While optimizing your LinkedIn profile and collecting recommendations is a good start, you need to engage with your connections if you want to reap the most benefits of the platform and gain visibility from your network and beyond.
Here’s some tips on how to engage with other professionals on LinkedIn.
Engage with your network
First of all, make sure and engage with the people in your network. These are people who you’ve connected with, and over time will also include customers and prospects. You can easily do this by simply checking out your LinkedIn homepage daily and liking or commenting on a few posts that you find to be interesting.
Comment on important posts. Make yourself visible any way you see appropriate. Remember, you’re always trying to market yourself, and engaging with your network on a regular basis is the best way to do it.
Engage with content in hashtags
You’ve probably seen hashtags on Instagram or Twitter, but LinkedIn has also more recently embraced them. As a professional, you now have a targeted way of engaging outside of your network with relevant prospects or professionals by simply following relevant hashtags and engaging with the content you find there.
You might be surprised to know that LinkedIn may have already decided what hashtags you want to follow. Scroll down your home page and on the left-hand side you might find a list of hashtags that you are following without knowing it like I did. If you click this link you can edit them and then navigate through them on a regular basis to find relevant content to engage with.
Publish status updates
Status updates are different on LinkedIn than other social media networks in that they aren’t just short posts about what’s on your mind. Nor do they appear at the top of your profile. Instead, status updates are something that you’re sharing with the network that only appears in their feed. For instance, you might share an experience you had at the latest industry conference or some company news. You could also share professional photos are even go casual by sharing the same type of content you do on Facebook or even Instagram. Share and see what engagement you get. If your network responds, share more of the same type of content!
Post videos of yourself, and try LinkedIn Live
One of the great things about professional networking is that it allows people to meet and size each other up. Unfortunately, with social distancing, this traditional method of getting to know other professionals isn’t generally available. For now, one of the best ways to impress others is by posting videos of yourself. It allows people to see your personality and unique energy.
Need to show off your expertise? Consider spending time on LinkedIn Live. This allows you to reach out with engaging, interactive content in real-time. Just keep in mind that LinkedIn restricts access to this feature to keep inappropriate content off the platform. Live streaming isn’t for everybody, but if you have something to tell the world that you feel confident doing in real-time, feel free to apply to broadcast on LinkedIn Live here.
Syndicate blog content on LinkedIn
One thing I do a lot is post links (and the accompanying thumbnails) to blog posts regularly. This offers my network an opportunity to see what I’m writing about without having to visit my website. Plus, stories I post end up on feeds, both for my followers as well as those who follow the hashtags that I use in my posts. Then, as people engage with the content, this populates my post onto other people’s feeds as well. Before you know it, lots of people who would normally be outside my circle are checking out what I’ve written. How cool is that?
You might not be a blogger like me, so use this to your advantage to share company or industry news to generate leads or brand awareness for your company AND you!
View Other Profiles
Here’s a simple way to get yourself noticed: visit profiles. These can be both inside your network and outside it. You can see what your network is accomplishing professionally, and also identify opportunities. An added plus: premium members like decision makers will be able to see that you visited. If you’re trying to establish contact, this can work heavily to your advantage. Even free members will be able to see some of the people that visited their profile, so this strategy can be applied broadly to target any LinkedIn user.
