If you check out your competitors, view other people’s content, respond to messages or to update your experience on LinkedIn....
...but allow your LinkedIn company page to do all the marketing and sales, you’re missing a huge opportunity.
Why?
Ultimately people do business with people
And your Linkedin profile is one of the best sales funnels you have if you know how to use it.
Here are several key ways you can turn your LinkedIn profile into a sales funnel:
The 30 Second Rule
Your LinkedIn banner image and profile picture afford you “30 seconds” to convey your expertise to a visiting prospect.
An effective banner image can be branded, contain a statement of what your company does and your profile picture should show a clear engaging head shot.
The bio section under your profile picture should contain a short one sentence summary of the results you create for example:
Lead Consultant | Helping food and beverage companies to take a new product from concept to launch.
Or
Founder | Turning teams into high performance business units through structured mentoring.
Ensure the statement entails who you help and what results you create. An inspiring statement such as “Let’s make dreams come true” creates more confusion than clarity.
If you confuse people in 30 seconds you risk losing them for life. Make it easy to understand you and your relevance as well as convey trust and authority.
The 2 Min Rule
Use the section below your bio to list hashtags which contain key words that companies might search on LinkedIn when looking for a service such as #emailmarketing or #brandstrategy.
This helps prospects find you on LinkedIn via organic search. Choose the five top keywords that best represent what you do.
Next, link your company website at the top of your profile and fill out as much contact information as you’re willing to share such as email, phone number, social links etc.
This means prospects do not struggle to find out more information or how to get in touch.
Navigate to your about section and remove any inspiring paragraphs about your background and history.
Replace this with a list of results you have created for clients in the form of a short track record:
X company achieved Y outcome in Z time frame without facing pain / challenge.
A mid size educational institute in Boston saw their enrolments triple three semesters in a row without seeing any decline in student satisfaction ratings.
Then you can list some more details about who you help, what type of company and what type of decision maker and how they are best positioned to work with you.
Finish off with an outline of the steps you usually take them through to predictably achieve outcome.
This short section effectively turns your profile into a sales funnel. From top to bottom you are telling prospects who you help, how you help them, results you create, evidence of results created, and your process for bringing about change.
Do not forget to finish with a call to action inviting them to email you or DM you to set up a short call and discuss further.
The Next Steps Rule
This leads to the final tip on how you can turn your LinkedIn profile into a sales funnel and it is to invite prospects to engage with you further.
Under your “Featured” section link key resources that further engage and explain to your prospect the value you provide.
Do you have an eBook or a whitepaper? How about a webinar recording or free training resource? Do you have an online community prospects can join or a short course they can follow?
Link these resources on your profile inviting them to download, optin or further find out about you.
These best helps prospects understand you and your service better and can lead to further conversation and a sale.
-----
If you would help to turn your LinkedIn profile into a sales funnel and generate more business using LinkedIn then comment below and we can talk more.
