Engagement is the lifeblood on LinkedIn and encouraging it is a priority from LinkedIn’s perspective but should also be from our own. The more time we spend engaging on their platform the happier LinkedIn is and equally the more we listen and talk to others here, the better our understanding of them and the deeper the potential relationship, wherever our focus lies.
When it comes to engagement, there are a number of places on LinkedIn that every salesperson should be visiting on a regular basis and ideally every day.
These are all potential sales triggers which, we respond appropriately, can prove highly valuable source potential contacts and of potential prospects.
1. Who’s Looked at Your Profile
The first key area which is often overlooked is who has looked at your profile page – if someone has looked at your profile page and your profile is written your target audience in mind, then one of the key reasons for this is that they will be interested in what you do or offer.
Think of this as someone leaving a caller ID when they phone you and think about whether following up, just as we would if someone calls your office, is important and may open up new opportunities.
Key Tip: Great place to get back in contact with people as well who you are already connected to. (Full blog post around this here)
2. Messaging
The second area is logically the messaging section of the site. Less formal than emails but also much less cluttered, make sure at if people are sending you messages, you respond in a timely fashion. At the end of the day, conversations are the key element of a successful sales process and starting the process on LinkedIn to then transfer that to a face-to-face meeting or telephone conversation is the next key stage in that process.
Key Tip: in the 1st communication why not add a short email style signature containing your email address and phone number to facilitate the switch.
3. Notifications Area
The third area which I find particularly valuable is the notifications area on LinkedIn. This is the ‘bell’ icon in the main menu where you receive information about people engaging with your content or participating in a conversation that you are involved in, changing key information or milestones in their career. It allows you to that conversation or engage directly with the individual via messaging on LinkedIn or of course other communications channels keeping you up to date but also, importantly, front of mind.
Key Tip: Make sure that you have your notifications set so that you only receive the ones that are of importance to you – don’t want to wish someone a “Happy Birthday” then turn that off.
4. Keep on top of Invitations
When people actively reach out to you, then that is probably the most tangible indication of interest. At least it should be. There are of course a number of people who are simply building up connections without any real interest in you. Cynical? Perhaps. Do keep an eye on who is inviting you to connect and try not to let invites in this area build-up or else you may miss important invitations when they arrive. Instead try to accept ignore that is to say reject invitations on a regular basis.
Key Tip: if you click on “See All” or “Manage All” at the top then it gives you the option to reply without connecting if you wish to do so.
5. Search for specific content
Another great way to engage with people that you are interested in is to search for who is publishing content on LinkedIn related to a particular topic of interest. To find those updates and articles, go to the search box, type in your keywords and then choose “Content”. You have filters now to help target the search a little which is good.
Participating in the discussions you find, commenting on articles or indeed connecting with the authors who are sharing this information can help get you visible in the right area and in touch with relevant people on the site.
Key Tip: don’t forget to use hashtags to follow particular areas of interest. It highlights this content in your feed and the hashtags also appear on the left-hand side of your homepage to check individually.
With these five areas under control, you should be in a position to listen to relevant activity engage more freely and listen to that way relevant activity then that may be of interest to you.
