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Public Relations and LinkedIn
- 1. Public Relations andLinkedIn Industry Do’s and Don'ts
- 2. Do - Completeentire LinkedIn profile, link it to websites or blogs and regularly update it. Completing LinkedIn profiles will allow users to gain connections Linking business websites and blogs to the users LinkedIn profile will provide additional professional content and generate credibility. Updating LinkedIn profiles is mandatory under the LinkedIn agreement and provides connections with an automatic update. Don't - over promote your product, service, event or business. This could lead to connections flagging the content as spam. Could result in the users page being terminated. Could tarnish professional credibility or reputation.
- 3. Do - postquestions and answers to others in your industry to build a reputation and relationships. Getting involved in the community by posting questions and answers can draw positive attention to a user's profile. Helping others can establish a user's expertise on a subject matter, attract new clients and keep existing clients happy. Posing interesting questions can encourage interaction and uncover potential contacts within a user's industry. Don't - Add contacts into your network without first knowing them. A network is a professional reflection of a company and unknown or unreliable contacts can reflect poorly on a user when people peruse their connection list. Using LinkedIn as a free form of advertising by sending network requests to anyone and everyone can be detrimental to a user's reputation as it will be seen as unprofessional. Member's have the option of pressing "I don't know this person" when receiving a connection invite. If this happens to a user too many time, they will be required to have everyone's email address when requesting future connections.
- 4. Do - Recommendclients or associates to other LinkedIn users and ask to be recommend in return. This will build reputation and create social validation among LinkedIn connections. Word of mouth is the most influential marketing technique Don’t – Participate in irrelevant groups. Participating in irrelevant groups looks unprofessional. It will not help public relations professionals long term goals.
Editor's Notes
- #4 Do: Shifts in consumer behaviour online means that public relations practitioners need to adjust to the newly presented opportunities in order to stay relevant and effective. To survive in this participatory online world, PR professionals have to be involved with the communities and contribute to the content. It is for this reason that a highly effective function of LinkedIn is the question and answers segment, where users can post and respond to queries within their industry or professional interest. Don’t: A network is a professional reflection of a company and unknown or unreliable contacts can reflect poorly on a user when people peruse their connection list. It is important to remember when building a network that LinkedIn (unlike other sites such as Facebook) is a commercial, rather than social, networking site. Adding contacts for personal reasons can be damaging to a professional image. As it is a PR practitioner’s goal to present a positive identity to the public, it is important to associate with reliable, esteemed and qualified contacts. As Kathleen Lewis says, “You are judged by the company you keep, even virtually.” (2009). PR professionals need to be aware of their reputation as well as the reputation of those they associate themselves with in order to maintain a successful account on the commercial networking site.