There’s no doubt that LinkedIn is one of the best digital marketing tools to convey your brand and professional profile to clients and stakeholders. In today’s age of digital connections, we find that businesses grow through their social connections. LinkedIn has changed the game for “people marketing,” which, in turn, assists with “social selling.”
According to A Sales Guy Consulting, 72.6% of sales people who use social media to sell their business out perform their competitors. In fact, when it comes to business, the online world actually allows us to be more social. Through LinkedIn, we’re able to socialise before we even meet.
However, before leaping into LinkedIn, it’s important to know its three foundations.
1. Quality vs. Quantity
2. Nurturing vs. Selling
3. Relationship vs. Transaction
1. Quality vs. Quantity
LinkedIn isn’t about who has the most connections. It’s about which connections are valuable. It’s important to make sure your connections are relevant to your business and what you’re trying to promote. This ensures that you are communicating with people who need or can benefit from your business, product, and service. Communicating with a relevant audience ensures you a greater success by making sure your communication and marketing strategies don’t go to waste.
To determine which connections are relevant, define your target audience. Often, your target audience for your LinkedIn profile is the same as your target market for the product or service of your business. To further help you determine this market, think about the goals of your business and online presence. This will help attract your ideal customer or connection.
2. Nurturing vs. Selling
You want to nurture your clients, not simply sell to them. Selling, without nurturing, can be perceived as spam.
You need to be clear on the difference between a guest and a pest.
It may show that you’re only willing to give your customers what they pay for, rather than going that extra mile.
Nurturing is about taking care of your clients. The key to nurturing is to add value. Think about why your clients need your business. What are you helping them achieve? This will be dependent on the nature of your business and industry.
Essentially, adding value requires you to identify and tackle a problem in the marketplace – What more can you possibly offer to your clients?
3. Relationship vs. Transaction
Drawing from the importance of nurturing, the third key foundation is to build and maintain positive working relationships.
It’s important to maintain that relationship even after the transaction. The simplest way to achieve this is to keep in touch and give quick follow-ups via telephone or email. This shows that you care about your clients’ results, and not just about the lead up to that first paycheck.
Maintaining quality relationships is beneficial to both you and the client. Firstly, it gives you a good impression and encourages customer loyalty. As a result, customer loyalty generally leads to referrals, one of the most trusting ways of generating more leads. Secondly, it ensures your clients get the best results from your business by being there for them if they need that extra help.
Understanding LinkedIn’s foundation optimises the way you use your platform to market yourself as a professional and your brand.
Looking for help to generate quality leads through LinkedIn? Contact Lead Generation Expert, Prabin Gautam who has helped many entrepreneurs to connect with the right prospects and to convert the trusted relationship into referrals.
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