So, you want to build a following on LinkedIn? Do you picture getting tons of followers and connection requests along with countless likes on all of your content? Are you looking to have a large number of people messaging you to learn more about you or your business? Do you want to become an influencer overnight? No matter what your end goal is, we might as well tell you right off the bat that growing your following on LinkedIn isn't as easy as it looks, but it's achievable.
So, how do you start?
Well, we're here to tell you a little bit about the platform, walk you through some steps to follow in order to build your following (no pun intended), and teach you about what having a following can do for you.
A little bit about the platform
Among other social platforms, LinkedIn has blown up throughout the recent years to where it's become a great place for marketers to share valuable content, meet new connections, and build their personal brand. There are over 700 million LinkedIn users now trying to grow their professional network. That sure is a lot of influential people and great content. There's a lot of buzz words thrown around when it comes to putting up content on this social network such as "organic reach" and "the algorithm". Let's find out how you can use these buzzwords on the platform to help you increase your following.
How to get a LinkedIn following
Find your niche
As appealing as it is to want to share anything and everything on LinkedIn until you start getting followers, you're going to have to reel it in. We're talking reeling it way into the point where you only talk about a certain topic or two. Finding your niche is going to act as your first step. After all, you'll have a better chance of building a loyal follower base that resonates with your pieces of content if you stick to one topic rather than writing about everything under the sun. Plus, then it makes it easier to ask them for any content suggestions they'd like from you. So, find your niche and create content that you think would resonate with your target audience before thinking about venturing out to new audiences.
Master the basics
If you're going to grow your following you need to be able to master the basics. Whether you're a small business owner with a business profile page or a digital marketing professional building your personal profile, there's a best practice or two that you definitely must do in order to succeed on this content platform. They involve setting a profile picture, finding the right audience, keeping up with the analytics of your page, and commenting on relevant content posts. Taking all of these steps will help the right people be able to find you - and hopefully follow you. We know it might seem basic and self-explanatory, but you've got to start somewhere.
Know your purpose
Each piece of content should match your purpose. What is your purpose anyways? Are you looking to gain followers to increase the brand awareness of your business and boost traction on your company page? Are you a professional looking to be discovered? No matter who you are - know your "why". After you've established your "why", it's a good idea to come up with a marketing strategy to follow when putting out your quality content on the platform. After all, we want to make sure every post is a great post that resonates with the right people, so if you don't know your purpose, chances are they probably won't either.
Be consistent
Consistency is key when it comes to building a following on social media. I mean, picture this, would you want to follow someone if they only posted twice a year? Probably not, right? Remember when we talked about creating a marketing strategy, make sure you take into account the frequency of your posts in that strategy. Remember, consistency doesn't mean you need to post multiple times a day, or even every day for that matter - we don't want people thinking your content is spam. If done right, consistent posting and branding is the best way to rank higher in the algorithm.
We get that not everyone has time to be on social media all the time, posting consistently. If this is the case for you, you might want to think about investing in a social media scheduler. Having access to a platform such as Hootsuite, Hubspot, or Sprout is a great way to input your content and schedule it in advance, whether it be video content, a blog post, a newsletter, or anything in between.
Showcase your platform
Everyone could use a little shameless plug every now and then. Which is why we encourage you to share your LinkedIn profile anywhere you can - both on and off the platform. Many professionals will place their LinkedIn business page URL in their email signature so that individuals they're communicating with have the opportunity to see.
The goal is to get your reach as high as possible to allow more people to see your profile. But this doesn't mean blasting your url on all social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. While these are also content platforms, LinkedIn is very different from the rest - it is known as the professional social media platform. What you'll want to do is increase your reach inside the platform by tagging influential people your business can relate to, using keywords and relevant hashtags when posting, and utilizing SEO so that your profile shows up in google and ranks higher in the algorithm.
What having a following can do for your business
Now that you know how to set yourself up to grow your following, here's some of the perks having a LinkedIn following can do for your business in the long run:
- Increase brand awareness for your business
- Connect with influencers who have a large following
- Enable your page to consistently rank higher in the algorithm
- Boost your market share
Once you're clear on the first steps you should take towards pushing your LinkedIn following to the next level, it's time to get started. Since we talked about LinkedIn so much in this blog, why not check out ours!
If you're looking for some social media assistance to help your small business or start-up's business page succeed, we're your people. Don't hesitate to schedule your discovery call with us today.
