Content marketing careers are constantly evolving, but one thing is certain: The power of LinkedIn for personal branding and career advancement is here to stay. Of course, because so many people rely on LinkedIn for professional networking these days, it’s essential to create a profile that will help you stand out and get noticed by the people who make hiring decisions in your industry. It’s not an easy task, but it can be done – with the help of some pro-level tips for strengthening your LinkedIn presence and gaining an edge over the competition. If your “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” chart is flatlining week after week, the advice below will help breathe new life into your profile, improve your visibility in search results, generate more views, and impress your audience.

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2. Content marketing careers are constantly evolving, but one thing
is certain: The power of LinkedIn for personal branding and career
advancement is here to stay.
Of course, because so many people rely on LinkedIn for professional networking these
days, it’s essential to create a profile that will help you stand out and get noticed by the
people who make hiring decisions in your industry. It’s not an easy task, but it can be
done – with the help of some pro-level tips for strengthening your LinkedIn presence and
gaining an edge over the competition.
If your “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” chart is flatlining week after week, the advice below
will help breathe new life into your profile, improve your visibility in search results, generate
more views, and impress your audience.

3. Complete your profile
According to LinkedIn, users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive
opportunities, such as job offers, mentors, or new business. Your LinkedIn profile is your
de facto digital resume; it also allows you to provide added detail on your professional
experience and examples of your best work – which can help set you apart from your
competition.
To achieve unofficial “all-star” status,
be sure to include:
■ Your industry and location
■ Current position, including description
■ Two prior positions
■ Education
■ A minimum of three skills
■ At least 50 connections
BONUS TIP:
Don’t use symbols, numbers,
special characters, email
addresses, or phone numbers
in the name field because
that could prompt LinkedIn to
restrict your account.

4. Add a professional headshot that
reflects your industry
A photo puts a face to a name, so you’re not just another silhouette. It helps establish
trust and make you more memorable. Furthermore, including a headshot photo makes
your profile seven times more likely* to be found in a LinkedIn search.
What kind of photo should you use? It depends on the connections you are looking to
attract. For example, if you are a creative director, you might want to use an edgier photo,
while a CMO would likely use a more traditional pose.
CMI’s Community Manager Monina Wagner’s photo radiates her personality,
making her likability factor skyrocket.
BONUS TIP:
Whatever you do, don’t use a
selfie, company logo, you with
your furry friend (unless you are a
veterinarian), or your #TBT college
photo. These types of images could
damage your personal brand. If
someone wouldn’t recognize you at
a professional event based on your
profile image, change it.

5. Use relevant keywords in your headline
Your headline – the text below your name – is prime real estate. The LinkedIn algorithm
seems to consider it one of the few heavily weighted areas in search, and it is one of the
first things your audience sees.
Your headline defaults to your current or last position. Customize it. Tell the world (and,
specifically, your target audience) who you are and what you do:
■ Be descriptive and use keywords that uniquely define you.
■ Include your city to help your profile stand out 23 times more.
■ Support what your headline says throughout your profile.
■ Use searched-for words like content strategist, B2B blogger, author, content creator,
social media community manager, or content marketer.
Amy Horgan leverages her headline real estate to promote her value
proposition.
BONUS TIP:
Use keywords that your target audience
would use to find someone like you.
Incorporate them in your headline and
summary description. If you need help
finding relevant keywords, try using
the free Google AdWords tool.

6. Tell your work story in your summary
Think of your summary as your elevator pitch: Brag
about yourself, but keep it real and back up your
claims throughout your profile. You will want to craft
your summary (and headline) as you want others
to see you. And if you get stuck, ask a friend or
colleague to share how they would describe you.
While not talking specifically about LinkedIn
profiles, Jonathan Kranz’s advice would certainly
apply here: “Facts, figures, concrete examples –
these are fundamental pillars for good content.”
Follow this approach to a well-crafted
summary:
■ Say things like “award-winning” if you have
won awards.
■ Cite publications to which you’ve contributed articles.
■ List the industries in which you have expertise.
■ Add an “areas of expertise” section to incorporate
relevant keywords that describe your skill set.Dianna Huff, president of Huff Industrial Marketing,
makes effective use of her summary section,
highlighting her strengths and specialized areas
of expertise.

7. Personalize your profile URL
The default URL LinkedIn provides for your profile doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.
Create an easy-to-remember URL to help integrate and promote your personal brand
across all your online channels, so connections can find you more easily. Customizing your
profile page in this way is also far more SEO friendly.
BONUS TIP:
Include your custom URL
in your email signature,
resume, blog, etc., to
present a united brand
presence across all your
communication platforms.
CMI’s Lisa Dougherty customizes her profile URL, helping to build her
personal brand.

8. Include work samples from your portfolio
Images, media, and documents make your profile stand out and support the claims you’ve
made in your summary. For example, if your summary or headline says you are a sought-
after speaker, author, or consultant, upload assets that demonstrate your experience in
those areas – something Michael Brenner, CEO of Marketing Insider Group, does well:
BONUS TIP:
Try representing some of your summary
statements visually. Have you contributed to an
industry blog or written a post for your company?
Have you given a talk or presentation? If so,
illustrate that experience by sharing a thumbnail,
posting a badge from the site, uploading your
slide deck, or embedding a video.

9. Publish content directly from your profile
Writing long-form posts on LinkedIn can entice viewers to stick around to read what you
have to say. It also helps you be seen as an influencer to a targeted audience – your
connections.
You also expand your reach to the first-degree connections of anyone who engages with
your post – a previously unreachable audience. Plus, LinkedIn automatically sends a push
notification to all your connections, notifying them of your post, reducing your content
distribution burden.
BONUS TIP:
Include a clear call to action at the end of your
post. Ask your readers a question to encourage
them to comment. If your post earns comments,
“likes,” and shares, it has a better chance to
be featured on LinkedIn Pulse, expanding
the reach of your content to the potential of
millions of views.
CMI’s Cathy McPhillips provides high-quality, relevant content that
helps her audience solve problems, or inspires an “aha!” moment.

10. Get written recommendations
While LinkedIn no longer requires three recommendations to have a complete status, it
still is important to include testimonials from your colleagues, management, people you
manage, vendors, or customers. Recommendations show up underneath each position for
which they are written, along with a thumbnail profile photo of the person who wrote it.
BONUS TIP:
Be specific when requesting a
recommendation. Suggest points that:
■ Qualify your relationship by including how
long you have known each other and
describing your relationship.
■ Describe a project that you worked on
together.
■ Note if they would work with you again or
to provide their contact information for more
information.

11. Showcase your unique personality and experience
Including personal details, like your volunteer experience, organization memberships, and professional
certifications illustrate that you are a well-rounded person, which can help you emphasize the value you
offer – above and beyond the work-related skill sets you bring to the table. For example:
■ Volunteer experience and personal causes: What you do
outside the office says a lot about you and contributes to a
higher search ranking. In fact, 42% of hiring managers said
they view volunteer experience as equal to formal work experience.
■ Organization affiliations: Adding organizations and
professional memberships are another way to incorporate keywords
into your profile and show viewers your commitment to your craft.
■ Publications: This is the perfect place to link to your contributed
blog articles, e-books, and other cited work.
■ Courses: If you have taken professionally related classes or
received on-the-job training, showcase these experiences to
supplement your education history.
■ Professional certifications: Add any industry-specific training you
have completed, along with a link that allows viewers to learn more.
■ Special projects: This allows you to illustrate your work, your
personal accomplishments, and any side projects you’ve contributed
to. It also enables you to incorporate a URL that will give the
originating site an inbound link.

12. Join groups
Find LinkedIn Groups related to your industry or niche and become an active participant in
two or three. Only 16% of LinkedIn members are in the maximum number of groups (50).
According to LinkedIn, your profile is five times more likely to be viewed if you join and are
active in groups.
BONUS TIP:
When participating in Group discussions, remember that groups are about being
part of a like-minded community – not about pushing yourself or your services
on your fellow members. Andrew Davis generally suggests sharing four relevant
pieces of content from influencer targets and one original educational piece of
content for every sales-related piece of content.

13. Rearrange your profile
LinkedIn enables you to reorder the
sections of its profile template, to
highlight the work, skills, and experiences
that are most relevant to you and your
career goals. What are you most proud
of? Awards? Skills? A SlideShare
presentation? Rearrange your profile so
your most important work is at the top.
Vishal Khanna moved up his Honors and Awards
section to directly below his Summary section.

14. Build your network
Once your profile is in good shape, work on building your network: Not only does this
help you grow your connections, it also helps you get found more through search. Start
building up your network with vendors, industry influencers, friends, coworkers, and former
coworkers to build up your personal brand.
BONUS TIP:
LinkedIn has a feature that allows you to
segment your connections, which turns the
platform into a powerful CRM tool that allows
you to target messages to individuals or
groups of people. Once you’ve made a new
connection, make sure you “tag” that person
into a relevant folder. Because there isn’t
an easy way to categorize contacts in bulk,
we highly recommend tagging each person
into a relevant folder as soon as you make a
connection.

15. Build your network
Here are some additional things to keep in mind:
■ When inviting a personal contact to connect on LinkedIn, select “we’ve done business
together” from the drop-down menu, rather than “friend.”
■ Do some quick research before reaching out to a new contact, and include a personal
note that explains how you know the person, or where you met, or who you have in
common. For example, let them know you just purchased their book, are in the same
group, or saw them speak at a conference.
■ If you invite too many people to your network and they mark your invitation as
someone they do not know, you will be banned from inviting new people to your
network unless you know their email address.
■ You are allotted 3,000 invites, and will be required to enter a Captcha (verifying you’re
human) for each invite over 100 sent in 24 hours.

16. If you’re ready to take your personal brand to the next level, check
out our full discussion, 60+ LinkedIn Profile Tips for Marketers,
for even more ways to increase your visibility, attract the right
business opportunities, and increase your industry influence.
About the Author
Lisa Dougherty is director, blog community and operations at the Content Marketing Institute.
She will trade social media and blogging tips for warm pecan bread pudding. Her motto: “Life
changes the minute you start doing what you love. And, guess what, it’s never too late to get
started.” Lisa’s active on Twitter @BrandLoveLLC and on LinkedIn.
About Content Marketing Institute
Content Marketing Institute is the leading global content marketing education and training organization,
teaching enterprise brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multichannel
storytelling. CMI’s Content Marketing World event, the largest content marketing-focused event, is held
every September in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, and the Intelligent Content Conference event is held every spring.
CMI publishes the bimonthly magazine Chief Content Officer, and provides strategic consulting and content
marketing research for some of the best-known brands in the world. CMI, a UBM company, has made the
Inc. 500/5000 list from 2012-2015. Watch this video to learn more about CMI.