I talked about LinkedIn marketing and it’s efficacy before in part 1 of this post, this is a continuation of that thought process. As well as an update in how I’ve found LinkedIn to be more useful than I initially thought, which was VERY useful. Now it’s fully exceeding my expectations.
How to make numbers work in your favor for LinkedIn marketing
Let’s start with some simple, simple numbers as they regard to LinkedIn marketing. I’m a marketer, so I think in numbers and averages, the adage goes “the worst salesman in the world still makes enough to feed his family”. Obviously a saying rather than absolute truth I’m aware you can make no sales, I’m saying the worst in terms of least successful but still adequate . LinkedIn has roughly 750 million users according to the latest data I can find, of which, 40% interact daily, which breaks down to 300 million.
So, that would mean .5 percent of people on PLANET EARTH, are on LinkedIn every day. This is an astounding number given that LinkedIn is a platform that is solely based on business, it’s not so wild that Facebook or Twitter has the numbers they do, because they’re not targeted, and this leads me to another precept of marketing, targeting your audience, and by using LinkedIn, you’ve already begun that process, because everyone there is doing business in one shape or form.
This eliminates a lot of unprofessional people who will ultimately be unproductive to the growth of business or sales. I would wager that the average LinkedIn user is much more likely to spend money than the average Facebook user, but I do not have data about that. So effectively just using the platform in a regular way each day, allows you to talk to a community almost the populous of the United States of America.
So, you’re on LinkedIn, now what, how do you do LinkedIn marketing?
First, approach it in a structured way. What people do you want to talk to to get the results you want? If you’re a contractor, you should be introducing yourself to realtors, or if you’re a cook, other cooks or restaurateurs.
Connect with like minded people to increase exposure
This can go for absolutely ever, but the point is, you can find people who need your skills on LinkedIn, and the hiring market is wide open right now, so if you can figure out your target market, you’re sure to get the exposure you want. Search for these professions and add people, introduce yourself and display your services in a attractive way.
Honestly, the entire article could stop here, because it’s as simple as that. People think marketing is hard, but in fact it’s just a series of plans set into motion. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” applies very much so. You can have a million impressions on an ad, but if 0% of your audience is interested, you wasted these impressions. However, if you have 100 impressions, and you have 80% of your audience interested, you now have 80 leads. LinkedIn marketing and all other marketing is a numbers game, and you should think of it that way if you’re doing marketing for yourself, it’s the only way to market, anything else is shooting fish in a barrel.
Consistency is key to LinkedIn marketing, as well as targeting
Posting on LinkedIn every day is of course helpful for LinkedIn marketing. It also increases your chance of engaging with someone who likes your skillset, by a lot. You can also engage in other people in the industry you’re in’s posts, and then you will be seen by their connections as well as get their attention. LinkedIn marketing, like all other marketing, is about exposure to raw numbers, balanced with market interest. Make yourself interesting in the market, and it will find you interesting. This includes hashtags, which literally “hash” or index your post with other posts that are like minded, so people in the market for things relating to your hashtag, will see you.
Some of this seems like common knowledge, but it’s the real formula to all marketing, and can be scaled to infinite proportions. Many times in life it’s best to stick to the basics, and marketing is very much that. There is always room for creative improvements, in fact that’s a very important part, but to have the basics down is to truly understand LinkedIn marketing.
Part 3 coming soon!
