With over 450 million users and an impending merger with Microsoft, LinkedIn represents one of the best avenues for marketing and public relations professionals to position themselves as thought leaders in their respective fields. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn has the distinct advantage of being the go-to source for professional news, tips and job opportunities.
With LinkedIn’s dominance in the professional social networking market, standing out among the masses can be difficult. Implement these three easy tactics and take your LinkedIn presence to the next level.
Create a show-stopper profile
The first step in establishing a thought leadership position on LinkedIn is to have a complete, robust profile. This will show your knowledge of the platform and provide an opportunity to highlight your experience. Be sure your current position is correctly listed, along with a professional headshot, detailed biography, complete work experience and PDFs of prior work examples and industry honors.
Regularly Post Original Content or Commentary
The next step is to regularly post original content that is relevant and useful to those in your industry. By authoring timely and helpful posts on your personal or organizational blog you will stand out from the rest. If you are strapped for time, add brief commentary when sharing an article that pertains to your industry. Avoid sharing links without additional comments, this will reduce your visibility and audience engagement.
Interact
“Social” is the key word in social media, and LinkedIn is no exception. An important part of being a well-respected thought leader on LinkedIn is recognizing other good content by commenting on and linking to posts from others. When sharing your valuable insights, always tag the original author in your comments and acknowledge that you find their content helpful. Doing so will enhance your relationship and potentially lead to higher audience engagement. By recognizing useful insights and being willing to listen to others, you become an active participant in conversations about your industry, not just one who posts their thoughts and logs off.
Most industry professionals have a LinkedIn account they check frequently, but aren’t getting the complete benefits from the network. Professionals in all industries have the opportunity to establish themselves as thought leaders through a regular routine of maintaining a robust profile, posting original content and interacting with others.
