We hear it all the time—what is the ROI of social media? What is the value? Why would I pay for it? What good can I get from it? Then like every other time, skeptics launch into a drill of each social media platform. As a digital marketing firm, it is our responsibility to show that it can be proven and of course, to stand behind our word. For this post, let’s chat about LinkedIn.
Here is my short answer: If you know how to carry on a conversation in person, do the same on LinkedIn. Accept or invite and when the connection is made, start an actual conversation! Make that solid connection with someone and begin to talk. I know that seems rather anti-climactic, but the truth is, you need to have a back and forth within LinkedIn to get to know a person that you connected with. Ted Rubin says #ROR (Return on Relationship) and he has it right. It’s about the relationship that you want to cultivate. People in sales (the good ones) have known this forever and they do it well. It should be approached no differently on social media platforms. Invest the time to actually build and cultivate a real conversation.
So, let’s quickly walk through a scenario-We know this happens because our clients stress the pain it brings, and thus the solution that we can offer:
You were advised or told to get on LinkedIn and set up your profile just because you wanted to “get your information out there.” So you did, and now you have all of these people that are (what you perceive as) randomly connecting with you. If you are aware of the space and/or vertical that you are in, most likely those people that are connecting are in the same industry. The way that it works is that YOU’VE generated a lead! It’s that simple. From there, you can use your average close rate, the average value of a lead to calculate the ROI of LinkedIn. It’s no different than counting business cards after a conference, with the exception that it’s much less expensive!
So get out there and start making connections on LinkedIn!