For many, LinkedIn is often seen simply as a place to search for jobs, passively network with colleagues and potential employers and keep up to date with work- related wins of old friends. While, yes, you can do all of this on LinkedIn, what some people fail to realise is that when used correctly, the platform is a powerful tool you can use to build your brand, even more so than Instagram or Facebook. Below, we take you through some of the reasons why LinkedIn is the best place to build your brand, and how you can do so.
The Power of your Comment
Commenting. This is something many of us do mindlessly on a post to show our support when a simple “like” doesn’t seem to suffice. Some comments we see regularly on LinkedIn are often the platform’s generated prompts such as “Well Done, ____” or “Kudos to you.”
While there’s nothing wrong with posting this, it’s important to realise that your comment can have so much more impact on LinkedIn. Opposite to Instagram and Facebook, where your comment is only fed to the original creator of the post, on LinkedIn, your comment is fed to your entire network, meaning your reach is powerful. When you comment on a post, that post – along with your comment – will appear in the feed of your connections.
Therefore, by commenting something insightful, you have the power to place your ideas in front of a wide audience where so much opportunity lies. By doing this, you might find potential clients, business partners and dream team members.
Direct Exposure to Professionals
As you probably already know, unlike Instagram and Facebook, LinkedIn is a social media platform designed to connect with like-minded professionals, rather than friends and family. Because of this, LinkedIn is a much more powerful brand building tool than other social media platforms due to the exposure you’re given to other professionals who may otherwise be hard to contact.
Where else do you get the opportunity to get insights from the CEO of a billion-dollar company, or chat with a global network of people in your industry? Aside from the normal feed, you can also join groups of your interest, for example, “Digital Marketing” or “SEO.” In these groups, you can share ideas with others who are just as passionate as you about your field, which in turn will help you build your brand.
A Tool for Building your Dream Team
Having success as a professional networking site, it makes sense that LinkedIn is also one of the best platforms for recruiting candidates and finding jobs. As an employer, posting your job ad on LinkedIn ensures you’re only getting real professionals apply (most of) who are qualified for the job. Because applicants apply using their LinkedIn profile, recruiters can easily see their experience and connections, making it easier to disseminate who the right candidates are as opposed to other recruitment sites. Moreover, if recruiters have made worthwhile LinkedIn connections, they can even skip the entire job ad process and attract dream employees by contacting them directly on the platform.
Free Learning Opportunities
Something many business owners and leaders look for is an opportunity to learn new skills without having to sacrifice time. Luckily, LinkedIn wants to help professionals build their own brand, housing their own professional influencers. Their response? Offering members special LinkedIn learning tutorials. LinkedIn released this feature back in September 2016 and the tool offers a range of courses based around popular learning topics covering business, creative and tech.
Improve your Google Rankings
We hear all the time how important Google rankings and SEO are, and how difficult they can be to navigate, even if you’re an SEO expert. As a professional, you ideally want your website to rank first, should an employer or potential client google your name. Because this is sometimes difficult, a great trick is to make sure you have the correct name on your LinkedIn profile, as well as up to date information about your experience and qualifications. This is because LinkedIn is a well known and powerful network, so, when someone googles your name, it is generally going to be easier to get your LinkedIn page to show up first, rather than your website.
Learn more about LinkedIn marketing strategy here, and if you’d like more information, get in touch to book an obligation-free consult with a PN Digital marketing consultant.
