LinkedIn personal branding (also known as Leadership Profiling) is how you become recognised for the hard work you do, plus the knowledge and expertise you have. It’s your way to stand out and be seen for what you’ve accomplished.
A lot of the time, big wins for a company or project are celebrated on brand social media pages, but how often do the people behind the success shout about their involvement?
Very rarely.
And if you’re not making a big deal about your work, why should anyone else?
The truth is you deserve to be recognised.
You have skills and experience worth shouting about.
Knowing where to begin with LinkedIn personal branding can be tricky if it’s new to you, but in this article, we’ll look at why it’s so important, plus ideas for your personal brand, our top tips, and the no-nos you need to avoid.
As a professional, LinkedIn is one of the strongest social media platforms for showcasing your industry knowledge and expertise. It’s where you introduce yourself to a wider business audience, whether you’re actively looking for connections or putting feelers out so others will connect with you.
In turn, this generates more business, as your audience gets to know more about what you do and how you do it.
If you don’t post regularly on LinkedIn, you may be thinking that’s a load of crap, but that’s not the case. As reported by Forbes, 82% of consumers are more likely to trust a brand when its leaders are active on social media.
That’s because people are done with faceless brands and want to buy into the human-centric side of business; the wins, the losses, the hard work, the lessons learned, and the long-term influence.
They want to know how credible the team behind the company is, and whether they can put their faith in you.
And they’re also sick of hearing the same stories from every similar brand page. Your story is unique to you; I guarantee it’s more interesting than you give it credit for, so tell it and see how positively people react.
Content ideas for your personal brand on LinkedIn should be simple. You don’t need to spend an eternity coming up with concepts because it’s you, your thoughts and your insights that people will tune in to. Some ideas to focus on include:
Let your audience know how you got to where you are. Did you go to uni, start an apprenticeship, or go straight into the world of work?
What was your first job and what lessons did you take into your next role?
Was any twist and turn on your career path a surprise or was it all planned from the outset?
Detailing your career to date adds credibility to your story; it shows how you progressed and the thought process behind each move.
What’s happening in your industry right now that you can comment on? Maybe there’s new legislation that’s making your job easier or harder.
Perhaps a new bit of tech is revolutionising your work flow.
Or you could be seeing a boom, highlighting good things in store.
Whatever is happening, it’s always good to share your thoughts – especially if your view is different to what everyone else is saying. People want to know the ins and outs that only few know, but they also want to know why it’s important and how it will affect them.
Like we mentioned in the intro, if you’re not making a big deal about your work, others won’t either.
If you’re particularly proud of something you’ve done, let your audience know.
Explain how you contributed to the project and how the end result benefitted your client or customer.
Not only is this social proof that you can work to an elite level, it’s also a good opportunity to showcase the range of skills and knowledge you’ve learned over the years.
Depending on how comfortable you are sharing details of your life with your audience, personal stories make great content for LinkedIn.
They humanise you, giving more of a backstory to the person you are.
This builds empathy and gives people a reason to root for you outside of a professional landscape.
But even if you’re not keen on discussing your friends, family and social life, you could always talk about your hobbies and interests, such as reading, films and TV shows you’re enjoying, sport or keeping healthy.
Starting on LinkedIn doesn’t have to be daunting. If you’re looking to build your personal brand, here are our top tips:
We both know you have stories to tell and insights to share, but it’s more time-consuming than people realise to keep on top of LinkedIn. Even the big companies understand how important personal branding is though, with Paypal employing a Head of CEO content with an eye-watering $200K+ salary.
If you’re looking to boost your profile on LinkedIn without it cutting too much into your time, the experts at PR By Whitney are here to help.
From creating content, posting, and interacting with your followers, we can assist in a range of different ways.
Want to learn more? Reach out to us for a discovery call today.
Written by Simon Carter
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