Ever hear of Neal Schaffer? He was named by Forbes as a Top 30 Social Media Power Influencer. He is a prolific blogger at Windmill Networking, a popular social media conference speaker, and an award-winning author of two books: ”Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing” and “Windmill Networking: Maximizing LinkedIn.”
Basically, if you want to know about LinkedIn, you turn to him! Marketo recently published an interview with Neal about using LinkedIn for lead generation. Here are my top 3 takeaways:
1. Stop ignoring your company page
According to Neal, you have to do 3 things to take full advantage of your company page – all of which, I have to say, are pretty darned easy to do:
- Build a following with relevant status updates
- Include keywords everywhere for SEO purposes
- Get recommendations for each of your products or services (rather than your company as a whole)
2. Create content that answers questions
I really love this point Neal makes: People do not call you for an answer – they search the Internet for answers. If you create content that 1) answers questions, and 2) is full of keywords, then people will find you and begin to view you as a thought leader.
3. Use LinkedIn Groups
Share the above content you create in relevant groups. LinkedIn Groups, as Neal points out, are where the professionals are online – they’re not necessarily looking for answers on Facebook, but they are within LinkedIn Groups.
Do the above, and Neal says that people will start finding you. Your status updates will pop up in their network updates. You’ll be discovered through search results. You’ll drive brand awareness and lead generation in groups.
Do you use LinkedIn for lead generation? What tactics have been most successful for you?
Image courtesy of marsdd.com
Google+Web.com is now offering forums designed to support small businesses in cities throughout the US. Learn more about these forums here: http://Businessforum.web.com/
Tags: lead generation, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Company Pages, LinkedIn Groups, Marketing, Neal Schaffer
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