How to Use LinkedIn for Marketing/Non-Sales Professionals – Part III

In parts I and II of our series on LinkedIn for Marketing/Non-Sales Professionals, we discussed ways to increase your credibility online and how you can make the most of the resources available on LinkedIn. Now let’s take a look at using the social site to evaluate a potential new supplier or partner before meeting in person.

Say you’re considering working with a new supplier or partner company…wouldn’t it be nice to know more about the people you’ll be meeting with before walking into the meeting?

LinkedIn is a great tool for research.  You can visit individual profiles to learn the backgrounds and experience of each person you’ll be meeting with, as well as learn more about the company from their company profile page.

Evaluating a Potential New Hire Before Meeting Them

Of course, LinkedIn is a great tool from a human resources standpoint too.  Not only can you post jobs on LinkedIn when you have open positions, but you can use LinkedIn to research potential candidates as well.

When you are connected on LinkedIn, you can see who your candidates are connected to, and you can see who has recommended them and what they’ve had to say.  Knowing more about a candidate before you meet with them can be a great advantage.

You can also use LinkedIn to find potential candidates – one company I work with does not post openings on job sites any more – they go out to LinkedIn and find potential candidates for the position they have available and then connect with them to gauge interest – she says it’s much easier than sorting through thousands of resumes received for one job posting in the past.

So how have you been using LinkedIn to grow your business? Do you see LinkedIn as a helpful marketing tool?

Published on: August 6, 2011