How To Get More Connections and Build a Linkedln Following

It should come as no surprise that LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking site.

With that being said, it’s crucial that your advisory firm is active on LinkedIn and that you are continuously seeking to build connections. With millions of people on the site, it seems easy to build your followers list, but it can be hard. Furthermore, it can be even more challenging to get connections that add value and are appropriate for your firm. Below we will outline 5 strategies on how you can get more connections and build a following on YOUR Linkedln.

Strategy #1 – Personalize Your Connection Requests

The key to effective marketing today is personalization, and that is true for Linkedln too. When you are requesting to connect with people on Linkedln, don’t simply hit the “connect” button. Instead, go to that person’s profile, click connect, and then you will see the option of adding a personalized note.If you’re connecting with someone that you recently met, adding a note such as “It was great to see you last week at X” is a great way to remind them of who you are, and the person will be more likely to accept your request. On the other hand, if you’re sending a connection request to someone you don’t know, adding a personalized note is a way to briefly introduce yourself and convince them to accept. Think about your own experience – how many times have you ignored or declined a Linkedln request because you didn’t know the person and they didn’t send a note?

Strategy #2 – Post Consistently

A surefire way to gain connections and build a following is to post consistently. This builds brand presence and shows others that you are an active member of the financial advisor community. Moreover, the more you post, the greater the chance of likes, shares, and/or comments. When your connections like, share, and/or comment, their connections will be more likely to see your post in their feed. These 2nd-degree connections may find your content useful and choose to connect with you.Building a following by posting consistently knocks out two birds with one stone. Not only are you engaging your current connections, but you are also gaining new connections.

Strategy #3 – Use Images

If your posts contain images, you will get far more engagements. This will help boost your following and gain more connections! So for those advisory firms out there that simply share a link, start using images and you will definitely see the difference. In fact, according to data collected by Linkedln, there is an 11x increase in post views by including a photo.You want your followers to see your post, recognize that it’s your brand, and then look for your posts in the future too. If your followers are satisfied, they will spread positive word of mouth, thereby increasing your chances of gaining more connections. Using an image is a technique that will get your viewers to stop and look at what your post is all about.As you can see below, here at Twenty Over Ten we create images to go with our posts. While LinkedIn does offer an automatically generated image from the link you share, it’s best to customize and create a more engaging image. We use a free tool called Canva, which offers hundreds of templates you can choose from.

Strategy #4 – Engage With People’s Updates

See something on your feed that you like? Comment, share, and/or like it! Just like you want your viewers to engage with your posts, you also want to be engaging with other peoples’ posts. Commenting on someone’s post is a great way to start a relationship and build your connections. It also a good idea to have people higher up in your firm to do the engagement. As you can see in the graphic below, people are more connected to brands whose CEOs are active on social media.Another benefit of engaging is that it boosts your visibility and lets others know you are a real brand with real people. People are much more likely to follow you if they know that you will engage with their posts as well.

Strategy #5 – Clearly Write Down Your Goals

It is not enough to say “I want more connections on Linkedln.” Trust us, that won’t get you anywhere. Instead, specify how many followers you want, what type of followers you want, and when you want them by. If you create SMART goals and write them down, you will be more focused and motivated to achieve them. For example, your goal might be to “gain 10 new connections next month who are in the pre-retiree stage of life. You are 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down

Related: 6 Inbound Marketing Resolutions for Your Advisory in 2020