LinkedIn has many advantages over other social networks. As the one platform that's mostly focused on communicating with other professionals, it's a great place for companies to advertise their brand, as well as their mission and vision. People tend to be more focussed when using it as there is a more business- and career-focussed bent to it. Quite simply, it's an easier network to crack in terms of building quality network and targeting the audience that you're trying to reach.
Here's my own list of seven quick, easy actions you can take to improve your LinkedIn experience and communication flow.
Think about doing 10 interactions a day, comment, like, and share. Each one of these is one interaction.
Remember to build and grow your network. Connect with 10 people of your choice that you feel will be valuable in your network.
Look critically at your profile and make sure that it really declares who you are and what you stand for. Make sure you're using all the right keywords if you want to be found: so do a quick search and see where you come up and work from there.
Try and get into the habit of posting. If you're not posting at all, once a year would be better than nothing! But ideally, you should be posting once, twice, or even three times a week.Keep in mind that sharing content, such as a news story or a friend's update, can be counted as a post. The trick is to put your own mark on it with your own slant of what you're asking people to do> and then you can take the glory of comments, likes, and shares on your post.
Reply to someone with a voice message. Take action, with even just one voice message. If someone makes contact with you, with an inquiry or question, leave them a voice message in reply... and see how powerful that can be. Try it!
In your LinkedIn posts, ask for action. Don't just expect people to comment, like, and share. If you want them to do something, ask them to comment properly. You can use polls and other tools to get interactivity, but don't be afraid to ask - people will usually be receptive and willing to show themselves out there too.
This last tip is my cheeky way of getting in front of other people and getting to a broader network. As well as including hashtags, try to use @mentions. Even when I share content someone posted - say a DMI post - I'll share their content and say, "Thanks @DigitalMarketingInstitute." This way I'm (shamelessly) getting myself and my profile in front of all of the DMI's audience.
These are all completely legitimate ways of communicating on LinkedIn. But it's these clever little tactics that will just make the difference of reaching more people and further exposing your brand.
Listen to Dawn’s full discussion about LinkedIn Success on the DMI podcast: Connecting Deeper with LinkedIn.