If you are an accountant looking to find new clients on LinkedIn, there are 10 things you need to know. This blog post will give you easily actionable steps to increase the number and quality of the leads you get from LinkedIn.
Follow this process to find new clients on LinkedIn
Using the following strategy, accountants can create a profile and LinkedIn presence that stands out and attracts their ideal client.
1. Optimise your headline
Your headline is 220 characters that follow you all over LinkedIn. Other users can see this text every time you post or make comments on others’ posts. Use this area to be clear about what you do, who for and how.
This is a common headline on LinkedIn ‘ Accountant at Excellent Accounting Ltd’.
It’s not working very hard to differentiate from the next accountant. Use your headline to be more creative …
Accountant and business growth partner for ambitious hospitality businesses. Basic compliance packages through to a full outsourced finance team. More than just bean-counting.
2. Stand out with your About section
Similarly, your About section should not read like a CV. Use the About section to give the benefits of working with you and to call out directly to your preferred client. This section is 2,600 characters so you have plenty of space to explain how you help clients and why they should buy from you.
It can be hard to write about yourself, so if you need some help with a LinkedIn Profile Makeover, please get in touch.
3. Add a profile banner
The top of your profile is a great place to be creative and find new clients on LinkedIn. Use an on-brand banner area to explain why they should come to you and who you best support. For brilliant banners, the only place to go is Danny Townley at Social Revampp.
4. Use a professional photograph
Your photograph should be a clear headshot, ideally professionally taken. Look directly at the camera and have a friendly, welcoming demeanour. LinkedIn is a professional forum, so poorly lit photos of you in a nightclub probably aren’t going to leave the best first impression. For great branding photography, contact Brigitta at NUX Photography and tell her I sent you.
5. Add a profile video
LinkedIn allows you to add a 30-second video to your profile which you can run by clicking on your photo – but only if you have creator mode enabled. This video is a great way for your potential client to get to know you and the services you offer. If you are creative, this is another way you can stand out from the crowd. If you’re anything like me, you might find creating video challenging. In that case, I recommend contacting Gillian Whitney at Video Easy Peasy who can help you shine.
6. Add your ideal client to your network
To grow your visibility on LinkedIn, you need to increase the size of your network. This means connecting with people that you haven’t met before. You can search for your ideal client using keywords. Let’s say you are an accountant who is looking to get new LinkedIn clients in the hospitality industry. Search using terms such as ‘restaurant owner’, ‘restaurant manager’ ‘head of hospitality’ ‘hotel manager’ etc.
7. Engage with your ideal client’s content
There’s a process you can use to encourage these potential clients to connect with you. Firstly, follow them and click on the notification bell to be notified when they post new content. Then, comment on their posts and engage in conversation. Finally, after you have commented on a few of their posts, send them a personalised message on LinkedIn asking them to connect with you.
8. Write content targeted at your ideal client
Add your own useful content to LinkedIn on a regular basis – ideally at least 3 times a week. It’s a good idea to pick a time to post and stick to that time each day because your audience will come to expect you to post at that time of day and will be looking out for your content.
Identify 2-3 content pillars – general topics that you are an expert in – and use these for 90% of your content. Over time this will position you as an authority in your field. Use custom hashtags at the end of each post. Create one or two for your brand that you use consistently.
9. Add your best content to the Featured section
LinkedIn offers an area of your profile where you draw attention to your best content – either posts, articles or even documents. You can add your pricing information here, lead magnets or other downloadables that help your ideal client.
10. Recommendations help you find new clients on LinkedIn
Social proof sells. Word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective way to gain new clients. Research shows that over 80% of people look for reviews online before making a purchase, so make sure you are getting recommendations from your previous clients to help your potential clients make the buying decision. Many people are happy to give a recommendation, but they are busy, so it’s a good idea to ask them to leave you a review. You can even get them to copy and paste the review over to Google as well to help with your ranking there.
It can take some time to get new clients on LinkedIn – you need to be prepared to put in the work on your profile, with your content and especially with general engagement with the community. However, once you establish your personal brand on LinkedIn, especially if you can niche to a particular type of client, you will find that inbound leads will increase. And, if your content is consistent, those leads will be qualified ones and will lead to new clients.
If you would like to find new clients on LinkedIn, but you need help implementing this process, my LinkedIn Gold package provides the following:
1. LinkedIn brand Strategy session – get clear on the what, the who and the how of your services.
2. LinkedIn Headline and About re-write
3. LinkedIn library of reusable posts
4. Writing content training session
5. LinkedIn accountability session
Connect with me on LinkedIn or email michelle@eshkeri.co.uk for more information on this package or my other services such as website copywriting, SEO blog writing, award entry writing and case studies.
Michelle Eshkeri is a financial services copywriter and an accountant with almost 25 years’ experience. Michelle helps small and medium-sized businesses to find new clients through LinkedIn optimisation, SEO blogging and webcopy. She transforms your technical, jargon-heavy copy into content that converts.