Top 5 tips to getting the most from your LinkedIn for your business

Anthony Leung, founder of Mean Write Hook, shares valuable tips for getting the most out of LinkedIn with The Industry Leaders. A social media vet turned personal LinkedIn coach, Anthony has worked with major brands like Pret A Manger and JUST EAT. He shows business leaders how to tell their stories well and “make LinkedIn finally work for them”.

Try these five tips to make LinkedIn work for you:

1. Use your personal account for greater impact

For small to medium-sized businesses, focusing on your personal brand can be more beneficial than a business page. As the face of your business, your personal brand allows you to inject your unique personality into your content, making it more authentic and relatable. 

This personal touch creates deeper connections beyond the transactional relationship of business. Plus, you’re likely already networking and connecting through your personal account, making it an effective platform to enhance your influence, trust, and, ultimately, your business’s reach.

2. Remember actions speak louder than words

There’s a common belief that extensive 5000-word blogs are the key to establishing ourselves as experts on LinkedIn. That can’t be further from the truth. Demonstrating your expertise and values through action can be far more impactful than these long “Thought Leadership” pieces. 

Say your work is with startups – sharing content that reflects your active involvement in the startup community will speak volumes. Or if sustainability is something that’s important to you and your business, it’s showing what you’re doing about it that’ll truly show your commitment.

A picture of you and your team cleaning up the beach will allow you to tell stories like these. Posts that illustrate how your actions align with your professed values and expertise can resonate more deeply and powerfully with your audience.

3. Embrace video to build trust and authenticity

Being on camera can feel daunting at first, but it's one of the best ways to build trust and showcase your authentic self on LinkedIn. Your personality, tone of voice, and genuine passion all come through in ways that written words can’t match. It's like having a face-to-face conversation.

Video can also be a quick and effortless medium to create. With the right support or tools, you can easily make a selfie video sharing personal insights or a behind-the-scenes look at your business. This bridges the gap between you and your audience, making it the next best thing to being there in person. So get on camera and let your true self shine through.

4. Learn the rules of LinkedIn storytelling

LinkedIn storytelling isn’t the same as conventional storytelling. The more we understand and respect the rules that come with this form of storytelling, the more our audience will resonate with our content.

On LinkedIn, the luxury of a gradual build-up typical in traditional storytelling is replaced by the need for instant engagement.

The opening two lines of your caption, your visuals, and the first two seconds of your video are crucial. If you want to capture your audience’s attention in that brief window, it’s essential to give a glimpse of the payoff right away, providing a compelling reason to continue reading or watching. Remember, you only have a few seconds to make an impact, so make them count.

5. Get over the fear!

So many of us find it hard to post on LinkedIn because of a fear of being judged by our peers or by people in the industry. I think it’s ironic – to me, it’s way scarier to get into business for ourselves and start an agency than it is to post our thoughts on LinkedIn.

How do we build confidence to get over this fear? The same way you built your confidence to build your business – by understanding and believing in your values. 

The first thing I do with my clients is help them map out their story, which serves as the foundation of all their content. It’s what we always go back to for inspiration and direction. 

Knowing your story takes away the fear of being judged because your content now comes from a solid foundation.