10 Ways to Grow Your LinkedIn Audience with NO Budget

LinkedIn is a must-have social media platform when it comes to networking for work, but growing business influence is challenging when there’s no budget for ads and sponsored posts.

These 14 tips allow anyone to build a large LinkedIn following without spending a dime.

1. Engage with Co-workers/Employees

Whether someone is a business owner or an employee, they should look to move their real-world connections to social media platforms. Resourceful business owners will make sure their employees are set up on the platform and able to follow their workplace. Employees and co-workers are more likely than any other group to share posts, tag pages, and network with others in the field.

2. Engage with Influencers and Other Companies

Almost every industry has influencers/leaders, as well as non-competing companies, that are worth associating with. LinkedIn users should look at engaging with these profiles by mentioning them in posts and commenting on their posts to form relationships that are beneficial for all parties.

3. Promote LinkedIn Profile on a Website with a Follow Button

To be honest, websites are still the prime place to reach customers, industry leaders, and everyone in between. By adding a follow button on a website, companies are able to connect their prime traffic source with a constantly updated social media platform that will keep site visitors in the loop.

4. Consistently Create and Share Engaging Content

Content is what attracts and keeps followers to and on a page. Without content, there’s no way for a page to grow. Make sure to create content that’s optimized but also engaging and educational. This doesn’t mean that every post needs to be 1,000 words and give away trade secrets, but it should make people want to keep coming back. Not all of a page’s content needs to be original either; plenty of LinkedIn profiles with thousands of followers share a lot of third-party content to drive traffic to their page as well as fun images, videos, and memes.

5. Link to LinkedIn in Email Signatures

Imagine how many emails are sent out by every employee in the United States each day. Now, imagine if those employees had email signatures with their LinkedIn profiles linked in them. LinkedIn links in email signatures can draw traffic to your profile or business page.

6. Use Hashtags

This doesn’t mean to go crazy with the hashtags, but 3-5 relevant, well-placed hashtags in LinkedIn allow companies to join relevant conversations in their industry and showcase their viewpoints.

7. Look at Analytics, and Tailor Content Around Them

LinkedIn provides admins with in-depth analytical information to see which posts are successful—and which aren’t. When one can see which content works, they can tailor future content closer to what’s working, and avoid posting strategies that fail.

8. Engage with Followers

Far too often, pages will build up impressive followings and share plenty of engaging content, but they don’t engage with their followers. Look to answer customer questions, engage in conversations and make time to look for comments and mentions that may have been missed.

9. Encourage Engagement

Users should look to create content that makes followers want to talk to them. Polls and questions are great ways to keep followers engaged and make a brand stick out as a company that cares about what employees, customers, and followers think.

10. Look at Competitors’ Pages

This doesn’t mean someone should blatantly rip-off what their competitors are doing but looking at what posts are getting a lot of engagement when they post and what their content looks like can inspire companies to up their social media game by following a tried-and-true path to success.

How To Grow Your LinkedIn Page

Building a LinkedIn following doesn’t have to take any money, but it does require time and dedication to create a space people want to follow. A large, engaged following has a multitude of benefits, and companies should look to grow their following as large as possible.