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Here’s how to effectively use LinkedIn to build your business and curate your brand image
Do you know that surveys have shown that job seekers today say that employer’s brand and/or reputation is more important today than five years ago, and up to 75% would consider an employer’s brand even before applying for a job?
So how are you curating your brand image to support your business and ensure a good recruitment pipeline?
Graphic: Using LinkedIn to build your brand image
Companies that are already well-known can leverage LinkedIn to show thought leadership, and build goodwill, beyond posting jobs.
For small businesses, SMEs or one-man-shows, however, the challenges to build a brand are greater.
Says Mr Ang Hin Kee, head of the NTUC’s Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit (FSEU), “Workers and business owners in Singapore are largely quite tech-savvy. But they need help to figure out the most effective platforms, and to navigate the plethora of tools to market themselves more effectively in the digital era.”
For SMEs and freelancers, tapping on LinkedIn is essential as it offers a platform to connect with potential business partners, showcase what you do, create your community and grow awareness of your brand. These efforts can often translate to a better corporate image, drive business and enhance recruitment efforts.
To help companies, employees and freelancers better develop their brand image, NTUC’s U Future Leaders organised a personal branding clinic with Chris J Reed, CEO of Black Marketing.
Chris is one of LinkedIn’s Power Profiles in Singapore and a much sought after speaker around the world on LinkedIn marketing.
First, Chris explained the difference between being on LinkedIn and Facebook, “Facebook is social and casual. It’s about friends and Facebook users may not want to be disturbed by marketers and companies. LinkedIn is a business platform and is like a business networking event. Users want to be approached by people, whether its headhunters, employers looking to hire, potential clients, or investors who want to know what’s going on. LinkedIn is very much about the PR benefits of corporate branding and the benefits of elevating the personal brand of your CEO as a leader.”
Here are Chris’ top three tips to boost your company’s profile and brand on LinkedIn:
1. Leverage your employees’ personal page to elevate your corporate brand
Employees as Ambassadors
Tap on your employees who are active on LinkedIn and who are happy working in your company. Get them to upload profile pictures with your company logo or name in the background.
If you organised an event which can be milked for PR mileage, you can also have photos of your employees taken wearing the event memorabilia, for example, the corporate T-shirt or hat for the event. Do be consistent in how these photos are framed; for example, ensure that all photos have the same background. Your employees’ profile is often viewed by their networks and may have wide reach. You can tap on these networks and goodwill by just leveraging your employees as your ambassadors.
Showcase Employees as Inspiration
If an employee holds an interesting or important portfolio at work, you may wish to get them to blog about their job on their page. For example, your director of technology can be blogging about their projects or thoughts about the industry and technology. Or your marketing director can blog about the company’s campaigns and behind-the-scenes insights. This helps to showcase the calibre of your people and the exciting work of your company. It helps to build your brand amongst job seekers.
Here is a good example of how NTUC projects thought leadership on labour and new economy issues through Vivek Kumar, U Future Leaders & U Associate Director of NTUC.
Picture: LinkedIn articles written by Vivek Kumar, U Future Leaders & U Associate Director of NTUC
Of course, this also raises the profile of your people, and brings them to the attention of headhunters and your competitors.
Chris rejoinder is that “good people will always be poached, with or without LinkedIn. Companies need to devise a strategy to keep their best people. You can’t keep them a secret in the digital age.”
2. Develop a content marketing strategy for your LinkedIn site by doing regular blog posts
Post updates
Content keeps your followers engaged with what is going on. It also helps people to understand more about your company. Post company news. Market your upcoming events. Crow about your company’s awards. Stake out positions on economic, legal and other issues that impact your company or industry.
Graphic: Tech Forum Event on U Future Leaders’ LinkedIn Page
Once you start, do not leave your company page un-updated for too long. Nothing is worse than seeing the last update one month ago!
Encourage discussions and debates
Chris says one strategy is to post thought-provoking relevant content that elicit comments and promotes discussions. This widens the reach of your posts, and may even get the attention of the news media, thus elevating the profile of your company.
He feels that discussions are more rational and substantive on LinkedIn than on other social platforms because LinkedIn users are professionals with a real profile and reputation to protect. So companies are likely to have better control managing the discussions on LinkedIn.
Use pictures and videos
Share infographics and reports. Upload videos of interviews done with company executives. Showcase photos of company events.
3. Market your company by building the CEO’s personal brand
Establish the CEO as a thought leader. Showcase his or her personality and their views through regular posts on their personal page. Post their thoughts on important issues from the perspective of the company.
Flamboyant Virgin Group CEO, Richard Branson, is a good example of a CEO who embodies the company brand. He blogs about work issues ranging from worklife balance, to never being too old to learn, entrepreneurship, workplace equality as well as social issues like the war on drugs and encouraging children to learn. Every post is accompanied by him smiling, doing things or being with people.
Picture: Richard Branson’s LinkedIn Posts
Through his posts, his personal LinkedIn page builds an impression of Virgin as a fun, caring and meaningful company to work for.
Building the CEO’s personal brand, and therefore the company’s credibility, is something that founders of companies, start-ups, and entrepreneurs should seriously think about.
To learn the other 7 tips from Chris J Reed, check out the next upcoming NTUC U Future Leaders personal branding clinic at www.ntuc.org.sg/ufutureleaders
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Writer: LK Lai
