When it comes to social marketing, LinkedIn is often overlooked in favor of Twitter or Facebook.
For most businesses – especially those in the B2B market – that’s a mistake.
If you’re not yet using LinkedIn as part of your social strategy, then you’re likely missing out on incredible opportunities.
The first thing to do when you join LinkedIn is ensure your profile is up to scratch. Here’s how to do that.
Give Yourself a Custom Profile Link
When you join LinkedIn, your profile will be given a default URL with nothing special going for it.
However, LinkedIn gives you the option of creating a custom URL. Make this URL your name, and it will look good on business cards. It will also make it easier for people to find you when they put your name into a Google search.
To change your profile’s URL, click here, then select Customize your public profile URL.
Create a Keyword Rich Profile
We all know the vital role keywords play in making your website visible on search engines. To put it simply, if you want to be found, you’ve got to have the keywords on your site that people are searching for. Otherwise, you’re effectively invisible.
The same is true on LinkedIn. Want your profile to be found? Then you need to include search keywords in your profile.
You can include keywords in your headline, summary, job titles, and job descriptions. A keyword-heavy headline is particularly effective at drawing a crowd.
Collect LinkedIn Recommendations
As anyone in the world of marketing knows, social proof is one of the most effective weapons when it comes to selling anything.
What is social proof? It’s endorsements of your brand by real people. This could be testimonials from customers published on your website. It could be having thousands of Twitter followers. Or it could just be that people are talking about your brand, passing on their positive experiences of your company by word-of-mouth.
Think of this way. Everyone expects you to toot your own trumpet. So any claims you make about yourself are likely to be treated with an element of caution. When when others toot your trumpet, then people sit up and listen.
Recommendations are how you build up your social proof on LinkedIn. You can ask any of your connections to write you a recommendation. Or, just start writing recommendations for others. Many people will respond in kind.
Over to You
What are your best tips for improving a LinkedIn profile? Let us know in the comments section, below.
Lori R Taylor is the founder and executive editor of Social Caffeine. In 2009 she started her own direct response focused social media agency, REV Media Marketing LLC, coining the phrase given by her young son, “You bring the rain, we’ll make it pour.” Follow Lori on Twitter.
David is our acting editor. He’s British, but we don’t hold that against him.
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