A short guide to using LinkedIn and Twitter for business
I’ve been evangelising for so long to clients about the benefits of using LinkedIn and Twitter for business that one of them asked me to present a tutorial on the subject at his quarterly team meeting last week. Judging by the audience reaction it was very well received so I’m sharing my notes on it here and may win a few more converts to the Social Media cause.
Uses – recruitment, credentials check, source of useful advice, get access/intro, find target customers, build awareness, promote events. Results are measurable and trackable.
Complete your profile – aim for 100%, include a picture
Summary and experience – include prior jobs – this gives searchability, displays your roles and talent
Recommendations – ask people to recommend you, but not too many or it’s not believable
Public profile – change it from a number to your name – e.g. http://www.linkedin.com/in/christinegupta
Websites listed – in EDIT choose ‘other’ and enter description or title of your blog or website
Status – update it regularly and it will elicit direct responses to what you say you’re working on
Groups – join a few to give more of an idea of who you are, your business focus. This can add credibility – terrific mining source for new customers, partners, employees, beta testers.
Questions and Answers – Qs can yield good results e.g. finding Amiando online ticketing saved a client £1100, also good for general marketing advice. Answers can help build your profile and don’t forget to rate other people’s.
Paid account – gives you 15 introductions a month, 3 in-mails (these are like getting a courier delivery – you’re more likely to open them), OpenLink service, get featured in searches
Apps can be added to profiles to promote events, offers, news, services, products – events, buzz, Slideshare
Company profile – use it as a shop window, area of influence
Twitter – useful links
Uses – promote events/news e.g. new web site or feature, attract web traffic, find useful contacts, complain
Twitter clients let you better exploit/organise Twitter your way – TweetDeck, Twhirl, Tweetie for iPhone
Profile – make sure you include good info, link to blog, customise it with background photo
Retweet - use RT to spread messages wider and always thank anyone who retweets one of your messages
Links – shorten them via www.tiny.cc and provide a description so that people know what they’re linking to
Tweet Burner – use it to see how many people follow your links
Use # tags – reach new followers in certain areas by inserting # in front of terms e.g. #cloud computing. That way your message shows up in their Twitter alerts.
Search – use it to find new people to follow or if there’s a interest in a particular topic that you should be watching out for
1 Comment
Jump to comment form | comment rss [?] | trackback uri [?]