There are a number of ways to use LinkedIn in order to grow your business. Business of Apps enlightens us on the numbers behind the most popular social networking tool for professionals. In the fiscal year of 2019 alone, LinkedIn was responsible for $6.8 billion of Microsoft’s total $126 billion revenue. It’s safe to say that Microsoft is already well on the way to making back the $26.2 billion it paid —in cash—to acquire LinkedIn back in June 2016. In fact, Microsoft is not the only company that’s finding success through the site.
As of November 2019, there have been a total of 660 million LinkedIn users from 200 countries around the planet. 165 million of those are from the U.S., 62 million are from India, 48 million from China, while the remaining 385 million users are from other countries. These users include 30 million companies, 90 million senior-level influencers, and 63 million people in decision-making positions within their companies.
All of these professionals and companies are on LinkedIn to do business by building professional connections from fellows in different industries and specializations. Apart from a lot of revenue, the result is a wealth of up-to-date and practical knowledge on virtually every significant industry, which brings us to our first tip.
Read, React, Repost
LinkedIn is as much about content as it is about networking. 130,000 articles are published on LinkedIn on a weekly basis, and 91% of marketing executives go there to dig for insight and content. For instance, LinkedIn is where sporting goods giant Nike releases news about its corporate social responsibility efforts, new products, and for marketing executives: up-to-date insight on the image the company is projecting, and even the general outlook of the sporting goods industry. And that’s just one of the 30 million companies on the site. Read the content that’s out there, react to it, and repost whichever is relevant to your business, service, or specialization. This is one way to get up-to-date insights on your own industry while also interacting with other relevant players.
Optimise Keyword Use
The words you use to build your LinkedIn profile will affect how well you can reach out to like-minded individuals who can actually write checks for your business. Media personality and business consultant Carlos Gil explains that recruiters and decision-makers often use the site as a search engine for finding people that they can work with. This means that you have to be very mindful about the words in your profile, particularly when it comes to your “About” section. The LinkedIn profile of a new online poker app called PPPoker is a good example of how to use keywords to reach the right audience. In its “About” section, PPPoker immediately uses keyword combinations like “poker lovers”, “safe and fair gaming platform,” and “poker enthusiasts,” basically ensuring that they’ll appear on the results of anyone who searches these targeted combinations on the site. Every word that will point the right people in your direction counts.
Create Your Own Content
At its core, professional networking is not just about finding others who can help you —it’s also about being of value to others. In LinkedIn, one of the best ways to show and share your own value is by creating and posting original and engaging content that’s relevant to your brand and industry. For instance, the 15.5 million users that follow Ted Conferences are there because the media company regularly releases useful content for a variety of businesses and industries. Interaction is the key to success with networking on LinkedIn, and there’s no better way to start and prompt interactions than through your own relevant industry-specific content.
LinkedIn is the place to find fellow professionals and businesses online, its interface is simple and familiar enough for most users, and it’s free. It’s time to see what this networking site can actually do for you and your business.
