Marketing on LinkedIn – Optimize, Analyze and Leverage Your Profile

by wboyce on August 27, 2010

Wendy Boyce, Social Media & Marketing Manager

Wendy Boyce

I recently wrote a short article on utilizing Web analytics to develop a strategy for microblogging on sites like Twitter.  I figured perhaps we’d chat today about LinkedIn and its use in B2B lead nurturing and relationship building.  LinkedIn is a great tool for the B2B marketer who is looking to tap into a particular vertical or niche marketplace.

To be successful on LinkedIn could mean several things.  LinkedIn is used by job seekers, job recruiters, marketers and service providers alike.  All are using similar techniques to go about finding the targeted profiles on LinkedIn to create those connections.

You might start by ensuring that your personal profile on LinkedIn, as well as your company’s profile, are fully optimized for search on all the right keyterms.  This won’t guarantee you top 10 ranking in Google, but along with other keyterm optimization and linking efforts, will provide more exposure to your profile.

Next, integrate your Twitter stream with your LinkedIn status updates.  Leverage the #in hashtag to send relevant tweets to your profile on LinkedIn.  I might advise you stay away from the more entertainment or personal-related tweets.  And – if you tweet often – space out your #in updates so you don’t overwhelm those you are connected to with an overload of information.

Leverage your groups on LinkedIn by sharing blog content and answering questions that your connections may be seeking information on.  Groups are an excellent way to uncover prospects who may be in dire need of the services you provide.  Groups can also provide some insight into who else is working in the same space you are for the same types of clients.

Subscribe to the LinkedIn Network Updates emails.  These emails can provide snippets of who is doing what and where you might want to pay some attention on LinkedIn.  Check out who has joined what groups, who’s out there answering questions, and what some of the latest posts are in your network.

Follow your LinkedIn traffic in your Web analytics tools as well.  Similarly to how we leverage our analytics for Twitter, be mindful that you can learn a lot about how successfully your social sites are being leveraged, based on digging into your insights.  Keep in mind that number of click-throughs on a particular keyword may not be a good thing, but what you can learn from that is a way to improve your keyterm, optimization and content strategy for LinkedIn.  By this I mean you may have one particular keyword or keyphrase that is driving a ton of traffic to your web site.  At first glance that seems great, but when you dig a bit deeper you find that your exit rate and bounce rate on that same keyword or phrase is entirely too high.  Either your LinkedIn profile misrepresents you in relationship to that keyword or phrase, or your landing page needs some adjustments.

Let your analytics be your guide to building relationships on LinkedIn and other social networking sites.  Consider who you want to reach and what you want to connect with them about.  Consider how you can provide a service to your connections and offer that up through optimized content.  Start by getting their attention by sharing helpful information.  Then you have the open door to nurture that prospect into a loyal customer relationship.

About the Author:

Wendy Boyce is the Social Media & Marketing Manager at SIGMA Marketing Group, a marketing analytics firm.  Connect with Wendy on , Facebook or .

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  • October 11, 2010

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