Monday, March 13, 2017

Harnessing the Power of LinkedIn Marketing to Monetize and Grow Your Business – Candice Galek [SSM034]

When I hear the words “LinkedIn marketing” my mind immediately jumps to traditional sales tactics. Cold emailing or messaging, following up, following up again, and then sometime down the line, closing the deal.

Although a robust sales tool, LinkedIn rarely gets brought up in conversations about effective social media marketing channels for businesses.

But Candice Galek, CEO and founder of Bikini Luxe (one of the world’s largest and most successful online swimwear collections) has seen first-hand how powerful LinkedIn marketing can be. We had the pleasure of chatting with Candice all about how LinkedIn has been crucial for building relationships, getting the word out about Bikini Luxe, and in turn, building her business.

Join us as we explore everything there is to know about LinkedIn marketing and how you can apply some of Candice’s proven strategies to your own business in this episode of The Science of Social Media.

A huge thank you to Candice for jam-packing this episode with actionable wisdom and takeaways for social media managers and marketers alike looking to monetize and grow their business using LinkedIn.

How to listen: iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloud | Stitcher | RSS

This episode is available on:

In this episode, here’s what you’ll learn:

Candice Galek shares the specific LinkedIn marketing strategies she’s used to grow her business into one of the top online retailers for swimwear.  You’ll also learn tips like:

  • Why LinkedIn is Candice’s “little black book” of business contacts
  • Simple LinkedIn tips and tricks to get the word out about your business
  • How building meaningful, one-on-one relationships has been crucial
  • Oversight Marketing and what it means for your presence on LinkedIn
  • Why LinkedIn’s audience demographic is perfect for business growth
  • How to create a LinkedIn profile that stands out from the crowd

LinkedIn Marketing: Strategies to Monetize and Grow Your Business

3 Key LinkedIn Marketing Takeaways for Marketers Looking to Grow Their Business

In Candice’s words…

1. You never know what someone has to offer

I was asked this question on Twitter: Is it really all about how many connections you have on LinkedIn – Is it quality over quantity? Something came to mind for me after I was asked that and it was that you never know what someone has to offer. And so it’s key to be really nice to everyone because there’s opportunity everywhere.

2. The amount of work you put in

The amount of work you put in is equal to the amount that you get out of LinkedIn. We talked about “rolling out the red carpet” and genuinely engaging with your audience all along so that they become loyal followers along the way. You have to put effort into it to get anything out of it.

3. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind

Don’t be afraid to speak your mind and let your personality shine through. It may be just a business network, but everyone on LinkedIn is looking for something – it might just be what you have to offer!

A Great Moment

Candice Galek on the Fun of Being an Entreprenuer

“That’s the fun part about being an entreprenuer – making your own rules, crossing lines and boundaries, and figuring out what works.”

– Candice Galek

Awesome People and Stuff Mentioned in the Show

Favorite Quotes

  • I noticed early on with LinkedIn that I was getting more engagement and more feedback. People were commenting and giving me their genuine opinion on the content that we were posting.
  • We get more than 2,000,000 hits per month on Pinterest, but it’s just different. People there are looking to collect and looking to buy, but they’re not necessarily looking to have a conversation with you.
  • The demographic of people actually using LinkedIn is something that stands out to me. They don’t spend a tremendous amount of time on social media in general. 83% of LinkedIn users don’t use Pinterest and 59% of them don’t use Twitter.
  • Using the “alert” feature within LinkedIn is a great way to notify your followers about anything and it also gives you an opportunity to start a conversation with potentially thousands of people.
  • I call my LinkedIn community my “little black book” because they’ve really become a network of business connections for me.
  • When turning contacts into real business connections it’s important to be straight forward with people. We’re all busy and we don’t have a lot of time to waste. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, ask for help, or ask for a favor.
  • Directly linking to products on LinkedIn and providing quick customer support was a great way to monetize our LinkedIn marketing efforts. But then also diversifying and focusing on my personal (Candice Galek) brand on the side was another way to monetize it.
  • A lot of people feel that way about LinkedIn. Everyone is so scared of standing out because it is a business website – you think you have to be on your best behavior, but that’s not necessarily true.

How to Say Hello to Candice (and us)

Candice Galek is making a major splash in the business world with her fast-growing company Bikini Luxe – recently earning her a prestigious spot in Forbes 30 Under 30.  If you’re looking for some awesome social media inspiration, you can say hello to Candice on LinkedIn here or over on Twitter here.

Thanks for listening! We’d love to connect with you at @buffer on Twitter or with the hashtag #bufferpodcast.

Enjoy the show? It’d mean the world to us if you’d be up for giving us a rating and review on iTunes!

About the Show

The Science of Social Media is a podcast for marketers and social media managers looking for inspiration, ideas, and results for their social media strategies. Each week, we interview one of the very best in social media marketing from brands in every industry. You will learn the latest tactics on social media, the best tools to use, the smartest workflows, and the best goal-setting advice. It is our hope that each episode you’ll find one or two gems to use with your social media marketing!

The Science of Social Media is proudly made by the Buffer team. Feel free to get in touch with us for any thoughts, ideas, or feedback.

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