I’ve said it before: Linkedin is the best way to generate leads for B2B businesses. At 500 million users and growing, it is the social media site that boasts the largest network of business professionals. But don’t just take my word for it: 79% of marketers agree that LinkedIn is an effective source for generating B2B leads. But which LinkedIn features should you use for the biggest impact?
As with other social networking sites, there are a lot of available features that allow you to promote yourself and your business on the site. That said, with new updates being added to LinkedIn all the time, what worked last year won’t necessarily work this year.
It’s important to continue to adjust your strategy as LinkedIn unveils new updates to make sure your efforts pay off. To start, check out my top 6 LinkedIn features that will help you grow your business below.
But if you want to find new clients for your business on LinkedIn, you need a proven lead generation strategy. I’ve spent years developing a lead gen system that combines automation and manual outreach to save you time and lands you 5 – 8 qualified leads every single day.
Join my free Mod Lead Gen Masterclass to discover my exact lead generation system and get my best LinkedIn tips that you can put into action today.
The Top 6 Best LinkedIn Features for Marketing Entrepreneurs
- LinkedIn Groups
- Ads (Combined with LinkedIn Website Demographics)
- InMail and Sponsored InMail
- Video Posts
- Recommendations from Clients
- “Broetry” Content Marketing
1. LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn groups can get a bad rap and are often full of spam, but recent changes are significantly increasing their value to marketers.
To be sure, the best LinkedIn groups are diamonds in the rough. Many groups go silent and turn into ghost towns sometime after you’ve joined, or turn into a place where people post ads and nothing else. You have to comb through the mud to find the smaller, active groups full of people within your target market.
But LinkedIn recently announced a number of new changes which will make groups much more valuable for marketers, making now the time to get involved in relevant groups (or start one of your own!) These changes include:
- The ability to add videos to groups
- An option to reply to comments directly
- The ability to tag users in posts
- Access to groups from the home page
LinkedIn has already begun featuring content from groups in users’ notifications and home feed, meaning more of your targeted audience will see the posts and comments you share. It’s clear that LinkedIn is making their groups feature a priority in 2018.
[clickToTweet tweet=”‘#LinkedIn groups can get a bad rap & are often full of spam, but recent changes are significantly increasing their value to #marketers,’ says @MandyModGirl” quote=”‘LinkedIn groups can get a bad rap and are often full of spam, but recent changes are significantly increasing their value to marketers.’ -Mandy McEwen” theme=”style3″]
2. Ads (Combined with LinkedIn Website Demographics)
LinkedIn Ads used to be way behind the ad platforms of other social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, because they did not have comparable targeting options and analytics. However, LinkedIn has addressed this inefficiency with the rollout of their own targeting features, Matched Audiences.
Additionally, LinkedIn also introduced Website Demographics, which is kind of like a Facebook pixel for LinkedIn. This new LinkedIn feature allows you to see the data behind which users visit your website, so that you can tailor your marketing campaigns accordingly.
Still to be addressed by LinkedIn: its CPC (cost per click) is one of the highest among all social networks, averaging $6, with a minimum daily budget of $10. In contrast, you can get started with Facebook Ads for about $0.50 (or lower) with a $1 minimum daily budget. Because of this, it’s important to target LinkedIn Ads to an audience that represents a high lifetime value.
3. InMail and Sponsored InMail
On LinkedIn, you can only send messages to those you are connected to as a 1st-degree connection. Though it’s preferable to send a connection request and then message someone once they accept, not everyone will accept your request without an InMail first to explain who you are and what you want. And if they have too many connections already, they might not be able to accept your request!
An often underused LinkedIn feature, this messaging tool allows you to send messages to 2nd- and 3rd-degree connections. You can use this on its own as a paid LinkedIn user (which gives you a specific number of InMail credits each month), or you can invest in a sponsored InMail, which allows you to send messages to a specific targeted audience.
The benefits of InMail include:
- Avoiding the risk of your message getting lost in a sea of connection requests. Some people don’t check requests often, and the personal message you add to your connection request can easily get missed when accepted on a mobile phone.
- Standing out amongst many other messages in a crowded LinkedIn inbox.
- Allowing you to add a subject to make your intentions clear.
4. Video Posts
From a content marketing standpoint, you can’t go wrong with video. LinkedIn has made videos a priority, highlighting them in the newsfeed and setting them to autoplay. Internet content is expected to be predominantly video-based by 2020, so one of my best LinkedIn tips is to get a headstart on this content marketing trend now.
LinkedIn just started allowing users to upload videos on LinkedIn. It seems fair to assume that it won’t be long before LinkedIn starts offering this option to business pages, and maybe even gives users live video capabilities! After all, they hired former Facebook Live Product Manager Peter Roybal to head up their video services, proving their dedication to this medium.
5. Recommendations from Clients
Recommendations give you and your company “social proof” and make people more likely to want to work with you and connect with you. One of my top LinkedIn strategies is to request testimonials from your clients on LinkedIn. (And to give them in return!)
Then, amplify the impact of this LinkedIn feature by sharing your recommendations in various forms online: on social media, on your website, in emails, and so on.
6. “Broetry” Content Marketing
With “broetry”…
Posts are written like this.
Each thought is important.
Taking up a single line.
Kind of like a poem.
Have you been privy to this new form of LinkedIn content marketing? If you spend enough time on LinkedIn, you’ll notice that there is a new craze happening on the site, jokingly referred to as “broetry.”
If Twitter is known for GIFs, LinkedIn is now known for broetry. This new writing format has become a go-to for marketers, and for good reason: it’s much easier to read on mobile, which is how many users consume content on the social media platform.
These posts draw you in with an intriguing quote, statistic, or statement that makes you click “see more.” Although this can be annoying to some, it’s hard to argue against their marketing value. Some of these posts have reached over a million views and have inspired thousands of reactions. According to Josh Fechter, who has written over 7,000 of these posts, it may seem like they’re easy to write — but that’s definitely not the case.
People like these kinds of posts because there are no links to external sites, the posts are easy to read, and they usually involve an element of storytelling that takes on a personal nature. These types of posts are geared towards people skimming through their News Feed or reading posts on their mobile device, and is a must for content marketing on LinkedIn.
More LinkedIn Tips That Will 10x Your Prospects
LinkedIn is the best platform to turn to when you want to grow your B2B business. Since it was acquired by Microsoft, it has undertaken a lot of major upgrades. Take advantage of these new LinkedIn features and continue to adjust your strategy accordingly to scale your business.
You can’t forget your LinkedIn profile, though! This personal page is how your clients find you, and by optimizing it properly, you can 10x your prospects. To see real business results on LinkedIn, download my free LinkedIn Optimization Checklist today. In just 1 hour, you can completely redesign your LinkedIn profile so your dream clients find you!
