In the present, where artificial intelligence and automation are pushing us in the direction of convenience, authenticity and a human-first approach have never been more critical. Your personal brand is your one-way ticket to securing and protecting this authenticity, and creating a platform for yourself that will differentiate you from the crowd, help you build meaningful connections and pave your way to growth and success. In this article, we will take a deeper look into personal branding on LinkedIn and how you can build a profile that opens doors while also preserving your honesty and authenticity.
Personal Branding on LinkedIn: the rundown
LinkedIn has gradually become the default in the context of personal brands: the platform offers professionals all the means necessary for building strong and meaningful relationships with other professionals, and thus, it is no wonder that so many personal brands start and develop on LinkedIn.
With 40% of all age groups and 67% of Gen Z users highlighting the importance of having a strong personal brand (source), and the majority of employers stating that personal brands can impact their decision-making more than a resume (source), this leaves no doubt about their significance. The question remains: when and where do you start?
Well, we have some interesting news for you. If you are one of LinkedIn’s 1.2 billion users (source), then you already have a personal brand. Whether you are using the platform to make connections and keep an eye on industry trends, share your achievements and development, post content and resources, read useful tips and tutorials, or just follow big content creators and industry leaders, all these actions are a part of your personal brand.
Regardless of whether you consider yourself an active or passive LinkedIn user, your personal brand began the moment you created your account. So why not grow it and take advantage of all the doors it can help you open?
Personal Branding on LinkedIn: The significance and benefits
Along with the mountain of data evidence to solidify the importance of personal brands in today’s digital age, it is also important to mention the benefits that cannot really be summarised by a number:
- Reach: Dedicating efforts to building and sustaining your personal branding on LinkedIn will be one of the most solid ways you can broaden your reach and branch out to new audiences, ultimately expanding your platform and growing future opportunities.
- Recognition and expertise: Personal branding on LinkedIn allows you to share something only you possess – your expertise, knowledge and creativity. With the right content strategy in place, you can then build towards establishing yourself as a leading voice within your industry and niche.
- Growth: With your increased reach and tailored content that lets your thought leadership shine through, new opportunities will start knocking on your door. Invitations for partnerships with brands, appearances at events or podcasts, and collaborations with other creators will steadily make their way to your inbox. Make sure you consider carefully and widely, but accept smartly.
- Community: Possibly the most rewarding experience of seeing your personal brand grow is seeing the community around you expand simultaneously. It is crucial to continue nurturing your relationship and investing time and effort into developing it.
With this laid out, you are now probably eager to take matters into your own hands and turn your personal branding on LinkedIn into something meaningful. Don’t worry, we’ve got you.
How to make personal branding on LinkedIn work for you?
In his book “Human First Marketing: The Art of Being Seen, Trusted and Remembered”, Phil, our CEO, shares the four-step process to establishing and growing your personal brand.
If you would like to learn more about how you can design this blueprint and implement this strategy, check out our in-depth post on that here. Now, with this human-first cycle system as a basis, we can outline some actionable strategies on how you can make personal branding on LinkedIn work, and some great examples to follow.
#1: Personalise and optimise your profile
The first step is to make it clear who you are and what your value offering is, and ensure that everyone who finds you can understand those key points just from a simple glance at your profile. First impressions and brand associations happen in a matter of seconds. This is why you have to remove any obstacles that users may face during this process and optimise it.
LinkedIn allows for high personalisation of your profile, with many areas available for tailoring to your preference and niche. Start with your profile photo, header, tagline, and “about” section, as they are the four key visual and written elements users will see on your profile first. Those elements should communicate who you are, what your platform is about and what value users would derive from following and engaging with you. Here are some strong examples below:
#2: Tailor your content to reflect you professionally and personally, and keep your audience in mind
A good personal brand content strategy is all about balance: the stories you tell and the expertise you share should reflect you as a professional and as a person, all while providing your audience with value. Generally, there are three main content pools you can dip in: informative, inspiring and entertaining. You can think of it this way:
- Informative – to share your thought leadership from your niche, professional experience, latest research, and resourceful expertise, all with the aim of exchanging knowledge and value with your community;
- Inspiring – to share the biggest lessons of your career, speak about how you overcome obstacles and difficulties, celebrate your achievements and growth, document your journey, and solidify your values, all to show who you are as a person and connect more meaningfully, the human-first way;
- Entertaining – to share different sneak peeks of your life, create memes, tell relatable anecdotes, and participate in relevant trends, all to add a layer of fun and something more your community can resonate with.
Here are some great examples:
#3. Engage and nurture your community
Once your content strategy is in play, it is critical to ensure that you dedicate time and effort to building relationships with others on the platforms – what LinkedIn has always been about. Without engagement, your personal brand would just exist in a vacuum with no impact and no growth; therefore, making sure that it is a continuous two-way conversation between you and your followers is key.
A balanced human-first approach to community engagement is how you do that:
- React: always make sure you are creating a favourable environment for discussions with your followers via your content, and never leave an invitation for a discussion unanswered. Put simply, stimulate comments and engagement, and reciprocate.
- Be proactive: aim to start meaningful conversations on someone else’s territory by practising proactive community engagement. Outline the top industry leaders from your niche, as well as other content creators, groups and pages that align with your experience, expertise and values. Then, reach out and interact with them regularly, as a way to not only broaden your personal brand but also create valuable connections for future growth.
#4. Seek out collaboration opportunities
As mentioned previously, collaboration opportunities are sure to arise as a result of the above steps. However, there are no rules against seeking those opportunities yourself. Taking this proactive approach a step further and taking the lead on inviting strategic collaborations and partnerships is not only beneficial, but encouraged.
As part of your proactive community engagement, make sure to also join spaces centred around events, workshops, webinars, resources, podcasts, and meet-ups – a simple but valuable step towards moving your personal brand forward and branching out in the right directions.
If you are ready to maximise the opportunities that LinkedIn can offer and begin building a substantial and meaningful personal brand, the human-first way, get in touch with us here.
