke last week about being consistent across the board with your social media and that remains the same with your company page. You want to make sure you have the right size header, logo, etc. Here are the sizes you need to have on your company page:
Company logo – 300 x 300
Cover image – 1536 x 768
Overview tab image – 360 x 120
Hero image – 1128 x 376
Here is an example of H&R Block’s company page, it is consistent with their brand, brand colors, logo, header, overview image, about us and more!
About Us Section
This is the MOST important piece of your company page, you have 2000 characters to use up. Think of your story, WHY your business does what it does, who do you help, speak to your target audience and use your keyword phrases. This is where your audience gets to really know WHO the company is. They are taking a peek inside and understand more of the foundation of your business. What makes your company stand out from the others, how did your company come to fruition, what is your business’s mission and vision, etc? More details the better. You want this section to be eye-grabbing and you want your audience to fall in love with your business, your brand, you want them to want to find out more. . . you want them walking away liking you, building that trust. You do not want them walking away feeling like they were being “sold” or not understanding what your business does.
Also remember in this section you want to add your website, your main office – with this piece most of our clients, including us work from our homes and do not want our address out to the world, I love coffee dates but don’t want people knocking on my door 🙂 You still need to enter your full address, but on the public page it will just say headquarters in CITY, ST not your address. In the video above I show how this process works! Also, you will enter the number of employees you have, the year you were founded, company type and BONUS – Specialties! You can use keywords in this area of specialties or a very clear short statement of what you do.
If you have LinkedIn upgrade package you can also add jobs and life section, we won’t really go into those today, just because most of our readers just use the free version of LinkedIn, just like us! The next thing we want to add as an extension of your company page is:
Add Showcase Pages
Creating a showcase page is adding to your company page, it is an extension. You can highlight a specific product or service your business offers. This allows your brand to come to life a little bit more. Before LinkedIn had a services/products tab, but they do not have that anymore. They now offer the showcase page/ It is an independent page with its own “About Us” section, logo, cover, website, etc. It also will have its own followers and you can post your own updates to this showcase page to show that service or products own personality. These updates you post would only be about this service or product. You can also monitor its own analytics, so you can see how that showcase page is doing.
We created a showcase page just for our small group online coaching: As you can see this is just for our small group coaching and its website url is to that page on our website, then to the right you see that is says “This is a Showcase page by: Social Speak Network” which links back to our company page. This is a great way to talk about your key services or products. I would like 3-5, it adds so much value to your company page.
This is so freaking cool right?!?! Yes, it is! Now that you built your awesome Showcase pages I am sure you are wondering where does it show up and how do people see the connection between your company page and Showcase pages??? Well, it is pretty simple your Showcase pages show up right under (Well after the ads) the About Us section. This is just such a cool way to promote those key services or products. Think of these Showcase pages as website pages, they are meant to stay on your company page and be updated as needed. These are NOT pages to create events or short-term marketing offers or campaigns. These Showcase pages are going to help build trust and relationships with your audience. This is what is looks like:
Great job on getting your personal profile set up, your company page and showcase pages created, now it’s time to feed them! What I mean by this is CONTENT!
Start Posting Valuable Content:
Content stills remains a key component of these pages. If you took the time to create these pages, and make sure they look pretty and match your brans, why wouldn’t you want to do more with them? They need to be thought of the same as you think about your Instagram Business profiles or Facebook Page, you post to those daily or weekly correct? Your LinkedIn profile, Company Page, and Showcase pages should be thought of the same way! WOW, we just added a lot more to your list! Don’t worry you can add your company page and showcase pages to Buffer or Hootsuite, so you can schedule your posts to go out through one of these tools to help save time, but also to be consistent. You may need to upgrade your package with these two tools if you have already used the 3 free social profiles. Each of these is free to post through up to 3 profiles, so you may already have Facebook, Twitter, and your personal LinkedIn profile, you will need to increase your account so you can add more.
What are things you should talk about on each of these pages? I think we need to split these up into three different sections, each area such as your personal profile, company page, and showcase page will have their own personality. You need to treat them as their own entity. Each page audience will be different, they may be similar or you will have people that you are connected with on LinkedIn and YOU and then they follow your company page and maybe one of your showcase pages as well. So, they will NOT want to see the same content on each page. Let’s start with your personal profile first, this is what most people will see, because like all the social media algorithms you will get more engagement with your personal profile than your company pages.
Personal Profile Tips:
Post valuable content, NO political or religious posts
Post Daily
Share your businesses blog posts with clear call-to-action
Share your personal story
Stay away from posts you would put on your personal FB – LinkedIn is a little more professional
Share tips, techniques, tools, videos that align with your business
Talk about your role in your business, your journey, who you have helped, your WHY
Company Page Tips:
Post focused, clean, relevant, and valuable content
Share your blog posts
Talk about your content upgrades with call-to-action
Share your YouTube videos
Curated content – articles, videos, images from other companies that align with your business.
Feature an employee or a person that works with you
Behind the scenes – stories, pictures, videos
Test your audience – post an appropriate funny video or image and see the response, mix up your content to see what your audience is engaging with the most.
Branded images via Canva that have a quote or stat
Events – talk about local events that are going on or events you will be attending
Local – if you are a local business share local news
Speak to your target audience – ask them questions and get feedback
Showcase Page Tips:
This is about that one service or product
Stay focused on the topic at hand
Post maybe 3 times per week – people tht follow your company page or personal profile will already see what your business is doing so posts on your showcase page need to be specific to that service or product. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience.
Videos you have done on that service or product
Client testimonials
Share stories of your struggle, your journey or clients journey and how this service or product has helped them.
Share stats and success stories
As you can see these are all similar but different at the same time.
How to Grow your Profile and Company Page
One of the features I like most about LinkedIn is you can add connections to grow your online community. Before, people would just add anyone and everyone so they built quantity connections, rather than quality. Yeah, it’s great to have a large number of connections but we want to focus on adding the quality connections. A key piece to adding quality connections is to have a little note, an intro when you ask somebody to connect with you if you don’ already know them. You may see LION next to peoples names, this stands for LinkedIn Open Networker, meaning they are open to connecting with everyone, I don’t see this being used too much anymore, which I like. You will get asked to connect with people you don’t know and that is OK, check them out, look at their profile and see who they are. I like to think of LinkedIn is an online networking group.
In this image below you will see that someone asked me to connect with him, I do not know him personally, but he did send a message along with the connection. LinkedIn will also show you “People you may know” similar to Facebook. These people show up based on your profile and mutual connections.
Here are a few ways to be able to connect or invite people to connect with people on LinkedIn:
If you know a specific name of the person you want to connect with, you can search for them and find their profile and then click connect.
You can also upload your email list or contacts from Gmail, yahoo, outlook, etc.
Then as I mentioned above looking at the “People You May Know” section and asking people to connect through there.
NOTE: If people have asked to connect with you and you have pending invites they will appear on the top bar on your LinkedIn account next to “Network”
Again, we highly recommend before you go connection crazy that you craft together a short, simple to the point message of why you want to connect with that person and send it along when you ask to connect, let me show you:
What’s Next?
It is such a great feeling when you have your LinkedIn profile updated to 100% and then when you create your company page, Showcase pages and have started to add connections, but what will make people want to connect with you? CONTENT! Be sure to be consistent as we have spoken about. In our next blog, we will be talking about groups, article and how to prospect on LinkedIn to take your profile to the next level!
If you need some help setting up or company page or creating the right size graphic, please let us know!
Interested in learning more? Take a look at these articles:
LinkedIn is one of my favorite places to share content. Of Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn is the best social network for lead generation with a conversion rate of 2.74%.* It also tends to direct the most traffic to B2B (and B2C) websites even though there is fewer interactions with specific posts.
I recommend using LinkedIn a few different ways for your business.
Add:
Add connections who are prospects AND referral partners. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your dream connections, just be sure to write a personal note about why you would like to connect with them.
Join:
Join groups that include your prospects AND those made of folks within your industry.
Share:
Share your blog posts to your personal profile, your business profile, groups you are a part of, and as an Article.
Ask:
Ask questions of folks within your industry. Many people are afraid this will make them look inexperienced, but why not learn from someone who has already been through the same or a similar experience!
Export:
Export your connections and invite them to join your email list. You can also add these emails to a custom audience in Facebook ads as a way to broaden your reach.
While you are using LinkedIn, think of it like a networking group or coworking space. You want to put your best foot forward and still be authentic. Sharing, commenting, and asking questions can help you to stand out as an influencer in your industry.
LinkedIn is also a space where you can connect with the “untouchables”.
Brainstorm a list of the top 5 to 10 individuals that you admire or have changed your industry and put together a personal note for each of them.
For these messages, start by explaining how you found them and what you have in common. It is okay if you are straightforward and say you were doing research and came across their profile. Then lead into why you would like to connect. By being transparent you can overcome many initial apprehensions an individual may have. Lastly, ask for the connection or the next step.
As long as you get to the point quickly for why you are writing and don’t expect someone to give, give, give, without knowing you or getting anything in return, we’ve had great success building networks on LinkedIn with the big game changers in industries.
Caitlin McDonaldhttps://socialspeaknetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SocialSpeak-Logo.pngCaitlin McDonald2017-04-24 09:54:572017-04-24 09:54:57How to Use LinkedIn for Your Business
