LinkedIn Business Branding Strategy Shorcuts

How is your business branding supposed to be performing right about now?

Almost good enough, but not quite exquisite, doesn’t get it in business and in the garden.

Recently, I took this picture of a vine that was supposed to be in full flower – according to the garden’s site that lists plants in bloom by location.

Let’s assume you have a personal branding or strategic business marketing plan. How well are you overlaying or integrating this information into your LinkedIn plan?

Whether you’re a newcomer or a more experience LinkedIn user, having a strategic approach can help you stay on course and achieve more accurate results.

Here’s how to do that. Please feel free to connect with me, Barbara Rozgonyi, on LinkedIn.

Look to LinkedIn as the place to go to work on your professional profile.

Even if you have a blog or website, you, and your the company you own or work for, will be found on LinkedIn. So why not be in full flower when people visit your profile?

With over 100 million members, LinkedIn is the social network for people who want to do business.

LinkedIn’s platform is well-suited to support a variety of business strategies, including recruiting new employees, generating leads, qualifying prospects, researching your industry – and the competition, locating business services, managing contacts and extending marketing and PR.

Whether you’re a business owner or someone who wants to build their personal brand, LinkedIn works best when you are intentional about your approach.

Start by knowing who you are, who you want to meet and what you want to get out of your LinkedIn experiences.

Here’s a shortcut strategy to help you sketch out your LinkedIn better business branding strategy plan.

You’ll need to know your purpose, audiences, benefits, relevance, personal style, keywords and goals.

For now, think bigger picture of who you are and where you want to be a year or so from now.

1. Define your Purpose for being on LinkedIn

Why are you here? What is your primary business purpose? Pick one [or come up with your own]: grow your network, find prospects, exchange information, raise visibility. Then, list the next three priorities ranked by importance. Your primary purpose will drive your actions and results.

2. Sketch out your LinkedIn Target Audience Characteristics

You really can create any kind of LinkedIn community you want. So, who do you want to reach? Think in terms of titles, positions, companies as well as personal characteristics. Who is your ideal customer or connection in real life? Group connections into categories by influence,

3. Talk in Terms of Benefits You Bring to Your LinkedIn Connections

What do you bring to the LinkedIn system – and beyond? Why do people like to work with you? When do they tell others about you? What kinds of problems do you solve? These are the benefits you offer to the people in your network.

4. Relevance Gets Attention

Being relevant is the way to get attention. Maybe you’re a people connector or you’re the one with the helpful links or you are the one that started a group. How do you and your company fit into people’s lives in a way that makes a difference by being relevant?

5. Differentiate You and Your Business to be the Best

Check out the competition, compare their profile presentation and see what you offer that’s different, better or unique.

6. Build Branding with Your Personal Style

What kind of a networker are you in real life? Do you go to events and leave with dozens of cards or do you like to make a few closer connections? How do you follow up? Do you send a personal note or a quick message? You can adapt your approach to LinkedIn or come up with one all on your own.

7. Create a List of Keywords

We live in a world driven by search – at least online. People enter in terms they’re looking for to find what they want. What terms would they enter to find you or your business? Location, industry, pain point, etc.