• Brands can leverage the power of networking sites as a comprehensive marketing strategy. 
• By skillfully using these networking platforms, brands can gain more benefits than one. 

The “Put Yourself on a Networking Site” marketing strategy revolves around actively engaging in online professional networking platforms for promotion. The core concept of strategy is to leverage the power of online platforms to connect with relevant audiences, establish field expertise and eventually generate opportunities. 

The most critical aspect of this strategy is choosing the right networking platform. This is followed by crafting a compelling profile that showcases your skills, experience, and value proposition. Then comes the part where you build connections with relevant people and share expertise through creatives, articles, and curated content. The actual value comes from nurturing relationships with established connections. 

This strategy aims to increase the brand’s visibility with potential employers, collaborators, or clients. It can significantly help build credibility and establish the brand as an expert. Eventually, it can generate new clientele and partnerships and help the brand stay updated on industry trends while providing a platform to connect with like-minded professionals. 

How did Salesforce Use LinkedIn and Incorporate the “Put Yourself on a Networking Site” Marketing Strategy? 

Salesforce is a cloud-based software company that offers many tools and services meticulously designed to help businesses manage customer relationships. It is also considered a leading provider in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) category. 

Moreover, Salesforce is a prime example of a brand that successfully leveraged LinkedIn’s professional networking environment’s prowess and used the “Put Yourself on a Networking Site” marketing strategy. It helped them build a strong brand presence and social selling with employees. To succeed in this marketing strategy, they skillfully used the concept of content marketing. 

Building a Strong Brand Presence

Salesforce maintains a comprehensive and informative company page. The page showcases its products, services, company culture, and career opportunities. It has significantly helped attract potential customers and talent by sharing a variety of content, including product updates, industry insights, success stories, and thought leadership articles. 

This helped establish Salesforce as an expert and kept the audience engaged. Salesforce representatives also actively participate in relevant LinkedIn groups and discussions. The team actively answered questions, provided feedback and valuable insights, and connected with potential customers in a relatively natural and helpful way. 

Social Selling with Employees

Salesforce actively encourages its employees, salespeople in particular, to build their own LinkedIn profiles and networks in an attempt to leverage the power of professional social media networks. These profiles showcase their individual expertise and allow them to share relevant content, further amplifying the brand message.

The cloud-based platform integrates seamlessly with LinkedIn, allowing salespeople to see detailed information about potential customers. They can leverage their shared connections and industry experience, which translates into more personalized outreach and build stronger connections. 

Intelligent Content Marketing Strategy

Salesforce intelligently leverages LinkedIn’s publishing capabilities to share long-form content like industry reports, white papers and meticulously curated thought leadership articles. This method establishes them as a trusted source of information capable of attracting qualified leads. 

They skillfully utilized LinkedIn Live to host webinars, product demos, and Question-and-Answer sessions. This platform also allows them to engage and connect with a broader audience segment in real-time and showcase their expertise in a very interactive and intuitive format.

In conclusion, Salesforce achieved resounding success using these LinkedIn marketing strategies. Eventually, they established themselves as thought leaders in the business-to-business (B2B) space, generating qualified leads and helping them foster stronger connections. Their active presence on the platform also helped them attract top talent and ultimately build a strong employer brand. 

What is “Put Yourself on a Networking Site” Marketing Strategy? 

The core concept of the “Putting Yourself on a Networking Site” marketing strategy revolves around the power of online professional platforms and using them to build connections, establish themselves as experts, and ultimately achieve objectives and goals. The major aspects are choosing the right platform, crafting a compelling profile, building a strong network, content marketing and thought leadership, and eventually turning connections into opportunities. 

Choosing the Right Platform

The first and foremost step for incorporating this strategy into your business is selecting the right platform. Choose the one that aligns with your objectives and is frequented by your target audience. LinkedIn is considered a go-to platform for professional networking, and Instagram can work the same for social networking. 

Depending on your business objectives, LinkedIn can be excellent for connecting with colleagues, showcasing work experience and skills, and discovering job opportunities. Similarly, Instagram and Facebook provide different marketing opportunities. 

Many industries have dedicated online communities where professionals can connect and share their knowledge. These platforms allow the marketer to target the audience effectively. For instance, platforms like X (Twitter) and Facebook can be used for networking, allowing individuals and industry leaders to participate in relevant discussions. 

Curating a Compelling Profile

After choosing the right platform, the next step is to create a compelling profile that will grab the audience’s attention. Marketers must craft clear, concise headlines summarizing their profession and value proposition. The summary should elaborate on your skills, experience, and objectives. 

Brands can also highlight work experience, achievements, and quantifiable results. They could include relevant skills and keywords that people in your target market search for. They can encourage colleagues and past clients to write recommendations and testimonials and endorse your skills, all of which can boost the brand’s credibility.

Building Your Network

Now comes the major and active part of this marketing strategy: building your network. Connecting with people should start with adding colleagues, former classmates, friends, industry professionals, and related individuals to your network. Marketers could participate in relevant groups, discussions, and forums and join them if needed. 

Brands can also use these platforms to share knowledge, answer questions, and establish themselves as a thought leader. They can also follow prominent figures and personalities in the field and use the platform to stay updated on industry trends and engage with their content. 

Content Marketing & Thought Leadership

Marketers should understand that networking sites are a great platform for content marketing. These platforms can be used to share expertise by publishing and promoting well-researched content, blog posts, and industry analysis. They can also share relevant articles, news, and resources, which position the brand as a valuable source of information. 

Employees and marketers can also create opportunities to actively participate in discussions, answer questions thoughtfully, and offer help to others whenever they can. Remember, content is the undisputed king, and it can be strategically used in marketing materials on such platforms. 

Turning Connections into Opportunities

While engaging on such platforms, you will make some connections; marketers should treat them as something other than just numbers, as they can be a potential source of revenue. Try to maintain relationships by sending occasional messages and congratulating them on birthdays, anniversaries, and achievements. You can also use them to offer support when needed. 

Marketers can also contact professionals and industry leaders and ask them to interview to learn about their career paths and success stories. This data can strategically be used in future marketing campaigns. Brands can also explore the opportunities to collaborate with others on projects or content creations, expanding their reach. 

Pros and Cons of “Put Yourself on a Networking Site” Marketing Strategy

Like any other marketing strategy, this “Put Yourself on a Networking Site” strategy comes with its pros and cons, as discussed below. 

Pros

Engaging in networking sites could put you in front of a vast audience of potential buyers, employers, collaborators, and clients. Marketers must choose a platform specific to their industry to connect with the right audience they want to reach. A well-crafted profile with experience, skills, and recommendations helps establish you as an expert. 

Marketers can publish content, share insights, and position themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Networking can also lead to new job opportunities, new clients, and valuable partnerships. Also, keeping up to date with industry trends can be beneficial, and the strategy can help foster meaningful relationships and connections with like-minded professionals for long-term benefits. 

Cons

Establishing and maintaining an active online presence requires consistent time, effort, and resource investment. Sometimes, these platforms can be overwhelming with information and noise; hence, careful curation is necessary. Audiences might find some interactions forced and self-promotional; in such cases, they can focus on genuine connections. 

Marketers should be mindful of the information they share online, as it’s challenging to control privacy concerns. It must be understood that building a strong and credible network takes time, and the effectiveness relies on the platform itself. Brands must explore alternate networking methods for comprehensive marketing success. 

In conclusion, brands must be patient when incorporating this marketing strategy, as building a solid network takes time and consistent effort. They must not be discouraged if results aren’t immediate. Using these platforms lets the brand personality shine through, as people value and appreciate genuine interactions. In the end, always strive to provide the best value proposition while being helpful, informative, and a source of inspiration and insightful content.