{"id":6936,"date":"2012-09-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/marketing-your-firm-using-linkedin\/"},"modified":"2012-09-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-01T00:00:00","slug":"marketing-your-firm-using-linkedin","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/marketing-your-firm-using-linkedin\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing Your Firm Using LinkedIn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most subcontractors are doing next to nothing with
\nLinkedIn<\/span>. This leaves a
\nbig opportunity for those who see the potential and are already acting on it.
\nThe fact is, for subcontractors in particular, LinkedIn offers a tremendous
\nopportunity to stand out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demonstrating your company’s qualifications and
\nprofessionalism, highlighting your team, establishing yourself as the authority
\nand expert in your space, and gaining a direct line of communication with the
\ncontractors you want to do business with can all be achieved within LinkedIn
\nand can have a big impact on sales. There are a number of ways to position your
\nfirm as the authority for your trade and generate leads within LinkedIn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting and
\nContributing to Groups<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

If
\nyou can stay in front of your prospects on a regular basis, you’ll be the one
\nthey think of first when they are ready to make their buying decisions. The
\nmethod with the greatest impact for staying in front of prospective customers
\nis to start and facilitate a LinkedIn group that targets and attracts your
\nideal clients. As members of your group, these prospects will receive group
\ncommunications on a regular basis, all of which have your company name on it,
\nincluding group announcements, the daily digest of activity delivered to their
\ninbox, and “manager’s choice” features, to name a few. After seeing your
\ncompany name every day over a number of months and associating your firm with a
\nvaluable LinkedIn community, group members will look to your company as a true
\nexpert and authority. If you are serious about generating leads within
\nLinkedIn, invest in growing your own group.<\/span><\/p>\n

LinkedIn also provides the opportunity
\nto contribute to other groups and reach prospects who participate in those
\ngroups. You’ll find geographically focused groups, trade-based groups, general
\ncontracting groups, and more. Find and join the groups that matter most to your
\nbusiness; that is, groups that contain the most relevant prospects as members.
\nThen, engage with group members and comment on discussions in which you can add
\nvalue. Sharing content such as news stories and how-to articles is also a
\npositive move, because it helps establish your firm as a group member that’s in
\nthe group for the “right” reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Content Development
\nand Distribution<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The
\ncontent you develop and post should be valuable to your prospects. “Value” for
\nyour prospects can be anything that may help them improve their businesses.
\nThis content may take the form of a tangible insight into your trade or
\nbusiness practices. Articles about how great your company is, or news releases
\nabout new projects, are generally not going to get you the kind of attention
\nthat will catapult you to expert status in the eyes of your prospects. Rather,
\nwhat helps achieve expert status are articles, reports, webinars, case studies,
\nand videos that give tangible knowledge about your business that can help group
\nmembers improve their businesses. Remember, clients are interested in
\ndeveloping a strong supply chain.<\/span><\/p>\n

LinkedIn offers a variety of ways to consistently keep your
\nmessage in front of your top prospects and clients. Within groups, you can post
\nyour content as discussions. These discussions are also delivered to group
\nmembers’ inboxes via the daily digest e-mail. If it is truly resourceful and
\nnot overly promotional, your content will stand out and be seen by influencers
\nin your market. <\/span><\/p>\n

Encourage employees to create personal LinkedIn accounts and
\ninclude your company name as their current employer. LinkedIn users who visit
\nyour company profile page will be able to view each of your employees’
\nprofiles, along with their skills and expertise, further highlighting your
\ncompany’s qualifications. The more employees you have on LinkedIn, the more
\nexposure your business will have to prospective customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Employees should post their own content, as well as the
\ncontent your company shares, using the “Share an Update” field on their
\nLinkedIn pages. This field allows them to “Attach a Link” and cross-post the
\nupdate to their Twitter accounts by selecting the box next to the Twitter icon.
\nEmployees should also post content in your company group and in other industry
\ngroups. Sharing your company’s content and creating their own content positions
\nyour people as experts with the clients they serve and the potential clients
\nthey are connected to. <\/span><\/p>\n

Direct-Messaging
\nCampaigns<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Distributing
\ncontent via groups and status updates will yield many positive results but will
\nnot guarantee that 100% of your prospects will see it. Messaging campaigns are
\nanother powerful way to keep your message in front of prospects and clients,
\nproviding them with tangible resources to help their business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Identify a subset of your prospects that you consider to be
\nhigh-value targets for business development. Directly message these contacts
\nwith a quick note and link to your new content. Send these kinds of messages
\nonly every month or two. You don’t want to come off as too pushy. Your
\nprospects will be glad that you passed these messages to them, provided that
\nyour content is truly resourceful and helpful to their businesses. Executing
\nthis strategy consistently will position your firm as a true expert and open
\nthe door to new business opportunities with prospects.<\/span><\/p>\n

Building New
\nConnections<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Once
\na quarter, re-evaluate your LinkedIn connections to be sure that your content
\nis reaching the right prospects. Consider whether you are active in the right
\ngroups and connected to the right people.<\/span><\/p>\n

You’ll increase the marketing value of LinkedIn if you
\nconsistently connect with new prospects. By providing your new connections with
\nthe same valuable resources that have already established your firm as the
\nexpert with your original connections, you’ll find that LinkedIn can truly be a
\npowerful, personal marketing system. Using LinkedIn can be an effective way to
\nmake your firm’s expertise and qualifications known to potential clients in
\nyour area.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to learn
\nhow to use social media, including LinkedIn, to expand your online professional
\nnetwork, the American Subcontractors Association (ASA) on-demand video
\nExpanding Your Professional Network ? and Your Profits ? in the Digital Age can
\nhelp.<\/span><\/p>\n

This 90-minute on-demand video explains why social media
\ntools like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are a valuable investment and how
\nyour company can expand its online professional network to include prospective
\ncustomers and industry leaders.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Expanding
\nYour Professional Network ? and Your Profits ? in the Digital Age is $80 for
\nNIA members and $95 for nonmembers. Your purchase includes a hyperlink to view
\nthe on-demand video whenever, and as many times as, you’d like. <\/a>Order the video through the NIA bookstore at www.insulation.org\/products
\n<\/i>or by contacting NIA at 703-464-6422 or niainfo@insulation.org.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most subcontractors are doing next to nothing with LinkedIn. This leaves a big opportunity for those who see the potential and are already acting on it. The fact is, for subcontractors in particular, LinkedIn offers a tremendous opportunity to stand out. Demonstrating your company’s qualifications and professionalism, highlighting your team, establishing yourself as the authority<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[],"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[43,294,24,21,27],"class_list":["post-6936","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","category-technology","category-training","category-contracting","category-business-managment","category-distribution"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMarketing Your Firm Using LinkedIn - Insulation Outlook Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/marketing-your-firm-using-linkedin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marketing Your Firm Using LinkedIn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most subcontractors are doing next to nothing with LinkedIn. 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