In the fiercely competitive outdoor gear market, innovative marketing strategies are essential for brand growth and customer engagement. Among these strategies, giveaways stand out as a powerful tool.

They are more than just a means to distribute free products; they are a conduit for creating a lasting impression, fostering community engagement, and enhancing your brand’s image. Drawing on the principles of “4 Season Selling,” this comprehensive guide aims to provide professionals in any industry with a deep dive into the strategic planning and execution of effective giveaways.

Yes, the examples used are within the outdoor industry but this will work across the board. 

Understanding the Strategic Value of Giveaways

Giveaways go beyond the mere distribution of free items. They are a potent mechanism for generating excitement, building brand awareness, and fostering a sense of community among your audience.

The strategic implementation of giveaways can lead to increased brand loyalty, higher engagement rates, and an expanded customer base. However, the success of these initiatives hinges on their alignment with your brand’s identity and the interests of your target audience.

Establishing Clear Objectives

The foundation of a successful giveaway lies in its objectives. It’s crucial to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, gather customer data, or perhaps introduce a new product line? The objectives you set will guide every aspect of the giveaway, from the choice of products to the promotional channels and the mechanics of participation.

Product Selection: Aligning with Brand Identity

The choice of giveaway products is a critical decision. These items should not only resonate with your target audience but also reflect the quality and ethos of your brand.

For instance, a brand known for its durable and high-quality camping gear might choose to give away a premium tent or a set of advanced camping tools. The products should serve as a representation of what your brand stands for.

Leveraging Influencer Partnerships

In today’s digital age, influencers play a pivotal role in shaping consumer preferences. Partnering with influencers who align with your brand’s values and appeal to your target demographic can significantly amplify the reach of your giveaway. This collaboration should be strategic, focusing on influencers who genuinely resonate with your brand and can authentically endorse your products.

Creative Mechanics for Enhanced Engagement

The mechanics of your giveaway should be simple enough to encourage wide participation yet creative enough to foster genuine engagement. Consider incorporating interactive elements like photo contests, where participants can showcase their adventures using your gear, or storytelling competitions that involve sharing outdoor experiences.

These approaches not only engage your audience but also provide you with content that can be leveraged in future marketing efforts.

The Importance of User-Generated Content

User-generated content is a goldmine for any brand. Encourage participants to share their experiences with your products, be it through photos, videos, or testimonials. This content is not only more relatable to potential customers but also serves as an endorsement of your products’ quality and appeal.

Optimal Timing and Comprehensive Promotion

Timing your giveaway to coincide with significant events, such as the launch of a new product line, a major outdoor event, or a seasonal change, can increase its impact.

Promote your giveaway through all available channels, including social media, email marketing, your website, and in-store displays if you have a physical presence. This multi-channel approach ensures maximum visibility and participation.

Adhering to Legal and Ethical Standards

It’s crucial to ensure your giveaway is compliant with legal regulations and ethical standards. This includes clear terms and conditions, proper handling of participant data, and adherence to platform-specific rules, particularly on social media. Maintaining transparency and ethical conduct not only protects your brand legally but also builds trust and credibility with your audience.

Analyzing Results for Future Success

Post-giveaway analysis is vital for understanding its effectiveness and for planning future initiatives. Evaluate key performance indicators such as participation rates, social media engagement, website traffic, and any subsequent changes in sales or customer inquiries. These insights will inform your future marketing strategies and help in refining your approach to giveaways.

Building Long-term Relationships with Customers

View your giveaway as the beginning of a long-term relationship with your customers. Engage with participants after the event, offer them exclusive discounts, invite them to join loyalty programs, and keep them informed about new products and initiatives. This continued engagement can convert one-time participants into loyal brand advocates.

When strategically planned and executed, giveaways can be a significant asset in the marketing toolkit of outdoor gear companies. They offer a unique opportunity to engage with your audience, enhance brand visibility, and drive business growth.

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It’s about creating an experience that connects with customers on a personal level, reflecting the adventurous spirit of the outdoor community.

Crafting a Narrative Around the Giveaway

Developing a compelling narrative or theme around your giveaway can significantly increase its appeal. For instance, if you are launching a new line of winter gear, consider a giveaway that emphasizes adventure and resilience in extreme conditions. This narrative not only makes the giveaway more interesting but also helps in creating a cohesive marketing message that resonates with your audience.

Integrating Social Responsibility

In the outdoor gear industry, social responsibility and environmental stewardship are often important to the customer base. Integrating these elements into your giveaway can enhance its appeal. For example, for every entry, you could commit to planting a tree or contribute towards conservation efforts. This not only incentivizes participation but also aligns with the values of your brand and your customers.

Utilizing Data-Driven Insights

Leverage data analytics to tailor your giveaway to the preferences and behaviors of your target audience. Analyze past engagement data, customer surveys, and market research to understand what excites and motivates your audience. This data-driven approach can greatly enhance the effectiveness of your giveaway.

Personalizing Customer Interactions

Personalization can significantly boost the impact of your giveaways. Use customer data to personalize communication, offering participants tailored recommendations or exclusive deals based on their interests and past purchases.

This level of personalization can create a more engaging and memorable experience for customers.

Creating a Seamless Digital Experience

In today’s digital age, ensuring a smooth online experience for participants is vital. This includes an easy-to-navigate giveaway page, clear instructions, and a straightforward entry process. A seamless digital experience reduces barriers to entry, encouraging more participants to engage with your brand.

Engaging with the Community

Community engagement should be a key component of your giveaway strategy. This can involve partnering with local outdoor clubs, organizing events, or engaging with followers on social media. Building a sense of community around your brand can enhance loyalty and turn customers into brand ambassadors.

Measuring Success Beyond Numbers

While quantitative metrics like participation rates and follower growth are important, qualitative aspects such as customer feedback, brand sentiment, and the quality of user-generated content are equally crucial. These metrics provide insights into the emotional impact and brand perception improvements that result from your giveaway.

Leveraging the Giveaway for Long-Term Brand Building

Consider the giveaway as a step in a larger brand-building strategy. The relationships and insights gained through the giveaway should be leveraged for long-term brand growth.

This could involve follow-up campaigns, targeted marketing initiatives, or loyalty programs designed to keep the participants engaged with your brand.

Innovating and Evolving

The outdoor gear market is constantly evolving, and so should your giveaway strategies. Stay abreast of the latest trends, technologies, and customer preferences. Experiment with new platforms, collaboration models, or giveaway formats to keep your campaigns fresh and relevant.

Reflecting on the Giveaway’s Impact on Company Culture

Finally, it’s important to reflect on how your giveaway aligns with and impacts your company’s culture. A successful giveaway should not only resonate with your customers but also with your employees. It should reflect your company’s values, mission, and vision, fostering a sense of pride and purpose within your team.

Final Thoughts

Giveaways, when thoughtfully executed, can be much more than a marketing tactic. They can be a powerful catalyst for brand growth, customer engagement, and community building. By keeping your objectives clear, aligning with your brand values, and continuously learning and adapting, your giveaways can become a cornerstone of your marketing strategy in the outdoor gear industry.

The post Maximizing Impact with Strategic Giveaways: Enhancing Brand Loyalty and Engagement appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

Another day, another article, you might think, from some “random” on the internet preaching about
marketing and artificial intelligence. But I’m not here to give you fluff and generic knowledge about what
you could easily Google online. 

Hi, I’m Joshua B. Lee, and you might know me as the “Dopamine Dealer on LinkedIn”. In the past two decades, I’ve built 16 businesses, authored a book called Balance is Bullsh*t, and I’ve had clients like MySpace and Google managing nearly a billion dollars in advertising spends.

While working with companies that are larger than life, I realized one thing: The digital landscape became
quite “noisy”. AKA, there were too many automated things, robotic language, and SELL SELL SELL energies online, and the human touch got lost in the mix.

Human connection was obliterated, and too many people focused a lot on monetization for profit’s sake. I’m a consumer myself, so I saw a gap that could be fixed and asked, “How can I bring back the heart in this digital universe? How can I help people see beyond the screen and build genuine
connections?” 

Enter Standout Authority, my baby since 2014. We’re all about helping folks (like you, who’s reading
this) bring the human back to your brand.

And we’ve chosen to zero in on LinkedIn—the Avengers’ HQ of business platforms—to build authentic
relationships and clients.

Why LinkedIn?

Perhaps this number will sum it up for you: as of April 2023, LinkedIn has 922.3 million active members
on the platform.

So if you’re looking for the perfect place for marketing, networking, and reaching your audience as a thought leader in your field, this would be THE platform for you.

And as LinkedIn turns 20 this year, it’s making a huge push towards AI—quite the HOT topic everywhere,
regardless of the niche/industry.

Here’s what’s coming to a LinkedIn profile you want to get going:

LinkedIn’s Drive to Embrace AI and Transform Content Creation 

LinkedIn continues to push the boundaries of AI-powered transformation, making your content creation
more engaging, entertaining, and downright amazing.

Here are some of the bold moves LinkedIn has been making towards AI: 

• Ever since LinkedIn joined forces with the latest AI technology, ChatGPT, the platform has been on a roll (If you didn’t know yet, Microsoft invested $10 billion into OpenAI).
• Since then, they’ve released a series of helpful tools such as “Smart Replies” and “Resume Assistant”— just a couple of examples of how LinkedIn has harnessed the power of AI to streamline your messaging and job-hunting experience.  
• LinkedIn has created Collaborative Articles, a feature that allows multiple creators to work together on a single AI-generated article, offering diverse viewpoints on a given topic. 
• AI isn’t just great for writing; it’s also an amazing helper when it comes to insights and analytics. LinkedIn is launching Content Insights, an AI-driven tool that provides data on article performance. You can’t know if your marketing is going in the right direction if you don’t know your numbers. 

LinkedIn’s AI revolution aims to foster collaboration, amplify top voices, and help creators get their high-
quality content in front of the right audience.

LinkedIn’s Supercharged Move to AI

Within 3 months, LinkedIn’s AI team managed to roll out new ChatGPT-based tools. These AI-gasmic
features are designed to make your LinkedIn experience more seamless and efficient than ever.

Let’s dive deeper:

LinkedIn + ChatGPT: A Dynamic Duo

LinkedIn is looking to encourage us to use ChatGPT to write posts. Enter up to 30 words, click Draft
Post,” and instantly have a draft to review, edit, or post as is. In beta testing, this will be a premium
feature.

And being the Dopamine Dealer and Top Voice of LinkedIn has its perks… I’ve gained access to the beta
for the Generative AI tool (ChatGPT-4 based), and I’m one of the first to test it out. While it’s initially
available as a premium feature, the benefits it offers are bound to be worth every penny.  Think of Draft
using AI as your virtual writing assistant—the Jarvis to your Tony Stark, or the Alfred to your Batman.

It can help you:  
→ Save time. 
→ Enhance your productivity.  
→ Ensure your posts are polished to perfection.

Turbocharged Content Moderation: The AI Shield

Let’s face it, we’re constantly scrolling through an abundance of user-generated content, so it’s no
surprise that effectively managing and curating content on your brand’s online platforms can be an
overwhelming task.

Fortunately, there’s a solution: AI-powered content moderation is poised to revolutionize this process. By
leveraging artificial intelligence, content moderation can be automated, allowing for efficient classification, flagging, and removal of harmful content.

Here are three ways you can harness the power of AI for content moderation: 

• AI Content Moderation for Texts: Utilize AI to analyze the tone, categorize content, and
  monitor brand and competitor mentions through natural language processing and entity
  recognition techniques. 
• AI Content Moderation for Images & Videos: Tap into the potential of Computer Vision
  (Visual-AI) to identify undesirable or harmful content. With the integration of natural language
  processing, AI can even detect suggestive content within images. 
• AI Content Moderation for Voice Recordings: Explore the realm of voice analysis
  technology. AI-powered tools can transcribe voice recordings into text and analyze tone and
  intent using natural language processing algorithms. 

Thanks to the extraordinary capabilities of ChatGPT, LinkedIn’s AI-driven content moderation has been
turbocharged, making it more powerful and effective than ever before.

Job & Career Support Right at your Fingertips

We’ve all been there: that squeamish ordeal of job-hunting:

Scrolling through hundreds of companies, writing different cover letters, and tailoring your CVs to help
yourself stand out. With LinkedIn’s integration with ChatGPT’s natural language understanding, job-
hunting transforms into something you no longer have to hate.

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Here’s what’s in store for you:

Hyper-personalized job recommendations that match your unique profile, skills, and passions. It’s like
your personal matchmaker who finds you the perfect career fit every time. Single. time.

Curated selection of job recommendations that are tailor-made for you. You’ll find yourself thinking,
“How’d they know this is exactly what I’m looking for?”

Networking not your favorite way to market yourself? You might change your mind. The platform will now
have the ability to suggest conversation starters (introverts would probably love this the most),
recommend events, and identify shared interests. Way to break the ice—easily.

Going beyond helping you with job searches, LinkedIn’s got your back for your career as well, so you can
ace those interviews and land the job of your dreams.

It can now give feedback on your resume, as well as offer coaching and guidance for your interviews. It’s like your very own pocket career coach that you
can take anywhere.

As LinkedIn’s AI revolution continues to excite us and evolve in ways we can’t imagine, I can fully understand if you’re curious about the future of professional networking and its potential impact on
marketing and tech.

If you’d like to stay on top of the latest LinkedIn news and all-things-AI, follow me on LinkedIn where my
network gets first dibs on some of the newest AI updates and features out there.

The post Linkedin is Supercharging with AI: What It Means for You appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

LinkedIn is a fantastic medium for extending your reach, positioning yourself as a thought leader, and building your personal brand.

However, to get the most out of this platform this coming year, you need to understand the key pillars required to create a winning LinkedIn marketing strategy. And that’s what this article is all about– here are 5 actionable tips you can integrate into your 2023 LinkedIn marketing strategy to make it stronger and more effective.

1. Original Content Over Links

Whether it’s a completely new post or something you’re repurposing from your website, original and fresh information is how to get an engaged audience that keeps coming back.

You want to avoid simply regurgitating links and info that’s posted outside of LinkedIn. For one, most social media platforms want to keep people on their sites. And second, it shows you’re a thought leader in your industry.

If you want to get a feel of how this works, take a look at your favorite brands and personalities on the site to see the type of content they post. Heck, you can even check out my page for examples.

LinkedIn gives you all the tools you need. There are a variety of content types you can post to the platform, including blog posts and articles, video content like live sessions and interviews, case studies, and more.

2. Show Your Personality

Part of my philosophy is humanizing your marketing so you can create authentic relationships that translate to success and growth. LinkedIn was originally conceived as the “social media for professionals,” and, sure, it still is. However, that doesn’t mean you should trap yourself in a box where your content comes off bland and boring.

For your marketing strategy to be effective, it needs a relatable approach so your audience can connect with your brand on a personal level. If you have a funny bone and some wit, show it off!

Of course, you want everything to align with your marketing messaging and your personal brand voice.

3. Leverage LinkedIn Analytics

As mentioned above, LinkedIn gives you plenty of solutions so you can be creative and post content through various mediums– blogs, videos, etc.

But LinkedIn also provides you with the tools to see how that content performs through LinkedIn Analytics. It gives you invaluable data such as how much engagement a post gets, how different times affect the post’s performance, whether or not your content is getting leads, and more.

With this info, you can see how your marketing strategy is working and if it’s time to go full steam ahead or pivot and rethink your approach. And you should be constantly assessing the performance of your content and evolving your campaign so your marketing strategy is as effective as possible.

4. Figure Out Your Optimal Post Frequency

As with any social media platform, post consistency and frequency are key components for growth and success. Plus, the time of day when you post plays an important role in engagement too.

For example, brands that post regularly find that they see the most engagement from users typically during the morning or early afternoon. If you’re representing a large company, you can get away with a few posts a week. And if it’s your personal page, you can post every day if you want.

Regardless, finding the right groove will take time and testing to get right.

5. Engage With Platform

Yes, you’re busy but don’t just post your content and go on about your day. Take some time to be active on the platform. Respond to comments on your posts, participate in discussions, and share info and resources with the rest of the community. When people see you’re an active member, they’re more apt to return the favor or remember you as someone with valuable info to share.

I know these 5 tips will take your 2023 marketing game to the next level on LinkedIn! 

Thanks for reading,

Joshua B. Lee

The post 5 Tips You Can Use to Improve Your LinkedIn Marketing Strategy in 2023 appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

LinkedIn is a B2B business’s ultimate platform.

Instead of creating B2B audiences, like on Facebook—you get to tap into an entire platform of professionals. These are the people with the buying power to hire your agency or bring you on as a fractional CMO (or other marketing position).

And they’re all hanging out on one platform…ready to network.

Creating a LinkedIn content marketing strategy is like getting to speak at industry events, all thanks to your keyboard. With the right strategy, your LinkedIn content can get seen by your customer avatar (like your ideal agency client) and you can start landing contracts, employment, or freelancing work.

And you get to do this while solidifying your personal brand (a brand that can help you find better clients, employment opportunities, and freelancing projects in the future). Launching a LinkedIn content marketing strategy isn’t just a “nice-to-have” for B2B businesses.

It’s a must-have.

How to Create a Converting LinkedIn Content Marketing Strategy

Creating a LinkedIn content marketing strategy goes through the same 5 steps you’d use to create a strategy for a client. You have to know:

1. Who your audience is
2. What they care about
3. Your content pillars
4. Your schedule
5. Your Customer Value Journey

Step 1: Who’s your ideal audience?

Your ideal audience is full of customers. If your LinkedIn audience is full of ecommerce business owners but your agency only works with SaaS brands—you’ve done something wrong. It’s just like marketing your clients’ businesses. You have to start with who before you move on to what.

Who does your business serve?

• Is it ecommerce business owners with less than $100,000 in revenue?
• Is it SaaS businesses with $1 million in MRR?
• Is it online coaches and consultants looking to increase course sales?

Use the Customer Avatar Canvas to write down all the details about who your business serves. We’ll use this in the next step to figure out what your ideal customer cares about so you can create content that interests them on LinkedIn.

Step 2: What do they care about?

As you fill out the Customer Avatar Canvas, what your ideal customer cares about starts to become obvious.

The “Haves” in the Before State tell you exactly what they want to avoid in the future. The “Haves” in the After State are the topics they’re dying to learn about so they can experience the After State. For example, if your ideal customer is an ecommerce business owner in the Before State they probably ‘have’ low customer lifetime value (LTV). In the After State, they have high customer lifetime value.

That means you know they care about increasing their LTV and your content can cover topics like:

Low Customer LTV? Here are 5 Ways to Increase LTV in 3 Months

Knowing what your ideal customer cares about tells you exactly what content interests them. That’s how you build an audience of people who want to hire you.

Step 3: What are your content pillars?

Every brand needs content pillars. These are the topics that you’ll cover on a regular basis. And they’re entirely based on the Customer Avatar Canvas. Using content pillars, you’ll never run out of content ideas because you always know what your audience wants to know about.

Create at least 5 content pillars based on their haves, feelings, average day, status, and the good vs. evil perspective they have in their mind. For example, the marketing agency targeting ecommerce business owners on LinkedIn can create content pillars like:

Have: They have low LTV and they want to have high LTV

→ Content Pillar: LTV

Feelings: They feel like advertising is getting more complicated and expensive and they want to feel like advertising gets them guaranteed ROAS

→ Content Pillar: ROAS

Average Day: They spend their day looking at their sales flop and they want to spend their day focused on the bigger picture for their business

→ Content Pillar: Being a founder/CEO of an ecommerce business

Status: They relate to a newbie entrepreneur and they want to relate to a successful, established entrepreneur

→ Content Pillar: Entrepreneur lifecycles of ecommerce business owners

Good vs. Evil: The best-case scenario is that they figure this out, but the worst-case scenario is they have to shut down their online store 

→ Content Pillar: Ecommerce businesses “must-knows” to avoid shutting down your store

For each of these content pillars, you can create 5+ topics that you can create LinkedIn posts, articles, and videos on. Now, you have 25 topics to fill your calendar!

Step 4: What’s your posting schedule?

When people first consider posting content, they like to go big or go home. They want to post daily, record videos every other day and write 1,000+ articles 3x per week. Let’s start slow and work your way up (unless you have a dedicated team!).

A solid posting schedule to start out with is 3x posts per week. You can follow a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule. Each of your posts covers one of your content pillars (LTV, ROAS, etc.).

Once you and your team get used to posting, you can start to turn some of those posts into videos. Allocate 1-2 hours in your schedule per week to record videos based on your created posts. You can post those videos in your 3x/week cadence or you can add them in on Tuesday and Thursday so you’re posting daily. 

Whichever schedule you choose—make sure to stick to it. If there’s one part of your LinkedIn content marketing strategy that can go array its posting. If you don’t post, people can’t see your content, learn about your expertise, and build a relationship that leads them to hire you. 

Have a team member assigned to content creation and posting to make sure it gets done.

Step 5: Your Customer Value Journey

There is no content marketing strategy without a funnel. To finalize your LinkedIn content marketing strategy, we have to figure out what call to action you’re using in 20% of your posts. The other 80% of your posts will be free content, where you’re not asking for anything in return. 20% will have a direct call to action to download a lead magnet, join your newsletter, hop on to a webinar, etc.

Think about the Customer Value Journey. Your LinkedIn audience goes from Stage 1: Awareness to Stage 2: Engagement when they follow you, like your posts, comment, or watch your videos. Now, we want them to go to Stage 3: Subscribe.

This is the stage where they share their first-party data with you (which we all know is very important these days…ahem, Apple).

With that first-party data, your CVJ moves to Stage 4: Convert! This is when your LinkedIn audience becomes profitable. You’re turning audience members into agency clients or your fractional CMO business has more interest than you can keep up with. 

Better yet—you can continue mapping this journey so you reach Stage 6: Ascend and can take $1,000/month retainer contracts and turn them into $5,000/month retainer contracts.

That’s how you create a LinkedIn content marketing strategy that works.

Your First LinkedIn Content Marketing Strategy

LinkedIn is a playground for businesses. It’s like having a local coffee shop where, somehow, business owners from around the world are able to come and chat together. Through your conversations (a.k.a content), you get to filter out who you network with and build connections with people who’ve been waiting to hire someone just like you.

With the right content marketing strategy, your agency, freelancing, or even full-time employment marketing career can show you the abundance of opportunities available to you right now. The key is knowing how to get those opportunities to pop out of the woodwork and show you they exist.

And that’s why you implement this content marketing strategy.

So more customers, connections, and opportunities come to you.

The post How to Build Your First LinkedIn Content Marketing Strategy appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

With nearly 750 million users, LinkedIn is no different. 

But the good news is that there are a few really easy steps you can take to instantly stand out on LinkedIn.

And all of those steps happen on your LinkedIn profile.

In this video below, I break down 5 easy tips to instantly improve your LinkedIn profile.

By the way, hardly anyone is executing on these 5 tips, which means even more opportunities for you.

1. Optimize your headline. 

In my opinion, this is the most important part of your entire profile. Why? Because it’s the first thing people see (aside from your headshot) before they click your actual profile.

So if you don’t make it crystal clear in those first few words what you do, then you won’t entice people to click through to your actual profile. 

This is one of the first things I train sales teams on when it comes to optimizing their LinkedIn presence.

Here’s a slide from my Traffic & Conversion Summit presentation that shows you what NOT to do with your headline:

Don’t be like Mr. Smiley. Instead, use my headline to help you craft your own winning headline.

Watch the video above to discover the best way to craft a winning headline and a trick for how you can increase the character space limit so you can leverage more keywords. 

2. Add Your 10-Second Audio via the Name Pronunciation Tool

On LinkedIn mobile, you can add a 10-second audio note that introduces yourself. This was originally created for people to know how to pronounce your name. 

You can leverage it to humanize your profile even further by adding a friendly audio note for new profile visitors. 

3. Add your cover story video. 

Turn on Creator Mode then head to your profile on the LinkedIn mobile app and create your 20-second cover story video. Click on your profile photo where you will see an option to add a cover story video. 

This is a great opportunity to build trust by having people watch and listen to you. You can introduce yourself and your products/services and how you help people. 

Head to my profile and hover over my profile photo to watch mine and then check out the video above to learn more about this. 

4. Make your About section about THEM not a glorified resume about you. 

So many people get this wrong.

People want to know how you can help them. Period.

So don’t make your About section all about you and how fabulous you are. No one cares. Sure, people need to know that you are awesome, but you can accomplish that without talking solely about yourself. 

Instead, describe the value you provide to people and include stats and testimonials to help build your credibility. Then you can weave in why they should listen to you and your accolades to build trust. 

Use bullets and spaces to break up your About section and make it easy for people to read. You can see how I do this in my profile and use mine as a guide when optimizing yours. 

5. Add Featured Media

Adding featured media is one of the easiest ways to make your profile pop. You can include links to your website, case studies, videos, and your most popular LinkedIn posts. 

This is a great way to showcase your products/services and build your authority. Don’t forget to do this in your Experience sections as well.

There you have it – 5 super simple tips to instantly improve your LinkedIn profile.

Of course, there are a lot of other ways to optimize your profile which is exactly why I created the Ultimate LinkedIn Profile Checklist, available for instant download. Check it out and use it to optimize your profile so you can start generating endless sales and brand growth opportunities with LinkedIn. 

You are always free to borrow my profile concepts for your own profile, as long as you put your own unique spin on it. Follow me and pay attention to my profile structure plus my new profile updates. 

Now, go out and start optimizing your profile! 

Once you are finished, send me a message on LinkedIn and I’ll take a look at your beautiful new profile and give you feedback. 

Mandy McEwen

Mandy McEwen is a renowned LinkedIn consultant and Founder of Mod Girl Marketing. Named a top B2B marketer by LinkedIn, Mandy has helped thousands of businesses increase revenues online. She’s a dynamic speaker and mentor with 8 digital marketing courses, an Inc-rated Facebook group, and a LinkedIn Live show. Mandy and her team partner with enterprise sales and marketing teams to harness the power of LinkedIn and humanized marketing.

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The post 5 Easy Tips to Instantly Improve Your LinkedIn Profile [VIDEO] appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

If you’re spending more time aimlessly scrolling your Facebook and Instagram feeds while neglecting LinkedIn, you’re leaving a ton of money on the table. 

LinkedIn was already a booming platform before 2020, but with the surge in the work-from-home environment we all found ourselves in due to the pandemic, LinkedIn usage has exploded.

What does this mean for you?

There has never been a better opportunity than right NOW to leverage the LinkedIn gold rush. But like anything, there will be a time where that gold will become scarce and hard to find. So don’t wait for that time. Start leveraging the power of this incredible platform right now. 

If you’re still not convinced that LinkedIn deserves more of your attention than Facebook or Instagram, here are 5 reasons to persuade you:

LinkedIn is 277% MORE Effective at Generating Leads than Facebook and Twitter

With 80% of all social media leads generated from LinkedIn, it’s no wonder that it’s been named the #1 preferred social media channel by 92% of marketers.

(Source: Hubspot)

LinkedIn has 61 Million Senior-Level Professionals, Otherwise Known as Decision-Makers. 

You won’t find any other platform with this many active decision-makers. And you certainly won’t find C-suite decision-makers using Instagram and Facebook as often as they use LinkedIn.  

Executives and business owners leverage LinkedIn to stay on top of the latest industry trends, network with industry peers, and increase their business opportunities. 

With that many decision-makers in one place, investing just 30 minutes a day can yield FAR greater results than spending 30 minutes on Facebook or Instagram.

(Source: Hootsuite)

LinkedIn is the Most Trusted Social Media Network in the U.S. 

73% of social media users at least somewhat agree that LinkedIn protects their privacy and data. Compare that to just 53% for Facebook.

You’re not going to find loads of toxic comments and politically heated conversations on LinkedIn. Sure, you’ll come across some of that, but it’s in very small doses, and it’s really easy to get rid of that type of content on your feed. Simply unfollow the person and/or hashtag. 

LinkedIn is full of positive uplifting people who inspire and encourage you. What you won’t find are the Facebook and Twitter trolls who love picking fights and spreading negativity. 

I don’t know about you, but I like to surround myself with genuine, smart, positive people. And that’s why I love LinkedIn. It’s FULL of incredible people who genuinely care about helping others and making a positive impact. 

I’ve met so many amazing people that I now call close friends. Plus, I’ve landed loads of business opportunities from LinkedIn. It’s the #1 most trusted social media channel in the U.S. for a reason. 

(Source: Hootsuite)

LinkedIn is the BEST Platform to Build Your Personal Brand. 

With only 1% of LinkedIn users actively posting on a weekly basis, the opportunity has never been bigger.

Here’s the deal, LinkedIn usage is exploding, but…

…Hardly anyone is posting consistently!

This means there is a MASSIVE opportunity for you to build your personal brand and become a thought leader on this platform. People crave valuable content. They want it, but few are giving it to them. So give the people what they want!

Your LinkedIn profile is the home of your personal brand. Your content, engagement, and relationship building activities  attract people to your profile. Then, your beautifully optimized profile does the heavy lifting. 

For a quick and efficient way to optimize your LinkedIn profile, leverage my LinkedIn profile checklist. 

(Source: Kinsta)

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a Laser-Targeted Sales Prospecting Tool. 

You won’t find anything like Sales Navigator on Facebook or Instagram. 

That’s because those networks were never designed for business professionals FIRST.

LinkedIn, with its business-first model, has an incredibly efficient sales prospecting tool, Sales Navigator. In my opinion, this is one of LinkedIn’s best assets. I love it so much that I now train sales teams on how to maximize everything it has to offer. 

Affiliate Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Sales Navigator and have a special 60-day free trial link. If you invest in Sales Navigator after the 60-day trial, I will get a small commission. 

If you’re targeting B2B companies you MUST leverage Sales Navigator. This is the best platform to find and build relationships with your dream prospects and Sales Navigator helps you find those targeted connections you are looking for. 

Have I convinced you yet? 

One can only hope… But, either way, I want to challenge you: 

Take those 5 minutes today that you spend on Instagram and instead click on that dusty LinkedIn icon. Peruse the content and leave at least 2 meaningful comments on posts you like.

Then, if you really want to see the power of LinkedIn, leave 5 comments on posts every day for 1 week straight. 

These are just a few of the many ways you can maximize the power of LinkedIn. I’ll be sharing even more tips and tricks soon, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, follow me on LinkedIn to get my newest LinkedIn tips. 

The post 5 Reasons LinkedIn Deserves Your Attention Over Facebook or Instagram appeared first on DigitalMarketer.