Sure, you know that LinkedIn is the top social media platform for professional networking, job search and recruiting; in fact, you may not have updated your LI profile since you were searching for your last job! But if you are in sales, you need to be aware there are many ways to generate leads via LinkedIn. Here I’m starting with a basic, your LinkedIn Summary. Be assured prospects will often check you and your firm out on LI before they respond to your call. You have about 30 seconds to engage them with your profile and impress them enough to reply to your message, refer business to you, or engage with your recent post. My recent blog highlighted overall tips for improving your profile, and below I give tips on the most important part, your summary. Written correctly, it can grab the attention of the perfect buyer.
Buyers Read Your Summary First – Make it Engaging
You have up to 2,000 characters in your LI Summary to speak to your target audience, but it’s not your resume. It shouldn’t be entirely about your company, either. Think of it as your elevator pitch, or 30 second commercial about YOU; tell your visitor just enough to intrigue them to learn more about you or your brand. Follow these tips to move your prospects enough to take action:
- It should be written in first person and should be about you, professionally and personally
- Use an attention-grabbing opening that shows off your expertise. LinkedIn shows only about 300 characters before the “see more” button. Therefore, you need to make a strong first impression with a captivating initial sentence that will keep the reader interested.
- SEO works on LI profiles! Which key words do you or your company want to rank for? Search those words on LI and see who pops up first and where they use the words in their summary, then do the same.
- Describe what makes you tick; passion is the heart of some of the best summaries. Opening up about what you love to do adds context to your career. Think about what excites you most professionally — what drives you besides your paycheck?
- Authenticity is key. Reveal your character by telling a story; think of the one trait you’re most known for, and weave it in.
- Cite roles outside of work to reinforce your leadership position.
- You must include a CTA. Think about what you want your audience to do after reading your summary. An invitation to connect is a great way to end.
- Include all of your contact info again. This makes it easier for reader to contact you.
- Upload videos, white papers, case studies or articles you’ve written, or the company has published.
Wait, There’s More!
Following these summary best practices is a good place to start for LI lead generation, but there are many other tactics to try to uncover and attract prospects. My next blog will cover lead gen via Advanced People Searches on LI. Want some help getting started? Contact an account manager at Michael Mackenzie Communications and let’s get your cell phone ringing.
This post is courtesy of MMC Account Manager Jeni Stephens