As an entrepreneur, content creator, or influencer, you already know that social media is a powerful tool for building your personal brand and connecting with potential customers or clients. However, you may have overlooked one platform that could be a game-changer for your influencer marketing strategy: LinkedIn.
Many influencers and content creators overlook LinkedIn, assuming that it’s just a platform for job seekers and business professionals. However, LinkedIn has evolved into a thriving social network with over 700 million users worldwide, including executives, decision-makers, and thought leaders from every industry imaginable.
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll show you how to use LinkedIn for influencer marketing, step-by-step. We’ll cover everything from optimizing your LinkedIn profile to creating compelling content, connecting with decision-makers, and measuring your success.
But before we dive in, let’s take a closer look at the problem that many influencers and content creators face when trying to leverage LinkedIn for influencer marketing.
The Problem with LinkedIn for Influencer Marketing
Unlike other social networks like Instagram or TikTok, LinkedIn is not primarily designed for influencer marketing. It’s a professional networking site where people come to connect with colleagues, showcase their skills and experience, and explore job opportunities.
So, how do you stand out on a platform that’s not designed for influencers?
First and foremost, you need to understand your audience. Who are the decision-makers and thought leaders in your industry, and what kind of content are they looking for? What challenges are they facing, and how can you provide value and solutions?
Secondly, you need to optimize your LinkedIn profile to showcase your expertise, experience, and unique value proposition. Your profile should be optimized for both search engines and human readers, with a clear headline, compelling summary, and multimedia content that showcases your work.
Finally, you need to create content that resonates with your target audience and demonstrates your expertise. This can include articles, videos, infographics, or podcasts, but it should always be high-quality, relevant, and valuable.
But even if you follow all of these best practices, how do you get noticed by decision-makers and thought leaders in your industry? That’s where influencer marketing comes in.
Influencer Marketing on LinkedIn: A Comprehensive Guide
Step 1: Define Your Goals and Audience
Before you start your influencer marketing campaign on LinkedIn, you need to define your goals and audience. What do you want to achieve, and who do you want to reach?
Your goals may include:
- Building brand awareness
- Generating leads and sales
- Establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry
- Building relationships with decision-makers and influencers
Your audience may include:
- Executives and decision-makers in your industry
- Thought leaders and influencers in your industry
- Potential customers or clients
How To Define A LinkedIn Audience For Influencer Marketing
Defining your audience on LinkedIn involves understanding who your ideal prospects or customers are and what type of content they engage with. Here are some steps to follow when defining your audience on LinkedIn:
Identify the characteristics of your target audience: Start by creating a detailed profile of your ideal customer or prospect. This could include demographic information such as age, gender, and location, as well as their professional interests and background.
Use LinkedIn’s search tools: LinkedIn offers a variety of search tools that can help you identify potential prospects and customers. You can search for people based on job title, company, location, and other criteria, and use this information to build a list of prospects to target with your content.
Review your analytics: If you already have a LinkedIn presence, take a look at your analytics to see who is engaging with your content. This can provide valuable insights into the type of content your audience is interested in and help you refine your strategy.
Research industry trends: Stay up to date on industry trends and topics that are of interest to your target audience. This will help you create content that is relevant and engaging to your audience and positions you as a thought leader in your field.
Ask for feedback: Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your audience. Ask them what type of content they would like to see more of, and what challenges they are facing in their work. Use this information to create content that addresses their needs and interests.
By following these steps, you can define your audience on LinkedIn and create content that resonates with your ideal prospects and customers. Remember that your audience may evolve over time, so be prepared to revisit and refine your strategy as needed.
Once you’ve defined your goals and audience, you can start creating a plan for reaching them.
Step 2: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
Your LinkedIn profile is the foundation of your influencer marketing campaign. It’s where decision-makers and thought leaders will go to learn more about you, so it needs to be optimized to showcase your expertise, experience, and unique value proposition.
Here are some tips for optimizing your LinkedIn profile:
- Use a professional profile photo that’s consistent with your personal brand
- Write a clear and compelling headline that showcases your expertise and unique value proposition
- Write a summary that tells your story and highlights your achievements
- Use multimedia content (e.g., videos, infographics, SlideShare presentations) to showcase your work
- Get recommendations from colleagues, clients, or partners to demonstrate your credibility and expertise
- Use keywords that are relevant to your industry and target audience
For more information on building out your LinkedIn profile as a content creator, executive or influencer, to reach real prospects and build out your audience & authority, here are two options to consider:
Read the eBook
Watch the Webinar
Step 3: Create Compelling Content
Creating compelling content is key to building your personal brand and attracting decision-makers and influencers on LinkedIn. Your content should be high-quality, relevant, and valuable to your target audience.
Here are some tips for creating compelling content on LinkedIn:
- Write articles on LinkedIn’s publishing platform that showcase your expertise and offer value to your target audience.
- Create videos that provide insights, tips, and advice on topics relevant to your industry and audience.
- Create infographics that visually showcase data, statistics, or insights relevant to your industry and audience.
- Share relevant news or insights from your industry, along with your thoughts or commentary on the topic.
- Use storytelling to connect with your audience and convey your message in a memorable way.
Make sure that your content is consistent with your personal brand and provides value to your target audience. You can also collaborate with other influencers or thought leaders in your industry to create content that reaches a wider audience.
LinkedIn Content Creator: A Case Study
There are many great examples of marketers who are creating exceptional content on LinkedIn. One of the most notable is Andy Crestodina, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media Studios. Andy has been using LinkedIn to create and share insightful content for several years, and has built a strong following in the process.
Here are some reasons why Andy is a great example of a marketer creating content on LinkedIn:
Consistency: Andy posts consistently on LinkedIn, sharing new content several times a week. This helps keep his audience engaged and ensures that his content stays top of mind.
Valuable insights: Andy’s content is always packed with valuable insights and actionable advice for marketers. He shares his own experiences and expertise, and is always willing to answer questions and engage with his audience.
Visuals: Andy uses visuals such as images and videos to make his content more engaging and shareable. This helps his content stand out in a sea of text-based posts on LinkedIn.
Collaboration: Andy frequently collaborates with other influencers and thought leaders on LinkedIn, which helps to expand his reach and build relationships with other marketers in his industry.
Engages with his audience: Andy is very active in the comments section of his posts, responding to questions and feedback from his audience. This helps build trust and credibility with his followers, and ensures that his content stays relevant and useful.
Overall, Andy Crestodina is an excellent example of a marketer who is using LinkedIn to create and share valuable content. By following his lead, other marketers can learn how to create engaging, insightful content that resonates with their audience and helps build their brand on LinkedIn.
Step 4: Connect with Decision-Makers and Influencers
Once you’ve optimized your profile and created compelling content, it’s time to start connecting with decision-makers and influencers in your industry. LinkedIn is a great platform for building relationships with these key players, but you need to approach it strategically.
Here are some tips for connecting with decision-makers and influencers on LinkedIn:
- Use LinkedIn’s search feature to find decision-makers and influencers in your industry.
- Personalize your connection requests by mentioning their work or accomplishments that you admire.
- Engage with their content by liking, commenting, or sharing their posts.
- Share your own content with them and ask for their feedback or input.
- Offer to collaborate on a project or initiative that would benefit both of you.
Remember that building relationships takes time and effort, so be patient and persistent. Focus on providing value to your connections and building a genuine connection, rather than just trying to promote your own agenda.
MORE READING: 5 Steps To Building Strong Relationships On LinkedIn
Suppose, for instance, you wanted to reach more CMOs in the B2B space, and wanted to network with key influencers. You might start with:
Alicia Tillman: Alicia was the Global CMO at SAP, is now the CRO at Capitolis, and is a regular contributor to LinkedIn with insightful posts on marketing, leadership, and diversity and inclusion. She has a large and engaged following, and is known for her inspiring and thought-provoking content.
Sangram Vajre: Sangram was the co-founder and Chief Evangelist of Terminus, currently serves as CEO of GTM Partners, and is a well-known speaker and author on account-based marketing. On LinkedIn, he shares his insights on ABM, sales and marketing alignment, and customer experience, and has built a large and engaged following.
Ty Heath: Ty is the Director, Market Engagement, for B2B Institute at LinkedIn, and is a regular contributor to the platform with posts on marketing trends, insights, and best practices. She also hosts the B2B Growth podcast, and is known for her expertise in social media marketing and digital transformation.
Michael Brenner: Michael is the CEO of Marketing Insider Group, and is a well-known thought leader on content marketing and digital transformation. On LinkedIn, he shares his insights on marketing strategy, customer experience, and leadership, and has built a large and engaged following.
Carlos Hidalgo: Carlos is the CEO of VisumCx, and is a sought-after speaker and author on B2B marketing strategy. On LinkedIn, he shares his insights on digital marketing, customer experience, and sales and marketing alignment, and has built a strong following with his thought-provoking and engaging content.
Overall, these five B2B influencers are great examples of thought leaders who are using LinkedIn to share their insights, engage with their audiences, and build their personal and professional brands. By following their lead, other marketers can learn how to create engaging and insightful content that resonates with their audience and helps build their own thought leadership on LinkedIn.
Step 5: Measure Your Influencer Marketing Success
Finally, you need to measure the success of your influencer marketing campaigns and efforts on LinkedIn. This will help you identify what’s working and what’s not, so you can refine your strategy and achieve better results.
Here are some metrics to track:
- Number of connections and followers
- Engagement on your content (e.g., likes, comments, shares)
- Click-through rates to your website or landing pages
- Leads or sales generated from LinkedIn
Use LinkedIn’s analytics tools to track these metrics and make adjustments to your strategy as needed.
To take your measurement of success to the next level, you need to correlate LinkedIn activity with actual business results. To do that, you need to have Google Analytics installed and configured to track and report on all meaningful events:
- Purchases
- Leads
- Subscriptions
- Downloads
- Registrations
Or any other activity that represents value to the business. You’ll then be able to create reports that reflect how many conversions and how much revenue you’re driving from LinkedIn.
To take it a step further, you will want to make sure that every single link you share is tracked – whether that’s in a post, a comment, or a direct message.
You see, Google Analytics can see any visitor that clicked on a link within LinkedIn.com, and will report that they’ve been a referral from LinkedIn. The problem is, Google aggregates all such traffic. Unless you’re using tracking links with defined UTM parameters to distinguish your posts from someone else’s posts, or posts versus direct messages, Google has no way of understanding the context around a specific link.
But Agorapulse does.
With Agorapulse, every single link that you share is tracked with a full set of UTM parameters, down to a unique code assigned to each individual link. Then, Google Analytics data is integrated which allows complete visibility into the results each and every share of a link drives.
That’s how you’ll know exactly how much revenue your own LinkedIn activity generated, as well as which posts and post types were the most successful.
Tracking engagement metrics is nice, but if you really want to know what’s generating ROI for you – what’s really moving the needle on LInkedIn – you need to utilize Google Analytics and Agorapulse.
Conclusion: Download the LinkedIn Profile eBook or Watch the Webinar
In conclusion, LinkedIn can be a powerful platform for influencer marketing, but it requires a strategic approach and a commitment to providing value to your target audience. By optimizing your profile, creating compelling content, and building relationships with decision-makers and influencers in your industry, you can achieve your goals and establish yourself as a thought leader in your field.
To learn more about how to optimize your LinkedIn profile so it shines for prospects and make it easier to leverage LinkedIn for influencer marketing, download our eBook or watch our free webinar today.
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