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11 Strategies For Finding Animation Clients on LinkedIn for Free

ben marvazi 2020

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Are you struggling to find more clients for your animation business? If you are a freelance animator and have no idea where to start searching for clients, LinkedIn can help you – for free.

With more than 350 million members, LinkedIn is a huge, business-centered social media platform. On LinkedIn, you can connect with other LinkedIn users, some of whom might be interested in working with you.

LinkedIn gives you direct access to the decision-makers you need to reach if you want to start getting new clients.

Using this platform, you can share your content with a wide audience beyond your own connections, bring in more traffic to your social media platforms and your animation website, and, most importantly, get more sales leads.

In this article, you’ll learn eleven strategies that you can use to find animation clients on LinkedIn, all for free.

1) Customize Your Profile

man customizing his LinkedIn profile

Image by LinkedIn Sales Navigator via Unsplash

Before posting anything on LinkedIn, make sure that you customize your profile and make it look professional and client-focused. Your first customer contact point with your potential animation clients will be your LinkedIn profile, which is why your page should represent you in a flattering way.

To make yourself visible to as many people (i.e. potential clients) as possible, you should set your profile to public. Make sure to use high-quality photos for your profile photo and your cover photo. If you can afford to, get your photo taken by a professional photographer in a studio.

Next, you’ll want to write a catchy headline that summarizes what you do and how you can help your animation clients. Ask yourself: how do I help people better than anyone else and what do my animation clients like about me? Then let the world know why they should hire you!

Adding relevant keywords that your target animation client will be looking for will make sure that you show up in search results. For example: “2D and 3D Animator | Increasing Conversions to Businesses by 20% Creating Animated Videos”

2) Optimize Your Summary

woman telling people to be real

GIF by The Bachelorette via GIPHY

If your headline, photo, and cover photo reel in your potential animation clients, your summary is what will hook clients by making them more interested in you. This is where you give your potential client a look into the benefits of working with you.

Keeping in mind the importance of using relevant keywords, you can also highlight some companies you worked for, skills you have, awards you’ve won, books you’ve read, and animation software and tools that you use.

Be real and personal when writing your summary. The last thing you want is potential clients leaving your profile because you don’t sound genuine.

3) Use a Strong Call-to-Action

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GIF by Awkward Marketing via GIPHY

At the end of your summary, let your potential animation clients know what they should do next by listing clear calls to action. Your CTAs must tell your potential client exactly how to enlist your service.

You can invite them to check out your website or portfolio, or to download a free lead magnet such as an ebook or podcast in exchange for their email address.

In addition, you can include proof of how you helped business owners grow their business with the use of your videos. If you want to provide your readers with another way to get in touch with you, you can wrap up your summary by simply leaving your email address.

4) Include Your Licenses, Certifications, and Awards

woman telling person to start growing

GIF by CBC via GIPHY

If you want to look more professional and credible to those who visit your profile, make sure you add licenses, certifications, and awards related to animation on your profile.

You can take many classes directly on LinkedIn. and Once you’ve completed them, you can get licenses and certifications to put on your profile. This shows that you are consistent in your learning and stay up-to-date on information in your field

For example, check out the LinkedIn profile of David McBride, animator and director of David McBride Animation. He listed the courses he took, his honors and awards, and the projects he worked on.

5) Get Skills, Endorsements, and Recommendations

man telling person that he can be trusted

GIF by The X-Files via GIPHY

Another way to make yourself stand out among the crowd on LinkedIn is to post endorsements from people you’ve helped or worked with. You can ask a connection to leave you a recommendation based on your work in a previous position.

The LinkedIn profile of James Curran, director of Partizan, is a great example. James has motion graphics, virtual effects, and animation listed as his skills and is endorsed by his connections.

Ruan Marinho says you have to remember that your LinkedIn profile is a social proof profile. The more you focus your efforts towards working on your profile, the more engagement you will get, especially when clients reach out to you after visiting your profile.

6) Add Videos to Your Profile

woman talking about something being interesting

GIF by Red Table Talk via GIPHY

Since you are an animator, you need to market yourself as someone who knows how to use video well. The best way to do this is to add videos to your profile. This will help draw future clients to you, since some people may find reading long text boring and would rather watch a video.

Adding a video to your profile will show your personality, animation skills, and expertise and help you target your audience efficiently.

Video content is easy to create, engaging, rich in visual aesthetics, and is more memorable. The next time you update your LinkedIn profile, make sure to add a video to show your creativity and stand out among others.

7) Join LinkedIn Groups

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GIF by meme candy via GIPHY

Many people are part of Facebook groups these days, but how about LinkedIn Groups? LinkedIn Groups are places where you can come together with other professionals to discuss topics of interest.

In LinkedIn Groups, you can ask questions and learn from others. You can also gain a better understanding of your clients, while also promoting your work. 

You have to add value to the LinkedIn Groups you’re in. A great way to do this is to  spark up great conversations about animation, share helpful articles, or comment on other members’ questions related to animation.

Take note that you should not over-promote. Your goal as a group member is to build relationships and establish authority as an animator.

Once you have become a member of a LinkedIn Group for a while and have interacted with some professionals, it’s time for you to ask LinkedIn Group members to connect with you.

According to The No Pants Project, LinkedIn Groups can be a great source for new clients. Joining relevant groups in your animation industry, and then building relationships with those who are in need of animation services, will help grow your reputation.

8) Regularly Post Status Updates

man talking about creating, connecting, and being consistent

GIF by Jazz Memes via GIPHY

An effective and fast way to get clients with LinkedIn is to regularly post status updates. You can post some relatable stories, videos, photos about your work, and how you helped a business grow.

You can also pose interesting questions or share articles, statistics, and infographics, that could be helpful to your audience. Aside from just posting content related to business and animation, you can also get more personal.

Online entrepreneur and marketer Ryan Stewart says that this is a kind of status update that will help you break through all the work-related noise on LinkedIn and will help you extend your reach.

You can write about your personal challenges, failures, how you overcame them, and how it affected how you work as an animator.

Sometimes your posts may get only a few likes, but it could reach hundreds and thousands of people who might end up checking out your profile and sending you a message.

9) Start Networking

woman talking about building your network

GIF by Build Your Dream Network via GIPHY

After posting status updates consistently over a period of time, you are sure to get messages offering opportunities to network with people. Sometimes they may not work with you directly, but they may be able to refer you to other people they know that might need your animation services.

If you’re interested in working with them someday, engage with them. Follow them, invite them to connect with you, and comment on their posts.

Once they have accepted your invitation to connect, it’s time for you to send them a message. Thank them for connecting with you and send them a compliment about their work by starting a conversation.

Make sure that you don’t make a sales pitch right away or else that might make them lose interested in keeping the conversation.

10) Showcase Your Work or Featured Articles

woman who believes she is the best

GIF by NBC via GIPHY

Besides commenting and engaging with users on status updates, write blog post articles, publish them to your animation website, and cross-post them on LinkedIn. Doing this will allow people to see your level of expertise .

Sometimes reading a blog post just might be the step that someone needs to convince a potential animation client to work with you. 

11) Interact With Influencers

man using phone to interact with influencers

Image by Jonas Leupe via Unsplash

To get more reach, engagements, connections, and even clients on LinkedIn, you should interact with influencers or power users.

Post a status update tagging these influencers in the animation industry, and hopefully, they will engage back with you by saying thank you and sharing that post.

However, keep in mind that these users get tons of notifications per day, so they might overlook your post. This shouldn’t be a discouragement but instead seen as a challenge.

People like posts that are real and sincere. Eclincher says not to be afraid when you get engagements from people who don’t like your status update. 

If you stay authentic and give valuable information, you will get more engagement and, eventually, more clients who want to work with you.

Ryan Stewart says that if an influencer comments on and shares your post, you’re much more likely to be rewarded with thousands of engagements from people who want to work with you.

Is Using LinkedIn Worth It?

LinkedIn is worth all your time and effort. With LinkedIn, you will be able to share your knowledge, work, and experiences. You’ll also build connections with a larger audience outside of your existing network who could use your skills and experience.

So what’s next? Log in to LinkedIn, customize your profile, join LinkedIn Groups, post valuable content, and start making long-term connections that will benefit your animation business.

If you’re seeking more tips about animation and how to manage to be a freelance animator, make sure to get your copy of our free marketing handbook and join our free masterclass.

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