- Dealer Marketing Magazine

If we have been connected for some time on LinkedIn, you will have observed a big change in my posting activities. I've been a LinkedIn member since 2014. In December 2019, I asked myself what I could do more of to help serve others while bringing value to myself and the company I work for. Since I work in marketing, I decided to focus on marketing, and to "do as I say," which I hadn't yet achieved at the time with social media. I went from posting randomly to posting with intent on a regular basis.

For the past year I have been working hard on my personal marketing strategy, which has resulted in the development of a larger audience on LinkedIn, for which I am grateful. I have done this in large part by sharing simple, general marketing knowledge that can benefit anyone, including salespeople, business owners, and individuals in their day-to-day activities.

So why would you focus your personal social media marketing efforts on LinkedIn and not the other social channels?

LinkedIn has an advantage, it is the most undervalued, underutilized, social media platform, but it is growing, giving you a lot of potential to create your own organic audience.

There are over 720 Million users'
6 out of 10 users actively search for industry insights on LinkedIn.
Only 3 million LinkedIn users (fewer than 1%) share content on a weekly basis.

Here are a few quick go to strategies you can immediately apply to your existing LinkedIn profile:

1. Post weekly

Be consistent, post every day and use hashtags! Hashtags help people find your content. You will see that at certain times of the day you get better engagement (likes, comments, etc.) I like to experiment with different times to see what works best. You will also see which performs better, whether video or static images.

2. Create your own LinkedIn business plan

Determine what results you want from posting on LinkedIn. Set goals and objectives, create a posting calendar and be diligent to set aside time each week to organize your content, etc. Like Yogi Berra said. "If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." What do you want from posting? A new client, a new job, to be a guest speaker, attract potential talent to your company, etc. Just like your monthly financial objectives, create them for yourself on LinkedIn.

3. Engage with your connections

One of the many ways you can really make the best use of LinkedIn is to continuously network!

Leave thoughtful comments, send professional notes to one another, find ways to help other people without expecting a thing in return. LinkedIn grew tremendously this year, in part as a result of people being stuck at home due to the COVID pandemic. I have made some of the most meaningful professional connections of my career this year from LinkedIn, and I know that is true of many others. Seize the opportunities, they are there.