5 Reasons Why LinkedIn Is Important for Your Business

If you are in any professional or business world, you have probably heard of LinkedIn and its numerous benefits as a social platform. According to their website, “it is the world’s largest professional network with hundreds of millions of members, and growing rapidly.” Before you keep reading, if you’re on LinkedIn, let’s connect. 😁

A research study by Hootsuite shows that LinkedIn is one of the fastest-growing business network pages with 722 million members as of January 2022. Their mission is to “connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.” But how can this platform help your organization?

For radio stations, small business owners, and ministries LinkedIn is a great place to build and strengthen your connection to individuals and other businesses. The fastest way to connect is by creating and keeping current a spectacular LinkedIn profile. This will showcase your purpose (mission), expertise, skills, experience, education, etc., to let the business world know all about you and your organization. Let’s talk about the top 5 reasons you should be using LinkedIn.

1) LinkedIn is the Largest B2B Social Network

Unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn makes sense for business-oriented people with no time to waste on personal posts and drama. Users consider it a “professional social networking site.” There is minimal personal or irrelevant sharing on the platform. Instead, you will connect with other professionals who seek to connect with similar-minded business people.

LinkedIn is recorded as the world’s biggest B2B networking site for marketers. It records more than 55 million companies on the platform and even more importantly, there have been record levels of engagement. That means the people that have profiles are using the platform even more, which gives you more opportunities to reach the people you need to!

 Your LinkedIn profile should be tailored to match relevant and critical searches for your organization type. Your profile is the starting point for people to find you and can help you make a great first impression. Think of your profile as your personal handshake at a networking event. This is your first impression. Don’t start off with, “Hey, let’s connect…” and then transition to a sales pitch. 🤦‍♂️

When you have a strong LinkedIn profile, it demonstrates to potential clients that you are an expert in your field. Additionally, it can help you build credibility and authority with other professionals. People are much more likely to do business with those they know, like, and trust. You build trust by serving, not promoting.

2) Become a Thought Leader 

LinkedIn is a brilliant tool to exhibit that you are a thought leader in your niche, a platform that helps you establish connections with key people, improve your visibility, and grow your organization. It provides you with an opportunity to share your expertise in your field. Thought leadership, done wisely, can help you create trust and maintain credibility with clients, become a go-to person in your industry, and open up opportunities to expand your audience. It’s not enough to just be passionate about your niche. If you want to be recognized as an expert, you have to prove why you are the authority on that topic. Remember that you’d don’t become a thought leader because you “think” or “say” you are. You become a thought leader because others see you as one. Super serve your followers by being relatable and providing guidance.

3) Research Companies

LinkedIn offers the perfect opportunity to research companies. For example: as a radio station, you might have salespeople or underwriters that need to find businesses that would be a good fit for advertising on your station. Or, your promotions person might need a sponsor or partner for an upcoming event. LinkedIn is a great place to find in-depth information about companies and nonprofits, as well as an easy way to contact someone for more information or to gauge their interest.

Remember that if you spend time getting to know someone better, your chances of making a sale are going to be higher. This is because you have built a relationship with them. Do not send them a connection request and then a sales pitch. That’s a sure way to get ignored.

4. Join a LinkedIn Group

Joining a LinkedIn group and participating actively is an effective way to expand your network, increase your reach, and create more leads. These groups allow you to participate in all sorts of discussions, which is an excellent way to showcase your knowledge on relevant topics, make personal connections, and learn from people who are a part of great organizations.

On LinkedIn, it’s not possible to send messages to anyone you are not connected to, unless you have a Premium account which includes InMail. But in groups, you can easily find and get in touch with key individuals that you wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise. Therefore, if you can’t connect with someone of interest, check for the groups you share or join one that the target user is part of and reach out to them.

5. Network, Network, Network (gain exposure and build relationships – like a virtual Rolodex)

A great thing about this platform is the ability to access an astonishingly high number of people across several countries. Like other social networking forums, LinkedIn’s algorithm will use your profile to recommend people and posts that match your interests. This gives you a rare opportunity to reach out and build effective relationships with those in your desired field.

The group discussions can also help you figure out which people have similar interests or work in similar industries. Don’t be intimidated…reach out, gain exposure, and build valuable relationships.

Summary

LinkedIn is based on the simple but effective practice of professional networking. With over 700 million users, it is currently the most wide-reaching tool for connecting with professionals all over the world. You can use it to target individuals and organizations that you want to connect or work with, as well as build your own reputation and authority in your field. This social media platform could be very beneficial for you and your team if you are a radio station or work with businesses to reach potential customers. People who use this platform are business owners and leaders who live and breathe on this platform every day.

Put some time into optimizing your profile as it can serve as a resume for people to learn about you and what you do. Develop a strategy that aligns with your purpose, and super-serve those who connect with you, or schedule a free-30 minute video session with our team to see how we can help you create a LinkedIn strategy that aligns with your business goals. Killer Bee Marketing provides digital consulting, coaching, and strategies that serve your purposes.