Who Should Build A Personal Brand On LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is one of the best places to build your personal brand right in front of decision-makers and those who have the power to bring you to the table. When I say it like that, it might sound a little intimidating, but let’s work on switching the script to make it sound empowering instead.

Overall, LinkedIn is for anyone with something to say, with the courage to use their own authentic voice. When it comes to using it in 2023, it’s more than just another uncomfortable professional networking site hosted online. LinkedIn isn’t just for stuffy suits and keyword-stuffed resumes full of FAANG tech experience.

See more:

• How To Build Your Personal Brand On LinkedIn – 3 Steps
• What Is A Personal Brand?
• Why Would I Need A Personal Brand On LinkedIn?
• Best Post Formula For LinkedIn
• Worst Ways To Use LinkedIn (What To Do Instead)
• Know The Key To Building A Personal Brand?

What do I mean by FAANG?

FAANG is a common acronym for the big, Huge, GIGANTIC tech companies we all know (and love?). Though FAANG has recently changed to MAANG (thanks Facebook —> Meta, I’m looking at you…), this is a list of all the big tech companies that make up FAANG:

• Facebook/Meta
• Amazon
• Apple
• Netflix
• Google

It’s inevitable that this list will change drastically in the next year (or 5 or 10 years for sure!) but for 2023, these are the companies who are leading tech.

Through building my personal brand on LinkedIn in 3 steps, I’ve managed to connect and engage with a ton of FAANG employees. Want to get noticed by one of these big brands or their people? Read on.

Think you don’t belong on LinkedIn?

Think again. Let’s take a look at who is already taking up space on LinkedIn. There are plenty of the pros you expect to see there:

• Executives – they often use LinkedIn to share “thought leadership” pieces that set them and their company apart by showing off positive examples of how the c-suite can run well. When “thought leadership” goes wrong…it’s also interesting to see how this group of users navigates their next steps online.
• Sales People – the pushiest of the bunch, they use LI to sneak into your DMs immediately after making a connection. Use them as an example of how not to use LinkedIn properly.
• Marketers – they thoughtfully use LinkedIn as one more place to build community. It is another customer touchpoint and step in the marketing funnel of building trust before users are ready to commit to a purchase.
• HR/TA/Recruiters – LinkedIn might be the best place for hiring teams to find job seekers. They can easily browse through a users’ interactions on LI to see their expertise, empathy, community-building or helpfulness as a person.

But LinkedIn is also a place for the rest of us who don’t fall into these easily fixed groups. It isn’t just for CEOs and other c-suites, it’s also for those of us who find ourselves supporting businesses, no matter the size. And that ranges from employees to small business owners. Entrepreneurs who aren’t building their personal brand on LinkedIn now are missing out on future business. This is a long-term investment that takes time to build. Success doesn’t happen overnight and anyone who promises you that is a liar.

After reading my first post about the 3 steps to building a personal brand on LinkedIn, a friend texted me this very important question. So this post is dedicated to her. Thank you for asking the questions I’m happy (and knowledgable enough) to answer:

Who is LinkedIn for?

LinkedIn is the social network for professionals but it’s so much more than that. Those who navigate their way to LinkedIn for the first time use it as a:

• College Student – it’s never too early to build a LinkedIn profile. Students can get ahead of the game by engaging, connecting, and sharing their stories as a part of building their personal brand before they even graduate college.
• Recent Graduate – building a presence on LinkedIn has become essential to those just leaving college for their first job in the professional world. If you didn’t start building your personal brand as a student, start now.
• Job Seeker – whether you’re fresh out of college looking for your first job or you’re looking to change careers 10 years later, LinkedIn is a necessary piece to network and build your community. Putting the work into engagement is how you land your next job.
• Business Developer – when it comes to finding new leads or securing VC funding for a tech dream come true, surround yourself with the LinkedIn community and always add value to get a conversation started. People do business with people.

In addition to using LinkedIn for business and employment purposes, it’s an amazing wealth of knowledge! Want to know who to reach out to at Google? Easy. Plus, the bigger win here is that LinkedIn is providing details you certainly can’t find on a company site. Finding who works in Recruiting at Google or Gaming at Netflix has never been this easy!

Once you’ve landed on the company in your LinkedIn search, you can filter down your search further by focusing on Jobs or People or Posts. The navigation is easy to use with buttons at the top of the page or jump links along the left side column of the page. Additionally, if you just scroll down the page like normal, you’ll hit all of these focal points along the way.

Building a personal brand on LinkedIn is for who?

This bears repeating: People do business with people. There are very few companies with such strong brand recognition that they don’t need an actual human to conduct business. FAANG has that covered. But for the other 99% of businesses out there, it’s incredibly beneficial to individuals and companies to add that human touch. LinkedIn is for CEOs but it’s also for those who are:

• New in their career – use LI to network like you’ve never networked before. Comment on posts with thoughtful, intriguing questions or answers. Always push the conversation forward.
• Switching careers – insert yourself into conversations where you want to be with meaningful engagement. It’s all public so surround yourself with those you admire and aspire to be.
• Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, & Freelancers – LinkedIn has the power to connect like no other social networking site. It’s a virtual contact list of everyone who works for a given company. This is where to share the stories that matter about business behind the scenes.
• UGC, Influencers, and Content Creators – though the vast majority of UGC creators are on Instagram and TikTok, LinkedIn is where they will find the decision-makers at the brands they want to collaborate with! Finding the Influencer Marketing Manager of any company, and then inserting yourself into their conversations with helpful comments or answers has never been easier!
• Companies – employees are the most trusted voice of a company. Encouraging your team to build a strong personal brand online is good for business. It’s also good for recruiting and retention. When an employee has something positive to say about their work experience, encourage them to speak up.