These days, I’m being pulled in multiple directions, forced to drop important duties to prioritize more immediate, sudden, important tasks. It’s called life, even in business.
I came up with today’s article while I was searching for help on LinkedIn. And what I found was surprising. Therefore, the focus of this piece is on your title, description, and how it fits into who you are, and what you do.
In case you’re wondering: there are more than one billion members in over 200 countries and territories on LinkedIn. Are you helping prospects find you in that stack?
Your title is important to instantly indicate what you do, and to help the seeker know if you are someone they should explore. Your title and description are tied into and represent your company’s brand, and you want to make sure the people scanning your profile, which shows your picture, name, and title in the search, understand whether you might be a fit for their needs.
What did the titles tell me? How did this determine my next move? Why should you be concerned about your brand in social media?
What the LinkedIn titles revealed
Here’s the scoop: Suddenly I was in need of an important service I had relied upon since my business opened in 2008. It is a blow, as they say, and I’m not a fan of change. But it is beyond my control and thus, I must deal with it.
I considered putting a plea out on LinkedIn but knew instantly that is unwise. I notice when others put out pleas, they are inundated with responses, adding more work and burden to the poster. It’s too much to weed through to find what you truly need. (I also notice people do not read all the instructions and their comments make that obvious).
In my search, I first went to my connections as it was likely I was connected with someone that fit what I needed. I put specific search terms in the filter. Despite my narrow filter, I was given multiple pages, which meant I had to quickly scan each page.
Most titles were vague. “Business consultant,” “I help people connect to big ideas,” “Founder,” “Results leader.” I think you get the idea. None of these tell me what or how. Even titles such as: “graphic designer,” “writer,” or “marketing strategist” do not give specifics.
What this means is that I had to scan through the names. I never opened their profiles. If the titles did not tell me right away what they did and for whom, I didn’t have time to research.
Review your title. If you are not looking for connections, prospects, or work, then vague titles are fine. But if you are searching for potential work, reevaluate your title. When scanning our phones, we see the first few words. Are you telling your prospects and service seekers you are a match for them by your descriptive title?
Descriptive LinkedIn titles help your prospects
Your goal with your profile should be to eliminate the work your prospects must do. We (service seekers) don’t have time nor the patience to do the leg work you are giving us.
In addition, if you have the “looking for work” ribbon around your image (although, frankly, just about everyone on LI is looking for work so it’s rather unnecessary), make sure your profile title and description immediately shows head hunters exactly what you do so they do not bypass your profile because they don’t need another “thought leader” on their team.
“White paper writer for manufacturing” is better than “writer.” “Website graphic designer for authors” is better than “graphic designer.” “Internal communications strategist for financial companies” is better than “communications strategist.”
Think about what you do and for whom and be as descriptive as possible with the small space you have to work with.
Does your image on social media matter?
In short, yes, your image on social media matters, especially on business networks like LinkedIn, or your business page on Facebook, Instagram, and wherever you put yourself out there as a true thought leader in your area of expertise.
Your comments, posts, images, likes — anything you put out for the world to see which will never truly disappear, represent who you are, your brand.
If you’ve managed to hook a service seeker or employer with your title, they will look at your profile. What they see will further determine whether you might be a good fit and partner. If you have a descriptive title, but your posts reveal a different persona (some people simply cannot separate professional work from personal opinions) that does not work with what they perceived about you, they will walk.
These are some things to consider and maybe review your profiles to make sure you are spelling out what you need prospects to know about you. Try your own exercise as if you were searching for a particular service. In your search, what do you see that turns you off? What do you like?
Again, you do not want potential buyers and clients to bypass you because you did not tell them what they needed to know.
Ending the search saga
Sadly, my search of all my connections turned up zero providers. I was surprised because I know many are in the industry I was looking for and likely offered what I had needed. I turned to the next best option: I reached out to a connection knowing she had multiple clients in that industry I sought and asked her for a referral. She asked a few questions to understand my needs and voila! I had a connection, which I promptly reached out to.
And truly, referrals are the best sort of connections when one is in need. But not everyone has that luxury to be able to reach out and ask someone else. And again, if you desire work, you want to make your expertise obvious.
Ask yourself: Are you helping your prospects find you? Are you making their search easy?
Your LinkedIn and other social media profiles and titles must be descriptive. Eliminate the leg work your prospects must do to learn what you do and for whom by giving it to them in your title. Further, your profile, comments and posts all contribute to the brand image of your company.
Photo by Anton Belitskiy
Want to get your brand story outlined and out into the public eye, but lack the time or energy to do it yourself? Your organization’s brand story is researched, outlined, and written specifically for you by me in Brand Storytelling Done-For-You. Further, we strategize how you can use your story for new programs, products, and services. To learn more, reach out to me.
Love what you are reading? I’d appreciate your support! Click here to Buy Me a Coffee.
Recent Comments