Monthly Marketing Tips Series | Building Meaningful Professional Connections Through Social Media
With more than 12 million users on LinkedIn in Australia, the platform offers an incredible opportunity for finance brokers to generate leads, nurture professional relationships and establish credibility in their field. Read on for the benefits of using LinkedIn and quick tips on how to do it right.
Benefits of using LinkedIn for Finance Brokers
1. Getting in front of your ideal audience
LinkedIn can play a significant role in lead-generating activities for finance brokers.
Potential clients looking for assistance finding, comparing and securing financing solutions are active on the platform every day. LinkedIn also attracts plenty of high-net-worth individuals.
Being active, consistently and strategically, on LinkedIn will share your expertise and build trust with your ideal audience.
2. Keeping in touch and building a network of referral partners
Building a business referral network on LinkedIn can be a goldmine for generating a steady stream of leads and maintaining meaningful professional connections.
Your ideal referral partners share complimentary services and the same target market. As a finance broker, traditional referral partners include real estate agents, accountants, financial advisors and solicitors.
- Search for referral partners in a few easy steps:
- Click on the search bar on the top left.
- Select ‘People’ from the drop-down menu underneath the search bar.
- Search for the type of referral partner. For example, Real Estate Agent.
- Filter by your location(s).
- The results will show a list of potential contacts.
- Make a short list of possible referral partners and industry connections, then send a LinkedIn InMail introducing yourself.
The direct message feature (InMail) is only available for premium LinkedIn accounts. When using a free account, you must connect with the LinkedIn member first before sending a message.
3. Showcasing your expertise
Communicating your expertise goes beyond simply adding your skills, training and education to your LinkedIn profile.
Creating and curating relevant content builds trust with your audience, provides value and demonstrates your experience.
- What types of LinkedIn posts showcase your expertise?
- Write long-form posts or publish LinkedIn articles on relevant topics and pain points for your target client.
- Sharing breaking news stories in your area of expertise.
- Resharing (curating) relevant content — we share more on this further along.
When developing your LinkedIn content strategy, answer the following questions to guide your content creation and drum up ideas:
- What would my client want to see on my page?
- What are the demographics of my ideal client?
- What content would encourage my ideal client to engage?
- What specific information might my client find the most valuable?
- LinkedIn Featured section
The Featured section is the first thing people see when they visit your profile.
Think of it as a quick, curated portfolio of projects you’ve worked on, posts you’ve written, images, documents, and links. Discover how to put your best professional foot forward in the Featured section here.
4. Social proof
Social proof demonstrates your capability to provide outstanding service and instils trust in potential clients.
Types of social proof you can add to your LinkedIn profile:
- Testimonials
Client testimonials provide insight for prospective clients to understand what it's like to work with you.
- Case studies
Identify a common problem your target audience has. Then, share the solution you provided for a client with the same problem and the results you achieved for them.
- LinkedIn recommendations
A recommendation is a commendation written by a client (on LinkedIn) to recognise the excellent service you provided them. Learn how to request a LinkedIn recommendation here.
5. Keep on top of industry news
LinkedIn makes it easy to stay on top of emerging trends, advancements and the latest developments in the finance broking sector.
Your clients rely on you to know what is happening in the industry so you can provide up-to-date guidance.
Quick tips for using LinkedIn
1. Hashtag best practice
Using hashtags on your LinkedIn posts and long-form articles helps expand the organic reach of your content to attract more views, clicks, and connections.
- Capitalise the first letter of each word
People scan LinkedIn feeds quickly. Capitalising makes it clear what the hashtag refers to instantly.
For example, #businessfinancesolutions vs #BusinessFinanceSolutions
- Use a mix of niche and general hashtags
Choosing a mix of industry-specific and general hashtags increases the chance of your post being seen by more people in your target audience.
For example, #InterestRates (specific), #Finance (general).
- Research hashtags
Search for hashtag ideas and to see how many followers each has by typing the hashtag into the search bar.
2. Content curation
Content curation involves gathering and sharing material to provide value to your audience.
It’s a great way to stay active on LinkedIn and demonstrate your expertise without the need to create every piece of content yourself.
Quick tips for finding relevant content to share:
- Follow industry thought leaders. Always link back to the author's content and credit them.
- Sharing breaking news articles and adding your professional opinion. Set up Google Alerts or a news aggregator (e.g., Feedly) to be alerted to fresh articles that you can reshare to LinkedIn.
- Search popular and niche LinkedIn hashtags for your industry to see what content is trending or valuable. Then, reshare in a post with your own take on the topic.
3. Leveraging LinkedIn groups
LinkedIn Groups can be a goldmine for generating high-quality leads and establishing yourself as a thought leader. Groups allow you to take part in discussions with peers and potential clients.
To get started, use the search function to find LinkedIn Groups related to your industry and offering. Focus on groups with users that fit the demographic of your target market.
By getting involved in the group discussions, you can take note of potential prospects' pain points, questions, and needs. When you interact and give advice, avoid being overly self-promoting.
Earlypay is here to help
We’re here to support brokers. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our Marketing Team on the details below:
This is the first article in our Monthly Marketing Tips series. Through this Monthly Marketing Tips initiative, we’ll help brokers improve their visibility and lead generation.
More marketing resources will be published on our website and our social media channels every month, so make sure to bookmark our blog webpage and follow us on our social media channels.
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