10 Tactics To Grow LinkedIn Connections - Experts' Favorites in 2022
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Having more connections on Linkedin will help with your business whether you are looking for new employees, job opportunities, or new clients.
But then again, as with everything, anything fantastic has a caveat — people are naturally shy and it can be hard to approach strangers and start a conversation with them.
Instead, let me give you some techniques and hacks used by professionals on how to grow LinkedIn connections without being sleazy.
If you’re struggling to grow your LinkedIn network, you’ve come to the right place.
Before we get to the hacks, you need to know two things:
1. After your LinkedIn profile achieves 500+ connections, it starts ranking higher in search results. It works like keyword optimization for LinkedIn’s search engine.
2. On the other hand, 30,000 is the maximum number of connections LinkedIn allows to you. Once you hit this number of connections, the only way to continue your growth is through followers.
Now that we acknowledged this, let’s get to the tactics.
The first step is to make sure your profile is complete and up-to-date.
To grow your LinkedIn connections, you need to enable people to find you on LinkedIn.
To do that effectively, it is important that your profile is optimized with the correct keywords.
You don’t have to share every detail of every job you’ve ever had, but it’s important to make sure that your profile is filled out as much as possible.
To do that effectively, it is important that your profile is optimized with the correct keywords and with a professional profile photo.
Use keywords that describe what you do and who you are in your headline.
If you are an accountant, use the term “accountant” in your headline. If you are a marketing consultant, use the term “marketing consultant.”
This will cause your profile to show up more when people search for those words on LinkedIn.
Some people include their job titles in their profile names (e.g., Mark Doe – Marketing Consultant).
People are more likely to respond and connect with you if you answer their questions.
If someone asks for advice about public speaking and you’re a professional speaker, answer the question with a detailed response that provides value via text, video, or audio format.
If you have something valuable to offer, people will connect with you on LinkedIn, and hopefully, keep you in mind for future business opportunities.
Not only will this help others in solving their problem, but they will also see you as an expert in a specific industry.
And who doesn’t like to be connected with experts, right?
Looking for a new job? Want to meet more people like you in your industry? Need to find potential clients or collaborators?
One of the best ways to grow your LinkedIn network is by asking questions. When you ask a question on LinkedIn, your connections get notified.
And on the other hand, you get notified when someone responds.
This gives you much higher visibility than if you just post an update or share a photo.
As a result, you might get into a conversation that leads you to discover shared interests with someone who may not have been in your network before.
The questions we ask ourselves (and others) are powerful tools for finding common ground and making valuable new connections.
So how do you ask the perfect question?
Be specific about what kind of responses you want.
If you want more people to answer your question, add options for them to choose from. If you want fewer people to answer but to engage more deeply with your content then ask open questions.
Pro tip: A great way that can bring you many new LinkedIn connections is by usingLinkedIn polls to ask questions. That way your questions will get better visibility on LinkedIn and you will be able to reach a much greater number of people.
Almost everyone has something they’re an expert in. Maybe it’s mountain bikes or organic food.
Or maybe it’s how to conduct a great customer service survey or how to close a complex sale.
Whatever your expertise is, write about it and share it on your LinkedIn profile.
Creating high-quality and unique content is what will significantly help you grow LinkedIn connections
Sharing a post doesn’t take as long as writing one, but it still can show people who you are and what you care about.
It also shows that you care about the people in your network, because if they see that you shared their posts, they will be happy knowing that their work is appreciated (and in some cases, go viral).
This way not only do you promote other creators’ content, but you also show what are your values, what kind of content you love, and you help your network meet you better.
Having someone in LinkedIn connections that share valuable stuff is a must – and that person can be you for your network.
Think about who do you want to connect with. Whether it’s someone you know but aren’t connected with, or it’s someone you would like to meet.
After you identify that person, by name, position, or company, go to the search bar and type in your friend’s name/job title/ company (For example: Vedran Rasic/CEO of LeadDelta).
Once you find the person you know and/or wish to connect, click the “Connect” button, and make sure to distinguish yourself from other requests by including a note in the request.
Research shows that adding a note to your connection request may bring you a 75% higher chance of getting accepted.
On the other hand, you can contact them even without being connected.
“I think people don’t realize that there is an inbox on LinkedIn. People feel like they have to be connected to someone in order to contact them,” says Jayson DeMers, founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, a Seattle-based SEO and social media marketing agency.
You can also send them personalized InMails and invite them to connect with you on Linkedin or ask something.
Send an intro email first saying why you’re reaching out. If they respond, ask if they want to connect with you on Linkedin (but only if they respond!)
To simplify the whole process for you and help you with message ideas, we created “50 Proven LinkedIn Messages To Use In 2022” that you can download for free.
Groups are a great way to meet like-minded professionals and boost your own visibility within a group of people who have expressed interest in your subject area.
Most people are on social media purely to consume content. They’re not there to help others or share their own advice.
They only contribute what they believe will get them attention or praise.
By asking questions and answering them, you can quickly become a valuable member of any online community.
On the other hand, groups often have leaders who share the most and provide the most value.
These are the people you want to engage with daily. Follow their posts and consider leaving comments on their updates.
When you constantly comment on their status updates, they begin to recognize your name.
You can also send them invites to connect, which will increase your chances of being accepted if they already know who you are.
When your LinkedIn profile has a URL that says “linkedin.com/in/yourname” instead of just a jumble of letters and numbers, it looks more professional and makes it easier for people to find you online.
To set up your own URL, go to Profile > Edit public profile > Edit URL at the top right of your profile page.
Growing your network takes time and effort. It requires more than simply asking people to add you.
You need to show them something of value so they’ll want to connect with you.
It’s the same as any other relationship – you don’t just walk up to someone and say, “Hey, let’s be friends!”
And don’t forget about your existing connections! They’re an extremely valuable resource for growing your network — if you treat them right.
If you have a small or new business, the best place to start is with people whose trust and respect you’ve already earned in the real world — friends, family members, colleagues, mentors, and former classmates.
See how you can help them, and give your best to provide them value even in private, not just publicly in comments.
No one needs to see that you helped them, but they will appreciate that and they might become your ambassadors.
If you want to grow your network with people who share your interests and professional aspirations, one of the best ways to do it is by following companies.
When you follow a company on LinkedIn, you’ll see their updates in your news feed.
This allows you to see what jobs they are hiring for, learn more about their products and stay on the pulse of news in your industry.
You can also always stay informed about the people who work there.
On the other side, when you follow companies, all their employees will see you in the “People also viewed” section on their profiles.
Many of them will be curious and check out your profile, possibly leading to a connection request.
One of the things that people check when they’re deciding whether or not to connect with someone on LinkedIn is whether or not that person has recommendations from others in their network.
If you want to get more of those, ask for them – politely.
To do that, go to your profile page and click the “Ask for Recommendation” link on the right-hand side of the page.
You’ll see a list of your connections who you could request a recommendation from.
Choose the person who you think would give you the strongest recommendation and then select the type of recommendation you’d like from them.
The most valuable recommendations are for specific skills that relate to your work experience or education, so choose one of those if possible.
When asking for a recommendation, let the recipient know how long you worked together, what projects you collaborated on, and what your responsibilities were.
If there are specific achievements from that time period that stand out in your mind, include them.
We hope these tactics on how to grow LinkedIn connections will help you get the most out of LinkedIn, whether for business or personal use.
Remember, the key to successful networking is knowing what you bring to the table, and ensuring that you’re connecting with people who will also be valuable to your career.
Try to create unique and interesting content for each of your posts, use social networks when promoting your business, think about the client before you reach out to them, connect with other businesses that can help your own, and remain diligent as you search for potential clients.
If you can strike up conversations with others and have them lead to meaningful exchanges, your connections will go up in no time.
That’s where LeadDelta can help you significantly improve your efficiency.
With a LeadDelta social capital manager, you’ll be more productive by viewing and organizing your network the way it suits your needs the most.
It’s time to stop with overloaded inboxes, feeds, and screaming notifications but rather focus on building relationships. Download LeadDelta extension and boost your LinkedIn engagement game.
