5 Essential Steps to Becoming a LinkedIn Influencer

By Andrea Italia

A LinkedIn influencer resonates with their audience, provides value on topics important to their brand and followers, and is publicly known online as a trusted authority with measurable successes. Elsewhere, an influencer’s presence across various social media platforms may also impact the behaviours of users and sway them to buy a particular product or service they are personally invested in. In the general sense, an influencer possesses the power to convey their knowledge and position to a wider audience who is willing to listen, think, and possibly even act upon their authority.

However, the LinkedIn influencer’s alternative or shrewd approach to the challenging topics which affect their audience, industry, or what matters to their world is what makes their content potent and relevant to the millions of users utilising the platform. This is where their power is really derived.

Here are some steps which you can take to become an influencer within your own niche:

1 . Build a Public Profile Your Followers Can Trust

An aspiring LinkedIn influencer should ensure their reputation and trustworthiness are seamless upon first impression. This is perhaps the most important and time-consuming step in the process; taking your time to improve this area will pay off in the long-term and lay down a solid foundation. Your influencer status relies upon the effort you’ve invested in your public profile, so before embarking on ways to create and release content, consider addressing the following questions:

• Is your profile picture presentable to future employers? Is it clear and professional? An informal or low-resolution profile picture that would better suit your Facebook or Instagram channel may undermine your authenticity. Ensuring that your profile picture is set to public is also vital.
• Is your Headline captivating or is it too generic? A generic Headline could suppress your unique personality. It could also fail to set you apart on a platform that is growing in influencers. State what matters to you most.
• Is your About (Summary) section up-to-date? Walk your readers through your key experience, skills, passions, and attributes which set you apart from the rest.
• Are each of your profile sections – About, Experience, and Education especially – set to public? Having these set to private may suggest that you’re hiding something that others may not want to see. Being as transparent and open as possible will attract more LinkedIn users to engage with your content.
• Do each of your job roles incorporate an employer logo? Companies listed on LinkedIn will each have their own logo to add to job positions. This further adds to your authenticity and ensures that your profile looks immaculate.
• Have your skills been endorsed by your fellow colleagues? Does your profile showcase recommendations posted by your past or present employers? Requesting your close connections to endorse your skills or write you up a recommendation is an essential component in this process, proving that your character is reputable and reliable in diverse working environments.

Following these initial steps will highly increase your chances of becoming a LinkedIn influencer.

2. Find Your Thought Leadership Niche

Now that you’ve routinely updated your profile from top to bottom, consider ways in which you can make your mark and share content that will engage other leaders within your community. Follow news pages, publications, or other LinkedIn influencers that are aligned with your worldview and be privy to current events impacting your industry. Like, comment, and share with the topics you want to be aligned with. Your presence will be felt if you are receiving engagement in return.

Your thoughts, opinions, and experiences matter on LinkedIn, so sharing what you’re passionate about – whether it’s politics, issues like the gender pay gap or global warming, or technology – will cement your influence, build relationships, and allow you to join the conversation. Building your audience’s trust in your expertise will drastically improve your reach as a LinkedIn influencer.

3. Post Diverse Content: Newsfeed Posts, Articles, Videos

To be a LinkedIn influencer is to also be seen as a regular contributor, content creator, or advisor within your industry. Publishing periodic newsfeed updates, original long-form articles which function as blogposts, or native videos which examine a particular subject, are excellent ways to strengthen your status as an influencer and thought leader. This will establish your authority and earn you greater respect as a contributor with original ideas and opinions about certain topics. Illustrating evidence of credibility to external sources such as publications and peer-reviewed journals will also build your trustworthiness. Measuring which content platform generates the most likes, comments, and shares may also determine which one is relevant to what message you want to get across.

Importantly, devising a regular schedule for researching, designing, and editing your content will support your stance as an influencer and allow you to become more organised. Thought leadership creation, brand exposure, and external engagement from other users across the web can emerge from this with the right help.

4. Engage an Executive PR Firm such as Executive Agents to Create and Manage Content

Utilising the professional services of a firm such as Executive Agents will fast-track your path to becoming a LinkedIn influencer.

Allowing a company like Executive Agents to curate and schedule content with a quick turnaround will save you time to consider and suggest content that will engage your online community. With professional writers, proof-readers, and graphic designers onboard, your LinkedIn content will rival key influencers within your industry. As an aspiring LinkedIn influencer, Executive Agents will wield your individual voice and create content to bring value to a targeted group of followers, generating more traffic and organic search results.

5 . Constructing Your Personal Brand Through LinkedIn Premium

As you begin to notice the ripple effects created by your content and engagement with others on LinkedIn, it may be time to invest in the Premium side of the platform to see how you compare with the competition. Paying for the Premium service will enable you to further develop your skills with on-demand videos and courses which will inform your content topics, business niche, and thought leadership.

Access to more data is power in itself; LinkedIn Premium will deliver accurate business insights on your industry, shaping the relevancy of your content and what is being said on certain topics. You will also be able to gauge your audience and who is engaging with your profile, allowing you the opportunity to adapt and create content that is better suited to your audience. Perhaps this will be a way for you to shape your personal brand through ready data and insights.

Striving to become a LinkedIn influencer is a fruitful endeavour that will build your confidence and stature on the growing business networking platform. Following these steps will supplement your efforts to becoming a powerful contributor on LinkedIn, and although it may take some time, you will find equal enjoyment in finding a supportive network that will appreciate your perspective on the matters than mean the most to them.

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