LinkedIn Guide: What It Is, What It Is For and How It Works

Who hasn't heard of LinkedIn? Without a doubt, in recent years this social network has gained a lot of strength and every day that passes it is becoming more established as a tool and as a market. Learning how it works in depth is crucial for it to become an excellent means of attracting leads and customers.

In the following article you will find all the information you need to get started on LinkedIn and achieve this.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional social network, currently with around 300 million monthly active users. It is specifically designed for professionals and entrepreneurs around the world.

The idea came up in 2003 by Reid Hoffman, who saw a gap in the market for work-profile social networks. Its growth was potential and almost overwhelming, reaching more than 100,000 users in the first year. In 2005, it was decided to make money by introducing 2 lines of business, the subscription to LinkedIn Premium and LinkedIn Jobs.

In these features, LinkedIn offers a space for companies and recruiters to find talent, professionals to keep up to date on the latest trends and industry news, establish collaborations, professional relationships and much more.

What is it for?

Now that you know what LinkedIn is and what its purpose is, you're probably wondering if it really has so many advantages and looking for more reasons to open an account there or pay more attention to what you might already have. If this is the case, keep reading and I'll tell you a little more.

Building a professional network

Creating a professional network on LinkedIn is a valuable strategy for establishing connections, strengthening personal and professional branding and expanding the number of opportunities in a variety of fields. Here are the best practices to achieve this.

• Create a comprehensive profile: Start by creating a comprehensive and engaging profile that highlights your relevant skills, experience, education and achievements. Use a high-quality profile photo and banner that describes the message you want to convey or your unique value proposition.
• Connect with relevant people: Find and connect with people who are important to your professional goals. This can include friends, fellow students, industry leaders, recruiters and other professionals who share your interests. Personalize your connection messages and explain to them why you would like to contact them.
• Participate in groups: Join relevant groups in your industry or field of interest. Participating in discussions and sharing relevant content will allow you to establish your presence.
• Share quality content: Regularly publish quality content related to your area of expertise. These can be articles, opinions, tips or news. This will help attract the attention of other professionals and generate interactions in your network.
• Engage: Stay active on LinkedIn. Comment, share, like your network posts. You can also congratulate your connections for their accomplishments or important events. This interaction will help you stay visible on the platform.

It creates a professional network, it takes time and effort. Stay proactive, be authentic and offer real value.

Personal and brand promotion

Personal and brand promotion on LinkedIn can be a very effective strategy to increase the visibility of your profile and highlight your brand. Here are some tips when it comes to doing so.

• Optimize your profile: Before you start promoting yourself, make sure that your profile is complete with a professional photo, an attractive and clear headline, your skills and achievements, and a detailed description of your work experience. Use keywords in your industry to make it easier to find you.
• Create high-value content: LinkedIn is an ideal platform for sharing content related to your industry, your areas of interest and your experience. Use this to generate content that adds value, attracts the attention of your network and makes you start to make a presence known.
• Use multimedia tools: LinkedIn allows you to share multimedia content, such as images, videos and presentations. Take advantage of these tools to create visually appealing content and captivate your audience. You can use images, videos or infographics to highlight data, present products or services.
• Interact and network: LinkedIn is about establishing solid professional connections: Interact with the content of other professionals, brands, answer questions in groups, leave relevant comments, start conversations, etc. All of this will result in greater credibility and visibility.
• Endorse skills: Endorse the abilities of other professionals in your network, since they will often return the favor, demonstrating your skills and experience.

Search and apply for jobs

Looking for a job is not usually an easy task or perhaps I should say getting a job rather than looking for it. That's why I share with you the best practices when looking for and applying for jobs through LinkedIn.

• Set clear objectives: You may think that the more applications you have, the greater your chance of being hired, but the truth is that this is not always the case. In this case, it is very likely that you will only be able to increase your anxiety levels and the number of rejections you receive. It is very important to ask yourself what you want to focus on, what kind of jobs you are looking for, in what area you want to work or for which companies. Grab paper, pen and start writing down what positions you would like to fill, what experience you have in them, what functions you would perform, which companies you would like to provide your services to or work for them, etc. This will help you to reduce the number of jobs to which you apply, increase the quality of your applications and stay in the same direction.
• Customize the URL: The URL that LinkedIn assigns to you contains a lot of unnecessary letters and numbers that won't help you appear when someone places your name in the search bar. To customize your URL you just have to go to the YO icon and click on edit URL.
• Skills test: This tool will help you to have a backup when it comes to saying that you are capable of x thing or that you have knowledge about something else. These tests usually have 15 questions, limited time and you must pass with a minimum of 70%. The badge awarded to you upon approval lasts 12 months.
• Avoid linking LinkedIn with other social networks; The purpose of LinkedIn is purely professional, so any other social network where you interact informally or that simply has nothing to do with your profession you should avoid linking it. This is because in them you may express yourself in a way that is counterproductive to your objectives in this network.
• #Hashtag: Hashtags are a simple but popular tool that allows us to keep up to date or follow a topic. Some examples of useful hashtags are; #Trabajo, #Opentowork, #Empleo, #Buscotrabajo, #Oportunidadlaboral.
• #Opentowork: Open to work is also a tape that appears in your profile picture and that manages at a glance to help companies and recruiters to know who are actively looking for employment. Activating it is very simple. First go to View Profile, then under your photo click on the button I'm interested, then choose between Look for a new job or Search for staff. Once you have done this you can click on the box Show the selection technicians and control who can see it, you can choose if you want all members to see it (even those of your current company) or if you want only selection technicians to see it. To finish, click start.
• Make yourself accessible: Often people access LinkedIn profiles to get information, but they have no real interest in contacting each other through that network, it is important that your profile includes other means of contact such as your email or your telephone number. Alternatively, you can also contact the recruiters. Write a message summarizing your professional profile, your interest in their company and invite them to a video call.

Capturing potential customers for your company

Capturing potential customers through LinkedIn can be an effective strategy, according to a survey conducted by HubSpot, LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook and Instagram. Sounds tempting, right? Here are some key points when it comes to attracting potential customers on LinkedIn

• Make sure you know who you want to reach, consider things like industry, position, geographic location, trends, and remember that your efforts should be focused on people who are really interested in what you offer. Before starting the search for potential customers, it's essential to clearly define who you would like to reach. LinkedIn offers a wide range of segmentation options, such as location, industry, job title, level of experience, and more. By narrowing down your target audience, you'll be able to focus your efforts more effectively and increase your chances of success.

• Create content that provides value, that generates a reaction in those it reaches and that manages to keep you present and visible. This way, you'll get those who see your proposals, even if they don't need them at the time, to think about your company when they do. Publish articles, infographics, videos, or any other format that suits your industry and audience. It provides valuable information, useful tips, and solutions to common problems. This will help you position yourself as an expert in your field and will attract the attention of potential customers interested in your services or products.
• Use the advanced search function to find people and companies using specific criteria. This feature allows you to search by industry, job title, location and more filters. Once you find relevant profiles, send personalized messages to establish contact and explore potential opportunities.
• Advertising campaigns. Create advertising campaigns aimed at the target audience established above. This will ensure you have a greater chance of generating quality leads.
• Optimize your profile and company page: Before starting any customer acquisition strategy on LinkedIn, it's essential to ensure that your profile and company page are well optimized with a professional profile picture, a compelling summary highlighting your relevant skills and achievements. For the company page, make sure the description is clear, includes keywords, and provides valuable information about your business.
• Participate in groups and communities: LinkedIn groups and communities are spaces where professionals with similar interests interact and share information. Be part of them, be an active participant, comment, start discussions, publish polls. Your participation will allow you to establish yourself as a reference and make yourself known.
• Establish genuine relationships: When you find potential customers on LinkedIn, it's important to establish genuine relationships rather than directly addressing them with a sale. Send personalized messages, show interest in your work or accomplishments, and seek to establish a meaningful conversation. Building strong long-term relationships is critical to successful customer acquisition.

How does LinkedIn work? Step by Step

Step 1: Account Registration

‍

The first step in using LinkedIn is to register on the platform. Users must provide a valid email address and create a secure password. Once the registration is complete, you can access LinkedIn.

After logging in, it's important to create a full professional profile. This includes adding a professional profile photo, providing accurate and up-to-date information about work experience, relevant achievements, education, etc. In addition, a summary can be written that highlights professional strengths and objectives.

Step 2: Generating Connections

‍

What we are looking for is to establish a solid network, so users can search and connect with colleagues, friends, study colleagues and people related to their professional field. In addition, advanced search tools can be used to find relevant contacts in the industry or sector of interest.

Step 3: Search for job opportunities

This network offers a wide range of job opportunities. Users can search for jobs using filters such as location, sector, level of experience, and others. In addition, you can follow companies to receive updates on new job offers. They can also join groups related to areas of interest and participate in discussions about employment and professional development.

‍

Step 4: Community Involvement

‍

An essential part of LinkedIn is active participation in the community. Users can share relevant posts, articles, or links on professional topics to establish their authority and reputation in their field. You can also comment on and share content from other users, participate in discussion groups and send direct messages to establish professional connections. In addition, users can request recommendations from colleagues, bosses, or previous customers to support their experience and skills. These recommendations help build a strong and trustworthy reputation on LinkedIn. In addition, skill validations can be obtained from professional contacts, increasing the credibility of the profile.

Step 5: Take advantage of additional features

‍

‍

LinkedIn offers the possibility to publish relevant presentations, projects or documents in the profile, follow companies to keep up to date, use the news section to keep up to date with industry news, and participate in events and virtual conferences to expand the network of contacts.

Step 6: Interaction with relevant content

‍

On this platform you can share articles, news and content relevant to professional development. Users can interact with this content through comments, likes and shares. In addition, you can take advantage of the hashtag tracking feature to keep up to date with topics of interest and participate in relevant discussions.

Step 7: Networking and Continuing Professional Development

‍

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for networking and ongoing professional development. Users can participate in events, conferences, and webinars relevant to their field. In addition, they can join discussion groups, participate in debates and follow influencers and industry experts to keep abreast of the latest trends and opportunities for professional growth.

‍

LinkedIn Trends, Opportunities, and Tips

Like any social network, LinkedIn has changing trends and a market full of opportunities, here are some of them.

Networking and professional connections

LinkedIn is known for being a powerful networking tool. It allows you to establish valuable connections with professionals from diverse industries and levels of experience. The platform provides an opportunity to interact with thought leaders, subject matter experts, and potential colleagues. By building and nurturing a strong network of contacts, opportunities for collaboration, mentoring, and potential customers can be discovered.

Job search and offer

Both professionals looking for new opportunities and companies looking for talent can take advantage of LinkedIn's advanced search features. Candidates can search for jobs based on their experience, location and preferences, while companies can post vacancies and access detailed profiles of potential candidates. This feature streamlines the hiring process and increases the chances of finding the perfect fit.

Professional Development and Learning

With the LinkedIn Learning feature, users have access to a wide range of online courses taught by experts in various disciplines. This allows you to acquire new skills, keep up to date with emerging trends and technologies, and improve employability. In addition, users can join groups and participate in thematic discussions to exchange knowledge and experience with like-minded professionals.

Lead Generation and Business Development

Through an appropriate content marketing strategy and the effective use of the advanced search function, companies can identify and connect with potential customers more precisely. In addition, the platform allows you to create an optimized company page, share relevant content and participate in industry-related groups.

Personal and company branding

LinkedIn offers a unique opportunity to build strong personal and company branding. Through the creation and sharing of relevant content, professionals and companies can stand out as thought leaders in their respective industries. This helps strengthen reputation, attract followers and establish valuable connections. Strong branding drives company growth and increases opportunities for collaboration and strategic partnerships.

Content in video format

Video content has become a dominant trend on LinkedIn and most social networks. Users are increasingly adopting this form of visual communication to share information, present ideas and establish connections. Video allows for a greater emotional connection, transmits messages effectively and attracts the attention of users in a digital world saturated with information.

‍