UNB Marketing Blog
Tips and tricks from your university marketers

LinkedIn is often described as an online resume, but it goes way beyond that.

LinkedIn provides a platform for professionals to connect with each other, share industry news, job search, and much more.

So how can you ensure you’re staying on top of your game?

Personal profile

The first step to LinkedIn success is having a complete profile. When first joining the platform, you will be taken through these fields one-by-one.

Profile pages on Linkedin should only be used for your personal use. It’s important to create a separate business page (see below) for your business, unit or organization. Why? Because having a business page not only allows you to view metrics that will help with your marketing initiatives, but it also aligns with Linkedin’s Service Terms, which means you won’t have to worry about being shut down by the platform.

There are many ways that you can, however, tailor your profile on Linkedin to serve as an extension of your business page while also showcasing your accomplishments:

Display picture: Having a display picture makes your profile seven times more likely to be found. The ideal picture is a high-quality headshot that portrays values that represent you.

Cover picture: Users often opt for stock images for their cover picture - which is perfectly fine. But if you want to take it a step further, use your cover image to showcase your accomplishments. It can be an action shot of you at work, a graphic that you’ve created, a picture of the books you have published, etc.

Summary: When completing your professional summary, consider including keywords. These will add credibility to your profile while also enhancing your chances of industry partners finding you. You can research into the skills that are common among people in your line of work and see which ones resonate with you.

Employment history: By adding your two most recent job titles, your profile becomes 12 times more likely to be seen. That is an opportunity to increase your exposure that you just cannot pass!

Custom URL: This step is often overlooked. When going to your profile page, you will see an “Edit your custom URL” function at the top right of the page. This enables you to change your URL to this format: linkedin.com/in/yourfullname. A custom URL creates an intuitive, easily shareable link for other users to access your profile.

Once your profile is created, it is important to keep it up to date. Ensure that the information is current and that you share status updates periodically to remain active.

Business page

If used right, LinkedIn business pages can have many advantages. A page differs from a profile, and can be created only for a business, organization or unit.

Pages can be useful to keep stakeholders up to date on industry news and what’s happening in an organization. They can also serve as a database to regroup employees, which will make them feel more involved within your team.

Let’s get into some additional benefits of business pages:

Credibility: It is no secret that a strong social media presence adds credibility. A LinkedIn page has extra benefits, since it gives your employees the opportunity to link your organization as their employer on their personal profile, redirecting users to your page. This is an amazing way to increase traffic to your business page for free!

Search engine optimization: When searching your business/organization/unit in a search engine, not only will your LinkedIn page appear as one of the first results, but every user that has your page listed as an employer will be listed below it. This creates an opportunity for extra traffic on all of your pages.

Share job openings: As a professional-oriented social media platform, LinkedIn is the perfect place to share job openings. Here, you get direct access to applicants’ profiles and applicants can search through your page to acquire more information about your business. It is a win-win situation.

News updates: LinkedIn is the perfect bragging platform! Share your successes with your followers and keep up with industry news.

When used right, LinkedIn can be a very powerful platform. But it is your responsibility to do your research and determine whether a profile or a page best suits your needs. As it is with all social media, your account should not become obsolete and should be updated regularly.

Now that you have all the information, it’s time to connect!

- Sarah Albert, UNB Marketing Co-op Student

Learn more

Want to learn more about social media marketing? Check out our Social Hub for helpful tips or contact us at socialmedia@unb.ca.