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LinkedIn is constantly changing.
From its initial state, where it was mostly centered on recruiting, to a more complex professional social media platform, where people go to educate and inform themselves on the market, their connections and current events; LinkedIn is always adapting to their user’s needs.
When doing sales, especially in larger companies, people can forget how their personal profiles can impact and help reach their company’s sales goals and objectives.
Differently from other social media platforms, LinkedIn is a great place to connect and specifically learn from other professionals, where people expect and seek out work-related content only. Over the past two years, updates to its algorithm have spurred a more than 50% increase in viral activity, by prioritizing personal connections based around interests. This allows for more “normal” people (by this we mean not business tycoons, influencers or companies) to be able to share their content and stories, and be able to reach a larger audience.
How does this impact the way you sell to your clients?
Creates A Less Biased And More Personalized Experience-Based Communication
It allows for companies to be seen through the eyes of their employees. This makes stories come from a more relatable, honest perspective. People can see into your company and learn about how they work, their philosophy, what issues your team has had to overcome, and not just see a statistic or an end result.
You Can Create Connections With People Who Can Later Convert To Clients Over Time, Without It Ever Feeling Like A Sale
One of the main differences between LinkedIn company pages and personal profiles is that in the latter, you can message and add contacts to your list, while in company pages, people can only follow you (you can only ask people to follow it through personal profiles or ads).
Your potential client may have been in your contact list for months or even years, reading about your posts and updates (and therefore, staying in their top of mind), and may come to you when they’re ready for advice or to request a proposal.
The option to send outbound messages from your personal account, opens great opportunities to create conversations that may later become sales. Keeping close contact with people later makes a sale become more fluid, since you’ve had a relationship with that person before they were even a sales lead.
Employees Who Share Their Company’s Information Make The Company Seem More Reliable
Employees share what they’re proud of and are generally more trustworthy than trusting the source itself. It’s likely no employee will be happy to share content from a company they don’t agree with. In a moment where consumers have lost trust in corporate leadership messages, your employees become twice as likely to be believed than your CEO.
You Can Use Multiple Tools That Connect To Your LinkedIn Profile To Boost Sales
There are multiple online tools in the market that help you segment your target audience and reach new crowds. They can be internal tools provided by LinkedIn like specific groups or the Sales Navigator, or external apps or plugins, like prospecting tools, tools to organize your contacts, etc. Get to know which tools help you optimize your LinkedIn sales experience!
How Can You Start Using Your Personal Profile For Increasing Your Company’s Sales?
- Don’t be shy about sharing content on your profile.
- Don’t be afraid to engage in discussions and chat with people in your field.
- Join LinkedIn groups related to your knowledge, brand and interests.
- Don’t make it all about you (don’t use it to brag!).
Closing
LinkedIn has changed over the past few years and has become a vital tool for lead generation and B2B sales. Knowing that 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn “drive business decisions”, it’s no question you should be trying to adapt to its rules to increase your selling power!
