Social media has been around for more than two decades now. The proto-social media site SixDegrees.com first saw the light of day way back in 1997 and heralded the dawn of a new era. Since then, many social media brands such as Facebook and LinkedIn have grown into tech-behemoths with tremendous reach.
And there’s a good reason why social media is so persistent and successful. These platforms provide genuine value to their users. The connectivity and networking opportunities it gives to its users are second to none. During the lockdowns, it became a real lifeline for many people.
Still, social media has its problems. One of its most persistent issues to date for the regular user continues to be that its value is sporadic and inconsistent. Тhere is no way to ensure that the people asking to connect to you on social media are relevant to you.
This is not a serious problem on platforms that focus on fun and light entertainment. However, it can turn into a real issue if you’re trying to use LinkedIn for its intended purpose. It’s remarkably difficult to network and work on building meaningful contacts with people who aren’t serious about engaging with you.
Some people go on social media only to post recycled vacuous image macros. Many companies think this is a good promotional tactic. There’s no way to avoid that. Still, there are ways to try and make sure that those aren’t the only contacts in your network. Here are some crucial steps you can take to try to build useful LinkedIn connections.
Fill in The Details of Your LinkedIn Profile
If you want to build useful LinkedIn connections, you can’t afford to leave your profile blank. Fill in your relevant work experience and education. This isn’t really a job application CV, but accuracy and honesty is still the best policy. Consider your skills and competencies and list all of them in a presentable manner. Try to be dynamic without using flowery language.
Polishing your “about” section is another task you should take to heart if you want to make meaningful connections on LinkedIn. Your “About” section is, in essence, your elevator pitch to anyone viewing your profile. Making sure it’s well thought out shows you are a professional who means business.
Try to be creative and punchy with your About section. Don’t plagiarize, and remember that social media is an unforgiving attention economy. Take care not to overload it with content – nobody will read it if it’s too wordy.
Manage Your LinkedIn Connection Requests
Connecting with friends and schoolmates is an integral part of the social media experience. However, don’t forget that LinkedIn’s purpose is to connect you with other professionals. It’s meant to be a business platform – not a place for fun and games.
Concentrate on adding colleagues and like-minded professionals to your connections list. Reach out to a couple of big industry names for good measure, but don’t overdo it. Don’t ever add random people, and don’t let completely unrelated people waste your time. Vet the sender of any invitation that you receive. This will do wonders for keeping your feed sanitized.
You should treat the connections that you do allow to go through more personally. Engaging with them on at least a semi-regular basis is not that difficult a task. Further, it becomes a lot more feasible, if you’ve done a good enough job of keeping undesirables out.
Sprinkle Some Keywords
Doing SEO on your account is crucial for attracting useful LinkedIn connections. The same basic principles that apply to searches apply here as well. Ideally, you want your name to come out on top when serious people make their searches.
This means that you need to consider what other business-minded LinkedIn users are likely to search for. Once you have an idea of the keywords such users may employ in their searches, you need to incorporate them into your profile.
The most difficult and crucial bit here is figuring out which keywords are viable and relevant. Once you have a good list of keywords, you should have no trouble putting them in your Skills or About section.
Post Content On Your LinkedIn Wall Regularly
Content is king. This is true when it comes to everything related to the Internet. Posting content is the key to getting people to notice you, and to get their attention. Getting their attention is key for fostering recognition. Once you have that, you’ve won half the battle with your competitors in the attention economy.
Additionally, your posts are another place you can put your keywords research to good use. This means that to be successful in creating useful connections, you need to keep the activity up.
Naturally, you don’t want to flood your connections with posts. This can become annoying very quickly and is a major turnoff for many people for obvious reasons. Only do it sporadically, regardless if you are sharing your own content or other people’s posts.
Concentrate on High-Quality Posts
Realistically, most LinkedIn connections are mainly going to interact with the content you post on the platform. This is why it’s crucial that you only post high quality content on the platform.
Posting good content on the platform reflects well on you, as it presents you in a positive, thoughtful light. Whether you’re trying to network, generate leads or build up a meaningful presence online, posting quality content is the way to do it. Make certain that the content you post on the platform is insightful and stimulating.
Don’t go for the low-hanging fruit and try not to jump on every bandwagon. Naturally, it’s best to link to your own content whenever possible. However, linking to content from popular professionals and thought leaders in your field can also work in your favor. Make sure your content is not cheesy or cliche, and if it is interesting enough it should make a good impression.