Digital Marketing - Study Notes:
The role of a LinkedIn personal profile
Your LinkedIn personal profile is a key component of your LinkedIn presence, so you need to take the time to carefully optimize it. A fully optimized personal profile will support you in to get found on LinkedIn by those that are searching for someone like you. When your profile is viewed, it should showcase your experience and expertise in the best possible way.
Make sure your profile is up to date and shares information that will help viewers identify you as someone who can help them. Think about what your ideal client might search for on LinkedIn and what they need to see on your profile to make a great first impression.
Optimizing your profile
An optimized profile includes:
- A header image: Choose one that reflects your personal brand. Ensure the image is good quality.
- A professional photo: Your photo should reflect your professional identity. You don’t need to hire a professional photographer or invest in expensive equipment. Just ensure that the photo is authentic and likely to resonate with your followers. Head and shoulders, facing the camera – and with a smile!
- A tailored headline: This can be up to 220 characters. It should be updated from the default ‘job title at company name’ taken from your experience section to provide more detail about what you do and how you can help.
- About section: This should summarize your career story. Don’t just list where you worked. Try to craft a compelling narrative, and don’t forget to include a call to action at the end to encourage people to connect with you.
- Experience section: Here you can share your roles and responsibilities for your current and previous work placements.
- Education: List your education achievements.
- Skills: Select the keywords that best reflect your skills. You can include up to 100 skills on your profile.
- Additional information: Fill in the additional sections to give information such as volunteering, languages, and projects. Let people get to know you and your interests. These are great talking points when you are building a relationship.
Luan Wise
Luan Wise is a chartered marketer and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM) with over 20 years’ experience in agency, client-side and consultancy roles working across sectors including b2b and b2c professional services, higher education, manufacturing, learning & development and more.
A specialist in social media, Luan has trained thousands of business professionals across the world via open social media training courses and in-house programmes. She is a course instructor for LinkedIn Learning and an accredited lead trainer for Facebook and Instagram.
Luan is author of the award-winning book ‘Relax! It’s Only Social Media’ (published 2016), best-selling book, ‘Planning for Success: A practical guide to setting and achieving your social media marketing goals (published 2023). Luan is currently working on a new title for Bloomsbury Business to be published in September 2024.
