If you touch the social media marketing for your business then you are probably aware that Facebook is no longer Kumbaya when it comes to reaching your audience. In fact, they have been systematically closing doors and locking them between you and most of your audience for quite some time. All those “likes” you received through your marketing endeavors are pretty much just for show now unless your fans loyally visit your business page, or you pay to boost your posts to reach them. Because of this many businesses are slowing down, and even abandoning their efforts on Facebook, and focusing their attention on LinkedIn.
This is not good news.
With the dam about to burst, now is the time to examine your LinkedIn strategy. Here are five things I hope you consider:
Contact Information. Don’t let LinkedIn control who can and can’t contact you—especially if you are a service provider. Put your e-mail address in your public profile summary. That will also help facilitate connection requests if people can’t connect with you through the provided options. You always have the option to decline.
Website Information. These should be correctly named, and not by the default LinkedIn settings of Company Website, Personal Website and Blog. If you choose “other” as your option, you can type in the actual site names. It makes it easier for viewers, and helps them remember the names of your company and your blog!
Company Information. While you are “yourself” on social media, it is also a team effort. The description for the company you own, or work for, should be uniform and not open to interpretation. The description should be communicated to all employees and updated as needed. After that information, you should describe what you do at the company in your own voice, however, if you have branded company terminology—i.e. Salespeople are called Solutionists—then everyone should be using that. Which also brings me to...
Your Title And Industry. LinkedIn is a searchable site and therefore they have set parameters for fields like industry, but left others open such as title. If you are a Printer—regardless of the PSP/MSP debate—your industry should be Printing and not Marketing and Advertising. I am not going to search for a Printer under any industry other than Printing, and I’m a user like everyone else. As far as titles, since I have chosen Intergalactic Ambassador to the Printerverse I’m not about to throw stones, but keep in mind I am not a service provider, and if I was I would be mindful of common search terms. Fun is fun and I’m all for creativity, but being found might have more significance for you.
Engagement. Now that who you are, where you work, what you do and how to find you are out of the way, it’s time to interact. I cannot stress enough that the only magic formula for social media is time and effort. Time spent on LinkedIn will help you hone in on the groups that add value for your time, provide quality conversations and even leads. Putting forth an effort to participate in groups by starting relevant discussions or commenting in them, sets you apart not only as a recognizable name, but as a thought leader in your area of expertise.
I could go on and on about LinkedIn since I see the good, the bad and the WHAT THE HELL on an hourly basis in my 68,000+ member Print Production Professionals group, but I just wanted to give you a few ideas to help keep you LinkedIn with the real community, and avoid being LumpedIn with the rest.
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Deborah Corn is the Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse at Print Media Centr, a Print Buyerologist, international speaker and blogger, host of Podcasts From The Printerverse, cultivator of Print Production Professionals the #1 print group on LinkedIn, Girl #1 at Girls Who Print, host of #PrintChat, the founder of International Print Day and the founder of #ProjectPeacock. She is the recipient of several industry honors and is on the Advisory Board for the Advertising Production Club of NYC.
As the Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse, Deborah provides ‘printspiration’ and resources to print and marketing professionals through Print Media Centr. She has 25+ years of experience working in advertising as a Print Producer and now works behind the scenes with printers, suppliers and industry organizations helping them create meaningful relationships with customers and members, and achieve success with their social media, content marketing, event marketing and sales endeavors.
Twitter: @PrintMediaCentr