LinkedIn, as a social medium, is in a league of its own. That’s because, unlike other social networks such as Facebook and Instagram, which were created for social networking between individuals, LinkedIn exists for the business professional.
While individual profiles initially served as online resumes, the platform has evolved into a space where like-minded professionals exchange knowledge and experience and stay updated on industry trends.
Organisations now own corporate pages, although personal pages get far more engagement. Here are some tips to maximise your business presence on LinkedIn.
Create professional profiles
Professionalism is key to brand perception. This includes having a professionally written personal and corporate profile on LinkedIn, uploading a professional headshot as your profile picture, completing the ‘About’ section and linking to your website. LinkedIn is a top source for AI overviews when asked about professionals. Keeping your profiles up-to-date ensures that AI models respond with accurate information about the leadership and the organisation.
Turn off privacy settings
Being visible is key, and because what you share on LinkedIn is your professional background and not all of your personal information and family photos, it is okay to open your settings. As a result, allow your profile to be public so that your full name and what you do are visible to all of your connections and their connections. Doing this will also ensure people are notified when you share updates.
Avoid cold pitches
Once your profile is up, it’s time to network. However, do not send a business pitch immediately some accepts your connection request. Nobody wants an overt sales pitch on any social networking platform, even LinkedIn, albeit professional. Rather, establish relationships with potential clients and position yourself as an expert in your industry. When people know what you do and have trust your expertise, it would be easier to pitch to them and generate sales leads.
Use images customised for LinkedIn
It is very convenient to take a poster created for Facebook and slam it on LinkedIn because you want to save time. However, these social networks have different dimensions for images, so the image might not appear properly, thereby making the post look unprofessional.
Be active
When a prospect clicks on the ‘Activity’ tab on your page, it should not be blank. For a solopreneur or small business owner, we understand that your hands are full and keeping the activity going can be tough. But the more activity you have on LinkedIn, the more you’ll get noticed. So, create content on industry-related topics and share it on your pages. Engage with content shared by others by leaving comments. Celebrate business wins and use features such as ‘LinkedIn Featured’ or ‘Stories’ to draw attention to content that you have created.
Create collaborative posts
LinkedIn recently launched the collaborative posts feature. As a founder, this means you can cross-promote content, reducing the pressure to create unique content for your personal brand and corporate brand. Leverage this feature to keep your pages lively.
Would you like help setting up and managing your personal or corporate LinkedIn page? Send a message to hello@thebrandsparks.com
