How to Create an Effective LinkedIn Profile for Amazon Sellers
It’s difficult enough juggling Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest in my Amazon store marketing strategy. I definitely don’t intend to involve myself in anymore mushrooming social media copycats.
This was my first reaction to LinkedIn. I’m sure you also didn’t even bother to open that first few LinkedIn invites from your friends. The lesson I learned here is that in the ever evolving online world, you can’t afford to ignore any of these mushrooms. You don’t have to jump on the bandwagon immediately, but it’s important to keep an eye on the latest hypes to see if they prove worthwhile.
This reminds me of a saying I heard somewhere, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” What I mean is, though I was totally into social media marketing, ignoring LinkedIn cost me dearly. I got run over! My competitors who focused on LinkedIn accelerated their sales cycles. Currently, LinkedIn is said to be the most powerful social media site for businesses.
Facebook, Twitter, etc. are about relaxation and entertainment. When users log on to LinkedIn, there is a mindset shift; they expect to do business. The messages are professional as the primary intention is to promote your career or business. LinkedIn’s professionalism makes other popular social media sites look like they”re for teenagers.
LinkedIn is the channel best for Amazon sellers who are selling high-end products that require additional understanding from their users. To engage with professionals who might enjoy your products, you can try these actionable tips for turning your LinkedIn profile into an effective marketing tool for your Amazon store.
1. A Striking LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn has such a powerful online presence that a Google search for your full name or company name is sure to get a display in the top five results. Your profile page can make or break your entire LinkedIn marketing campaign. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
Make sure you completely fill up your profile page. Add a clear and professional-looking picture. Write a compelling summary of yourself. A complete profile with your work experiences, hobbies, and interests project consistency and imparts credibility to your character.
The first thing people notice is the headline under your name. Put a brief and to-the-point caption that describes your purpose. An Amazon merchant selling sports equipment can put “Wholesale Sports Equipment Dealer on Amazon – Best Deals Online.” Be as specific as possible to attract your target audience.
If you find yourself impressed by the social networking prowess of a LinkedIn connection, study their profile carefully, and create your model based on that. Once you get a hang of the LinkedIn platform, you can alter your profile as desired.
2. A Compelling Summary
The LinkedIn summary is the turning point for a profile visitor. If it fails to capture his interest, he may not read the rest of your profile. People like to do business with those they feel are familiar, likable, and trustworthy.
LinkedIn is a great way to show the world how market-savvy and experienced you are. For an Amazon merchant, I recommend starting the summary with who you are and your expertise in the field. A second paragraph should be about benefits from a customer’s point of view – great packaging, reliable customer service, fast shipping, prompt delivery, etc. A third paragraph can tell people how to contact you, such as supplying a link to your Amazon store. Be brief and concise, yet attractive and compelling.
3. Don’t Forget these Nuggets
Many people tend to overlook adding simple or seemingly unimportant profile data. These nuggets can turn out to be golden, as they may provide you with new connections and potential customer leads. Choose your ZIP code for the area that you do most of your business, as LinkedIn will suggest connections based on your location. This brings in new potential buyers and helps former customers to find you more easily. Listing your school, college and other related data helps you connect with former classmates who may turn out to be your new Amazon store customers. Such data along with your interests, hobbies, or sports activities can serve as common topics of conversation and bonding among your prospective buyers, suppliers, etc.
Add your personal and business email address, as this helps to widen your network of connections. A profile looks unprofessional and incomplete without a good color photograph. A good headshot looks more professional than the kind of photographs you might choose for Facebook posts.
4. A Descriptive Company Page
The LinkedIn platform allows you to add a company page to your profile. You can share information about your Amazon products and services, add videos, and other promotional data. The company page can help in displaying targeted status updates, turning your employees into brand ambassadors, displaying slide presentations, and much more. Amazon.com has close to 700,000 followers on LinkedIn.
These pages on LinkedIn are quite SEO friendly. Edit your company’s description to ensure it is rich in keywords as Google previews around 150 characters of this text. Describe your business and expertise in words and phrases that people may use as keywords in the LinkedIn search. Don’t forget to add your company location and contact information.
5. Web Links with Calls to Action
You can add links to all parts of your company page. Display these links as ‘calls to action’ rather than just website names. Give links to specific product pages in your Amazon store with names like:
‘Get the Best deals on Sony PS4’
‘View our Video Demo of latest Xbox Motion Sensor’
‘Read our Customer Testimonials’
Such calls to action will help drive more traffic to your Amazon store. You can also add links to other related data like how-to articles for your products or latest industry news. The edit option in adding website links has an “other” option on the drop-down tab for naming links as you wish.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is shooting to superstardom because of its unique professional networking and recruiting platform which enables businesses to supercharge their marketing and advertising to build up brand trust and integrity. Creating your profile on LinkedIn is different from that of other community sites. Your profile is the key to your LinkedIn success.
This blog post was by Alysha T. Rohaan, and it’s originally published in March 2014 and was updated in June 2020 due to product updates or Amazon policy changes.
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