When it comes to standing out and winning new business on LinkedIn, one of the biggest mistakes people make with their profiles is to try to be all things to all people.
Below are some actionable tactics that will focus your LinkedIn profile on your key audiences, thus helping you attract more clients and generate more sales leads as a result.
Big Fish, Small Pond
Because LinkedIn is such a highly visible, trusted social network for professionals, when you can hyper-focus and hyper-concentrate on 2-3 target audiences that you really want to sell to, that’s where the magic happens.
Remember – with LinkedIn, the riches are in the niches!
You must niche your profile down to appeal to 2-3 target audiences. Otherwise, by trying to be everything to everyone, you’ll be too broad to appeal to individual prospects.
(Related: The Ultimate LinkedIn Profile Template)
Remember, people want to feel like the products or services you provide were designed specifically for them, and that (more important) you “get” them and their professional space.
Your prospects want to work with someone who they believe knows the lay of their professional land – that you have experience working in the same industry they work in, and that as a result you’ll understand the unique challenges and opportunities people encounters in that specific industry.
Targeting Your Audience
In order to identify your target audience on LinkedIn, ask yourself these types of questions:
Where are some of my strongest clients coming from?
Where do I already have some great testimonials?
Where do I already have a lot of success, case studies and proof?
Those should become your target audiences and target markets.
For example, when I quit my day job back in 2012 and decided to open my own marketing agency, I could have targeted anyone. After all, who doesn’t need marketing help?
However, I looked back at one of my previous jobs (doing marketing and PR for a trade association serving the debt collection industry) and decided to start there.
On LinkedIn, I wrote a professional headline that read: “Debt Collection Marketing Services | Debt Collection Sales Consultant | Debt Collection Marketing.”
And, because LinkedIn is one giant professional search engine, I was instantly able to find, connect to and engage with hundreds of Debt Collection Agency CEOs and Owners – the exact people I wanted to sell to!
And, when they saw the guy wanting to connect specialized in Debt Collection Marketing, and that he knew the industry, had experience working in the business, etc., they were all ears!
I immediately had a huge leg up on the competition because the Debt Collectors felt like I “got” them – I knew the industry, I knew the crazy regulations and unique challenges they faced and so on.
Niching down my LinkedIn profile to that one target audience helped me generate six figures in just 90 days using the network.
(Related: How To Win New Business on LinkedIn.)
I won all of that new business “cold” from LinkedIn and I did it in a tiny niche (Debt Collection).
The riches were in the niches!
Starting Somewhere + Getting Found
Even if you are launching a brand new venture without any proven success, you must still decide your target audience, and then create a client-facing, industry-specific profile that will appeal to that specific audience on LinkedIn.
(Related: How To Create a Killer LinkedIn Profile.)
Once you identify what key audience(s) you want serve, you have to make that very clear on your profile!
For example, here’s an ideal way to lay out the top half of your LinkedIn profile Summary:
WHAT I DO: I help [MY TARGET AUDIENCE] achieve [THEIR GOAL] by providing [MY PRODUCT OR SERVICE].
WHO I SERVE:
– [Audience 1]
– [Audience 2]
– [Audience 3]
First, you are setting the table at the top of your profile by making it clear who you serve, what type of product or service you offer and how it helps that audience achieve their goals.
Second, you are laying out 2-3 key audiences you serve, so anyone scanning your profile quickly can see if they are someone you specialize in helping.
(Related: The Ultimate LinkedIn Profile Template)
Focus, Focus, Focus!
Remember, your LinkedIn profile title and summary area are very limited in terms of the number of characters you can use. You can’t possibly dive deep into all of the different types of buyers, audiences and sales offerings you provide in that limited space.
By going niche and narrow and focusing on 2-3 key audiences you serve and how you specifically help them achieve their goals, you’ll make it far easier for yourself when it comes to winning new business and generating sales through LinkedIn.
