If you think LinkedIn is only a place to post your professional profile, you may want to reconsider.
In 2020, comparing Twitter’s 330 million users to LinkedIn’s 660 million users shows that LinkedIn takes the lead. According to Hubspot, LinkedIn users covert 277% more than Facebook and Twitter. But that’s not all - a social media and demographics study conducted by The London School of Economics and Political Science, reveals that almost a quarter of LinkedIn’s users are between 18 and 29, and 61% of LinkedIn users fall into the 30 to 64 age bracket.
What do all these stats mean to my business?
LinkedIn is “the” platform for professionals. It’s one of the world’s most trusted, and respected social media platforms for both young and established professionals to network, interact and do business with each other. LinkedIn can be utilized as a professional marketing medium to grow your niche practice in at least five ways.
1. Highlight your expertise & build your credibility
Writing articles, posting videos and answering questions in your niche area establishes you as a credible presence and builds brand awareness. This attracts both medical professionals who can refer work to you, and patients looking for dentists with your knowhow. Building brand awareness is similar to planting a garden, it takes consistent nurturing over time to achieve long-term results. Establishing a consistent and active presence can mean posting four articles/videos per month or answering questions/remarking on posts once a day.
2. Advertise your business & recruit professional staff
Many professional recruiters use LinkedIn extensively to find qualified professionals – and you can too! Like Facebook, ads can be targeted to location, gender, age, and interests. Results are tracked so you can see what is and isn’t working and you can also set your daily or total budget and start or stop your ads at any time. Here are some of LinkedIn’s many creative advertising products:
Sponsored content: traditional ad which runs in LinkedIn feeds across mobile or desktop devices
Message ads: direct messages are sent to targeted prospects
Video ads: video ads run in LinkedIn feeds across mobile or desktop devices
Dynamic ads: ads are personalized, with the LinkedIn professional’s picture, profile etc., and sent to the prospect/s directly
Carousel ads: ads tell a short story with pictures/slides that end in a call to action
Elevate: your staff creates quality content posted on your LinkedIn profile
3. Create your own group or join groups to target your patient pools
Creating or joining groups that focus on your niche patient lets you find patients who are likely to be interested in your services. For groups to be successful, topics should focus on the topic, not your business. Groups are not instant; they grow over time. An added feature, as a group administrator - you can send out one announcement per week to your members LinkedIn inboxes.
4. Share through your profile status
In addition to posting your online CV, your profile status is a great way to share professional insights and articles you/your patients may find interesting that are related to your practice.
5. Skills & endorsements
Do patients or colleagues have good things to say about you? Have them endorse a skill, or better yet, write a brief endorsement.
If you’ve been overlooking LinkedIn – reconsider. LinkedIn makes growing your business by connecting with a professional network easy. Through LinkedIn, establishing a credible reputation with a professional community and connecting directly with prospective patients, colleagues and staff has never been easier.
Would you like to discuss what other ideas you can use?
