As the Marketing Manager of US Metal Crafters, I spend a good amount of time on LinkedIn building our company profile. While LinkedIn is an incredible tool for businesses, sales representatives can also turn their LinkedIn profile into a sales generating machine. So incredible that we hosted a LinkedIn Webinar for all of our sales reps. You watch the webinar view here or keep reading for the top ticks and tricks from the webinar “Leveraging LinkedIn to Generate Sales.”
I like to think of LinkedIn as the modern-day equivalent of a Trade Show. With the impact of COVID-19 and the increase in digital communications, this rings even more true today. Many in outside sales are facing the reality that doors are not open for visitors-and in-person networking has become increasingly difficult with many of the top trade show events being canceled for the year. Feeling a bit stuck? Utilizing LinkedIn can help you start to open more doors again and develop new business and network. Here’s how to turn your LinkedIn profile to an All-Star virtual trade show booth!
Start By Building Your Trade Show Booth- (Your LinkedIn Profile)
When planning for a trade show your first thought is what will my booth look like and what kind of material do I need to draw in visitors? For LinkedIn, you build your trade show booth by completing and updating your profile. They are four key sections to your LinkedIn profile: Intro, About, Featured, & Background.
By completing these sections you build trust and transparency and offer conversation starters. Your intro should include a current profile picture, cover photo, and descriptive headline. Your headline acts like your tradeshow banner tagline giving visitors a quick look into your offering.
Headline & Summary
By including your work and education history in your background you are providing LinkedIn with the tools it needs to suggest relevant content and connections. To do so, you’ll want to update your Featured and Background sections. Your Featured section can take the form of links to external content including web pages, videos, and podcasts, as well as adding documents like PowerPoint presentations, PDFs or photos, while your Background will act as your digital resume.
Background (Experience & Education)
Next, Make Sure Your Trade Show is in the Right Room- Curating Your Newsfeed with Relevant Content
Now that your trade show booth (profile) is looking flawless, you’ll want to make sure you’re in the right room bringing in the right visitors. To do this follow relevant companies and hashtags aka topics, and join groups.
This will help bring content from industry influencers, potential business contacts, and companies that by interacting with will allow you to build your network through relevant conversations. Think of this as the networking sessions at your trade show- by being an active part of the LinkedIn conversation you’ll naturally build your network.
Activity
Hashtags, Pages, Groups etc.
Now what? How to keep getting the most out of LinkedIn & Keep Your Trade Show Booth Relevant
You’re all ready for your “LinkedIn Trade Show” debut! You’ve carefully crafted your trade show booth, made sure your booth is in the right location, and brought the right visitors to your booth. However, it doesn’t stop there. To keep the momentum and continue to build your network and sales opportunities there are a few tricks to get the most out of LinkedIn.
- Regular Activity & Updates- including work history or achievements as they change
- Set LinkedIn Browsing/Connecting time- daily or weekly
- Keep it Manageable- spend only 15-20 mins at a time
- Keep Learning- LinkedIn updates regularly and there are many great resources to stay up to date on any changes
Hopefully, you aren’t feeling stuck any longer and have a path to knocking open some new doors & sales opportunities. Let your LinkedIn Trade Show Booth shine and utilize the new network you are building. And while you’re at it be sure to follow US Metal Crafters on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/us-metal-crafters/