People are using LinkedIn more and more to look for prospects, partners, collaborators, influencers, coaches, consultants, and new talent. As a result, having a killer LinkedIn profile that attracts the right people to you has become more important than ever. Recently, I had a wonderful chat with Tyron Giuliani, a LinkedIn marketing expert, where we discussed the best ways to get more leads from LinkedIn. 

And optimizing your LinkedIn profile is at the top of the list!

Why should you care about your LinkedIn profile?

• More than four million LinkedIn members were hired through the platform in 2019. (LinkedIn).

• LinkedIn’s lead conversion rates are 3X higher than other major ad platforms, including Google Ads. (LinkedIn). 
• In a study of over 5,000 businesses, HubSpot found that traffic from LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74%, almost three times or 277% higher than both Twitter (.69%) and Facebook (.77%). 

Despite LinkedIn having over 500 million users, most LinkedIn profiles do a poor job of attracting quality prospects. Don’t be one of them. Getting found in a sea of LinkedIn profiles will be easier if you use these tips to optimize your own. 

Ready to get the right people to approach you with work, instead of you approaching them for work? Without further ado, I present to you – 10 ways you can optimize your LinkedIn profile to get more leads. 

1. Your LinkedIn banner is prime real estate

While it’s definitely important to have a well-optimized professional profile picture on LinkedIn, don’t neglect your banner. Especially since you can use that prime bit of space to grab people’s attention, stand out from the crowd, set the context, and show a little more about what matters to you. You can show prospects your branding, your vibe, or even a hint of your portfolio and clients. It’s also a great place to put your contact info. 

2. Your headline says it all

Ensure that you cover what you do, who you do it for, and ideally what problem you solve in the 120 character limit provided by LinkedIn. That makes you easier to find when people look for professionals in your field of specialization on LinkedIn. Use terms that will be widely recognized and searched. 

When someone lands on my profile they can see, at a glance, what problem I help them solve (my banner), who I help (my banner and headline), how I help (my headline). My banner also showcases my values and my brand.

Notice how Tyron and Travis have used their banner and headline to convey pertinent information which is also on brand.

3. Don’t ignore any section of your profile if you’re serious about getting more leads on LinkedIn

Every section on your LinkedIn profile should be easy to read, with each part explaining what you do and how you do it. Ensure that the summary is clear and precise with enough paragraph breaks to give the reader room to assimilate information. Skills and endorsements are a great place to show your expertise to prospective clients. Got a few certificates and accomplishments related to what you do? Showcase them!

Don’t leave any section of your profile blank if you have useful, relevant content that goes in its place. See how Tyron has used ALL the sections (including the URL) of his profile to convey his expertise and experience in the services he offers.

4. Social proof should be everywhere on LinkedIn

And by that, I mean everywhere. Social proof adds credibility to the products and services you offer. People don’t have a lot of time on hand to read carefully through your entire profile. Generally, they quickly browse through and read the parts that grab their attention. That’s why it’s important to place social proof in as many places you can. Both in written format and graphic format for attention. 

Leverage your social proof to convince the readers of your offerings. Here is how I used social proof throughout my LinkedIn profile. Psst… make sure you have a look at my experience section for some interesting ideas. 

5. Get more leads on LinkedIn by sharing storytelling and edutainment content

People want to know how your product will be valuable to them, why you are the right person for the job, and why they should trust you over 10 other people offering similar products and services. And they want to know all this in a way that doesn’t make their eyes glaze over. 

In order to do this, you need to be consistent with content that tells a story, that entertains, that is interesting and enjoyable, but also provides value. Use eye-catching visual images and infographics where you can. Share your customer stories. Don’t be afraid to be a little personal. Try to bring to life why your skills matter – and the difference they can make to the people you work with.

6. Take advantage of the featured section to get more leads from LinkedIn

The Featured section is a new area on your LinkedIn profile where you can showcase work that you’re most proud of. Take advantage of the Featured section to highlight your expertise and social proof. You can highlight case studies, testimonials, thought leadership articles, media mentions, your website, your portfolio… the list is endless. You can even share your latest launches and accomplishments. Ensure that your featured section is always updated. Here is how Travis has used the featured section to showcase his social proof..

7. Make sure your profile doesn’t read like a resume. 

Your LinkedIn profile is the cornerstone of your professional brand online. Yet many people create a LinkedIn profile that looks like their résumé or CV. You need to remember that you’re not looking for employment via LinkedIn, but for clients. And for potential clients, a dry list of your professional experiences is simply not interesting. 

Instead try showing some personality while filling in your LinkedIn profile. Use the latest features made available to you. Rather than simply listing your services, use the experience sections to highlight each of your services. You can make it more interesting by attaching graphics and external links to something that showcases your skills in an excellent light. If you haven’t already, have a look at my experience section here.

8. Take advantage of the Services section to highlight up to 10 services you provide

Isn’t it great when clients come knocking on your door looking to hire? That is exactly what the LinkedIn services section does for you. LinkedIn members looking for help will be able to filter their general LinkedIn searches for service providers. When you add services to your profile, you’ll show up in these search results based on the service you selected. However, the key here is staying relevant. A long list of services that aren’t really core to who you are and what you do, will not help you get the kind of clients you want.

9. To get more leads from LinkedIn use graphics in each section 

In order to capitalize on things you want your prospects to see, make use of graphics in each section. A small iconographic at the beginning of each paragraph helps break the monotony of the wall of text. Using images and videos at the right place ensures that your readers don’t miss out on important information.

While including graphics on LinkedIn you need to be careful of using the correct size so that LinkedIn doesn’t chop half your graphic off. For the best practices on LinkedIn image sizes refer to this post.

10. Get more leads on LinkedIn by optimizing your profile for SEO 

What terms would your target clients use to look for you on LinkedIn? What is the industry jargon? These will be your important keywords. Words which your clients will put in the search bar. Ensure that you sprinkle those words liberally throughout your profile. However make sure that you don’t overuse them.

LinkedIn marketing is a deep topic. While I hope this information has been useful to you, I am sure there are a lot of other tips that can be equally useful. Please comment below and give us your best LinkedIn advice.

And if you’re looking for a team (a community) of heart-centered professionals to support you with your marketing activities, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Amazing OBM.  We’d love to chat and help you plan for an amazing 2021!