How to Use LinkedIn to Boost Lead Generation for a Small Business

LinkedIn is the world’s largest social networking site targeting professionals. It boasts of over 170 million registered members spanning over 200 countries across the globe. In addition, industry pundits forecast its worldwide exponential growth buoyed by the need of professionals to share and transfer knowledge and experience. This makes it a formidable social media tool for marketing, increasing conversions and generating leads especially for small businesses with limited marketing budgets. Here are ways that small businesses can use LinkedIn to boost leads off their website.

1. Create a Linked Company Profile

With 2 million companies already having a LinkedIn company page, getting listed is an important marketing aspect that should never be underrated. It’s not only free, but it offers key statistics in regards to your company and who’s interested in it. Additionally, it allows you to monitor your competitors by just following their page.

2. Join/Create an Industry Specific Group

Creating a LinkedIn group is a surefire tactic of engaging your audience; all while redirecting traffic to your website and boosting sales. The key to having a successful group is to consistently feature new ideas for discussion and reaching out to well-connected persons in the industry to join the group.

3. Feature a Call to Action

A common mistake most people do is to only list the company name on the headline. Instead, it’s recommended to provide more information on what services or products you offer, who you have worked with or for, and explain your unique strengths that make your company stand out.

4. Use LinkedIn Ads for Targeted Advertising.

LinkedIn Ads are highly effective especially when planning to reach a specific market segment. The marketing tools allow one to reach specific industries and even select the level of leadership to be targeted. Taking into consideration the fact that majority of users on LinkedIn are more business focused than those found on other social media sites, the Ads become more effective to drive traffic to the company profile.

5. Use Keywords to Be Found Faster

Keyword optimization enables the company profile to be ranked better, in the process increasing the chances of getting found and closing deals. The keywords should be specific and clear to rank well in the search results.