Have you ever been asked, “What is the best place to build your Personal Digital branding?”
I am sure the most common answers you have answered like
- “Instagram is the new Hype”
- “Everyone is on Facebook”
- “YouTube will crash the world”
But I would say that LinkedIn is the best place for growing your personal brand in 2020. If you still think that LinkedIn is just for recruiters and boring & spamming salesperson – I’d like to you think again
Making connections ad gaining followers on LinkedIn works totally differently from other social media platforms. Let us say 80,000 followers and 20,000 connections won’t give so impact on Instagram, but it’s pretty impressive on LinkedIn.
But why would you want to grow your brand on LinkedIn? The answer is very simple. The people who are using it are those who could make or break your career or better to say your brand.
From the most, basic level employee of the company to the CEO are today present there. You can find the CEO of a Multimillionaire company as quickly as you can see that high school love of your life with whom probably you would plan to spend the rest of your life.
LinkedIn is booming and right now we are just at the beginning of it. You can have millions of LinkedIn post views without spending a penny. I am sure you must be aware that this is difficult on other Digital platforms.
LinkedIn is majorly a B2B platform, which means you can get connected to businesses and the people who run them or even own them. The same people must be using other platforms, but their attitude and personalities will be different. LinkedIn is the professional version of them.
Even in a survey, when people were asked: “What’s your priority on LinkedIn”. The win was clear – to grow a personal brand.
Business entrepreneurs and professionals acknowledge LinkedIn’s strategic marketing value in this respect, as well as in other aspects of branding. And yes, as they say timing is everything.
So, let’s discover 10 ways to boost your personal brand on LinkedIn in 2020–
Optimize your LinkedIn profile for search
LinkedIn is just as much of a search engine as it is a social media platform, so the words and things you choose matter do matter.
I am sure you want people easily find you on LinkedIn and contact you about business. You need to add a better keyword for your LinkedIn profile. You can add them to:
- a) Headline,
- b) Summary,
- c) Experience,
- d) Skills.
I assure you that you can see Title, Summary and your Headline make the biggest impact on your SEO.
Review your Resume
People will trust your content more if they feel that you’re an expert. And of course, your profile can make this feeling. So before making your profile better, you need to analyze the current situation and find out – what exactly your profile is. Is that okay to be your “face on the online business world”?
If you are not sure, you can use the online website and tools available online to review. And need not worry; a lot of them are free for the basic level. After reviewing you will understand where you need to work.
LinkedIn profile picture
The other important thing is to focus on your profile photo. Pictures do speak louder than words. The goal of your photos on LinkedIn should be – stand-out and draw attention. Try to find a new and unique photo and at the same time, it should be professional.
What makes for a good LinkedIn profile picture? Here are the things to keep in mind–
- You should look like you.
- No selfies allowed. Your face should fill the frame.
- It should include your face and/or shoulders
- Use a high-resolution image
- Be the only person in the picture
- Avoid distracting backgrounds
- Take the photo in soft, natural light
Also, in case, don’t forget to focus on the cover picture. LinkedIn also has the option to add a cover photo to your profile. It’s a great way to stand out and add an extra element to your profile. Try to incorporate your company’s logo or an image associated with your profession. The required dimensions are 1884×396.
Write engaging content on LinkedIn
No matter what in the Digital world, Content is the king.
Ever wondered what people follow on social media?
People? Brands? Media? The answer is “Content”. I follow people on LinkedIn because of the content they share. It’s valuable, unique and engaging. Moreover, they believe in quantity over quality.
Contribute something of value to your target market. Like to ask, yourself would you follow someone consisting of mostly self-promotion and ads, or would you prefer content that is educational and/or entertaining?
It may initially seem superficial and you would feel like to give up, but the more reactions and comments you receive on your post, the more people it will reach.
So the content part which you need to remember is as follows-
- Give value right here, right now;
- Make your post-mobile-friendly;
- Intrigue your readers with the first lines;
- Offer something in exchange for the comment or what we call User-generated content
Avoid links
If your post includes a link that takes you away from the page, the algorithm will penalize the reach so that fewer people view your content. So basically LinkedIn penalizes links.
You can resolve and get off by this issue by posting first without the link and then editing it after it has already been posted to add the link back in. SMART, RIGHT? We know that!
Choose Your Skills Skillfully
You can add up to 50 skills on your profile. You should examine and choose relevant skills to fill all 50 slots. Furthermore, you should think strategically about what skills to include. Apply permutation and combination and see what fits right for you.
Initially, fifty might seem like a lot, but it’s once you start adding skills you’ll find it’s not that much as you thought. These skills include things as generic as “writing” and “editing.” So if you are a writer, you know how many options you have.
Get initial engagement with LinkedIn pods
LinkedIn algorithms work a little different. It works by this principle: LinkedIn shows your post to 1st connections first, and only if they like it and engage with your content with likes and comments, LinkedIn understands “Ok, this piece of content is interested in at least 1st connections; it probably might be interested in others”.
So, your initial engagements make a huge impact on your future. Hence, to start getting more LinkedIn post views you need to organize the process of getting likes and comments from your colleagues, people who follow you and 1st connections. Try to connect with a niche audience if your content is a niche.
You can message or Whatsapp people personally so that they get engaged in your post. Don’t hesitate to ask everyone to support your LinkedIn post with likes and comments. Connect on a personal level, but keep it professional.
Apart from that, you can also boost your LinkedIn post views with automatic engagement groups.
Interact with others
Don’t underestimate the power of participating in the other’s post. It is a fantastic way to find other professionals whose interests align with yours.
Down the line, those connections can lead to opportunities and contracts. It increases the visibility, so when you see a post that you connect with, return the favour.
Comment, start threads, pose questions, offer advice – strive to be a useful, active connection. Also join a few key groups, rather than a silent lurker on many. Remember that other people (who are not even your connection) can see the content that you interact with, so keep it relevant to your brand.
Accept All Connection Requests
Understand it from My Little Pony – Friendship is magic! And guess what? You can harness that magic and wield the mighty power of friendship on LinkedIn to become a social media socialite! Especially at the times when we are even hanging out Digitally, You can become a unicorn in a sea of donkeys. Most of the people on LinkedIn tend to play it safe when it comes to adding connections.
A fact is that having more LinkedIn connections increases your chances of showing up as one of a user’s “most viewed connections.”
Another great advantage of increasing LinkedIn connection- is the huge increase in endorsements. Endorsements are like LinkedIn badges of honour, as coworkers and friends endorse you for certain skills that can turn out to be a great advertisement.
Personalize while sending Invitations to Connect
I firmly believe that personalization is a key component to get someone to respond not only on LinkedIn but everywhere.
No matter if you are a job seeker trying to reach a prospective employer or a recruiter attempting to find a quality candidate for your company, you need to take a little extra time to compose a well-thought-out invitation when connecting with someone.
Many people overlook the opportunity to use a connection request to its full advantage. But trust me in those 300 characters you can create magic.
The blueprint for writing pensive, undeniable LinkedIn connection requests comes down to five P’s. It should be:
- Polite
- Pertinent
- Personalized
- Professional
- Praiseful
Just sending a LinkedIn connection request is more like a handshake in the party. However, a personalized one can turn out to be a real groundbreaker.
LinkedIn is your professional calling card. By sharing your knowledge and values through LinkedIn, you can showcase your experience, build relationships, and stand out from the crowd. Be effective and stand out in the right way by understanding how the platform works. It offers a huge opportunity to connect with a massive professional population to grow your Personal Brand. So, don’t limit yourself.