As you probably know by now, consistency is vitally important for any of your marketing efforts but especially for LinkedIn. How many times have you noticed that someone is really active but then disappears for months at a time? Then, surprise surprise, they show up again but that’s short-lived and within six weeks they are inactive again. What kind of feeling or impression does that impart, especially on a professional platform like LinkedIn?
The easiest way to be consistent with any social media marketing platform is to create a plan: a checklist or action steps that you can implement every day. A simple way to remember all the things to do when you log in and to make sure you’re covering all your bases is a daily action plan. A daily action plan will help you remember everything but it also saves time and prevents you from staring at your computer screen, not having any thoughts as to what to share or how to contribute to the groups you’re in.
- Check for any new Messages or Network Invitations. You are not required to accept new invitations, especially from people whom you have never met or had any interaction with. While some business owners think LinkedIn is a numbers’ game (the more connections you have, the better) others believe that the quality of your connections is more important than the volume of connections. The choice is yours.
- Check Notifications. Here is where you’ll see birthdays, work anniversaries, or interesting content from your connections. Sending a personal note for birthdays and anniversaries is a nice touch to building that relationship and takes only a moment of your time.
- Share some content. This is where a blank calendar grid or a planner comes in handy to plan your content sharing strategy. Content includes: articles, blog posts, videos, infographics, product graphics (such as eBook cover, webinar announcement, etc.), and so much more.
- Aim to create your own content and supplement that with curated content you find elsewhere that speaks to your point.
- Look at the calendar and plan for any holidays or seasons that affect your business or sales and create seasonal graphics.
- Creating this list of content ahead of time allows you to have the prewritten content ready to just copy and paste when you log in to LinkedIn. If possible, outsource your content creation or block off time once or twice a week to create that content.
4. Visit and participate in Groups. LinkedIn allows you to mingle within the confines of certain groups. These can be special interest groups, groups where you’ll find others in your field (aka competitors), or they will be niche-related, where you can find your target audience.
Participating in groups shows your expertise to others and puts you in a small spotlight so people get to know about your specialty and services.
- Ask questions. Be a conversation starter.
- Give advice freely; don’t give away the whole premise of your signature class but you can offer bits and pieces safely to show that you know what you’re talking about.
- Post as yourself, not as your brand.
- Participate first before posting. Show the other members that you’re interested in them as people.
Your name will stay foremost in people’s minds if you provide value in every LinkedIn post and by staying active in your groups. Create a daily action plan that works for you and then put it into action. Engage your audience and provide value every time you post and you’ll soon see a growth in your connections and possible new sales.
