5 Tips For Using LinkedIn To Build Your Personal And Company Brand

A client recently questioned my use of the phrase “thought leadership blogging.” She feels there are very few true thought leaders in the world. They either walk the hallowed halls of the major consulting firms, like McKinsey and EY, or they have massive followings, like Bill Gates.

While I understand her perspective, I respectfully disagree.

Here’s my take: Thought leadership isn’t just for the mega-players. It’s for anyone with valuable insights to share and a desire to lead the conversation.

You’re a thought leader if you influence how others think about a topic. It doesn’t matter if you’re influencing millions or a niche group of a few hundred. If people look to you for expert guidance and new ideas, congratulations! You’re leading thoughts. You’re a thought leader in their eyes.

But here’s a question: When you think about building YOUR reputation as a thought leader online, which platforms come to mind?

For many business owners, the usual suspects are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and maybe even TikTok. But one powerhouse platform is often overlooked, especially by personal development influencers, ecommerce entrepreneurs, creative entrepreneurs, and healers and wellness practitioners.

That platform? LinkedIn.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. “But, Renae, my audience hangs out on Facebook, not LinkedIn!” And that may be true. But just because your potential clients or customers are primarily active on other platforms doesn’t mean they don’t also use LinkedIn in their professional lives.

You could miss huge opportunities to establish your expertise, connect with influential people in your space, and even land new business by neglecting LinkedIn in your thought leadership content strategy.

There are lots of goodies to be had for executives and business owners who build a presence on LinkedIn:

Establish trust and credibility.
Win hearts and minds—heart-share💗.
Stoke your personal and professional brand.
Improve your career potential.
Show off your expertise.
Even better—leads and sales.

All it takes is your willingness, time, and energy. Or, as usual in life, lacking those things, money.

So, how can you use LinkedIn to build your brand and reputation as a thought leader? The key lies in posting consistently.

5 tips for building your brand on LinkedIn

Regular posts on LinkedIn continually demonstrate your expertise and value and help you stay top of mind among your connections and beyond. Here are some tips for posting on LinkedIn.

1. Post multiple times per week

Aim to post three to five times a week. This frequency keeps you present without overwhelming your audience or yourself. It’s a sustainable cadence that allows for quality content creation.

Think you can’t post that much? You can if you use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools. In one of my previous articles, I specifically wrote about using ChatGPT to create LinkedIn posts.

2. Use emojis liberally

Emojis can make your posts more engaging and visually appealing, breaking up text and adding a touch of personality. Use them to highlight key points or to add a playful element to your posts, but keep them relevant and professional.

Here’s an example of how I use emojis on LinkedIn:

Although you may not want to use the poo emoji, or even stretch beyond using emojis for bullet points, any use of emojis will make your posts feel more human—especially crucial if you’re using generative AI to help you write.

3. Incorporate images, slide decks, PDFs, videos, and more

Although you can include up to 20 images in each LinkedIn post, a single, striking image can greatly increase engagement. Make sure the image is high-quality and relevant to the post content.

But you can add more than images to your posts on LinkedIn. You can add videos, polls, PDFs, and slide decks. This capability gives you many creative possibilities for showing the world your talents, sharing insights, and engaging your audience in interactive ways.

Here’s a rundown of what you can do with slide decks and PDFs and some strategies for using them effectively.

Educational content and guides: Share comprehensive guides, eBooks, or industry reports as PDFs. This is an excellent way to provide value to your audience, establishing your authority in your niche.
Creative portfolios: Use PDFs and slide decks as digital portfolios highlighting your best work. If you serve multiple audiences, consider separate portfolios for each.
Workshop and webinar slides: If you recently hosted a workshop or webinar, share the deck to extend the life of your content, reach those who couldn’t attend live, and add value to your LinkedIn community.
Infographics: While technically an image, an infographic packed as a PDF can provide detailed insights on complex topics in an easily digestible format, encouraging shares and engagement.

Although your content might be hosted on LinkedIn, share links to your posts on other social platforms and in your email newsletter to drive traffic and engagement across your digital presence.

4. Structure your posts consistently

Post structure is like tea flavor (Earl Grey, hot)—the choice is up to you. But I do recommend that my clients use standard post structures for different types of posts.

For instance, when I write social posts that drive readers to a blog post on my site, I follow a standard format:

Start with a compelling headline or opening sentence that grabs attention.
Follow with a brief introduction, two to three sentences, to set the stage for the big idea.
Use bullet points to outline the key ideas or tips readers will discover when they click in to read the article.
Add a link to the blog post, either in the body of the LinkedIn post or in the first comment. There’s no clear answer as to whether you’re better off adding links in the body or the first comment. In my experiments, I found no difference, but I still recommend that you test it for yourself.

5. Use three to five hashtags per post

Use three to five relevant hashtags per post to increase its discoverability. Choose a mix of broad industry hashtags and more specific ones related to the post topic.

There are several ways you can discover which hashtags to use.

Use the search bar: In the LinkedIn search bar, start typing a keyword related to your industry. As you type, LinkedIn will suggest related hashtags. This is a straightforward way to find popular and relevant hashtags.
Explore posts: After searching, explore the posts using the suggested hashtags. This can give you an idea of each hashtag’s content type and popularity.
Do what the leaders do: Look at the profiles and posts of thought leaders in your field. Note which hashtags they use. A little exploration here can uncover a goldmine of relevant and trending hashtags.
Analyze competitors: Check out your competitors’ LinkedIn pages and note the hashtags they use frequently. This can give you ideas about relevant hashtags for your shared audience.

Finally, avoid overusing hashtags, as too many hashtags can appear spammy and detract from the message.

6. Bonus—A few final tips for posting on LinkedIn

As you shape your LinkedIn strategy, consider these final tips, which focus on maximizing interactions, visibility, and results.

Engage with comments: Promptly respond to comments on your posts to foster discussions and build a community around your content.
Time posts for maximum visibility: Posting during peak hours (typically morning and early evening on weekdays) can increase your chances of high engagement.
Analyze your performance: LinkedIn provides insights into each post’s performance. Use this data to understand what types of content resonate with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Thought leadership is a long game. It’s about consistently showing up, sharing your unique perspective, and providing genuine value to your audience. By incorporating LinkedIn into your strategy, you can tap into a vast network of professionals hungry for the insights only you can provide.

Lack time to post or don’t fancy yourself a writer?

If you lack the time to post consistently or if writing isn’t your thing, consider hiring an executive ghostwriter. A skilled ghostwriter can interview you to learn about your life and passions so they can weave those things into your content. They can guide you through your LinkedIn content strategy and even how it merges with your company’s marketing content strategy. An executive ghostwriter can also help you:

Figure out topics and themes to write about.
Build and maintain a content calendar.
Create outlines and suggest angles.
Articulate and refine your thinking.

A talented ghostwriter may also create a personal style guide to document your personal voice/tone/style and the words and phrases that make you, you.

Bottom line? LinkedIn is quickly becoming the go-to platform for personal and even corporate brand-building. If you’re not posting—and if your competitors are—you may be leaving dollars on the table.

But since you’re reading these words, I’m guessing you do want to publish regularly on LinkedIn. You believe in the benefits. Or at least you’d like to explore the potential.

So what are you waiting for? Do something with that inspiration and fire that’s now lit within.