No matter what size of organisation we work for, a local market is going
to be important to us. Our individual versions of “local” will vary of course –
it may be a town, a county or even a whole country, but it is our home market
and one that needs to be considered. For many smaller organisations, it can
often be their only market or, at the very least, the mainstay of their
business and hence a key area to nurture and develop.
With LinkedIn, perhaps more so than any of the other major social
networks whose scope are after all global in nature, we have the chance to tap
directly into our local marketplace, so it’s important to make sure we know how
to use the tools at our disposal to do just that. Making ourselves visible and
easy to refer is one half of the equation; the other is to use the facilities
on LinkedIn to proactively identify, approach and market to this key group of
people.
Here are 7 ways in which we can use LinkedIn to do just that:
1. Find new prospects and clients
If you are looking to identify new opportunities or clients in your
local area, and let’s face it who isn’t, then LinkedIn’s search facility is a
perfect way to achieve that. Using the advanced search, you can focus in on the
geographic area you are interested in and then drill down to find individuals
working for a specific company or in a certain role or within a certain
industry. Having identified them, then it’s up to you how you wish to make
contact and start to talk to them – perhaps directly is most appropriate or
alternatively using a more gradual “getting to know” approach that LinkedIn can
help so perfectly with.
2. See who’s talking about what locally
LinkedIn Signal – you’ll find it in the News menu item – gives you the ability
to tap into what people are talking about within your local area, giving you an
insight into both the personalities and subjects. By using an initial search,
you can focus specifically on the topics that are of most interest to you and
filter them by location, giving a very clear idea of who might be interested in
the products, skills or services that you can offer.
3. Approach local businesses through Groups
There are over a million groups now on LinkedIn and there will almost
certainly be a number which represent the local marketplace you want to get
into, whether that’s a town or a region. Use the Groups Directory to find them
and join the ones that look most relevant and active. Check who the main
contributors are and then start to participate in the discussions to get your
name seen and known – try to avoid selling yourself too strongly though,
particularly at the start. Instead, use the messaging facility that is
available to contact people directly as well as connecting with them and take a
more softly softly approach.
4. Get found by people searching for your skills
More and more people are turning to LinkedIn when they are looking for
local suppliers – this “Social Search” is the next natural step in the ever
changing ‘business search’ habits which previously has seen Yellow pages type
paper directories give way to online search through Google and the like. Make
sure that your Personal Profile includes local elements (such as the towns and
cities that you cover) so you can be found by people searching for local
suppliers using these words rather than using the ‘location’ facility. It’s
important to pander to all of the potential search options and in any case,
these will be terms that people will spot as they scan your profile.
5. Find key local networkers
Find and connect with people who are potential ‘hubs’ within the local
area/community you are looking to deal with. The more closely connected you are
to the people looking for you and your services / products, the better placed
in the results and the more easily referable you will be. How to find these
highly connected local ‘hubs’? Well do an advanced search and specify the
postcode you are targeting, choosing the 10 or 25 miles radius – when you get
the results, order them by ‘Connections’ instead of ‘Relevance’ and this will
give you a list, starting with the most highly connected people in your area.
6. Putting out updates for local marketplace
Along with discussions in Groups, posting Updates which go out to your
direct 1st level connections is a very powerful way of getting your message in
front of the right people. The key element is the news that you share – make it
appropriate and it will also encourage others to share it in turn, thus
”spreading the word”. By using the “attach a link” to highlight a news item on
your own site, you can also get your logo in front of them and a link back to
your website into the bargain!
7. Get your Company Pages working
For most people, the logical next step after finding you via your
personal profile page is to then check out your Company Pages, and perhaps your
Products and Services section in particular. They are also searchable in their
own right, both on LinkedIn and on the internet in general, so getting them set
up properly is a real boost all round. And remember to get recommendations for
the products from the local market that you are looking to appeal to – social
proof at its best!
So, with those elements in place, you will be well placed to use
LinkedIn to help further develop your key local market.
