How to engage with new prospects on LinkedIn

What comes to your mind when we talk about professional networking? LinkedIn, without a doubt! Over the years, LinkedIn has become the go-to platform for professional networking – be it for career opportunities, business development, company visibility, or even individual growth. Irrespective of whether you are an individual or a company, it is extremely important to connect with the right audience on LinkedIn.

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The biggest draw for anyone visiting your profile is the kind of content you share on your page – news, blogs, videos, podcasts, etc. The key to winning new business on LinkedIn is to plan your content marketing strategy in a way that attracts the attention of your larger online network. For that, it is important to understand the basics – whom do you want to be visible to, what content are you going to publish on your page, and what is the call for action from the posts you publish.

How to create great content

There is no defined recipe for creating great content – it’s a mix of ingredients in various proportions according to your business. However, you can implement some widely used best practices for marketing content and winning new business on LinkedIn. Firstly, make your content unique, relevant, and topical so that people can relate to it. Share industry news, trends, analyses, and your own perspectives. Your content should have a call-to-action which could be anything from doing further research, enquiring about your products and services, or even engaging in simple discussions with you

Use more of videos and images, and keep the text short. You could post webinars and podcasts as they are proven to have higher recall amongst users. Incorporating the right keywords and hashtags in content increases chances of higher visibility and engagement with the audience.

While the primary idea of posting great content on your LinkedIn page is to win new business opportunities and clients, you need not necessarily go tom-tom about your company or products and services. Sharing stories of human interest and social good exemplify your compassion and commitment towards important causes. These are likely to get higher attention and interest from your audience as they feel more connected to your cause.

Analysing the impact of your content

Unless your content generates a certain level of engagement (in the form of likes, comments and shares) among the users, it will not merit being featured higher up on LinkedIn’s newsfeed. Interacting and discussing with the audience makes the post sticky and reaches out to a larger network of connections, thereby helping you win new and potential businesses on the social platform.

It also helps to lend a personalised touch in your interaction with the potential customers. Try to analyse their business problem and then reach out to offer a customized solution for them. This will have a more positive impact on them and build trust and confidence for your business. However, try not to get to pushy and make it an obvious sales call.

You might miss out on great opportunities on LinkedIn if you do not share interesting and engaging content. Rather than being seen as a thought leader, your audience might perceive you to be a me-too if you are not mindful of the content you share on LinkedIn.

The power of LinkedIn in exposing you to access and attract important clients and new prospects can be overwhelming for most businesses, but understanding and mastering the tricks of great content engagement can definitely do wonders in winning new opportunities for your organisation.