6 Steps To Build Your Personal Brand On LinkedIn
Before we talk about how to build your personal brand on LinkedIn, let me tell you Why LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is not just another social media platform. It is perceived as a “business social media platform”. A platform where professionals from all backgrounds come and look to either hire someone or get hired by someone.
It has over 950 million users. Out of these, only 3 million users create content weekly. And only a fraction of this content could be counted as good quality content. Everything else is just noise. So, there is quite a little competition right now and a huge room to grow.
Another advantage is that people on LinkedIn have deeper pockets, so the chances of landing high-ticket clients for your business/service/product are very high.
Now let’s dive into a 6-step process to build your brand.
1. Turn on the creator mode.
2. Define your target audience (TA).
3. Optimize your LinkedIn profile.
4. Get attention by using high-quality visuals.
5. Strategically and genuinely engage with people.
6. Stay consistent.
1. Turn On the Creator Mode
Before you start doing anything, ‘turn on’ the creator mode in your profile. A seemingly simple step but it can tremendously boost your visibility.
It allows people to ‘follow’ you instead of sending you a connection request.
Another advantage of this feature is that it will give you access to creator tools like newsletters, audio/video events, and yes! more impressions on your posts, which means more visibility.
Please note that LinkedIn is going to remove this creator mode on/off feature in March 2024. You will have access to all the creator tools and a choice between a ‘follow’ or ‘connect’ button as your main CTA.
2. Define Your Target Audience (TA)
Before starting to post content on LinkedIn, ask yourself one question.
What is the GOAL you want to achieve with LinkedIn?
Do you want to:
i. Gain followers?
ii. Attract more leads?
iii. Find potential business partnerships.
iv. Connect with like-minded professionals?
Select a target audience around that.
For example, if you are trying to attract more leads, your target audience would be interested in buying your product/service. Now that you have defined your target audience, understand their pain points and give them a simple solution. Create content that solves their pain points and helps them achieve their goals.
3. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
There are five key points in your profile that need your attention the most.
- Profile picture.
- The banner.
- Headline.
- About section.
- Featured section.
I. Profile picture:
An ideal profile picture is one in which people can see your personality. So make sure to have a professional headshot with a smile. It’s crucial to create welcoming vibes through a good-looking picture. So after visiting your profile, they feel intrigued and interested to know more about you, talk to you, engage with you, etc.
II. The banner:
Your LinkedIn profile banner is like a free billboard. Treat it accordingly. You should keep four things in mind to create a good banner.
i. Display your product or service.
ii. A tagline to promote your business.
iii. Add visuals to make it eye-catching.
iv. A clear call-to-action (CTA) on your banner.
It is essential to choose your CTA wisely. Examples of good CTAs include, ‘follow and press the bell icon’, ‘send me a DM’, and ‘book a 1:1 consultation call’.
Or send people to any other section of your profile by saying, ‘Go to my about section’, or ‘Visit my featured section’ to make each section of your profile interconnected.
III. Headline (Bio):
This is the most important section of your LinkedIn profile; even more important than your profile picture. This is something people can read when you leave a comment on their posts. It’s the first thing to notice while visiting a profile or sending a connection request.
So, craft your headline mindfully. Here’s a simple formula to create a perfect headline.
[What you do]+[your target audience]+[the pain points you solve]=A simple yet effective headline. Then include your profession/skills and separate both parts using a vertical slash ( | ).
For example,
[Helping] + [Founders and CEOs] + [build their personal brand on LinkedIn.] | Ghostwriter | Copywriter | Graphic Designer.
Tweak it to write your profession first followed by everything else.
Be aware of having a different headline from the tagline on your banner.
IV. About section:
Only those people who liked your headline, banner, and profile picture would be interested in reading your About section. Your headline and banner should be concise so that people can scan it in 60 milliseconds. And those who scanned it and want to know more about your product, service, or personal story would come to read this section of your profile.
At the end of your About section, write your CTA once again. And give your contact details. Do not let people keep wondering what to do next. Make each step simple and easy to understand.
V. Featured section:
This is the section of your profile where you can demonstrate your skills. You can add an external link to your portfolio, your website, or the course which you sell. You can also show real pictures of your product.
4. Get Attention By Using High-Quality Visuals
The easiest way to get attention on LinkedIn right now is by using high-quality visuals. Always combine your text post with visuals. It could be a selfie, a sunset picture, an eye-catching graphic, or a carousel.
Selfies work best on LLinkedIn, followed by carousels and everything else coming after these two. Text-only posts are the least performing ones, no matter how well the content is written.
So the simple formula to get attention on LinkedIn is to combine high-quality content with high-quality visuals.
5. Strategically & Genuinely Engage With People
On LinkedIn, engagement is the key to growth. And the key to getting engagement on your posts is by engaging with other people’s posts. By engagement I mean comments. Leave comments on three types of profiles.
i. Your followers,
ii. Other creators, and
iii. Your target audience.
If you don’t engage with other people you are not going to survive. Your post will get lost in the sea of thousands of others if you do not take care of it. So take responsibility. Build strong connections based on true interests.
6. Stay Consistent
Now, that you have created a content strategy and understand the platform really well, the only thing left is to stay consistent. Post at least 3 to 7 times a week, depending on the time you have to invest in your personal brand.