Five tips to become a thought-leader on LinkedIn
By: Katie Russo
With more than 740 million active users in 2020, LinkedIn is the largest online professional network. If that alone isn't reason enough to join, the social media platform was recently found to be the most trusted social network, according to Insider.
We've seen an increase in the number of organizations and clients looking to establish themselves as thought-leaders on LinkedIn. The truth is that a thoughtful and best-practice-based page on LinkedIn is critical to building a trusted, engaging, and professional online presence. If you want to lead the pack—like many of your peers—there has never been a better time to take advantage of the platform's growing resources and establish yourself as an industry expert. You will, however, need to make sure you are doing it right if you want to reap the potential benefits.
If you're a thought-leader looking to create or optimize a LinkedIn profile, here are a few best-practice-based tips for success from our agency's social media experts.
Tip # 1 Be concise and consistent.
While you might be tempted to revive your favorite college nickname, it is not advised when looking to create your LinkedIn profile. The whole goal of the platform is for you to be searchable and quickly found. Using anything other than your first and last name can make it harder for potential connections to find your profile.
As a fundamental first step, you also want to take advantage of your ability to customize your URL by making it simply your first and last name—if possible. You can find this feature in the top right of your profile page where it says, "Edit public profile & URL." There are times when, if you have a common name, that is not an option. If you were gifted with a unique name, you're in luck! This consistency will help make your profile easier to find and strengthen your brand. You can thank your parents for that one.
Perhaps even more important than your name is your profile's professional headline, which describes your current role or position. This headline tells other LinkedIn users the industry you are in and the work you do within it. Your headline should be concise and creative—not simply your job title. It should also include keywords that make it easy to identify your industry and work.
Tip #2: Put your best face forward.
Your profile photo requires an appropriate headshot that is professional and fitting of your industry. The image you feature should only be of yourself and should balance professionalism and personability. The picture should also show who you are when you're at work. Make sure you are taking up most of the frame, not the background. If you are professionally active on other social media platforms, use the same profile picture across platforms to build consistency.
Not to get too technical on you, but the specifications also matter. The profile picture should be 400 x 400 pixels, and your background photo should be 1400 x 425 pixels. If you don't have a photo editor or someone to resize your photos for you, check out the free version of Canva to resize your images.
Tip #3: Build credibility with experience, education and endorsements.
The background information and experience sections of your profile are important as they showcase your expertise, skills and abilities to other thought-leaders, potential connections and future partners or employers. Start by adding a summary written in the third person that shares your current and future endeavors clearly and concisely. This is a great place to include media elements that showcase your work and projects—like links to your website and blog. You may also want to include contact information in the summary section of your profile if part of your goal is to engage with more people.
Once you have a solid summary, look to polish your past work experiences—these should be detailed and supplemented with samples whenever possible. This is a chance to show off your best work, so don't be shy! Keep your job descriptions in a bullet-point format and use at least one keyword or secondary keyword to elevate the visibility of your profile. Make sure you optimize your job titles, too, by making them more descriptive.
And don't forget about your educational and professional experience—these can also help build connections with alumni, former coworkers and other industry professionals. Plus, the education section is an excellent way to establish credibility in your field. If you have educational experience at a master's level or beyond, include that information.
Endorsements are another essential component to building your credibility on LinkedIn. These help to validate the skills you display on your profile. To get endorsements on LinkedIn:
Go to the upper-left search bar of the screen and enter the name of the person whom you would like to ask for a recommendation.
Click the three dots toward the top of the person's profile and select "Request a Recommendation" from the drop-down menu.
Don't forget to endorse others for their skills and experience, as it will help bolster your own endorsements.
Try to maintain roughly five to 10 endorsements on your profile.
Tip #4: Engage with your network.
After you complete your profile information in full, it is time to connect with other LinkedIn users. Connections are the basis of LinkedIn and the whole point of starting a profile. They help you network with previous, current and future colleagues and organizations. Aim for at least 300 connections but try to keep your connections below 3,000.
When you are starting to build your connections, be strategic. Connect with peers, clients, customers and other users within your network or industry. Joining groups is another way to utilize LinkedIn for networking purposes, so look for industry-leading groups or those like-minded leaders.
It might seem obvious, but to optimize your LinkedIn network, you also want to make sure your profile is public so that possible connections can find you. It is also helpful to add a link to your LinkedIn profile in your email signature. This is just another way to build your following.
Tip #5: Consult an expert.
In today's rapidly changing and digital world, the number of places any organization or person needs to be present and engage in can feel overwhelming. If you find yourself unable to take the time to build your presence correctly, or are struggling to grow it, consider consulting an expert or public relations agency. Building and optimizing a LinkedIn presence that reflects your success and expertise as a professional is just one piece of the thought leadership puzzle.
Once you—or a social media expert—have finished creating and optimizing your LinkedIn profile, you get to move on to the fun part: engaging! Post, comment, and react to your network's activity frequently to stay relevant and active as a thought leader. Don't forget to follow best practices for engagement too! After all, you made it this far—might as well do it right the whole way through.
Katie Russo is the Director of business development & marketing at Scott Circle Communications, an award-winning, certified woman-owned public relations agency focused on mission-driven clients including non-profits, associations, foundations, think tanks and others to raise awareness and advocate for issues that matter.