What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the internet. It hosts an ever-growing member base of more than 590 million professionals who use the platform to network, research, and grow their careers. However, since its launch in 2003, LinkedIn has become a uniquely powerful social media channel for B2B marketers.
How can LinkedIn be used for Lead Generation?
LinkedIn in recent years has become a great sales tool for lead generation, in fact up to 89% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for lead generation, and 62% say it generates them leads, over two times more than the next-highest social channel. So, whether you’re using your LinkedIn profile to stay relevant, expand your network or find prospects, this is a platform that should be leveraging in your sales process.
In this article, you’ll discover how to use your LinkedIn profile to make a strong first impression with prospective clients by optimising a few key features that are often overlooked.
- Be authentic and professional in your Profile Picture
- Show your personality through the LinkedIn Banners
- Promote your business and personal brand in the LinkedIn Summary Section
- Increase profile searchability by optimising your headline
- Position yourself as a thought leader with LinkedIn Articles
1. Profile Picture:
Requirements: Pixel size is between 400 (w) x 400 (h) pixels and 20,000 (w) X 20,000 (h) pixels
Your profile picture is an opportunity to convey your personal brand. Try to be authentic and friendly in a professional way.
A profile picture should meet the following criteria:
- Make sure your face takes up at least 60% of the frame
- Avoid distracting backgrounds
- Smiling, professional and approachable
2. Banner Image:
Requirement: 1400 X 425 pixels, PNG/JPEG/GIF format – Maximum 4MB
Choose a banner that showcases your brand or personality. Get creative with your banner, even changing it up once every month can be a great way to keep your profile relevant and up to date.
Here are some great examples of banners images:
1. Cityscape of Your City
2. A landmark of Your City
3. Quotes
4. Your Product / Service
3. Headline:
Requirements: Maximum 120 Characters
LinkedIn will default it’s setting to use your current job title as your headline, but for lead generation, it is recommended to edit your headline to increase your searchability on LinkedIn. Choose a compelling title and terms that will be widely recognised and searched. You can put your role, specialisations, skills or anything you would like to highlight your business.
4. Personal Summary:
Your personal summary section is where you can do most of your selling. Be sure to provide an overall description of your qualifications and call the company you’re representing and the types of services you’re offering – remember to pay attention to the keywords for lead generation.
BONUS TIP: Take full advantage of the summary-section by adding high-quality media, such as images, videos, documents, and links. Visuals appear on the bottom of your summary, here you can put a copy of your company profile, sales deck, explainer videos of your brand – an excellent tool for lead generation.
5. LinkedIn Articles
A good way to increase your professional credibility is by writing a LinkedIn article on your expertise and options. Writing an article and publishing about your professional viewpoints in your personal profile can help you develop and maintain a thought leadership position in your niche topics.
Here’s an infographic to summarise everything that was discussed in this article:
