If You Want to Grow Your Business, You Need to Grow Your LinkedIn Network: Tips for Building a Strategy and Increasing Your Followers and Engagement

Unlocking the full potential of your LinkedIn profile requires a strategic approach that goes beyond the initial setup. In a world where professional networking is increasingly digital, your LinkedIn presence is your virtual business card, and it can either open doors or leave them firmly shut. 

In recent years, LinkedIn has evolved from a mere job-search platform into a dynamic hub for professional growth and engagement. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned industry expert, or simply someone looking to expand your professional horizons, optimizing your LinkedIn profile is paramount. Why? Because it’s not just about collecting connections; it’s about fostering meaningful relationships, showcasing your expertise, and positioning yourself as a thought leader in your field. 

With the right strategies, your LinkedIn profile can become a magnet for opportunities, collaborations, and valuable connections. This blog post is your guide to optimizing your LinkedIn profile and leveraging the platform to its fullest extent. 

Here are some tips for how to build up your personal brand for your business and increase your followers and engagement:

Optimize your profile

When you first register for LinkedIn, you are prompted to ‘complete your profile’. According to a recent LinkedIn article, pages that are complete get 30% more views than pages that are incomplete. With that being said, throwing up a random photo, cover photo and a short bio won’t get you too far either. Make sure to use a professional headshot as your profile photo and be sure to use professional language in your bio. Your bio should disclose your background, experience, achievements, awards, a description of your business and a Call to Action (CTA). Your cover photo should represent your business with either your mission statement or a CTA that your connections and followers can respond to.

Lastly, start posting, sharing and engaging. Make sure to ‘feature’ your most important organic posts on your profile for optimal exposure.

Create and post engaging content

Once your profile is ready, you can begin posting! This key detail is what will really bring your profile to life. Creating content that is true to you and that your followers and connections will resonate with is your main goal. Content comes in all forms, but you need to pick content that makes sense for what you are trying to gain. Make sure your brand colours, logo and tone of voice match your personality and your business and be sure to be consistent and regular with your posting. 

According to a recent LinkedIn article, pages that post at least once a week see twice as much engagement, gaining more organic reach and opening up opportunities for more followers and connections. If you are having a difficult time getting started, here are 3 popular content types that perform well on LinkedIn:

1. Industry insights, news, and research: People come to LinkedIn to learn. Your audience is likely following you because of your similar interests, play on that.

2. Thought leadership: Build your credibility. What do you know about a particular topic? Share tips and strategies, and post polls to engage your audience. Show your audience that you are an expert in your industry.

3. Event and networking opportunities: Did you attend a recent business event? Post your photos or videos from the event on LinkedIn and tag and connect with the individuals and companies you met at the event. 

 

Start a conversation, ask questions

When drafting a post for your account, don’t forget to add in a CTA at the end. Your CTA should be driving users to your website or newsletter sign up, or encouraging your audience to comment and share their opinions on a topic.

It’s one thing to build a content calendar and post on a regular basis, but it’s another to interact with other users of the platform and your peers. If you see a post that resonates with you, go ahead and like it, comment on it or repost it with your added opinion. Not only is that great for their reach, it also improves yours! Commenting on a particular post shows that you are knowledgeable and also shows your thoughtfulness and willingness to engage with your community.

Get out and promote yourself

Building your LinkedIn following and influence means promoting LinkedIn connections outside of the app too. Make sure your LinkedIn information is everywhere. Put a link to your profile on all of your other social media, your website, your blog and your email signature. When you attend any business event, whether it be a conference, workshop or seminar, be sure to always have your business card handy with your contact information as well as social media handles. Building your network could also include encouraging your friends and colleagues to be on Linkedin as well so that you can help boost each other’s profiles and build mutual success. And if you want to take it a step further, start co-creating content with relevant parties in your field to maximize exposure for both companies.

Track your progress

Like many other social media pages, LinkedIn keeps an eye on your analytics so that you can maximize your potential. When becoming a premium user, you have access to a world of data that can help you better understand how you are performing. Keep track of what types of content are performing best, what posting times drive the most engagement, and how often you should be posting for optimal results. This is not something that needs to be looked at after every post, rather, we recommend making time to review once per month so you can make observations and adjust your strategy accordingly. 

The goal of building your personal brand on top of your company’s brand is to create visibility and build credibility. Buyers enjoy being able to buy from brands that are honest and relatable, so giving your audience the opportunity to get to know you as well, may give you that extra push to make a sale. Providing additional value and putting time and effort into your own brand builds trust with your audience and shows that you are an expert in your field. 

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