As you may already know, influencers are people who share their passion, know-how, hobbies and personal interests on social media for the whole world to see but are you aware of what exactly a LinkedIn influencer does?
To clarify things, LinkedIn influencers are users who regularly share content on LinkedIn to a large audience, which typically sees these people as leaders in a particular industry. The content that is shared usually focuses on the industry but it is not unusual for them to publish a few motivational quotes and personal stories every now and then.
However, to become one of this group and be considered a LinkedIn influencer, you will surely need to understand that success won’t happen overnight and follow the following advice to achieve your desired results and eventually become a part of the exclusive LinkedIn Influencer program.
1) Identify your niche
Why should you choose a niche? Well, selecting a niche that is too broad means that you will be facing a lot more competition; this is mostly due to the large number of keywords and experts. In order to be able to differentiate yourself and give your audience something they’ll remember, they will need to see you as an authority figure in a specific field. For example, if you’re the CEO of a telecom company you should most likely focus your content on that particular specialty.
2) Optimize your profile
Now that you know which audience you’d like to cater to, it’s important to build a profile that suits your brand. In order to do so, it is recommended to utilize keywords which are aligned with the industry that you want to influence; this will make it easier for you to reach people who are interested in your field but who are not connected to you.
Moreover, you should make sure that your profile showcases all of your achievements, degrees, experience and credentials as this type of information will boost your credibility and bring you one step closer to becoming a trusted source.
3) Increase your connections
If you want to become a B2B influencer you can’t but have a wide network of connections. To reach that “500+ connections” status on the platform, you could follow industry-specific LinkedIn pages while also following other industry leaders; it would also be a good idea to look through the connections that your own connections have. The more connections you have, the more engagement and shares you’ll get, leading to an increase in your followers with time.
4) Focus on your content
Now that you’re on the right track, it’s time to focus on the key element of this process, which is content. While you can always share other creators’ content and add your thoughts to it, it is important to create your own original, high-quality content to collect reactions from your connections and followers. From videos and live streams to images, text, and links, all of these mediums can be great ways to highlight your expertise; however, don’t be afraid to show your personality as you don’t want your content to be extremely corporate or rigid.
5) Engage with industry experts
By networking in your industry you can reap the rewards of becoming a B2B influencer. What you could do is comment on others’ posts, join group conversations, host industry events or even join others’ events; what’s important is to be noticed in industry circles and making yourself known to new users and experts.
All in all, to make your mark on a business-focused platform such as LinkedIn, you simply cannot do without connections within your industry and quality content that they would want to engage with. Now it’s up to you to keep this guide in mind as you get started on your B2B influencer journey!