Everyone in the business world knows that LinkedIn is a powerful tool. However, many businesses have neglected to maximize its potential for marketing success. There is far more to LinkedIn than just connecting with some users and joining a few conversations. As LinkedIn continues to evolve, an increasing number of valuable features are being made available to users to help them reach new clients and valuable business contacts.

Unfortunately, many of the people that could be benefitting from LinkedIn’s many features have written it off. While it may not be as new and exciting as other social media platforms, LinkedIn provides a key advantage: Users are defined by their role in the business world, which makes networking with others a simple matter. 

LinkedIn is a simple and free way to grow your business through networking initiatives. By expanding your business circles online, your business is promoted through demographics and communities you’d likely never reach otherwise.

The key is in how you use LinkedIn. Remember: It’s not Facebook or Twitter, so you can’t always post the same type of content, or in the same way. Similarly, LinkedIn isn’t your business’ website, so you can’t expect it to directly generate revenues. It’s a lot to keep in mind, so consider these keys to success when developing your business’ LinkedIn presence:

• Remember your audience. This is LinkedIn; not Facebook. As such, it’s best to keep your posts professional. The people you have connected with are far more interested in your opinions on the latest business news than they are in seeing a photo of your daughter eating her first plate of spaghetti.
• Don’t hesitate to reshare the good stuff: A good article is a good article, simple as that. Even if you shared it on a different social media platform that may have an overlapping audience, don’t be afraid to update it for your LinkedIn network. Most of your LinkedIn connections will not have seen the article before, so sharing it again will, at worst, only serve to refresh the idea.
• Let go of the hard sell: One way to diminish your audience is to post articles that scream “buy my product or service!”. In the “in your face” world of online marketing, subtle is always better. You can casually mention what you do, but remain focused on providing valuable information to your audience.
• Stagger your posts: It’s always great when you have a lot of things to say; what isn’t so great is saying them all at once. Do not inundate your audience with a barrage of posts. Set up a posting calendar or, at least, try to limit your posting to a set number per day or per week. Not only do you want to get your message across, but you also want to give them time to think about it before you present your next idea. This will give them time to understand what you’re saying and respond if they so choose.

Above all else, just keep at it. You may not see a return right away, but keep in mind that as a free service, LinkedIn will always be cost-effective, so don’t get discouraged.

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