How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile’s First Impression:
Pass these three tests to hold your audience’s attention when they visit your profile.
What do business prospects think of your LinkedIn personal profile?
Here are three tests to give you an answer.
You have a business prospecting lunch or presentation coming up. The day of the event, your contact will probably do a little research on you. If you have a company website, out of habit, they will probably make a first stop there. Looking for something more current, and less like a brochure, their next stop is LinkedIn. Here they can see more of what they are actually hoping to learn about you before your upcoming meeting.
Are you going to be happy with their first impression? These 3 tests will give you your answer and work just as well for a personal profile or company page.
Curb Appeal Test
When house hunting, curb appeal is very important. Buyers will decide whether of not they want to look inside based on what they see when they take their first look.
The same is true when using LinkedIn.
Within seconds, prospects, referral sources and others take in your profile photo, background image, and headline summary.
Is your photo current?
Do you have a background image or are you still using LinkedIn’s generic backdrop (see image below)?
Is your headline summary compelling?
Studies confirm that individuals form their first impression in milliseconds of encountering a new profile. This rapid assessment highlights the benefits of spending time on curb appeal.
Pulse Test
If your profile passes the initial Curb Appeal Test, prospects delve deeper to see if your profile shows your current activities in more detail.
When was the last time you posted and what are the latest topics you have posted about?
These tells them what your business is active and evolving. It can be the social media proxy for “momentum”.
It may be something big like your company launching a new product or adding a new location.
It may be something smaller like you just hit your “three years in service” milestone or hired a new employee.
The point is is to demonstrate that your business has a pulse. Things are happening right now, not nine months ago or even two years ago. Of course, posting two to three times a week is the ultimate goal, but as long as prospects see once or twice a month posting activity, you can pass the Pulse Test.
Human or Robot Test
If you passed the Pulse Test, now the prospect will take a closer look at your content. We are all familiar with the online query: “Are you a robot?” Unfortunately, it’s easy to come across as one on LinkedIn unless your make an effort otherwise.
Does this describe your presence? It does if the only content they see is predominately promotional.
Consider adding topics like:
Sharing valuable information gleaned from working in your industry
Acknowledging your team or vendors
Letting your audience know why you love what you do
Telling them about your community involvement
If there is no sign of this more personal type of post showing your human side, you may come across as not only formulaic, but also too self-serving in your first impression. Yes, up to 80% of your content can be about your product or service either directly or indirectly, but at least 20% should be about a more authentic side of you and your business.
Moreover, the Human or Robot Test is subtle. It hints at what it might be like work with you. Is is going to be all about you or will it be focused on their needs as a customer or client? All things being equal, most prospects would choose to work with the company that appears to be run by “humans” that care about everything they do.
Next Steps
If you passed these three tests, you are on the right track. While there is always room for improvement, these foundational elements can significantly enhance your ability to develop business on LinkedIn. If you have questions about optimizing your LinkedIn profile or Company page beyond the three tests, check out the blog post: The LinkedIn Two-Step: The Value of Having a Personal Profile and a Company Page for Small Business Owners
If you need help, reach out. KMS Marketing Strategies specializes in helping business owners, professional service providers and entrepreneurs get their LinkedIn profiles to pass these three tests in under a week.
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