Should You Be Investing in LinkedIn?

Too many business professionals write off LinkedIn as merely an online directory of people’s resumes. Or as something only used by professionals who are “into social media.” 

LinkedIn has become so much more. SO much more.

LinkedIn can be an amazing marketing tool — especially for B2B, service businesses, and referral-driven businesses. So in our humble opinion, yes. Yes, you should be investing in LinkedIn.

Here’s why: LinkedIn is an extension of your brand. 

It’s an extension of your company. It’s an extension of your unique expertise. 

But simply updating your company’s profile on LinkedIn is not sufficient. The individual profiles of the leaders are just as important because your company’s leadership is also an extension of your brand.

Many of our clients aren’t selling a product; they are selling their expertise. And there is hardly a more powerful tool to showcase the expertise of your company than the LinkedIn profiles of your leadership.

Remember, people do their research before choosing who to do business with. They want to trust the company as a whole, as well as the specific people they will work with.

What you really want is for potential employees and potential clients to come to your profile and say, “Yep, this matches. This matches what I see on the website. This matches the experience I expect to have if I work with them. It doesn’t look outdated. It’s obvious they’re a legit company.”

Your LinkedIn presence is not necessarily about posting a lot of photos or company updates. It’s about highlighting the problem you solve for prospective clients, showing up as your best professional self, and elevating your expertise.

We have been working with our clients on LinkedIn in a few ways:

Company Page Optimization

‍Just like your website, your company’s “About” section should pass the grunt test for clarity and have consistency in the visual branding.

We have helped companies implement their StoryBrand message into their profile, reworking specific sections and even creating custom graphics.

One-minute DIY upgrade:

Add in your StoryBrand one-liner before any other copy in the “About” section and ensure your logo is properly displayed.

Personal Profile Optimization

‍Your profile is not just an online resume. Are you showing your potential customer or client how you solve their problem? Is it clear you serve and how people can work with you?

We work with executives to tell the overarching story of their careers and the top problems they solve for their clientele.

Three-minute DIY upgrade:

Remove experience more than 10 years old, delete dates from your education, and add your company’s one-liner into your “About” section.

Executive Thought Leadership

We craft thought leadership pieces to elevate our clients’ leadership teams, and post them natively on LinkedIn. We also help develop a schedule for sharing and commenting from other team members to get additional reach.

Five-minute DIY upgrade:

Brainstorm the top 2-3 things you want to be known for. Make sure those keywords or concepts are articulated in your “About,” “Experience,” and “Skills” sections. 

Sales/Marketing and Recruiting Posts

We create engaging content for the LinkedIn newsfeed that promotes the company to both the ideal clientele AND potential employees. This two-pronged approach showcases core values and demonstrates what it’s like to work AT and WITH a company.

Ten-minute DIY upgrade:

Pull copy from your Brandscript to create 4 posts focused on (a) the problem you solve, (b) the solution you offer, (c) the failure you help avoid, and (d) the success you bring about.

Let’s be honest, DIY can be over-rated. If you are like most of our clients and sell your expertise, you get it. You believe in bringing in the experts to get it done right so that you can focus on what you do best. To get out of the marketing details, and back to your business, set up a time to talk to our team.