Does The $1.80 Marketing Strategy Actually Work On LinkedIn?
There鈥檚 been a lot of talk recently about the $1.80 strategy on LinkedIn, most notably from .
If you鈥檙e skeptical don鈥檛 be because the strategy works. I听听on how I was leveraging the听鈥渨hat people are talking about now鈥�听section of LinkedIn before it started being听hand curated听by LinkedIn Editors.
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This tactic still works today, but it鈥檚 not nearly as effective as it once was. I suspect there are already forces at play that are trying to limit your reach. Further,听听shared a recent study of business engagement rates on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Guess what? The听organic reach is awful听and the engagement rates for businesses have fallen from 10% at its height to an abysmal 0.09% across all industries in 2019 on Facebook alone.
What Does This Mean For Your LinkedIn Marketing Strateg?
As a result, more and more brands will start moving to LinkedIn for their marketing needs because there is no platform that compares to the organic reach and engagement you receive. Advertising on LinkedIn is expensive in my opinion so strike the iron while it鈥檚 still hot!
If you鈥檙e looking to crush LinkedIn marketing in 2019then consider these 5 tips:
1. Check Out Your LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI)
尝颈苍办别诲滨苍鈥檚听听is one of the few metrics I think is worth obsessing over. The index is a daily snapshot of your profile鈥檚 strength as it compares to other people in your industry and those in your network.
The 4 dimensions include establishing a professional brand, connecting with the right people, engaging with insights (this one is the most important), and building relationships. My advice is to identify where your profiles greatest weaknesses are and start building up your score. At the very least this will give you a benchmark to reference your progress.
2. Engage With Like-Minded Professionals
This one is obvious, but I鈥檓 surprised at how many people miss the mark. If you want people to take you seriously on LinkedIn then you need to be active on the platform. This means commenting, liking and sharing听DAILY. You should also consider planning a formal content strategy for posting 2-3 articles per week.
Here鈥檚 the real hurdle, though:
Not only do you need to be active on LinkedIn, but you need to provide thoughtful insight that starts, adds to, or continues a conversation.
People who听鈥済别迟鈥�听you will be more than willing to advocate on behalf of your ideas.
Shutout to听听who is my new favorite human on LinkedIn听
The real key here is that you shouldn鈥檛 be trying to send your message to everyone. Find people who like what you have to say and double down your efforts and attention on them. You鈥檇 be surprised at how impactful even the smallest of niches can be on your personal brand or business.
3. Build A Network Of People Who Are Relevant To Your Industry
Another obvious one but again people are not leveraging LinkedIn to it鈥檚 fullest potential and as a result they鈥檙e losing out on a ton of opportunity.
One tactic I like to use is connecting with 2nd degree contacts with very specific job titles or keywords related to an industry I鈥檓 trying to target. For example, take the phrase听鈥渘onprofit marketing鈥�听which has over 800,000 search results when filtered by people.
Next, click the filter tab and start narrowing your audience. There鈥檚 a lot of trial and error involved in finding the right filters. I听strongly recommend听creating a spreadsheet to track your progress.
If you have an influential 1st degree connection听*cough*听听*cough*听then try filtering by听鈥渃onnections of.鈥澨�This may give more weight in whether or not someone chooses to accept your request.
If you鈥檙e into meeting connections offline you may also want to filter by location.
The last criteria I look for听before I even think about sending a connection request听is how active they are on LinkedIn. There are a few ways to do this.
- Only connect with people who have 500+ connections
- Look for people who have complete profiles aka听All Star
- Must have had ANY activity in the last 3 days
- Review their听鈥淪kills & Endorsements鈥�
- See how many people gave them a recommendation
The Outreach
Even after you鈥檝e narrowed down your ideal audience it鈥檚 still not enough to just click the connect button. You want to personalize your request with a message that demonstrates how connecting with you will bring value.
I鈥檒l be upfront in saying I鈥檓 not a huge fan of templates because I believe in ultra personalizing your request, but after doing some testing I found this one to have a听> 50% connection success rate:
鈥淗i听[Name],
I came across your profile because I鈥檓 looking to connect with like-minded听[Industry]听professionals. I鈥檓 genuinely interested in engaging on LinkedIn, so you won鈥檛 get a sales pitch or automated message from me听
Look forward to connecting!
Thanks,
闯补蝉辞苍鈥�
Lastly,听ALWAYS听respond to messages. You never know where a connection might lead.
Shout out to my new friend听
4. Invest In Search Engine Optimization (SEO) On LinkedIn
If you鈥檝e ever wanted to increase your 鈥�weekly search stats鈥� on LinkedIn then investing in听Search Engine Optimization (SEO)听might be a good place to start.
Just like Google, LinkedIn has a search feature that relies on keywords and phrases to rank your profile and content in search results. I haven鈥檛 done too much digging into this arena yet, but I suspect back links also play a factor.
Just imagine what it could mean for your personal brand or business if your profile (or your employee鈥檚 profile) were at the top of听. Or, if you鈥檙e looking for a new opportunity, then ranking for keywords in your industry or the job title itself could actually land you in your dream job.
Personally, I鈥檝e received more job offers in the last two weeks of being active on LinkedIn then when I was actually searching for new opportunities.
If you鈥檙e interested in a LinkedIn SEO crash course then the video below from听听is a good place to start.
5. Stop The 鈥淐old Calling鈥�
I won鈥檛 speak too much on this one other听then听to say听cut this shit out. Half the time they dive right into the sales pitch (which are often automated by bots) and the connection rarely contributes any value.
It鈥檚 a short-term gain that sacrifices any future potential relationship on LinkedIn. My advice is to just be nice and call it a day. No need to bring that frustration into your life. /rant
Conclusion
The $1.80 strategy works on LinkedIn, but only if you鈥檙e genuinely interested in connecting and building your followership. You may not get a sale or lead today, tomorrow, or even 6-months from now. But, I鈥檝e been surprised in many unexpected ways at how impactful this strategy can be.
I truly hope this helps you crush LinkedIn marketing in 2019!
What are your thoughts? Do you have a success story you鈥檇 like to share? Let me know in the comments below!
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