3 Reasons to Improve Your LinkedIn Marketing Skills

Leveraging LinkedIn marketing is your ticket to making the most of the world’s largest online networking database.  With more than 766 million members, LinkedIn is the place to be in the world of B2B sales, marketing, and branding. During the pandemic, LinkedIn evolved to become a marketplace for business that makes the benefits of in-person marketing and branding possible online, said Dan Grech, Founder and CEO of BizHack Academy, at a #BizHackLive webinar. As COVID-19-related restrictions ease across the United States, the company’s efforts have made LinkedIn easier to use and leverage as a powerful branding and marketing tool.  LinkedIn provides many other advantages that make it an important asset to add to your digital marketer’s toolbox. Read on to learn new LinkedIn tips and why now is the perfect time to invest in improving your LinkedIn marketing skills.

TL;DR: How does LinkedIn marketing benefit your digital marketing and branding strategy?

There are endless benefits to using LinkedIn marketing as part of your digital marketing strategy, including:

• LinkedIn gives you the ability to connect with millions of potential leads all around the world. 
• LinkedIn is a resource that spans across industries and professions, providing optimal conditions for B2B sales. 
• Marketing yourself on LinkedIn gives you the ability to highlight what makes your brand or business unique and sought after. 

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Reason #1: LinkedIn marketing gives users the ability to build connections with millions of potential customers across the globe.

With 766 million members in more than 200 countries worldwide, LinkedIn provides ample opportunity for professionals to build international connections that in turn help them progress their branding and generate leads online. At our #BizHackLive Webinar, Debbie Wemyss, an Independent LinkedInⓇ Specialist, said LinkedIn’s rapid growth is a critical benefit for professionals looking to build their network.  “After 18 years of growth, LinkedIn is still adding more than two new members per second around the world,” Wemyss said at a #BizHackLive Webinar. “That’s a phenomenal opportunity for anyone that’s in business or trying to create partnerships and alliances.” These partnerships and alliances are what users can leverage in their LinkedIn marketing to progress their professional branding and spread their business’ message. Fostering common interests and synergy with your LinkedIn connections is critical to achieving your professional goals, Wemyss said.  “Every time you bring in a new person to your network, you are boosting your network in a big way by the number of people that can find you with those organic searches,” Wemyss said. “You want to strive to have something in common or some synergy with every person you connect with.”  Building your LinkedIn network is simple and sustainable if you spend a few minutes each day reaching out to new users and cultivating relationships with people in your network. This can include connecting with your cell phone contacts on LinkedIn or sharing screenshots of virtual meetings and tagging other colleagues that are in the photo, Wemyss said. LinkedIn marketing involves a long-term commitment to building relationships with potential leads.  “It is a relationship-building site that can lead you to business later,” Wemyss said. “If you skip that step of relationship building, you are not going to have anywhere near the engagement and success on LinkedIn as a marketing tool as you could.” As part of its success in bringing traditional marketing to a virtual format, LinkedIn marketing combines “old school networking with leading-edge technology,” according to Wemyss. This combination is one of the critical reasons that implementing LinkedIn tips and branding techniques are the perfect addition to your marketing strategy when in-person connection is not as frequent. 

Reason #2: LinkedIn has become a prominent resource in multiple facets of the professional world with millions of active members.

Of its 766 million members, 323 million individuals are active on LinkedIn, meaning they use the platform 3 to 4 times per week. Because it spans across all industries and occupations, LinkedIn is an indispensable resource in B2B sales and branding as a way of consistently reaching individuals in other professions through your digital marketing.  “It is a gigantic database of products (and) services,” Wemyss said. “It is the largest professional online network with more than 35 million LinkedIn pages.”  These LinkedIn pages, formerly known as company pages, can serve as a “mini website” for business owners looking to bring their products and services to connections on the platform. Establishing these pages is a freeway for entrepreneurs to share their brand with potential leads across many communities and professions.  While the platform serves as a valuable resource for professionals in transition—it is a No. 1 resource for international HR departments looking for new talent, Wemyss said—cultivating connections with individuals in fields different from your own provides optimal opportunities to market your brand. The key to supporting these connections is being active on the site.  “I’m always being very active and engaging with my network,” Wemyss said.  Wemyss recommends regularly posting about business conventions, and meetings users attend, as well as engaging with their connections’ posts and content. LinkedIn’s active community of members draws entrepreneurs and other professionals to the site to fulfill their digital marketing needs. 

Reason #3: LinkedIn marketing allows professionals to show off what makes them and their business unique. 

An integral part of success in LinkedIn marketing is the appropriate use of keywords and phrases to describe your expertise, products, and services best so potential customers can easily find you on the platform using organic or keyword-based searches.  “Ninety percent of searches are keyword-driven,” Wemyss said. “People don’t know who they are looking for, they just know what they need, so they are going to plug in a keyword.” This aspect of the platform allows professionals to highlight specific characteristics that they feel best represent their mission and will appeal to future leads. What is essential in compiling your LinkedIn marketing keywords is ensuring you don’t overcomplicate the words you choose. Wemyss recommends including a combination of both your hard and soft skills.  Hard skills work to give a clear picture of the services and products that you and your business can provide to a potential customer. Soft skills can include being a communicator, networker, or relationship builder, Wemyss said.  “Another one I love is high integrity,” Wemyss said. “It is a phrase that I love to infuse in every LinkedIn profile that we’ve worked on. Who wouldn’t want to work with somebody of high integrity?” A benefit of LinkedIn marketing is the opportunity it provides to focus on what makes you unique in the professional world and how these traits can generate a lead and assist a potential customer. Infuse your profile’s “About” section or your “Experience section with keywords to best appeal to potential customers who may be searching for your specific expertise, product, or service!

Next Steps to LinkedIn Marketing 

As LinkedIn continues to become an essential part of digital marketing in our contemporary world, improving your LinkedIn marketing skills is a priority in progressing your marketing and branding strategy online. These LinkedIn tips are only the beginning to fully realizing the positive potential of marketing yourself and your business. Take time to learn and implement these LinkedIn marketing tips and strategies to understand better and use this powerhouse platform to satisfy your digital marketing needs in a post-pandemic world! Apply to our LinkedIn Business Edge 5-week program to put into practice everything you need to have an ALL-star LinkedIn profile. Want to learn more about our next digital marketing certification cohort? Join BizHack Academy for our FREE Webinars and hear experts discuss the latest and best small business marketing strategies. For a list of upcoming events, click here.