0LinkedIn is a powerful force that is known to all in the industry by now. Started in 2003 as a professional networking market, the platform has now become a global face of professionalism and connections. We connect to people over different social media platforms, but LinkedIn is more than just that. A professional resume is as good as a well-established LinkedIn page. Its vast popularity has grabbed the attention of marketers and has made it one of the prominent keynote in a digital marketing course.
Digging into some statistics, LinkedIn has achieved approximately 760 million users, while 260 million are those who actively stay on the platform every month for its innumerable benefits. 40% out of this total of active monthly users are daily users.
On the one hand, LinkedIn is a professional platform to find people with similar mindsets or occupation; it is also a platform for businesses to expand and generate leads. The main drawback is, not many know how? It is always advised to stay active on the forum, and you may get some conversion leads. But, what’s the concrete plan? The main steps have been defined, but what are the in-betweens and the ins-and-outs of it.
As we keep doing what we have been for some time without getting results, there can only be two possibilities: either we aren’t doing enough or don’t know if we are doing it right. Well, let’s dig into the delicious recipe of “how to generate lead conversions out of LinkedIn connections”.
1] Turn the company page into a lead conversion page
There are nearly 20 million companies listed on LinkedIn that use it nearly daily for their business and management. From LinkedIn to connect to other businesses to find quality employees, these companies and employers make up a significant part of the whole platform.
While LinkedIn was launched with professional networking, only making connections would not urn them into customers. One has to work for the same because leads will not fall with the rain anytime soon.
So, the LinkedIn company page needs to have a strong call-to-action, rather than just constituting information about your company. The most basic CTA here would be that the viewer of the company profile is inspired to know more about the company through its website, and thus, a click-through to your company’s website would be a significant action.
Now, for the above to happen, one would have first to view your LinkedIn company page. How does one get attracted to the company page?
- Well, the first thing one view is the header. So, attach an image that either is a reflection of your company’s work and grabs attention. Or, the other thing can be providing value from the start itself. It could be a solution to the reader’s problems, a product that seems enticing enough to make them visit the page, a book that will help them gain knowledge about one of their interests, etc.
- Create a compelling pitch in the description box. While the readers in the modern era have less patience to read the whole and skip through a lot, the pitch needs to be compelling and short. State a problem that you think the reader might be facing, which will attract the attention, and then list your product or service as the solution. All of this needs to be done in two lines because LinkedIn provides for you to grab their attention. And voila, they will open up to read more.
- In case the viewer does not take the bait and clicks through to your company website, you need to have a clickable ‘Recent Updates’ tab so that they do not miss out on the best of the things. While recent updates could be anything ranging from infographics, blogs to the latest launches and other information, it is essential to keep in mind that they should also be engaging.
2] Create a Showcase Page
Showcase pages are a LinkedIn feature that are extensions of the main company page. The showcase pages are used to show affiliation with other brands, influencers, etc.; one can highlight key initiatives or the different business units present within. The showcase pages are displayed on the main company page under affiliates.
These showcase pages have similar posting options, and they are more connected to a particular target audience. They also have the analytical option, which can help monitor the activities and the growth of the page. The showcase pages are created to display certain information required by a specific set of target audience. As per LinkedIn, this feature aids in creating and maintaining long-term relationships between the business and its audience.
The showcase pages can be titled differently as per their objectives. Experts say that the title should be short and include a word with which the target audience of the showcase page can associate some meaning to.
3] Advanced Search
The advance search option in LinkedIn lets you find the exact king of the target audience you may need to generate leads. You can filter your search based on location, the kind of connection you are finding [first, second, or groups], keywords, location, nonprofit interests, industry, current or past company, schooling, etc.
Many options narrow your search down to an exact point and let you explore people who can perfectly fit your target audience. After the search is narrowed down, you will come across many profiles. The advance search options will be available in a sidebar, and you can select or de-select any option as per your choices as you keep searching.
4] Save Searches
Without a premium account, only three searches can be saved. But, what are the benefits of saving searches? Well. Generating leads isn’t a searched and done kind of work. The need to maintain consistency is high, and saving searches lets you do just that.
Saving searches can let you also create an alert system for new results so you can be on the top of your game at any point in time. You can save searches with the option available in the top right corner.
5] Search Groups
There are innumerable amounts of groups available on LinkedIn, and you just may find some good ones in your niche. Groups are a great way to connect to a lot of people at once rather than searching singularly. Joining groups in the same niche as you let you connect to the right kind of people, and remaining active on these groups can also lead to generating leads shortly.
Even though group searches do not have much of an advanced search option, some filters are still available for the same. It would help if you focused on finding groups with people from your first connection and locality. Also, find medium-sized, active, and relevant groups for the best results.
6] Start groups
Since we already discussed the advantage of being a part of professional groups on LinkedIn, you can create one too. As you join groups, you may come across people who want to connect further with many users at once, and when the opportunity strikes, you can create a group, which will eventually grow in size and lead traffic to your page and website.
You will not only generate leads out of creating groups, but you will also get recognition and thought leadership if your groups’ activities are beneficial to a lot of people. You can create a group in following easy steps:
- Go to groups and click on ‘see all.’
- Next, click on ‘create a new group.’
- Then you just need to fill in answer boxes, where you can name the group, give it a description, set a few rules.
Groups are most successful because the people who are a part of the group experience their presence within it.
7] Publish content
Content has always played a significant role in marketing, whether its a Facebook Marketing or Linkedin Marketing. Content plays a decisive role in LinkedIn as it gives you not just as an individual but also as a company to publish content that would attract viewers. LinkedIn can be used to showcase your expertise and experience in your niche through the quality of work and content that you publish on your page. Many industry leaders recommend relevant quality content can be a significant attraction for LinkedIn users.
LinkedIn is a place of sharing stories of the corporate world, to show the soft side rather than the cold side, which is more visible to the world daily. It becomes an excellent opportunity to share light-hearted posts of your employees and their stories, workplace stories and anecdotes, etc. this draws attention to your brand and how you work.
Conclusion
The most apparent reason for LinkedIn was to connect people from the same niche, but LinkedIn has also been able to give people a chance to expand their horizons. The different courses present on LinkedIn and the various options of connecting with people you know will become more than mere connections in the future. The fact that these connections can be converted into customers has increased the platform’s popularity.
The strategies mentioned above are useful and viable, but consistency plays a key role too. These are also broad-based strategies, and once these strategies start getting used, you will see the result, but you will also gain insight into the smaller opportunities you would not want to miss. It will also require patience and effort.
It will take a lot more exploring to gain more knowledge of the platform. Even though these strategies are useful, be ready to explore the platform in different ways. Without the knowledge of using the platform the right way, it becomes just another time-sucking social media platform.
