How can small businesses use LinkedIn as part of their marketing activity?

Whether or not a small business should use LinkedIn for marketing depends on what their objective is. It also depends on what type of business they run.

One of the benefits of LinkedIn is that it can showcase an individual’s career background and experience. Generally speaking, if you want to get on in the world, it’s worth having an easy to view summary of your skills, your career history and a couple of good testimonials … and LinkedIn does that job very nicely. 

If a small business is run by some key people whose background is relevant to the business, then I would certainly recommend it. For instance, I recently met a lady who was launching a fashion business. Her background was very relevant and impressive, and a LinkedIn profile would add credibility to her fledgling company. It would also be beneficial for her to join in relevant fashion/purchasing related groups and discussions to raise awareness of herself, and also to create relationships with like-minded people or others in her industry.

A consultancy type business should use LinkedIn, again for credibility and establishing previous relevant experience, recommendations etc. Potential clients will often search online to find out more about a business before contacting them. If you don’t have any recommendations, don’t be shy about asking for them. LinkedIn users know that this is a desirable feature and if they have enjoyed working with you, they won’t mind you asking. LinkedIn is very well indexed in the search engines, and your profile may even appear above your own website in online searches.

Make sure you update your status report regularly with something meaningful. Although some people choose not to receive it, the weekly Network Updates that come from LinkedIn give the activity highlights of all your contacts, so it’s a good way to stay “front of mind” of your network.

Having a well thought out Linked In profile is the first step. Joining industry groups within the site, sharing thoughts, opinions and information, making useful connections and communicating (networking) with others is the key to making LinkedIn an effective marketing tool.

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