By Lindsay Bononno

Let’s Take A Peak at LinkedIn Insider Tips with Maria Castagna, Customer Success Manager

Take-out food, Zoom meetings, distance learning, remote, Remote, REMOTE! The most obvious tool we have to connect is right in front of us, and it’s simple to use and free: LinkedIn. 

I sat down (virtually, of course!) with LinkedIn Customer Success Manager, Maria Castagna, to get an inside look at the networking site. I found what she shared so insightful, I asked her if we could share with you. Here you go, according to Maria:

“LinkedIn goes way beyond a job search tool. It’s networking on steroids. Stay in touch regularly with your people. Make connections with new people (who know your people or your industry). It is also designed to market and promote your company and yourself. “

Marketing on Linked In is easy and FREE. All you need is to post content and then like it, share it or comment on it. Every single post you like, share or comment on will show up in the feed of your connections. When your company creates a post and you like it, you are pushing your company name and logo out to every connection you have. If one of your connections then likes, shares or comments on the post, it goes out to all of THEIR connections. And so on, and so on. “Interaction increases visibility and traction, and it enables the user to go back to the company page and see who the company is and what they do,” according to Maria.

LinkedIn DO’s

1. “Give an elevator pitch of your time in each position,” Maria recommended. “It doesn’t need to read like a resume.”

2. Share content relative to your industry or brand, relevant for what you do and who you serve.

3. When connecting with others and posting in general, include your points of commonality – college, sorority, teams, etc., to show similarities and connections. This builds trust and they may be more likely to interact and do business with you.

4. INTERACT! There are over 680 million people in LinkedIn. Use this resource to reach them!

LinkedIn DON’Ts

1. Don’t connect with everybody. You want to be thoughtful about who you connect with. Your connections determine what shows up on your newsfeed. 

2. “Don’t share videos of your kids or your political views. LinkedIn is a different type of social media in that it connects people by their professional preferences, skills, knowledge and experience.  Be authentic and share a video or article with content that inspires you or gets you thinking.” Maria explained.

3. “Don’t be too buttoned-up,” Maria advised. “Build a summary that includes personal information, as well. For example, ‘When not at work, I like to (insert your interest here!).’ You will come off to connections as a warmer and more approachable person with these additions to your summary/profile. “

Company Tips

• Follow a 30/30/30 rule – 30 % of the time, post about your job opportunities, 30% of the time post about industry related content, 30% of the time post about your own company – awards, company picnic, new office space, bring your dog to work day, you get the idea!
• Last 10% – have fun with it. You want your company/brand to have a well thought out strategy for your page – you want people to be able to have an insight as to who you are as a company, as an individual, etc. 
• Share any info or material from your marketing team. If you are putting out a flyer in print, put it out virtually on Linked In, too!

Linked In can be intimidating – “Are you presenting yourself the way you want to be seen?” “Does professional mean boring?” “Is it another to-do item I have to keep up with?” 

Follow these simple Do’s and Don’ts and download the app to your smart phone. The real-time notifications and ease of access make it simple to keep up and CONNECT. Now connect with us, then go Like! Share! Comment!