Simon Dutta

LinkedIn marketing is often overshadowed these days by other social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter. But once you create your LinkedIn marketing account, you will immediately have access to over 131 million potential customers who may have never heard of your company, product or service.  Best of all, starting your LinkedIn marketing campaign is absolutely free and it’s easy to do!

You only need a few things to start your LinkedIn marketing campaign.  You need an email address, you need a computer, and you need internet access.  To open up your LinkedIn marketing account, all you have to do is start by visiting the LinkedIn website.  Click on the “Join Now” button.  You will be asked to enter in both your full name and your email address in the allotted areas.  Then you only have to enter in the basics, such as:

-    Your password
-    Your country and post code

What makes LinkedIn marketing more unique when it comes to other social media sites is that you are able to select the industry that you are in from a drop down menu.  This will make it easier for you to hook up with other people who are in industries similar to yours, and you may be able to share information (or even customers, if you find a complementary business to yours online!).  You can also include information such as your experience and information regarding your education.  Once you click on the “Join Now” button, you’re all set and ready to start your LinkedIn marketing campaign.

LinkedIn will allow you to make your account very specific and customised to suit your needs.  Before you can really kick off your LinkedIn marketing campaign, you should specify the needs of your account.  You can easily do this by selecting checkboxes that can be found in either the “To be found” or “To Find” categories.  Check off the categories that would be most beneficial and that best apply to your business needs, and then click on “Save Settings”.

Now comes the fun part: building up your network.  Conduct a “People Search”, and then you can choose a person that you would like to add to your network.  Many people on LinkedIn are there for their own LinkedIn marketing purposes, so don’t be shy and try to add as many people as you can.  Another great way to add users is to join a group on the LinkedIn network.  If you do that, then your number of connections will increase exponentially.

ABOUT: Simon Dutta has 20+ years’ executive marketing and business development experience spanning 18 countries and 24 industry sectors within start-ups, SMEs and multi-£billion blue-chips. His particular expertise lies in driving revenue growth by: (1) developing products that the market actually wants; and (2) executing customer acquisition and retention strategies that actually work. Simon is a Certified Internet Marketer, Chartered Marketer, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.  He also sits on the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Regional Board (West Midlands).