Last year we busted telemarketing myths, this year we’re debunking LinkedIn myths!
Since the world has become more digitised and the rise of social media has taken over, LinkedIn has rapidly turned into one of the most widely used business platforms in the world. With over 55 million companies listed and 830 million users, it is an ideal way to generate new prospects for your business, and directly reach out to your ideal target market.
LinkedIn is a business community, inundated with professionals all over the globe – if you aren’t part of it, you’re missing out on an unbelievable opportunity to promote yourself and your business.
Nowadays, it is one of the most effective ways to grow your network, increase your online presence and engage with your audience, so the obvious question is: if you’re not using LinkedIn as a Lead Generation tool… why not?
Well, unsurprisingly there are some common misconceptions surrounding LinkedIn despite seeing a 22% increase in engagement in 2022 alone.
So just as we did last year, we scanned the internet and found the top 5 LinkedIn myths to put to rest, once and for all.
Let’s get to it!
- LinkedIn is the least ‘social’ platform.
‘‘You can only post content relevant to your company, industry and target audience. You can’t post anything personal or connect with people that you don’t know.”
We get it; LinkedIn isn’t Facebook, it isn’t Instagram and it certainly isn’t TikTok… but that’s the point! LinkedIn isn’t Facebook, Instagram or TikTok!
It is a highly popular platform that is used by business professionals, for a number of reasons – including networking.
To say LinkedIn is the least social platform could not be more inaccurate.
The beauty of LinkedIn is that you can quite literally connect and talk to anyone, from any business, in any part of the world. Whilst you may want to create a focus point on your account as being a leader and a professional in your industry by posting informative content aimed at your target audience, that is also what your company page is for (don’t skip to point 3 just yet). Your personal profile is to showcase who you are as an individual; what have you been up to recently? What exciting event have you just participated in? What new project have you just started and what was the outcome of the previous one?
You have the opportunity to build a personal brand and allow people to get to know you, and want to work with you – not your business, but with you. You can communicate with those who fit your ideal client persona, and build business relationships.
- LinkedIn is only helpful if you’re job hunting.
Though originally LinkedIn was first created in 2003 for job hunters and employers to come together, it no longer is a platform built for that single purpose – though it seems to be a struggle to break that stereotype.
Nope, simply put – if it is only helpful for those who are job hunting, then why would those who are very content in their current position be regularly active on the platform, everyday?
Again, this links back to our point of personal branding. We’re living in a world that is daily becoming more virtual; it is the place to deliver a positive, impactful first impression of yourself, who you are, what you do and what you stand for.
Everything from demonstrating your talents, skills and knowledge to nurturing and building long lasting business relationships, it is the ideal platform for building your personal brand and staying on top of news, events and opportunities that are relevant to your industry.
It is of course possible that you will be head hunted, or come across your dream job through LinkedIn, but that is no longer the main reason that the platform is used – and hasn’t been for some time.
- Company pages don’t work.
A LinkedIn company page gives your business an opportunity to promote the products and services you offer, recruit new talent and share important, interesting and useful updates to your followers.Having a company page is a valuable way of helping people on LinkedIn find your website, and more details about you.
Having a company page on LinkedIn will allow you tol:
- Increase awareness of your brand or business.
- Create shareable, relevant content that benefits your audience.
- Differentiate yourself from your competitors and outline your USP.
- Check what your competitors are posting, promoting and sharing.
- Improve your ranking on search engines.
LinkedIn has a high page rank with the search engines which means that LinkedIn profiles often top the results when someone searches for your company using Google or another search engine.
- Spending one hour on LinkedIn a day is all you need.
How many times do you open and close TikTok, Facebook or Instagram a day?
How often are you mindlessly scrolling, take a glance at the time and realise a whole 40 minutes has passed?
Just because LinkedIn is a more ‘professional’ business platform, does not mean you should be limiting yourself on your screen time. If anything, make sure you are spending the most time on LinkedIn.
Think of it this way: you’re having a conversation with a prospect on LinkedIn. They are more likely to convert, and you are more likely to build a long lasting relationship with them if you are engaging in a continuous flow of conversation with them, rather than replying to them once a day.
It works in the same way as if you were just mindlessly scrolling on LinkedIn, engaging with content on your timeline and reacting to the posts that are in front of you. At least this way you are frequently showcasing your online presence and creating a persona that you are someone that people can reach out to.
You’d much rather be a busy, active LinkedIn account, than have one that sits and collects dust in the corner for 23 hours of the day.
- LinkedIn is only useful if you have premium.
Yes, LinkedIn Premium is worth the cost if you invest enough time to utilise it fully and get the most out of the platform. It enables users to take more control of their networking and achieve overall better results
But, if you’re already maximising the free version of LinkedIn, or are just getting started, then no. Premium is not worth the hype.
Plus, not all of us want to pay £25 – £80 a month!
So how do you know if you are maximising the free version of LinkedIn?
Well… you’re probably already doing it:
- Ask questions, create intrigue.
- Share useful statistics.
- Share your experiences.
- Post images of you and those you meet.
- Share great news about other connections you know.
- Post in-depth content.
- Share useful industry news.
- Share your thoughts and perspectives on topics.
- Share a useful infographic.
- Share details of useful events you know about or are attending.
- Share your achievements and those of others.
- Share what you know.
We’re not saying that premium isn’t worth it, because the features are great. However, not having premium doesn’t mean that building your account is a waste of time; having that online presence is the most valuable asset here.
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That’s why our LinkedIn Lead Generation is so popular – we have helped countless businesses build an online profile, connect and communicate with their direct target audience and if you’d like to know how we can help you, all you need to do is click here!
