No matter what size of organisation we work for, a local market is going to be important to us. Our individual versions of “local” will vary of course – it may be a town, a county or even a whole country, but it is one of those key markets for many and one that needs to be considered.
For many smaller organisations or individuals, it can often be their only market or, at the very least, the mainstay of their business and hence a key area to nurture and develop.
With LinkedIn, in spite of being global in nature, we have the chance to tap directly into our local marketplace, so it’s important to know how to use the tools at our disposal to do just that.
Making ourselves visible and easy to refer is one half of the equation, the other is to use the facilities on LinkedIn to proactively identify, approach and market to this key group of people.
Here are 10 ways in which we can use LinkedIn to do just that:
for the past few years, we have had access to an online tool called the Social Selling Index which is designed to give a snapshot of where you are in using LinkedIn as part of your sales – your social sales – activities. The details are displayed on your own page with references to how you rank in comparison to others within the same industry and your perceived peer group.
As more and more business and personal activity happens online, we have an increasing challenge of both remaining seen (and heard) while at the same time also staying safe – luckily there are some security aspects built into the LinkedIn system that you may like to consider and apply.
LinkedIn has a whole variety of potential benefits according to what you wish to achive on the site. One key area, however, for almost all areas is the ability to research people and companies that we are going to meet to be better prepared for that encounter.
