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Table Of Contents

A Complete Guide To Mastering LinkedIn in 2019

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Table Of Contents

LinkedIn is a gold mine for B2B. It’s where the Fortune 500 spend most of their time and the network has over 610 million members. And 610M members can’t be wrong.

Since it launched, in 2002, it has been growing each day, and it’s obvious that’s the place to be. Around 240 million log in each month, with 40% of them active daily. Out of the 610M, 90M are senior-level influencers and 63M are the decision makers.

A Complete Guide To Mastering LinkedIn in 2019

It’s the place where all the recruiters are

Whether you are looking for a new business opportunity or just want to learn from the best, it’s the right place. Don’t miss out on possible business opportunities just because you didn’t want to invest enough time into this.

To become a valuable part of an industry, you need to know what’s going on. You need to be informed. And LinkedIn will keep you informed, as you can follow industry news and make sure you’re one of the first to know when a big change occurs.

Networking is free on LinkedIn

Another way to stay informed is to be in constant contact with your colleagues, former and current. This way you’ll never miss out on valuable information or business opportunities. Networking is a very important part of any industry, and this is where you can do it for free, without leaving the comfort of your own home.

You can position yourself as an influencer

By being a part of LinkedIn, not only will you be able to follow great influencers of our time, like Bill Gates, and read their thoughts on various subjects, but you’ll also be able to share your knowledge and insights with other members of your community.

Your first steps to a remarkable LinkedIn profile

Now that you’ve realized the value and potential of LinkedIn, it’s time to learn how to master it, gain new connections, and always stay ahead of your competition.

A Complete Guide To Mastering LinkedIn in 2019

Fill out your profile

LinkedIn is a powerful weapon in the B2B world. Don’t just place a profile photo, add your current work position and leave it at that. There are hundreds of profiles on LinkedIn like this, and that’s the same as not having a profile.

Filling out your LinkedIn profile is not a 5-minute job, it takes time to make it stand out from the crowd. As we’ve mentioned, there are 500M LinkedIn members. You need to put in the work.

Make sure you find a good professional photo and place it as your profile photo. There’s only one chance to make a first impression, so make sure you make it a good one. Unless you are a comedian with a LinkedIn profile who has to appear funny in their profile photos. Find one with a neutral background so the focus is on you and not on other things in the picture.

A Complete Guide To Mastering LinkedIn in 2019

Example 1. Here’s an example of what’s a good LinkedIn profile photo. The man in the left photo looks professional, and he has a neutral background so the focus is on him. Seems like a man you’d want to work with.

Example 2. And here’s a photo that is not recommended for LinkedIn. The photo is great, but for Facebook or Instagram.

Another tip is to get a customized URL. It looks much better than having a tone of numbers that are automatically assigned to you. You can easily do this by going to the Edit Profile screen and editing the Public Profile URL. The best option is to set something like this linkedin.com/yourname.

A Complete Guide To Mastering LinkedIn in 2019

Write out a killer summary

The summary is one of the first things people see on your profile. Make it a good one. No, make it a great one.

“Hey, I am Mike, I love playing rugby in my free time, I’m 29, and I’m happy to find new friends on LinkedIn.”

Example 1. sounds more like a dating profile summary, doesn’t it? Let’s see Example 2. 

“Committed Digital Marketing Manager with 4+ years of experience in digital marketing, social media, SEO and content creation.”

It’s short, but it shows straight away how experienced you are and what your areas of expertise are. You can always make the summary longer and add some more personality. Just don’t overdo it, like in the first example.

Leave a clear CTA

If a LinkedIn member has stumbled upon your profile and wants to contact you, they should not have to look long for a way to do this.

You can leave your email, or other contact information in your LinkedIn summary so they could find it right away, and make sure you say what you can help them with.

Optimize your LinkedIn profile

As we’ve mentioned, there are so many profiles out there. If you want to be among the first profiles that appear when someone is searching for an expert in your industry, you need to optimize your LinkedIn profile.

Your LinkedIn profile should contain the relevant keywords you are interested in. For example, if you are a Project Manager, make sure your headline, summary, job titles, and descriptions contain the keyword “project manager”.

A Complete Guide To Mastering LinkedIn in 2019

Become a part of LinkedIn groups

Being a part of LinkedIn groups is a great thing if you want to be involved in discussions concerning your industry, or if you want to freely communicate with experts which are not your connection.

Connect with people from your industry

Look for people from your industry, and connect with them. You can find them through a simple search, or even in the LinkedIn groups mentioned below. You’ll often find people through comments on your connection’s posts or the other way around.

Connecting with people in your industry will make sure you’re always up to date with the current news, and that you’re networking with people who you might learn something from, or who might even become your business associates one day. You never know.

Post consistently

The first thing you need to know is that this isn’t Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Nobody here cares about what you had for lunch yesterday.

Offer value. Don’t write random posts just because you know you should post each day or week. People on LinkedIn are looking for value, and they want to learn, not waste time on pointless posts.

Another thing you need to be careful about is staying true to your brand. Discover your personal voice on the popular platform and stick to it. Be consistent and offer value.

People who are your connections want to hear your insights. So, if you’ve read a book you want to recommend, or you’ve stumbled upon a relevant article, let your connections know what you’ve learned from it and ask them what they think about the content piece you’re sharing.

How to create highly engaging LinkedIn posts

Now, this is important. Create ENGAGING posts. Posts people will want to hear more of, which they’ll want to share and comment on. This is how you build a community.

Tip. 💡 Take some time during the week to explore the Internet, and find relevant content you think should be shared with your connections.

Share your everyday stories which have been through your something, and that others can learn from.

Visual content strategy

LinkedIn users usually spend around 20 minutes per day, meaning they go through their feed rather quickly, so you only have a short time to make an impact.

Writing quality posts is the most important thing you can do when it comes to content, however, you also need to develop a visual content strategy. Images, for example, improve the posts’ popularity by raising the comment rate by 98 percent. However, victory lies in the LinkedIn video.

Video is becoming a lot more popular on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram, and LinkedIn is no exception. As we’ve mentioned, you need to make an impact fast, and one of the ways to do so is by using video.

A Complete Guide To Mastering LinkedIn in 2019

Video consumption on LinkedIn (Image source: MWP Digital Media)

It’s interesting to notice that video is shared 20% more than any other type of content on LinkedIn. If done right, this can help your profile.

The important thing to note is that the video should be QUICK and INFORMATIVE. There is an option to use native video on LinkedIn which can be up to 10 minutes long. However, make short videos that have value to your connections.

The subject of the videos can vary, and you could find something that will work for you. For example, Allen Gannett, CEO at TrackMaven, uses native video in order to communicate with his connections. The videos are short, yet very effective. An interesting thing he posts are interviews with industry leaders where he asks them one question to get their insights and he does not take up too much of his connection’s time. He even has his hashtag #AllenAsks so it’s easier to discover the videos.

A Complete Guide To Mastering LinkedIn in 2019

Tip. 💡 Consider adding subtitles, as many people watch videos with the sound off.

Write quality posts that are simple but effective

Sharing a blog post on LinkedIn with a simple featured photo is okay. But that’s it, okay. You need to be better than okay. And sometimes, writing a quality post, that is only text-based can be a win.

Yes, we’ve learned that visuals are the way to go, however, even this can sometimes become too much as many are doing it. That’s when a simple text post breaks the noise.

  1. Share a personal experience, and relate it to a professional theme.
  2. Share your opinion on popular topics.
  3. Share tips and tricks you’ve learned during your working experience.

Tip. 💡 Don’t be afraid to use hashtags.

But, the most important thing to remember is to give value. Pointless posts are just that, pointless and won’t have the impact you want them to.

Virginia Bautista is a great example of how this is done. She shares relevant content, which her connections appreciate and gladly read.

Make sure your posts are engaging, and another way to do that is to write posts directly to LinkedIn. As we’ve mentioned, it’s okay to share a blog post from time to time, but don’t make this 90% of your content. This way you won’t get a lot of traffic to your website, but it’s a good thing in the long run.

Another thing you should remember is to be consistent. Don’t post once every two months and expect success. You have to be a lot more active than this.

Engage with your connections

You’ve created an awesome profile, you’re writing quality content, and what now? Engage with your connections. All of the work you’ve put into creating a great LinkedIn profile won’t mean anything if you’re not engaging with your connections.

This means writing quality posts and asking your connections questions. You’ve shared your insights on an interesting topic, but what are their insights? This way you’ll have comments and shares rolling in.

Tip. 💡 LinkedIn is not a one-way street. Don’t expect others to engage with your posts, if you do not do the same with theirs. Add connections from your industry, discover valuable content, and give them your insights. Comment, share, and create true connections.

[bctt tweet=”“If you can get better at your job, you should be an active member of LinkedIn, because LinkedIn should be connecting you to the information, insights, and people to be more effective.” –Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of LinkedIn” username=”slackvacation”]

LinkedIn is a sea of opportunities and information, and it’s up to you to learn how to use it wisely. The tips we’ve shared are just a few, but there’s a lot more to LinkedIn. And the only way to discover all of its potential is to use it daily and put in the work. Success does not come overnight, and neither does LinkedIn mastery.

Whether you are an HR manager, a CEO, or a member of a great team, you need to have a LinkedIn profile that stands out and stays one step of the competition. Read more LinkedIn tips and tricks on their official blog.

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