A LinkedIn profile carries much more value than just another social media profile. That’s because it’s a professional platform where you can socialize and learn new things, hire people, generate leads, and build your brand image. When a platform incorporates these many business operations, you’ve got to treat it seriously. Hence, we’ll share 5 solid and actionable tips for optimised LinkedIn Profile in today’s article.
Importance of social selling today
Social selling is huge today, and its potential is unmatched compared to other online avenues. It’s basically become a place where anyone can approach anyone. There are no limitations or gatekeeping anymore. Access to essential people has become much easier these days, and the scope for social interaction are endless. But with it also come specific challenges. Because there’s no gatekeeping, one who is visible to you is visible to others. So, coming in with meaningful propositions and being more aware are ‘must haves’ instead of ‘good to haves’ now.
If you know how to sell your skills in a social setting, you can expect a lot of conversions and great connections to come your way. That’s because when you’re mindful of how you portray your profile, desirable outcomes are almost guaranteed. Social selling is also very buildable because the connections you make today might open up new opportunities tomorrow. Just because people have greater access through Twitter tags or direct messages doesn’t mean the response rate is high. The response rates for most messages on LinkedIn are about 18-25%. Your LinkedIn presence can open deals and introduce you to top-tier talents in any sector.
Why maintain a LinkedIn profile?
Your searchability and conversions are the deciding parameters for making your LinkedIn presence a highly encashable asset. Searchability means how often you rank in the searches of recruiters or your target audience. To have higher searchability, you’ll need to have keywords included in your headline. But more on this later. On the other hand, it’s easy to translate the conversions you make into revenue. These two factors go hand in hand, and one can’t do well without the other. Whether you’re there to socialize or build a brand image, maintaining your LinkedIn profile is the bare minimum that needs to be done.
Read More: The Best B2B Lead Generation Tools in 2023
5 steps to create an ideal LinkedIn profile
The perfect LinkedIn profile looks different for different roles and industries. However, some general rules apply to all industries, and let’s look at some of them.
Creating a professional profile photo and banner
Since LinkedIn is a professional platform, the profile photo usually sends the first impression and conveys a certain character. Hence, these should ideally be headshots taken against a neutral background or any picture where you look professional. This may seem frivolous, but the photo and banner together occupy 30-40% of the viewable profile space on a laptop or desktop. Hence, the banner shouldn’t be treated as decoration but rather as a place to convey a brand message or a recent announcement.
Adding a headline
After the profile picture and banner, the viewer’s eye goes straight to the headline. This is the first non-pictorial representation of who you are and what you do. So, including the highly-searched keywords here is advisable for the search engine to pick those up. The headline should be concise and provide clarity to your audience. The most common things to include in a headline are titles/designations and information about who should reach out to you and why. Remember to keep your headline short and free of any heavy words.
Creating a strong value proposition
While reaching out via messages, it’s always good to offer before you ask. The receiver is more inclined towards how your skills can help them increase revenue or lower the existing costs. So, focus on delivering a valuable product or experience to them, so you establish credibility and convince them. Avoid using words or ideas that sound scammy or too complex. Never start selling randomly. You should start with how the product or service you’re selling can make their life easier and then move on to the pitching part.
Staying consistent
As with any other online platform, your consistency on LinkedIn directly translates to encashable assets. Consistency helps brands realize what kind of content works for them.
Studying the audience
Studying the audience is one of the most significant factors because targeting the wrong viewers will lead to losses for you, confusion on the consumer’s part, and affect the brand image. Researching customer specifics before creating regular content on LinkedIn can help widen the reach of your content. Hence, it’s vital to know what works and what doesn’t work and plan accordingly for permanent success.
Conclusion
Building a LinkedIn profile might seem easy, but a lot goes into it. If you follow all the pointers we’ve detailed above, your LinkedIn profile will be one that’s highly optimized. Once you make an account, don’t forget to maintain it for the algorithm to stay happy. Use all these steps to create your perfect LinkedIn profile and see consistent growth stats.
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