Critique my LinkedIn business development strategy
Discussion
Hi. I'd like to use LinkedIn to develop my network, increase awareness of my business and ultimately generate new customer inquiries. I'm a little bit old school in that I'm not that comfortable posting on social media platforms, but recognise that it could be a useful tool and part of business branding and sales generation. I've put together some thoughts on what I need to do and how to go about building my profile on LinkedIn - so to the more learned in this area, what do you think?
1. Make sure that my profile up to date. Include information on the business vision and values, key business USP’s and personal drivers.
2. Post at least 3 original content pieces that are relevant to industry, informative, interesting and credible to provide background content.
3. Start commenting on my networks connections posts.
4. Target specific connections in my area – business owners and directors, professional white collar workers etc via e.g. chambers of commerce, university alumni groups etc that I am members of.
5. Make the introductions personal e.g. ‘As we’re both members of the local chambers of commerce…’
6. Continue building reputation through additional content creation and sharing of other posts.
7. Introduce sales messages in to content and posts, e.g. the value of personal service, what does ‘proper’ account management mean, is personal service dead, why we are amazing at personal service.
Points
1 – 3 are about showing that the profile is current and relevant.
4 – 5 are about developing the network in a way that isn’t an automated bot approach. It’s about being genuine and authentic in building a network.
6 – 7 is building a reputation and feeding a sales message into contacts.
1. Make sure that my profile up to date. Include information on the business vision and values, key business USP’s and personal drivers.
2. Post at least 3 original content pieces that are relevant to industry, informative, interesting and credible to provide background content.
3. Start commenting on my networks connections posts.
4. Target specific connections in my area – business owners and directors, professional white collar workers etc via e.g. chambers of commerce, university alumni groups etc that I am members of.
5. Make the introductions personal e.g. ‘As we’re both members of the local chambers of commerce…’
6. Continue building reputation through additional content creation and sharing of other posts.
7. Introduce sales messages in to content and posts, e.g. the value of personal service, what does ‘proper’ account management mean, is personal service dead, why we are amazing at personal service.
Points
1 – 3 are about showing that the profile is current and relevant.
4 – 5 are about developing the network in a way that isn’t an automated bot approach. It’s about being genuine and authentic in building a network.
6 – 7 is building a reputation and feeding a sales message into contacts.
GT03ROB said:
What makes you think LinkedIn is a good tool for this?
A genuine question by the way.
I know a few people that generate leads using LinkedIn. I don't by any means think it is the only way to go about it, just another way to support business branding, awareness and lead gen.A genuine question by the way.
Do you not think it's good or useful for this?
warp9 said:
I know a few people that generate leads using LinkedIn. I don't by any means think it is the only way to go about it, just another way to support business branding, awareness and lead gen.
Do you not think it's good or useful for this?
I would say it depends on the sector you and your business sit in. It may be the best way for you to develop your business and create leads. Only you will know that.Do you not think it's good or useful for this?
I personally ignore anything that comes my way from Linkedin, its aways some business development guru, or marketing person trying to flog me something.
I really need to delete my profile and contact preferences.
Ham_and_Jam said:
I personally ignore anything that comes my way from Linkedin, its aways some business development guru, or marketing person trying to flog me something.
I think this is quite a commonly held view - I'm a little more understanding and if folks send me a message with something useful / relevant to me, then I'll respond and take the sales call. Partly because they are often just trying to do their job and partly to learn a bit about how other companies in the industry do their cold lead gen activities. But if it is a poorly targeted campaign mailing generic nonsense to hundreds of people, then I'll ignore it as well.
I would say that LinkedIn can be a great way of contacting people / getting awareness of you / your company / brand etc out there but as with everything, it needs time and effort applying to it.
Sounds fairly traditional but it should work to a degree if you commit to posting decent content consistently. Fill your timeline with people in your industry. Slow and steady wins the race and all that unless you're a potential viral sensation.
It won't work for everyone but a lot of the people I follow either post fun and engaging content or they post regularly and very openly about their business and very rarely give it the hard sell.
They give away advice and information for free and lots of them have also been 'building in public' and post openly about the financials of their business, the successes, the failures etc.
All of them say how good LinkedIn is for generating business or creating useful connections. Especially those flying solo who can get feedback on ideas or ask advice.
I see a lot of the 'gurus' and people trying the hard sell with spammy posts or cold messages etc getting called out on it now.
I think LinkedIn is a lot more personal than it used to be and that's no bad thing. Or may be I have just slowly filtered out the rubbish.
It won't work for everyone but a lot of the people I follow either post fun and engaging content or they post regularly and very openly about their business and very rarely give it the hard sell.
They give away advice and information for free and lots of them have also been 'building in public' and post openly about the financials of their business, the successes, the failures etc.
All of them say how good LinkedIn is for generating business or creating useful connections. Especially those flying solo who can get feedback on ideas or ask advice.
I see a lot of the 'gurus' and people trying the hard sell with spammy posts or cold messages etc getting called out on it now.
I think LinkedIn is a lot more personal than it used to be and that's no bad thing. Or may be I have just slowly filtered out the rubbish.
Edited by FactoryBacked on Tuesday 21st March 16:38
GT03ROB said:
What makes you think LinkedIn is a good tool for this?
A genuine question by the way.
Presumably OP is in a B2B sector. If they're a car detailer or a plumber, then LinkedIn isn't the right platform. If the audience is other professionals, it absolutely is.A genuine question by the way.
OP your strategy is well thought-out. I might suggest you start commenting first before writing original pieces. That way you get to hone your tone of voice and points of view before committing to full-blown posts. You also get to see which comments attract engagement which then gives you inspiration for what to write about. In fact LI recently introduced a prompt to turn your comment into a post.
Forget about LinkedIn Articles - they have no reach. Stick with posts in the feed.
Be very careful when contacting people as there is a fine line between relevant relationship-building and unwarranted intrusion. A good place to start is with people who have engaged with your content.
FactoryBacked said:
Sounds fairly traditional but it should work to a degree if you commit to posting decent content consistently. Fill your timeline with people in your industry. Slow and steady wins the race and all that unless you're a potential viral sensation.
It won't work for everyone but a lot of the people I follow either post fun and engaging content or they post regularly and very openly about their business and very rarely give it the hard sell.
They give away advice and information for free and lots of them have also been 'building in public' and post openly about the financials of their business, the successes, the failures etc.
All of them say how good LinkedIn is for generating business or creating useful connections. Especially those flying solo who can get feedback on ideas or ask advice.
I see a lot of the 'gurus' and people trying the hard sell with spammy posts or cold messages etc getting called out on it now.
I think LinkedIn is a lot more personal than it used to be and that's no bad thing. Or may be I have just slowly filtered out the rubbish.
^^^^^It won't work for everyone but a lot of the people I follow either post fun and engaging content or they post regularly and very openly about their business and very rarely give it the hard sell.
They give away advice and information for free and lots of them have also been 'building in public' and post openly about the financials of their business, the successes, the failures etc.
All of them say how good LinkedIn is for generating business or creating useful connections. Especially those flying solo who can get feedback on ideas or ask advice.
I see a lot of the 'gurus' and people trying the hard sell with spammy posts or cold messages etc getting called out on it now.
I think LinkedIn is a lot more personal than it used to be and that's no bad thing. Or may be I have just slowly filtered out the rubbish.
Edited by FactoryBacked on Tuesday 21st March 16:38
All this.
Hitting people in DMs is tedious and just gets people's backs up just like if you walk into a bar and go up to each person, telling them what you do.
Build relationships, demonstrate your expertise. When people are ready (require the service you offer), if you're regularly in their feed, they'll think of you.
The key thing is to remain consistent (and not constant).
warp9 said:
GT03ROB said:
What makes you think LinkedIn is a good tool for this?
A genuine question by the way.
I know a few people that generate leads using LinkedIn. I don't by any means think it is the only way to go about it, just another way to support business branding, awareness and lead gen.A genuine question by the way.
Do you not think it's good or useful for this?
the down side is people that simply do not read anything about you either recruiters or companies selling stuff that you could have no possible use for. There's also become too many facebook style posts appearing whihc to me downgrades it.
If you are selling B2B & do your diligence on potential customers I'm sure it has value. Good, informative, well written stuff will help you get a brand image out there cheaply
Good luck anyway.
Thank you all for your comments. My takeaways so far are -
Comment first to get a feel and develop content.
Only message with something useful and, or relevant.
Be open and authentic when messaging and posting.
Provide fun and engaging content or relevant advice and information.
Be personal, not spammy - I was never going to do this!
Connect with people who have engaged with my content.
ChatGPT 'could' be my friend.
Build quality, relevant relationships, demonstrate my expertise and be consistent.
I'm going in!
Comment first to get a feel and develop content.
Only message with something useful and, or relevant.
Be open and authentic when messaging and posting.
Provide fun and engaging content or relevant advice and information.
Be personal, not spammy - I was never going to do this!
Connect with people who have engaged with my content.
ChatGPT 'could' be my friend.
Build quality, relevant relationships, demonstrate my expertise and be consistent.
I'm going in!
Hi Warp,
Coincidentally I did a mini campaign on LI at the end of last year. I already have 2000+ connections (most of whom I have never met) and most of which I should actually clear out as we will never be of any benefit to one another.
My campiagn was via direct messaging, only to people I have some sort of history with - worked with, done work with, met etc. All messages were personalised to an extent (mention the nature of our relationship etc etc). Then mention something about what they're up to now, then ask for a chat to see if we can do anything together.
167 - messages sent
136 - no response
13 - no thanks
6 - get back to me in......weeks/months time (basically a no thanks)
12 - conversations
2 - new clients
First time I've done anything like this, I'm no expert on conversion rates but the intial 167 messages took a couple of days to send, follow ups over the next few weeks. Quite happy with 2 new clients, but I would have thought that warm contacts would have yielded a higher response?
Over to you, and best of luck!
Coincidentally I did a mini campaign on LI at the end of last year. I already have 2000+ connections (most of whom I have never met) and most of which I should actually clear out as we will never be of any benefit to one another.
My campiagn was via direct messaging, only to people I have some sort of history with - worked with, done work with, met etc. All messages were personalised to an extent (mention the nature of our relationship etc etc). Then mention something about what they're up to now, then ask for a chat to see if we can do anything together.
167 - messages sent
136 - no response
13 - no thanks
6 - get back to me in......weeks/months time (basically a no thanks)
12 - conversations
2 - new clients
First time I've done anything like this, I'm no expert on conversion rates but the intial 167 messages took a couple of days to send, follow ups over the next few weeks. Quite happy with 2 new clients, but I would have thought that warm contacts would have yielded a higher response?
Over to you, and best of luck!
sinbaddio said:
First time I've done anything like this, I'm no expert on conversion rates but the intial 167 messages took a couple of days to send, follow ups over the next few weeks. Quite happy with 2 new clients, but I would have thought that warm contacts would have yielded a higher response?
One of our guys - in another country where kind of every one knows each other - sends out 1000 emails at a time and thinks it's a result if he gets one positive response.Simpo Two said:
sinbaddio said:
6 - get back to me in......weeks/months time (basically a no thanks)
No, you put it in the diary and call them at the due time!The best jobs often come from nowhere, while the one you thought was a sure-fire winner never happens.
When I had a business (b to b) we were fairly active on LI, my contacts were strictly limited to those who could influence potential business, we then posted either educational posts (ie this is the best way to address particular issues) or details of projects completed and benefits achieved, determining effectiveness is very difficult (I once had a PR company explain to me how much I would have had to pay for the editorial space they had achieved if it had been advertising space, completely missing the fact that I was looking for sales leads not just exposure).
But subjectively I often spoke to existing or new customers who commented on the posts, so I guess it was effective (and cheap!)
But subjectively I often spoke to existing or new customers who commented on the posts, so I guess it was effective (and cheap!)
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