Mastering LinkedIn, or the platform for professionals, can be difficult if you don’t know the key differences between a company page and your personal profile.
In 2020, LinkedIn had over 660 million users worldwide – making it the #1 go-to for B2B professionals to give online networking a red hot crack. The company’s mantra of “people you know, talking about the things you care about” is simple enough in theory, but knowing how to navigate this platform is a whole new ballgame when compared to other social media channels.
Many users make the mistake of pouring all of their time, energy, and resources into bolstering the presence of their company page, ignoring their personal profiles. While this goes against the grain of other social media platforms such as Facebook, there’s a solid case to be made when it comes to giving your own LinkedIn profile the time and attention that it deserves.
The Power Of Your Personal Profile On LinkedIn
Katie Thomas – GPA by trade, founder of Leaders Online, and all round #GirlBoss – helps professional service providers increase their influence, impact, and income through leadership marketing.
“Through LinkedIn, I’m able to generate inbound leads every single day. 91% of marketing executives list LinkedIn as the top place to find quality content – meaning that it’s relative, informative, and ultimately good content. Building off that, 92% of B2B marketers utilize LinkedIn as a part of their content marketing strategy. Why people and B2B marketers use this platform is because of its ability to target content – and to have your content actually seen – by the people that you want it to be seen by. LinkedIn has been proven to generate three times more conversations than Facebook and Twitter, so if you’re willing to put in the time to build relationships and share content that you’re passionate about – you’re in the right place.”
All of these magical figures have stemmed directly from Katie maintaining a presence on LinkedIn via her personal page. Arguably, her personal page is her brand.
However, it’s worth noting that Katie’s story doesn’t always apply across the board. Having a company page active on LinkedIn is a means to verify your authenticity, protect your reputation, and increase brand awareness. While you should still consider the benefits of having a LinkedIn company page listed, it’s your personal page that can be the driving force behind it.
If a company page is passive, then your personal page should be active. Think of the former as a car, but the latter are the wheels – you need them to take you places. While it can be incredibly difficult to showcase your personality when acting on behalf of a brand and still trying to maintain an air of professionalism, it’s important to remember that at the end of the day, people connect with other people, not logos.
Remember, the two primary functions of LinkedIn are to:
- Prioritise relevant content
- Promote engagement
You may notice that your feed defaults to “top” posts instead of the most “recent” posts. Although users have the option to switch, it’s a clear indicator as to how LinkedIn works – relevancy generally tops recency.
Like all social media platforms, engaging with the right audiences and “getting seen” is often the hardest part. In order to find professional success through LinkedIn, you’re going to have to embrace using your personal profile as a means to get you there. Through your personal profile, users can focus on the following core pillars of conquering LinkedIn.
Connection – You can’t send a connection request to prospects through your company page, but you can through your personal profile, which is essential for generating new leads. Of course, you can’t and shouldn’t “cold call” everybody on LinkedIn. Instead, be targeted in your outreach, focusing on prospects, clients, referral partners, and influencers.
Communication – Users may not “speak unless spoken to” with company pages, which in essence reduces LinkedIn company pages to merely being a medium for broadcasting content and the odd promotion. Personal profiles provide the freedom to continually network and build relationships through private messaging in a more intimate setting.
Content – Personal profiles allow users to publish content directly on LinkedIn Publisher. Although you can share images, videos, and links on a company page, you cannot publish original content on LinkedIn Publisher, impeding your ability to establish your authority on your topic and build trust. Original content that packs a punch is essential if you want to gain traction.
Thus, while you should absolutely have an active company page listed on LinkedIn, if you haven’t done so already, turn your attention to giving your personal profile a boost.
The Key To Success On Social Media Is Great Content
Like it or not, all the data analysis and networking in the world won’t save you if your published content isn’t relevant, eye-catching, or on brand. It’s also important to note that the work you publish on LinkedIn shouldn’t be restricted to one platform. That same content can also be repurposed across other social media accounts and even your website, to ensure that you see real returns on your investment. However, producing quality content takes time, effort, experience, and resources – and you’re not alone if you can’t quite commit to that.
The good news is that here at Content Hive, producing world class content is exactly what we do best. We have itemised a list of digital content services and allocated credits next to each of these.
What this means is that each month, you can use your credits with us to produce digital content such as social media posts, blog articles, videos, and even animated Instagram stories. We believe that this model means we can produce high quality content in faster than normal delivery times. It also means that because you have a monthly credit, you are going to want to make sure you use these up – and so do we – meaning that your digital content is always going to be consistent.
If you aren’t quite sure where to start on your digital or social media marketing journey and would like to speak to a professional, why not book a free discovery call with us at Content Hive today to discuss how we can get your brand buzzing online.
