How To Get More LinkedIn Followers For Your Small Business Without Buying Them
Have you ever wondered how to get a ton of LinkedIn followers and connections without paying for them? Below you will find some tips and tricks to use in your LinkedIn marketing strategy that is sure to increase the number of followers to your small business LinkedIn page.
LinkedIn company pages are a great thing for brands to have. You can share information and updates without forming two-way connections, as you have to do with your regular LinkedIn profile. Plus, LinkedIn is purely business-focused. Sure, there’s a huge variety of businesses that are represented, but it’s primarily a business platform – not one for friends or funny videos or family photos. How do you make sure you have enough followers and connections to actually see your updates, though?
1. Add a “Follow” Button To Your Blog
You can also add a widget, which will show your last few updates. You can also put a link in your e-mail signature, in your newsletters, and in your other social media accounts. The easier it is for people to connect with you, the more likely they are to do so. On social media, also make a point to mention your LinkedIn page – a Tweet with useful information and a link to the page will do more than a simple link in your bio section.
2. Market Your LinkedIn Page On Your Other Networks
Ask your other networks to connect with your company on LinkedIn, but don’t simply say, “Please follow us.” Instead, tell them what’s in it for them. Will they have access to VIP content when they follow you on LinkedIn? Will they be able to read new reports or surveys before the rest of your social media audience can? Will they have an insider look at your industry or get deals and coupon codes first? You’ll catch some people by simply asking them to follow you, but the rest of your potential audience will need an actionable reason.
3. Ask Your Employees to Join LinkedIn and List Your Company as Their Place of Employment.
That way, your company logo and a link to your company page will show up on their profile, which means it’ll reach their audience. Visitors to their profiles can click through to your company page. Additionally, you can ask your employees to include a link to the LinkedIn company page in their work e-mail signatures. Make sure your employees know the importance of interacting with your company page on LinkedIn and encourage them to like, share and comment on the page’s updates. When your employees share the page’s updates, the information will go out to their audience. The more people view your information, the more followers you’ll gain.
Note that when an employee adds your company as their employer, they’ll automatically follow the company page.
4. The Golden Rule of Social Media – Be Social
The more interested you are in other people and businesses, the more interested they’ll be in you. Make a point to engage with your audience, both from your personal profile and your company page. Follow other companies, connect with other users, share and comment on their updates, and get into genuine conversations online. You’ll be surprised at how quickly they show interest in your business when you show interest in them. No matter what, always make sure to follow the company pages of your clients, customers, and other business connections.
5. Join LinkedIn Industry Groups
Be sure to be involved in group discussions, too. If you want group members to be interested in your page, you have to be interested in the group as a whole. Your best bet is to join niche groups instead of ones that take in a broad field. There are a ton of small business groups, but what type of small business do you want to appeal to? Food trucks or micro franchises? At-home startups for creative people? Narrow down your audience to make more of an impact. One of the best things you can do in your groups is to provide helpful advice and answers. People often post in groups to find out questions to answers – by providing those answers, you set yourself up as an expert in your field.
6. Share Quality Content on Your Company Page.
Gaining followers is just as important as keeping those followers once you’ve gained them. By regularly sharing interesting and useful updates, pieces of information and links, you’ll give people a reason to pay attention to your page. Don’t forget that you can attach a document to your LinkedIn updates, like a white paper or an infographic. Ideally, you’ll want to share unique content that most other companies in your niche aren’t talking about yet. Research similar companies to find out where they’re lacking in content and then provide that content to your audience. Helpful content that answers common questions is always great to post, too.
7. Use LinkedIn Publisher to Post Exclusive Content
While you probably already share your blog posts to LinkedIn, there’s a built-in publisher you can use as well. By writing articles that will solely be published on LinkedIn, you give users a reason to follow you and your company page.
The only way you can reach and influence your audience is if you encourage them to follow your company page. These tips will help you build up a following so that you can reach more people with each update. Also, make sure that your company page is thoroughly filled out, so that when people do begin to follow you, they understand exactly what your business is about. Remember that the more quality engagement and information you offer, the more followers you’ll gain organically.
What’s Next?
Are there other ways to increase the number of followers to your business’s profile page on LinkedIn? If we missed any, please let us know in the comment section below.