A good example of approaching key people on LinkedIn
By: Suellen S Beta Version
Tags: Networking, Linkedin Marketing, LinkedIn

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In this article I’m going to write about how a young marketing professional approached me on LinkedIn to ask for advice with an approach which stood out from the average. There are thousands of good articles on LinkedIn on how to best approach a new connection. They cover how to send an invitation, how to have a good profile, what type of content to share, and tactics for targeting key audience. But the way this person approached me was so brilliant, that during one of a productive coffees talking about LinkedIn with my friend Ana Kumlien, I got motivated to share the example.

So the story goes like this, I was recently approached by a young Digital Marketing professional based abroad who was planning to come to Ireland to get his/her Master in Digital Marketing. The person was also interested to pursue a career in Ireland after the further education. Nothing extraordinary new until this point. He explained his background and asked if I wouldn’t mind answering some questions about the Irish market.

As a Brazilian living and working abroad, I’m frequently approached by people who are hoping or planning to work abroad. Usually, it’s extremely complex to give some advice and the reason is you could really talk about anything. In this sort of LinkedIn scenario a set of good questions makes all the difference.

Important to mention that the questions were smart and non-obvious things that you can easily Google it. Because we shared backgrounds, I could give my more experienced opinion, share relevant facts about the Irish marketing industry, the advantages, and disadvantages of being a non-native English speaker, and skills in high demand. Even though, I work in a different industry I’m much more exposed to the trends here and what the companies usually are looking for.

Be smart and plan ahead

The first thing that stood out from the mentioned approach was the fact that the young professional looked to connect with digital marketing professionals who weren’t native speakers in Ireland. So simple! Extremely clever! I was the right person to clarify questions regarding marketing skills, market perspective, wages, and even visas, as both of us would require visas to work in Ireland.

I was even able to share my personal opinion about the field that the person was looking for to build up their career. I shared my idea about masters available in Ireland for professionals like us, as I have done myself all the research. I gave some extra tips, as for example a University in England with dedicated programs for marketing professionals and communicators, which I found out through an event which I attended in Ireland.

Context and market really matter in this situation. If the person approaches me regarding language barriers, for example, I have no problem sharing my experience and perceptions, as it’s a challenge for all sorts of professionals. I even wrote about it before here.

Main takeaways about invitations and connections

If you are looking for information about a field of your interest:

Search for people already with the profile that is your goal. Try to search some common points, so the person will feel more comfortable and confident about sharing their experience.

When adding recruiters to your network try to send an invitation for who recruit in your area of interest. In my opinion in this situation a simple note explaining that you are a job seeker will be enough.

Connect with people from your industry and segment and from the areas which you are interested in hearing and learning from.

Extra content tips

LinkedIn is a social media, as the name states it requires you being social. If you want to be relevant in the platform you need to interact with people, engage in the conversation and share good content. The platform is content based and people scrolling on LinkedIn timeline tend to spend more time reading.

Choose your topics in alignment with your professional specialities and try to stick with them. It is one of the ways to build up authority and establish your territory of expertise.

The above example is just one in many, there are some really nice ways to send a LinkedIn invitation in a short note. I always think about my goal. What leads me to connect with that person? Then, I explain it in the invitation. Being honest and real, it’s never out of date and well manners is always a huge help. It was exactly what this person did when invited me to connected. And see, it worked!

What about you? Have you ever experienced some positive interaction like this before on LinkedIn? Why don’t you share a bit here too? I’ll be happy to hear your opinion, examples, and experiences regarding this topic. Feel free to leave your comment.

*This article was edited in collaboration with Ana Kumlien.