Whether you are a part of a company or a solo entrepreneur, everyone needs a network to grow their professional contacts. And what’s better than LinkedIn to grow your professional network. LinkedIn is the best professional networking site with over 810 million users. If you can make the most out of LinkedIn, the platform can connect you with people who can support your job or business growth.
You might be looking to build an excellent LinkedIn profile and grow your network. But the thing is that it’s not as simple as it sounds. LinkedIn is not just any social media platform to upload generic posts and expect good results. You need to increase engagement for that. When your posts start engaging the community in a conversation, that’s when you will get the most out of LinkedIn. Here are some expert tips that will enable you to maximize LinkedIn engagement and grow your professional network.
Connect With the Community Live
There’s no better way to engage than going live. Do you like to wait in the billing queues when you go shopping? Or do you like waiting for a table at a restaurant? I know the answer is neither because no one likes to wait.
Going live on LinkedIn enables you to cut out any waiting time for your community. Suppose you share some tips on a recent achievement of your company. In this scenario, if you use the LinkedIn live feature, the audience can simultaneously ask you questions to gain better insights. That’s precisely why the live streams usage increased by a whopping 437% in 2020, with 89% rising from March to June.
Going live fosters a two-way engagement that helps build relationships. The most important thing you need to take care of while going live is to look straight into the camera and keep eye contact with your audience. If you have scripted the session, ensure you memorize it. However, if you don’t have time to memorize your entire script, you can use teleprompter tools like the one available at BIGVU.
These modern platforms are all-in-one solutions that let you stream live on LinkedIn while using its teleprompter, one-tap captions, and editing features.
Don’t Rely on Limited Content Types
Going live and other visual content types like infographics or videos can get you broader engagement. But that does not mean you should ignore plain text content. In fact, text posts can sometimes outperform other media on LinkedIn, and that’s the beauty of this professional networking social media platform.
LinkedIn allows you to share content through various types, including text, infographics, carousel, videos, and going live. Try to use all the types equally and differently based on the needs. For instance, an infographic is an excellent option if you plan to include too many stats. Similarly, text posts are better for sharing industry information.
Prioritize Replying to Comments
Engagement is not a do once and forget type; it requires continuous two-way communication. Live streams can easily facilitate this kind of engagement. But when it comes to plain text or image posts, you need to put in the effort of replying to comments.
When you reply to a comment by tagging the person, LinkedIn sends them a notification about the same. Hence, it becomes likely that they return to reply to your response, which facilitates communication and engagement.
The best time to comment is after a couple of hours of posting. If you start replying soon after the first comment, it will become like a chat with a single person. Hence, wait for a few hours and respond to a few comments. Repeat the same at regular intervals to make it more engaging.
Include an Attractive Call to Action
Regardless of the content type you post, adding a Call to Action (CTA) in the end will always drive engagement and more leads. However, you need to ensure that the CTA does not sound too salesy. Instead, it should blend well with the posts’ content.
The reason to include a CTA in your posts is to generate more leads. Four out of every five members on LinkedIn can drive business decisions, which constitutes 2 times the average buying power on the web. It means that if you make effective use of CTAs, they can generate high-quality engagement and leads for your business.
Final Thoughts
LinkedIn is a powerful professional platform that can enable you to build and grow your network. However, expanding the network and enhancing your LinkedIn presence takes time. You need to stay consistent and implement the tips mentioned above to get the best results.