7 Powerful Steps To Leverage Linkedin in 2014 Assuming you are active on multiple social media channels, your website is likely getting visitors from these sites. One of the key differentiators I found is that the audience visiting your site from Linkedin tends to be predominantly business focused. With so much to offer, the question becomes, how can you leverage Linkedin for your business in 2014? Here are 7 Powerful Steps to Leverage Linkedin in 2014. 1) Understand visitor-to-lead conversion by social channel: If you are using Google Analytics, you can easily set up a custom reporting dashboard that shows you Goal Conversions such as leads form submissions, newsletter sign-ups or coupon downloads, all broken down by channel. You will be able to see how many leads came in from Paid Search, Organic Search, Referral Traffic, Direct Traffic as well as the Social traffic. If you click on Social traffic, the report will drill down to show you all the specific social media channels (Linkedin, Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Yelp, etc.) contributing to visitors and conversions on your website. Statistically, it is known that Linkedin has a 3 times higher visitor-to-lead conversion ratio compared to Facebook or Twitter. Armed with this information, you can redirect your Social Media Strategy to get the biggest bang for your buck. If the strategy above sounds a bit too “technical” just send me a note and I’ll be happy to walk you through the steps. 2) Write posts to ensure high visibility at opportune times: Most users write posts expecting a level of engagement and are disappointed when no one cares or comments on their posts. You need to build a simple habit to ensure the highest possible visibility for each of your posts and updates. Here is an easy tip to increase the response rate: try posting during the week, Monday to Friday, especially during morning hours when viewers are most engaged. The opposite is true for Twitter. If you want to get more engagement and visibility on Twitter, you should post in the evenings and weekends. In addition, make sure everything you post on Linkedin provides value or could be of interest to the audience. In other words, the content, from a business standpoint, is key, whereas the other channels (Facebook/Twitter) allow for a more personal or casual approach. [see point # 4 for details] 3) Increase OR decrease the frequency of posts: I often see a business contact of mine using Hootsuite or other auto-posting tools to post every hour on Linkedin. The repetitiveness of seeing his picture on my newsfeed that many times causes me to ignore his posts, even though they may be pertinent. This creates a diminishing returns scenario because most groups you are a part of on Linkedin will move your post over to a promotions area if they think you are spamming. The lesson here is to avoid looking “spammy” with your posts, and not to use auto-post sites.

1.
7
Powerful
Steps
To
Leverage
Linkedin
in
2014
Over
the
past
few
years,
Linkedin
has
really
separated
itself
from
other
Social
Media
Networks
such
as
Twitter
and
Facebook.
Its
current
user
base
exceeds
259
Million
and
with
over
2.1
Million
interest
groups
within
Linkedin,
and
a
new
sign
up
number
of
172,000/day,
it
is
a
significant
channel
that
should
be
on
your
promotion
short
list
in
2014.
Assuming
you
are
active
on
multiple
social
media
channels,
your
website
is
likely
getting
visitors
from
these
sites.
One
of
the
key
differentiators
I
found
is
that
the
audience
visiting
your
site
from
Linkedin
tends
to
be
predominantly
business
focused.
With
so
much
to
offer,
the
question
becomes,
how
can
you
leverage
Linkedin
for
your
business
in
2014?
Here
are
7
Powerful
Steps
to
Leverage
Linkedin
in
2014.
1)
Understand
visitor-­‐to-­‐lead
conversion
by
social
channel:
If
you
are
using
Google
Analytics,
you
can
easily
set
up
a
custom
reporting
dashboard
that
shows
you
Goal
Conversions
such
as
leads
form
submissions,
newsletter
sign-­‐ups
or
coupon
downloads,
all
broken
down
by
channel.
You
will
be
able
to
see
how
many
leads
came
in
from
Paid
Search,
Organic
Search,
Referral
Traffic,
Direct
Traffic
as
well
as
the
Social
traffic.
If
you
click
on
Social
traffic,
the
report
will
drill
down
to
show
you
all
the
specific
social
media
channels
(Linkedin,
Google+,
Facebook,
Pinterest,
YouTube,
Yelp,
etc.)
contributing
to
visitors
and
conversions
on
your
website.
Statistically,
it
is
known
that
Linkedin
has
a
3
times
higher
visitor-­‐to-­‐lead
conversion
ratio
compared
to
Facebook
or
Twitter.
Armed
with
this
information,
you
can
redirect
your
Social
Media
Strategy
to
get
the
biggest
bang
for
your
buck.
If
the
strategy
above
sounds
a
bit
too
“technical”
just
send
me
a
note
and
I’ll
be
happy
to
walk
you
through
the
steps.
2)
Write
posts
to
ensure
high
visibility
at
opportune
times:
Most
users
write
posts
expecting
a
level
of
engagement
and
are
disappointed
when
no
one
cares
or
comments
on
their
posts.
You
need
to
build
a
simple
habit
to
ensure
the
highest
possible
visibility
for
each
of
your
posts
and
updates.
Here
is
an
easy
tip
to
increase
the
response
rate:
try
posting
during
the
week,
Monday
to
Friday,
especially
during
morning
hours
when
viewers
are
most
engaged.
The
opposite
is
true
for
Twitter.
If
you
want
to
get
more
engagement
and
visibility
on
Twitter,
you
should
post
in
the
evenings
and
weekends.
In
addition,
make
sure
everything
you
post
on
Linkedin
provides
value
or
could
be
of
interest
to
the
audience.
In
other
words,
the
content,
from
a
business
standpoint,
is
key,
whereas
the
other
channels
(Facebook/Twitter)
allow
for
a
more
personal
or
casual
approach.
[see
point
#
4
for
details]
3)
Increase
OR
decrease
the
frequency
of
posts:

2. I
often
see
a
business
contact
of
mine
using
Hootsuite
or
other
auto-­‐posting
tools
to
post
every
hour
on
Linkedin.
The
repetitiveness
of
seeing
his
picture
on
my
newsfeed
that
many
times
causes
me
to
ignore
his
posts,
even
though
they
may
be
pertinent.
This
creates
a
diminishing
returns
scenario
because
most
groups
you
are
a
part
of
on
Linkedin
will
move
your
post
over
to
a
promotions
area
if
they
think
you
are
spamming.
The
lesson
here
is
to
avoid
looking
“spammy”
with
your
posts,
and
not
to
use
auto-­‐post
sites.
The
ideal
number
is
20-­‐30
posts
a
month,
which
will
allow
you
to
reach
about
60%-­‐70%
of
your
audience.
You
don’t
have
to
worry
that
people
are
not
logged
in
and
checking
their
newsfeeds
at
the
exact
moment
you
post.
The
social
media
channels
have
overcome
this
and
they
cycle
through
posts.
This
is
the
reason
you
will
see
a
post
on
the
top
of
your
newsfeed
that
may
have
been
posted
several
hours
ago.
4)
Know
your
audience:
Instead
of
going
out
and
finding
anything
and
everything
to
fill
your
posting
goal
for
the
month,
take
some
time
to
really
figure
out
what
your
members
are
interested
in.
As
a
general
rule
of
thumb,
and
if
you
have
been
connecting
with
the
right
people
on
Linkedin
for
your
particular
business/industry,
you
will
find
that
60%
of
the
members
are
interested
in
Industry
Insights
and
40%
of
the
members
are
interested
in
new
Products
and
Services.
Use
this
knowledge
to
prepare
a
plan
on
what
to
post
and
when
to
post
it,
in
order
to
cater
to
the
needs
of
all
your
followers.
5)
Include
Links
and
Images
with
your
posts
to
drive
up
to
200%
more
engagement:
Linkedin
makes
it
quite
easy
for
you
to
paste
links
in
the
status
updates.
It
even
displays
a
thumbnail
of
the
page
you
will
end
up
at
-­‐
if
you
click
on
the
link.
I
have
always
found
that
if
you
write
a
great
headline
in
your
post
and
link
it
back
to
your
blog
or
a
page
on
your
site,
you
can
bring
that
traffic
to
your
website.
Assuming
your
site
has
been
built
with
visitor-­‐to-­‐lead
conversion
in
mind,
you
have
the
home
court
advantage
to
convert
that
visitor
into
a
lead.
6)
Link
to
YouTube
Videos:
A
popular
stat
I
read
a
while
back
said
1
in
8
people
make
a
decision
on
purchasing
a
product
or
signing
up
for
a
service
after
watching
a
video.
It
does
help
that
a
majority
of
the
population
are
visual
learners.
If
your
company
or
you
have
a
YouTube
channel,
linking
to
YouTube
videos
will
result
in
a
75%
higher
share
rate.
Remember,
you
can
track
how
many
of
the
visitors
from
YouTube
came
back
to
your
site
using
that
report
from
Google
Analytics
that
I
spoke
about
in
my
first
point.
If
you
want
to
get
more
complex
and
discuss
attribution
(how
much
weight
to
give
to
the
Linkedin
Post
and
how
much
weight
to
give
to
the
YouTube
Video
in
order
to
do
lead
attribution
models),
well…
that
is
for
another
post.

7)
Be
original:
Sharing
content
from
others
about
your
industry
is
great,
however
if
you
want
to
build
a
level
of
credibility
or
authority
for
yourself,
you
have
to
be
able
to
produce
original
content.
If
you
or
someone
at
your
company
can
produce
that
content,
you
are
well
on
your
way.
Here
it
is
by
the
numbers:
•
•
61%
of
consumers
have
made
a
purchase
based
on
a
blog
post
that
they
read.
60%
of
consumers
feel
positive
about
a
company
after
reading
its
blog.

3. •
70%
of
consumers
learn
about
a
company
through
its
blog
versus
ads.
If
you
are
not
already
leveraging
Linkedin,
or,
after
having
read
my
post,
want
to
make
this
a
new
resolution,
then
follow
the
7
powerful
steps
I
have
outlined
above
to
get
ahead
of
the
competition.
If
you
have
other
ways
that
you
feel
are
worth
mentioning,
feel
free
to
leave
a
comment
or
connect
with
me
on
Linkedin.
And,
of
course,
if
you
have
questions,
please
reach
out!
I
may
just
have
the
answer.