With LinkedIn memberships rapidly approaching a billion people, standing out can be hard. Yet your success depends on it. If your profile is similar to the profiles of those who do what you do, it will be hard to get people excited about you. But when your profile is the green palm tree in a sea of blue waves, people pay attention. So seek to integrate your brand differentiation throughout your profile. Here are four powerful personal branding features you can use to help you get noticed and make people want to know you.
1. Be Industry Specific
The first part of standing out is getting noticed. LinkedIn data shows that profiles of members who include their industry are nine times more likely to be viewed. Include your industry to make yourself visible to those who are performing research on LinkedIn. And if you’re seeking to move industries, list the industry where you want to be, not the one you’re currently in. Your profile needs to be authentic, but at the same time it should be aspirational.
2. Create Content
Your LinkedIn profile prominently features the content you create (a.k.a. articles) through their blogging feature. In fact, when someone sees your profile, your articles show up in the third content block – even above your Experience. Now, if you’re already feeling stressed about having to add blogging to your daily do list, consider this: If you commit to writing one article a quarter, just four a year, you will have an opportunity to differentiate your profile, keep it fresh, and share your thought-leadership and point of view.
In addition to your articles, your activity shows up in the same place in your profile. So if you aren’t ready to create your own articles, at least commit to sharing relevant content and liking and commenting on the articles of others. That will also help differentiate your profile.
3. Master Multimedia
Even before someone sees your articles and activity, they see your Summary. And your LinkedIn Summary now allows you to add multimedia to your 2,000 text characters. And that multimedia is one of the most visible elements of your profile when someone is checking you out. You can include videos, white papers, images, infographics, etc. This allows you to amplify your story with richer media while making your profile visually interesting.
4. Brand Your Background
You LinkedIn background image takes up a lot of real estate, so it has the potential to make your profile stand out while exuding your personal brand attributes. The background image is at the top of your profile, sitting right behind your headshot. If you don't use a custom background, your profile will have the same generic blue-dot background as millions of other profiles. When you customize yours, it becomes distinct and instantly speaks to those who are checking you out.
5. Say It With Symbols
In her article “Symbols Spice Up Your LinkedIn Profile,” social selling expert Brynne Tillman says, “Used well and sparingly, symbols have their place on the LinkedIn profile.” I agree. Especially the “used sparingly” part. In her article, she provides categories of symbols you can use, such as Phone, Write, Copyright, Quotes and many others. If it makes sense for your goals, use a symbol to help get your message across. Just note that if you go overboard, you will actually take your brand down a notch or two in terms of impact.
To maximize the value of your LinkedIn profile, in addition to making it relevant, authentic and compelling, make sure it stands out from the myriad others that tout similar credentials and experience.
William Arruda is the cofounder of CareerBlast and creator of the complete LinkedIn quiz that helps you evaluate your LinkedIn profile and networking strategy.
