Is your LinkedIn profile optimised for getting traffic and getting clients? Or does it look like an old CV? What should it look like? Well, let’s take a look.
This is my expression of a webinar given by Craig Dean of Influxeo on “Optimise your LinkedIn Profile”. He knows LinkedIn to a depth few could match.
Use his profile as a template of how it should be done. He has some pretty nifty tools for automations in Linked In.
From webinar 12/01/2023 12:00 - 1:00
I didn’t pay too much attention to the instructions of how to get to certain settings. It is likely to change anyway - Google it, for current information. The significant bit is knowing it is there to look for.
Also, bear in mind these Social Media platforms change continually, and functionality can vary between devices. If you intend starting work on images, check recommended image dimensions yourself.
Profile Page
When people are viewing your LinkedIn profile, if there is any resonance in your profile about what they are interested in, they will check you out on your website. So this becomes a traffic source for your website.
Perhaps the biggest mistake people make is in treating their LinkedIn (LI) profile as a glorified resume or CV. This might be okay if you are looking for a job. But if you are in any way running or setting up a business, your LinkedIn profile serves a very different purpose. It needs to be geared to get clients. You need to create high-converting copy. It needs to be built specifically for conversion.
We should be thinking of LI as like the highstreet. Your banner is like your shop front signage. It is the signage that will get folk to drop in and take a look.
In older versions of Linked In, there were penalties for including links in content. (As at the time of writing) this is not the case and you can use links.
A general point on creating profiles - it is recommended to use the first person rather than
third party. This is especially true where you are looking to cultivate a personal relationship with a prospective client.
Profile URL
You might need to or want to optimise your LI URL, as Craig has done, eg https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-dean-influxeo
(See: edit > public profile > URL)
Ideally, include your name and company name and specialisation / industry. This will mean that your URL will be searchable in LI.
Profile Photo
This will be the most viewed part of your profile. Remember, what they see on posts, comments, etc, will be shrunk down. So it really needs to be showing your face. Again, use Craig’s for an example.
As a design tip, change the background colour to match your banner / logo colour.
(pfpmaker.com a good tool to use for profile pictures)
Your profile can also play 3 seconds of video, hence you can have movement which will catch peoples’ attention.
It is recommended that profile pictures are 850 x 700 pixels. Pictures larger than this will get chopped. Use the right dimensions for profile pictures and pictures on posts.
Banner
A common mistake is to make your banner all about your logo. It is good to have a logo, maybe in a corner. Ideally, it needs to display some value statement, in as few words as possible. And ensure it is constructed to be visible on mobile devices. 70% of people use smartphones to access the internet. It is no good if it looks great on a laptop, but is chopped to illegible on a phone.
Remember the 3-second rule - people need to understand what's in it for them and whether they want to invest more time within 3 seconds. Otherwise they are prone to scroll on by.
And remember to add hooks (that gives value) and / or CTA on your picture.
Name and Pronunciation
You will need to put your name, title etc. You might like to use the ‘name pronunciation’ feature. You might look at this and think it irrelevant. However, especially if you have a ‘non-standard’ name, or a name folk have trouble with, it can be useful. Remember, people checking you out on LI might not share your culture and nationality. So what is ordinary for you, might be strange to them.
Also, and this is an important point, if you don’t make use of features like this, LinkedIn can withhold other features. Not maliciously, but something along the lines of, “if you are not interested in that, you probably won’t be interested in this either.”
Bear in mind, the features of LinkedIn on a laptop might be different to those on the app on a phone. This one is an example - you can only set this on a phone {click into speaker icon…}
Pronouns are becoming more significant. He uses dude/bro/mate - and finds it a good conversation starter.
A lot of these elements are personal preference. But remember, it is not necessarily your preference and opinion that matters. Rather, it is the opinions of the people viewing your LI profile. The primary aim of the Linked In profile is to convert traffic and customers, not to alienate them.
Headline
This is important, and needs to succinctly depict you and what you do. It is 70 characters long, but the first 40 characters are critical. In a number of circumstances only the first part is displayed. So make it count. The first bit is critical, but make sure you make use of it all. Make them want to check you out. And make sure you include a CTA.
Have creator mode active. This will turn on a number of features. It will enable insertion of hashtags beneath headlines, and ‘connection’ becomes a ‘follow’ button. Also, the order of some sections will change. Also it allows CTA Edit Intro, and you can add links (only 30 char) {Google it for more details}
Leverage curiosity. For example, if you said, “do not click this link…” people will inevitably click it.
A good formula for Headlines is something like, “I help X with Y by doing Z”. Bear in mind how critical the first 45-odd characters are, especially on a mobile device.
Providing Service
Set up your services page, profile, samples of work… and reviews
Feature Content Section
LI is making more of the featured content section.
You can use posts, articles, links, pdfs. Remember - always provide value.
See drop down from the + sign
About
Checkout Craig’s profile as a good example of About.
A common mistake is that people usually talk about themselves. Rather, make it about the audience. There is a ‘see more’ link, that you need to entice visitors to click
Talk about the problem, agitate it, show a solution to it.
What keeps your audience awake at night? Ask about it. Agitate it more, provide a solution via ‘see more’ link.
This is where you can explain more. Always, as with any writing, keep your text light. A big fat blob of text will turn folk off.
You can enable the use of bold by using the Linked In text formatter - cut and paste into profile. Use bold sparingly and you can’t use it on clickable links
A general principle, use what LI gives you. If it gives you 2000 characters, try to use it all. Take full advantage of what is available.
Also think about SEO, and distribute keywords evenly throughout this About section
Also put in contact details, links to landing pages, etc. The links will be as text and won’t be clickable.
Experience
Remember, we are not after getting a job, so don’t emphasise your past career. Come at it more in the style of a landing page. People don’t care what role you had > 5yrs ago, nor what you did. However, they are interested in what solutions you can bring now.
Show the services you offer.
Hence don’t display company and role. Rather, emphasise the service you offered and the benefits you brought or solutions you provided. Remember, you can also attach media.
Edit by clicking onto pencil icon.
Skills
Make sure the most relevant top three skills are at the top. Here, relevant means relevant to the primary thing you are wanting to get from upgrading your Linked In profile. Especially if you are changing direction or career path.
Recommendations
This should be an ongoing thing. People will want to see you have a steady stream of recommendations - not just one you had in 2020. This builds up over time and provides a track record. This probably won’t happen by accident, nor quickly. It will take some planning and regular review / effort to do. It becomes a strategic decision.
If you do work with someone, ask them for recommendations (if you don’t ask, you definitely won’t get one.)
When you send requests for recommendations, don’t just keep the boring default text. Make it interesting and unique.
If you don’t have a recommendation section visible (and this applies to all sections) go back to the top, click on Add Section and add the section(s) you need.
Other tricks for Lead Generation in LI
The first and most obvious thing to do is to optimise your Linked In profile, as we have just discussed above.
After that there are a couple of things to consider.
Craig has some nifty automation tools that can automate the lead generation process. Check it out with him.
(And, no I am not on commission)(Craig, why am I not on commission?)
Events
These are brilliant for lead generation.
To show an example, search for events that match that search, eg “Linked In Lead generation”. It will display searches - 55-odd different events. Then find an event with a large number of attendees. If you have searched around your intended topic, the people who are attending that event, are the same people you are looking for.
Click on the ‘attend’ button … this will show the attendees list. These people will probably be interested in you.
You can then message them (without connecting). Linked In is happy with this, because you are both attending. And in this case, it does not affect your 100 messages per week limit
This can be a very powerful trick / tip to find and engage with people who have already proven they are interested in what you are doing.
Try something like, “Hey we are both attending this event, and thought it would be good to connect…”
Comment strategy
Find an active influencer, eg, like Daniel Disney on sales, people commenting on this will be sales people, and if you are after reaching sales people, you can target these people commenting as discussed above.
Try something like, “Hey, huge fan of X, couldn’t help seeing you are too, I’m also in sales and thought it would be good to connect…”
You can do this automatically using Craig’s Influxeo tools.
Poles
Poles are a useful way to garner engagement. You need to come up with a good question that will identify a good segment of people.
(See Craig’s Activity - the last one was a lead generation pole)
Eg, What is your main intended use of LinkedIn for 2023?
Ask the right question, then you can message respondents directly
Give some thought on what you do and what services you offer, what is your ideal target audience, and what likely catching questions could be.
If you want more information on LinkedIn and automating LinkedIn connection activity,
speak with Craig Dean - https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-dean-influxeo.
If you want a hand with strategy, marketing, communication, contact me
+44 777 560 4378