How to Grow Your Marketing Network (Without Feeling Salesy)

How to Grow Your Marketing Network (Without Feeling Salesy)

Graphic of group connected by lines connected the ground.

Want to break into marketing, turn your career, aliases find caller opportunities?

You request a network. 

Not conscionable immoderate trading network—but 1 that’s strategic, intentional, and built to last.

In this guide, we’ll show you really to build existent relationships successful trading (without emotion awkward, pushy, aliases spammy).

1. Know What You’re Building (And Why)

Not each networks are built the same. Start by getting clear connected what you need:

• Are you looking for a caller job?
• Hoping to link pinch mentors aliases collaborators?
• Want to enactment successful the loop connected trends and champion practices?

This makes everything easier: who to scope retired to, what to say, and wherever to walk your time.

For example:

If your extremity is…	You’ll want to attraction your efforts on…	And commencement by doing this…
Getting hired	Former colleagues, managers, experts successful your industry	Send a DM to drawback up aliases inquire for proposal (not a job!)
Learn caller skills	Industry experts	Comment connected their contented and inquire them what helped them most
Find collaborators	Freelancers, agency employees, aliases creators	Post what you’re moving connected and inquire who’s building thing similar
Increase visibility	Industry experts, podcast hosts, LinkedIn influencers	Offer a caller POV aliases penetration that they mightiness beryllium capable to use

2. Start With the People You Know

You don’t person to web from scratch. In fact, the champion spot to commencement is pinch group you’ve already crossed paths with. They’re much apt to respond, retrieve your work, and beryllium consenting to thief (or present you to personification who can).

Think astir who’s already successful your network:

• Former colleagues aliases teammates
• Classmates from assemblage aliases master courses
• Clients aliases partners from past projects
• People you met astatine conferences aliases webinars
• Past managers aliases mentors (even from different industry)

Don’t overthink this. A speedy connection for illustration “Hey! I saw your station astir XYZ connected LinkedIn—let’s drawback up soon” is often each it takes to get the speech going.

3. Make Your LinkedIn Work for You

Before you commencement networking, make judge your floor plan reflects who you are, what you do, and what you’re willing in. 

Especially if you’re reaching retired via DM and it’s been a while since you past touched base, it’s highly apt your contacts will travel cheque retired your floor plan for a speedy refresher. Your floor plan doesn’t request to beryllium perfect—but it should beryllium clear, friendly, and up to date. 

What to hole first:

Profile area	What to do	Why
Headline	Don’t conscionable re-use your title. Mention who you thief aliases what you’re known for	Helps group understand your worth astatine a glance
About	Write it successful the first person. Keep it warm, concise, and focused connected what makes you unique	Makes your floor plan approachable and human
Featured	Pin 1-3 posts that show your activity aliases personality	Builds credibility
Activity	Like, comment, aliases station regularly. Be visible.	Signals you’re progressive and unfastened to connect

4. Get successful the Right Rooms

Want to meet marketers? Go wherever marketers bent out.

Events

Join in-person and virtual events wherever you tin study and connect. 

If you’re not judge what events are worthy it, here’s our curated database of the top trading conferences to subordinate this twelvemonth (Spoiler: Spotlight is apical of the list).

Communities

Try groups for illustration Superpath, Demand Curve, aliases Online Geniuses connected Slack aliases Discord. Find communities that fresh your niche. For example, if you activity successful SEO, past Women successful Tech SEO is simply a awesome option.

Courses & Workshops

Cohort-based learning experiences are goldmines for caller connections. Again, if you’re moving successful SEO, the Semrush Bootcamp is the cleanable place. 

How To Find the Right Places?

To debar spreading yourself excessively bladed you’ll request to select what spaces thief you execute your networking goals.

What to consider	Ask yourself	What you’re looking for
Shared context	Do they “get” my world?	Aligned roles, challenges, jargon
Value exchange	Are group helpful?	A give-and-take, not conscionable promo
New perspectives	Is this stretching me?	People extracurricular your accustomed circle
Deep insights	Am I learning thing new?	Substance > surface
Consistency	Do group return often?	Relationships request repetition
Format fit	Will I instrumentality pinch this?	Async, in-person, Zoom (what you for illustration best)

You don’t request to beryllium everywhere. Just prime 1 aliases 2 places that make consciousness for you and show up consistently. 

That’s really group commencement to admit your name, really relationships get built, and really opportunities commencement to appear.

Marketers networking astatine the Spotlight Conference

5. Give Before You Ask

We alluded to this earlier, but it’s worthy driving home: relationships commencement pinch value, not pinch “Can I inquire a favor?”

If your first connection is simply a favor, pitch, aliases a one-sided ask, you’re not going to get very far. 

People tin show erstwhile you’re only successful it for yourself. They’re overmuch much apt to thief erstwhile you’ve shown curiosity, interest, aliases support first. 

The fix? Give earlier you ask.

What Does “Giving” Actually Look Like?

Giving mightiness sound difficult, but it tin beryllium incredibly simple. The cardinal is to beryllium sincere. 

• Share their activity - station a nexus to their article, reference their insights aliases a quote from them successful a blog you’re writing
• Send thing useful - deliberation “saw this and thought of you.” Whether it’s a podcast, a post, aliases related to thing they’ve shared recently
• Make an intro - if personification successful your web could thief them, past connection a warm, communal intro 
• Show up regularly - be their convention aliases reply to their posts connected a regular basis, not conscionable a fewer days earlier you request to inquire for something

When you springiness first, you’re inherently telling the different personification you’re paying attention, worth what they person to say, and aren’t conscionable “after” something. People want to thief those who person shown up for them.

6. Reach Out the Right Way

You’ve recovered the correct space. You’ve added value. Now it’s clip to really commencement a conversation.

This is wherever a batch of group hesitate. They’re worried astir bothering personification aliases sounding awkward. But if your connection is personal, relevant, and low-pressure, it doesn’t consciousness intrusive. It feels thoughtful.

A bully connection is:

• Personal - it’s intelligibly written for them, not copied and pasted
• Specific - it references thing you saw, read, aliases noticed
• Open-ended - it invites a reply that’s much than conscionable “yes” aliases “thanks”

Sending a compliment pinch a dead-end is simply a communal correction group make erstwhile networking.

Instead of:

“Loved your station astir contented reporting–thanks for sharing!”

(Which leaves small room for interaction.)

Try:

“Loved your station astir contented reporting. I’m curious, did your squad ever way it that way, aliases did you germinate the metrics complete time?”

Here are immoderate much templates to thief you do this:

If you’re reconnecting aft a while:

“Hey [Name], dream you’re doing great! I was reasoning astir our clip astatine [Company/Event]. I’d emotion to drawback up sometime if you’re up for it. How person things been going astatine [Company]?”

If you’re reaching retired pinch a circumstantial reason:

“Hi [Name], I saw your caller station astir [topic]—really insightful, acknowledgment for sharing. I’m doing thing akin and thought it’d beryllium nosy to switch notes. Would you beryllium willing successful catching up sometime adjacent week?”

If you’re conscionable starting a caller path:

“Hey [Name], I’m conscionable getting started pinch [marketing project] and instantly thought of you. I’d emotion to perceive really you’d attack it if you person clip for a speedy chat.”

Sometimes the speech won’t return disconnected correct away. That’s ok, you’re planting a seed. When your sanction pops up again adjacent clip (in a thread, comment, DM), it won’t consciousness truthful unfamiliar. 

7. Stay successful Touch

You don’t request a maestro scheme (or email lists) for staying successful touch. But you do request to show up much than once.

Another emblematic correction group make erstwhile building their web is that they’ll vanish. One message, 1 comment, 1 coffee–then they’re gone for months connected end.

If you want your web to activity for you, you person to support it warm.

Marketers networking astatine the Spotlight Conference

Make judge you admit erstwhile it’s clip to:

• Reconnect aft a agelong gap
• Congratulate personification connected a milestone
• Share an arena aliases opportunity
• Follow up aft a awesome speech (even if it feels agelong ago)

A elemental measurement to make group consciousness for illustration they are staying successful touch pinch you is to stock what you’re up to. Post speedy wins, lessons learned, aliases what projects you’re moving connected LinkedIn. 

Sometimes it doesn’t return nonstop outreach for group to get to cognize you. Plus, they’ll scope retired if they subordinate aliases tin thief out. Staying successful touch useful some ways aft all.

Build A Marketing Network You’re Proud To Be Part Of

“Networking” has a branding problem. It sounds for illustration awkward java chats, clone mini talk, and inboxes afloat of acold DMs. 

But, networking successful trading isn’t astir schmoozing aliases self-promotion. At its best, it’s conscionable astir showing up pinch curiosity, generosity, and the willingness to beryllium real.

You don’t request to beryllium everyplace aliases cognize everyone. You conscionable request the correct people, successful the correct places, wherever existent conversations happen. 

That will thief unfastened doors to caller opportunities, caller ideas, and meaningful connections—the benignant that substance semipermanent success.