Secret Hacks For Branding and Building a Following on LinkedIn

It's well-known that LinkedIn is the premier social media platform for business-to-business marketing. However, many companies find it challenging to get the most out of LinkedIn. It's not enough to simply create a profile and add a few contacts. If you want to build a large and engaged following, it takes time and a sustained effort. Let's look at some of the secret hacks that the top LinkedIn networkers use.

​Basic LinkedIn Tips
​
There are certain actions you can take to establish a strong LinkedIn presence. Let's start with some of the basics.

• Create a thorough profile. Take advantage of the space LinkedIn provides to create a detailed, keyword-rich description of your business. This makes it easier for people to find you. A quality photo is also important for attracting attention and personalizing your profile (which is crucial for businesses as well as individuals). 

• Post regularly. Like any other social media site, posting regularly helps you increase your visibility. LinkedIn lets you publish articles as well as status updates. If LinkedIn features your article on Pulse, you have the chance to reach a wide readership. 
• Add contacts regularly. LinkedIn provides a list of suggested contacts. You have nothing to lose by inviting people to connect with you. When you mean new business contacts, always ask if they're on LinkedIn.
• Include as many skills as possible. Make sure you add every relevant skill you possess. It also helps to get recommendations and endorsements. One of the best ways to get these is to endorse your own contacts. Additionally, don't be afraid to request endorsements from your clients.

The above is a good starting point for building a strong LinkedIn presence. However, even these actions will only take you so far. There are millions of LinkedIn profiles out there with more being added every day. If you want to stand out, you need a powerful strategy for sustained growth.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Your LinkedIn Marketing

The key to building a strong LinkedIn presence is adding contacts and building relationships. Unfortunately, this is where most people and businesses eventually hit a wall. No matter how wide your circle of acquaintances, at some point you'll reach the limit. You can and should do what we recommended earlier and add contacts suggested by LinkedIn itself, which include 2nd and 3rd-degree contacts (as opposed to 1st-degree or people you know personally). However, it can be a time-consuming process to constantly seek new contacts. Furthermore, adding connections is only the first step.

Most LinkedIn users have dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of connections with whom they've never interacted. This doesn't help your business. Once you've made a new connection, you also have to interact with him or her. Most business owners don't have time to pour over their social media pages, send out multiple invitations every day and then send messages to new contacts. A more efficient solution is to outsource this task to a specialist. There are agencies that can find strategic new contacts and add them at an exponentially faster rate than you could do on your own. 

Handshakin' provides a service called LinkedIn Targeted Growth, which adds new connections to your account daily, as many as 500 per week. These aren't randomly chosen but based on keywords used in profiles. Once you've made these connections, the system will then send them direct messages. This can help you start potentially profitable conversations with lots of new people. The Targeted Growth plan also helps you optimize your LinkedIn profile with a checklist. The plan includes a whole year of automation and management. For a business that wants to significantly improve its results on LinkedIn, it makes sense to outsource crucial tasks to an expert. This frees your time and allows you to get results much faster than you could on your own. 
​
Handshakin' has a variety of services for businesses, including website development and targeted social media growth. For more information, contact us.