Should you invest in your LinkedIn Company Page, or your Personal Profile?

(5 min read, Article revised on 4th September 2024)

Let me start this article with a statement: We do business with people, not with businesses.

It's quite easy to fall prey to the marketing narrative of "We're a B2B company, so we do business with companies". Yes, the company and the brand matters. However, in the end of the day, you do business with the people of the company. And if somehow the walls of the company do start talking back to you, it's most likely just time to seek medical help. ??

All jokes aside, on LinkedIn you DO have ways to use your company as a separate station for real human interaction with key decision makers and building authority through thought leadership. LinkedIn allows you to build a company page with some features your personal profile does not have.

On top of that, your company profile will contribute to expanding your network and generating leads.

This is how I would use both of them.

Your personal profile is the main networking, branding and sales channel on LinkedIn

LinkedIn was originally designed as a platform to stay in touch with other professionals. This key aspect of LinkedIn has developed even further: LinkedIn prioritizes personal content and personal contact over pretty much everything else. This means using your personal profile, or investing in the profiles of your commercial team, could give you a massive competitive edge.

How do I know this? Because LinkedIn has a tool to measure how successful you are on the platform. According to the official SSI (Social Selling Index), you are most likely to get the most out of LinkedIn when you focus on 4 key elements:

1. Establishing a personal brand
2. Finding the right people
3. Engaging with insights
4. Building relationships

Notice how none of the SSI scoring criteria involves a company profile. So what DO you want to be using your personal profile for?

? Sharing valuable content, frameworks, and insights

? Connecting with key decision makers in your target audience

? Keep your profile up to date and edit this at least on a monthly basis

? Engage with your network and interesting people outside your network

? Use the direct message function to speak directly with individuals within your network

Collaborating with your team members to create authority - know, like & trust

One person that demonstrates the combination of a powerful personal brand with a company page, is Jess Cook . She's the Head of Content & Comms at Island .

Jess Cook and Island collaborate in a way that is more than smart. It's a way both the company and the individual gain a massive authority and visibility boost. As you can see, Jess has build a massive ±28K followers up to date. Whoever gets to work with someone with this many followers, is sure to invest in an asset for the company.

How? Jess shares valuable insights about entrepreneurship, (content) marketing and how to just use content in a more powerful way to actually attract your audience.

This is one of my favorite thought leadership pieces of Jess she's shared recently. By association, you assume that the values and skills of an individual are aligned with the company they are associated with. Plainly said: the more Jess grows, the more Island grows with Jess.

What's the function of a company profile, if a personal profile is all that?

I'm glad you asked ??

Don't underestimate the power of a great company page, after reading all of the advantages and ways LinkedIn prioritizes personal profiles.

In fact, your company page is an additional networking and sales touchpoint that can help you reach your audience and convert more relationships to leads, and ultimately into customers. Your company page is an opportunity to showcase your products and services, share relevant industry news and insights, and connect with potential customers and partners.

Furthermore, your company page is also an important aspect of your employer branding strategy. A company page that clearly conveys what you do, why you do it and how you do it, can help you attract top talent. You have to focus on showcasing your company culture, values, and employee benefits. Not just sales-y content.

This is particularly important in today's competitive job market (at least here in Europe), where candidates are looking for more than just a paycheck - they want to work for a company that shares their values and mission.

This goes back to my point about personal profiles. By association, our psychology assumes that someone like Jess Cook aligns with Island as a company. Meaning if you feel connected to Jess, you will more likely feel connected to Island as a company.

Taking it a step further: share content with your team members on your page. That way, when someone comes to your company profile through an individual, you will have that same "know-like-trust" factor working for you.

Short breakdown of what to do on a company page

Other things you want to share on your company page:

• Tips and frameworks as an extra touchpoint in your customer's journey
• Behind the scenes, to show potential hires what it's really like to work at that company. Also, your employer brand rubs off on your sales efforts. Great employer branding makes other content more appealing.
• Bigger lead magnets (with actual value) such as blogs, e-books, webinars, podcasts and other type of "bigger" content.
• Sharing improvements in your company and using this channel as an extra way to stay connected with customers, suppliers, and company relationships
• Share job openings

Summary

Long story short: if you want to maximize your branding, marketing, sales, and networking on LinkedIn, you should focus first on personal profiles, then your company page as an extra layer. By creating a personal content strategy for yourself, and collaborating with your commercial team, you can establish thought leadership, build trust, and create a personal connection with your audience.

At the same time, your company page is an additional sales touchpoint that can help you reach a broader audience and showcase your company culture and values. By combining these two elements, you'll outwit most companies that are still stuck with inactive and not so personal content.

What did you think of this newsletter? And what did you think of the combination of personal profiles & company pages?

Highly appreciated! ??