If you have been ignoring your digital footprint, thinking it wouldn’t affect your real-world interactions, it’s time to make a change. Your digital presence has an effect on your career and your business, and whether that effect is positive or negative is up to you. For B2B companies, such as accounting firms, LinkedIn remains one of the key places where your prospects are hanging out online. In fact, the LinkedIn platform is designed specifically for business use and is the largest professional network, with over 433 million users and a geographical reach of over 200 countries. LinkedIn reaches the highest number of business elite managers, VPs, and C-level executives, making it a great place to find your next client. CPSs who often work with local clients can start by connecting with people in their email database and then use LinkedIn’s People You May Know tool. Take control of your online presence and target new clients on LinkedIn with these 3 steps.
Create Your Company Page
The first step is to dive into crafting your company page, which includes your logo, cover photo, business description, and company details. Your company page is where you’ll be connecting with your audience, so it’s important that it is a good representation of your company as a whole. In their action plan for small businesses, LinkedIn also has to complete your page as their first step.
You want to make sure that your cover photo is visually appealing. Online interaction is very often visually-based, and people like to see with whom they are interacting. Your company profile needs to reflect who you are as a company and with whom you are looking to build relationships. Use language similar to what’s used in your firm’s marketing materials and brochures, making everything feel more cohesive. You might add a Showcase Page, an extension of your company page, where you can segment content or spotlight a product or service that you offer.
Details are important, especially when writing your company profile description. The more detailed and descriptive your pages are, the easier it will be for someone searching for your expertise to find you. Make sure that you are using industry keywords like “CPA or “experienced auditor” to help LinkedIn searchers find your page. Be specific in what your firm specializes. Rather than saying your firm is a ‘tax partner’ for small businesses, describe how your firm can help medical practices grow and make a profit. Be strategic when choosing keywords, for example, auditor, bookkeeper, professional accountant, or CFO. If you have a specialty, you need to highlight it. Join and become active in your industry’s LinkedIn groups. Don’t forget to encourage individual employees to have a professional profile on LinkedIn and to connect with your company page. More than ever, employees are an asset, acting as brand advocates. Their support builds trust with your audience while also expanding your presence.
Post Engaging Content
Posting company updates and sharing compelling content are at the heart of improving your engagement on LinkedIn. You’ll be more effective with both if you create a game plan. Work with team members to strategize what types of content you want to create and share, always thinking about what topics will appeal to your target market. Once you have some topics identified, create a calendar where you decide when content should be shared. If you’re stuck on what to share, LinkedIn offers their own tips for publishing compelling content.
As you start sharing, make sure you are positioning yourself as a trusted expert in your field and within your community. Provide value to your audience by creating and sharing content that is informative, inspiring, educational, or entertaining and provides value to your audience. Some posting topics might include firm news, industry insights, or other informative information. Ask previous clients for recommendations that you can share. Peer-to-peer recommendations are crucial for CPA firms to build trust. To increase engagement on the content you share, remember to encourage your audience to engage with your content in some way. Do this by creating a Call-to-Action (CTA) where you might ask a question or conduct a poll.
As you are sharing content on your page, also take the time to be involved in industry group conversations. These groups should also reflect any niche specialties for which your firm is known. If your firm regularly works with commercial real estate agents, look for groups where those clients belong. Start conversations, ask questions, and provide insightful answers where you can.
Measure Your Performance
The last step is to measure your performance. As you continue to share content and engage with others, you can start to experiment with posting times and cadence to see when and how often your audience is most likely to respond. Keep track of the types of content you’re sharing and how they are performing. Continue researching your prospects on LinkedIn so you can be up to date on what they’re working on and what their needs are. Pay attention to the details and remember that it takes time to zero in on what’s successful and what needs to be adjusted. LinkedIn also offers its own support for building and measuring brand awareness.
If you are looking to attract new clients, LinkedIn is a must. Your online presence shapes how others view you, and your company page can influence how others engage with you both online and offline. Establishing your firm’s presence on LinkedIn, and continuing to provide value to your audience takes work. As you’re building your LinkedIn contacts, make sure to always follow LinkedIn’s best practices for pages. Build awareness of who you are, what you offer, and then nurture those relationships from cold leads to clients.
At Safeguard, we know that reaching customers through a managed online presence is a business essential. We can help you build your online reputation with our online marketing and web services. Your personal Safeguard consultant has the strategies you need to give your brand maximum exposure. Contact us today and discover all the ways we can help you build your business.
https://gosafeguard.com/online-marketing-web-services/index.asp