Hot LinkedIn Trends: What the Experts Say

By Bob McIntosh

To land a job now, you will need to have a strong LinkedIn profile.

And, that profile needs to clearly brand you.

But is a strong, well-branded LinkedIn profile enough?

According to four LinkedIn experts it is not.

I asked asked Hannah Morgan, Kevin Turner, Jessica Hernandez, and Andy Foote for their insights and received answers ranging from the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) to building a strong network and engaging with your network.

Branding with Your LinkedIn Profile

Before I share the experts' advice, let's start with the basics -- branding yourself with your LinkedIn profile. This will always be important.

Job seekers will have to put more effort into writing content for not only SEO, but content that resonates with hiring authorities.

Yet great content won't be enough:

• Background image and headshot photo.
  
  You'll need to brand yourself with images that speak to your occupation and industry. These will include most notably your background image and photo. More people are coming around to including a background image. After all, who wants that ugly, light blue image behind their photo? (LinkedIn Help: Adding Background Image)
  
  A headshot photo is a must. Increasingly more people are realizing that to be memorable, trusted, and liked, they must have a quality photo. LinkedIn members are owning their photos by making them more theme-based or presenting a casual pose.
• LinkedIn Headline.
  
  Greater emphasis should also be placed on the Headline. There are a plethora of articles that talk about the importance of keywords and/or a branding statement to go with them. The following Headline includes keywords and a branding statement:
  
  
  Finance Manager at Company X | Financial Planning and Analysis | Auditing | Saving Organizations Millions.
• The About section.
  
  Job seekers are giving this section more attention, and that is a very good idea. They are including more content that tells their story which include statements of their greatness. Think about the passion you have for what you do, and how well you do it. Share quantified accomplishments that prove your value.
  
  Write this section in first-person point of view.
  
• Experience.
  
  You will be wise to provide more descriptions of your jobs in your Experience section. Your resume probably includes duty and accomplishment statements, but this is where you want to create the WOW factor with your profile. Stick with the accomplishment statements and personalize them.
  
  
  One of my greatest accomplishments was initiating and implementing – before the deadline – a customer relations management (CRM) system that increased productivity by 58%.
  
  Better content that brands you should continue throughout your LinkedIn profile. In Education you can tell a story. Do not skip adding your volunteer experience. Companies appreciate those who volunteer. Think branding!

Ensure that all of these elements consistently support your brand.

Advice From 4 LinkedIn Experts

Gone are the days when your profile was seen simply as an online resume. Also gone are the days when your profile sat on the Internet waiting for hiring authorities to find you.

Now, with more than 722 million members in LinkedIn (December, 2020), you must be more proactive to be found.

This means that, as a job seeker, you also need to consider multiple components of your LinkedIn visibility, not simply your profile.

Many resist getting more involved in their LinkedIn presence, and this resistance to developing a focused network and engaging with their network is human nature, because it takes hard work. But doesn't being successful take hard work?

To discover which LinkedIn trends you should follow in the future, I asked these four renowned LinkedIn experts their thoughts on this topic. Each of them offer valuable advice:

  Hannah Morgan -- Your Activity on LinkedIn Matters  

Having an updated and robust profile is important, but posting, sharing, and commenting on LinkedIn will generate attention to your profile faster. In fact, posting updates on LinkedIn almost guarantees more people will view your profile.

LinkedIn users interact with content from peers and colleagues more than influencers or organizations. So what you share will get noticed.

At the end of the day, being active on LinkedIn by commenting and sharing articles relevant to your field helps people understand your career interests and calls attention to your professional reputation and personal brand. When people see your photo and headline along with the career-related updates you share, it puts you top-of-mind.

More about Hannah: Hannah’s LinkedIn Profile, Hannah’s website, and Hannah’s articles in Job-Hunt.

  Kevin Turner -- Better SEO  

Back in 2005, I remember joining LinkedIn as one of its first Million Members in the US. Then in 2011, the membership hit 100M globally, and now we are entering this new decade 675M+ members strong. It makes sense that being found on this platform is more challenging than ever.

• Continued change.
  
  Change itself will continue to be a constant state. If you have been active on the platform long enough, you have seen experts gaming the system, LinkedIn losing control, resetting the algorithms, and gaining it back again, time after time.
  
  When you are in the business of monetizing data, as is LinkedIn, losing control, means losing money, so LinkedIn must continuously stay ahead of the experts. Nowhere was this more evident than in the early years, when getting your profile on the first page of a search was too easy.
  
  The search results suffered, with top rankings given to profiles that were unreadably swimming in a sea of keywords.
  
  We should expect change, just when we think we have figured it out.
  
• Keywords and personal SEO.
  
  Keywording an LI profile, to increase exposure, is now just a starting point of your personal SEO. Yes, you still need to implement in-demand keywords, but you can't just stuff them in anywhere or leave them in lists.
  
  These keywords should address your target audience, represent your niche value add, support your goals, and we must ensure they are consistently, grammatically, repetitively, and contextually used throughout each component of your complete ALL-STAR level profile.
  
• Engaging other members.
  
  Engagement is what turns the world's largest database of professional resumes into a vibrant community.
  
  Social platforms exist for dialogue. So, those who regularly contribute, thoughtfully listen, respectfully nurture the conversation, and show they are always learning, will be rewarded.
  
  Authentically publish, post, comment, like, and share every day to maximize exposure and establish your knowledge leadership.
  
• Analytics and AI.
  
  Predicted Analytics based in the current and future state of LinkedIn's AI, On and Offsite Tracking, and Psychographic Profiling will be taking on a more significant role in defining members' value, ranking, and suitability for hire.
  
  Beware that a misguided social campaign, off or on LI of flaming, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, hate, plagiarism, negativity, and even connectivity relationships (guilt by association) will negatively impact ranking, promotability to opportunities, and potentially lead to expulsion.
  
  On the positive side, AI will be deciphering your content and actions to predict your unlisted hard and soft skills. Audit your reputation across the internet, repair if needed, and refocus it to get you to your goals.
  

Remember the most valued Social Currency is based on the Gold Standards of Authentic Sharing, Caring, and Reciprocity.

More about Kevin: Kevin’s LinkedIn Profile and Kevin’s website.

  Jessica Hernandez -- Building Strong Networks  

The power of LinkedIn resides in building relationships and engaging with your connections.

Liking, commenting, and starting conversations is the best way to engage not only with colleagues but also with hiring managers, decision-makers, and those on your "get to know" list.

More about Jessica: Jessica’s LinkedIn Profile and Jessica’s website.

  Andy Foote -- Video, Causality, Hashtags  

I have three predictions for your LinkedIn campaign: Video. Causality. Hashtags.

More about Andy: Andy’s LinkedIn Profile and Andy’s website.

The Bottom Line:

Here you have it; all LinkedIn experts agree that content is not enough when it comes to your LinkedIn campaign. Yes, it is important, but so is being more proactive in developing a focused network and engaging with your network.

Let's recap. To have a stronger LinkedIn campaign, you will need to:

1. Create a profile with strong content and images.
2. Engage, engage, engage. This is where the work really comes into play.
3. Pay attention to SEO; it's important in being found.
4. Develop a strong network and engage with it.
5. Make sure you use hashtags to the fullest and video might play a larger role in your profile.

More About Expert Advice:

• Hot Resume Trends: What the Experts Say
• Publishing on LinkedIn: Gain Both Visibility and Credibility
• 12 Steps to Outrank Your Competitors in LinkedIn Search (Personal LinkedIn SEO)
• Grab Recruiter Attention with Projects
• Leverage Your LinkedIn Profile's Professional Headline for Searchability and Branding
• Leverage LinkedIn Status Updates for Your Job Search