3 Steps to Keep up with the New Era of #EmployerBranding

I’ve been operating, stumbling upon, falling and getting up again within the platform of LinkedIn, for almost 10 years now. All these years, I have come to learn so many things about the Human Resources function and industry – I’d say much more than what I’ve learned after a decade as a Recruitment practitioner –, Marketing and not at all least, Sales. I never quite expected that a Social Media tool or a software for that matter, as I prefer to call it, would teach me that much or play the role of my mentor.

I don’t expect you to believe that the platform whispered to my ears any “mentoring” words. What I’m trying to say, is that my studying all this time, of the content I was fortunate to find in it and research upon, taught me immensely. After all, I do consider LinkedIn one of the greatest tanks/aggregators of knowledge and content nowadays. The truth, though, of how to:

• treat and approach professionals,
• inspire, and choose from whom to get inspired from,
• manage knowledge and pass it on, and finally,
• stand out and brand myself and skills

…it’s all LinkedIn. All these insights and wisdom came straight from LinkedIn’s structure and operation, which one would have to understand, “respect” and get aligned with, to make the most of it. It’s no user-friendly software, I can tell you this much, but underneath its bugs and failures, one can find true treasure.

To cut the long story short, the key to “tame” LinkedIn and learn to act as a true professional, both digitally and physically, lies upon three (3) basic guidelines:

To “Love & Protect”

I have been attending LinkedIn webinars and web-conferences ever since I can remember. In so many cases presented, speakers begun and ended their talk with the phrase: “Members First”. It took me quite some time to understand what it really meant and how this could help me build a decent network, not to mention have my followers see me as an Opinion Leader. After so many years, I believe it all comes down to who you care more; yourself, or your audience.

I do know, that for so many people, it’s all about the money. We don’t say it out loud, but it is. Living in such turbulent times, where everyone struggles to survive and stay professionally “healthy”, we’re constantly worried how we will make more money. And this “drive”, shall I say obsession, makes us totally forget we are not alone, and that if we made an effort for all our network to be successful, we would be, too. If we all contributed with the same attitude to make the economy stand in its feet, then we would all benefit from it.

LinkedIn works exactly this way. It encourages members to act as quality ones, by working in favor of their network, protecting and educating it. Every action of ours within the platform should help our network get insights, ways of approaching desired contacts and prosper. If we cherish and implement this simple guideline, plus protect our network from being spammed (even from our own direct or aggressive self-promotion), we will enjoy more of LinkedIn’s benefits and potentials.

Cold Calling will get you Nowhere.

By now, you should have realized that this is the above rule’s aftermath. No, really, who needs someone spamming his newsfeed or inbox with cold-hearted texts (wanna call them templates; fine by me!), based on copy-paste techniques that pay no attention whatsoever to the uniqueness of each LinkedIn member’s personality and needs?

I understand; we all need to sell. There are ways and ways to do that, though, no? After all, according to Marketing, “it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it”. So, what if, before knocking on a door pressuring to sell like a door-to-door salesman, out of the blue, without knowing if the buyer is ready to buy, you simply started a win-win discussion? Surely this discussion could be intended to sell, but at least it shouldn’t have to be an aggressive-one landing on your client’s head from day 1! Talk your way through and, by all means, care about him that much, so as to first “give”, before you “take” from him.

Sharing will “take you places you’ve never been before”…

Most members use LinkedIn as a digital, static “frame” of their career path. They think, it’s just another version of their resume, only a digital one or a website of their “Me S.A.”, for one to only visit and read about. Well, no, it doesn’t work like that. Members should realize they are viewed within the platform, not necessarily solely, as individuals, but as parts of a small or large digital community. This community may be either a specific industry with you being a professional within it, or an organization with you being its corporate ambassador. So, anything you do or say on LinkedIn, reflects to this community. Being inactive not only stops this reflection, but also turns you into “transparent”. It’s like you don’t exist in the business world.

The only way to attract interest on your profile, or produce results (e.g. attract candidates, leads, clients, brand awareness, etc.) is through regular (why not daily?) activity. So, what’s better activity than sharing know-how on your subject of expertise or your industry? Exploiting this technique, as analyzed in the former step, will build trust relationships with your potential “buyers” (i.e. candidates, clients, etc.), might turn them into followers, or even make them want to “give back”. What more could you ask for, other than having them start talking?

A client of mine once asked, whether LinkedIn helps more the HR, Marketing or Sales function. He added, “would you say LinkedIn works better for employer, personal or corporate branding?”. I replied, “there’s no distinction between them, when it comes to LinkedIn”. Candidates, audience and clients, often act as one and the same in terms of branding. Talent acquisition, self-promotion and business development, often is one and the same process within the platform. What works for personal branding, will boost corporate branding and surely lead to employer branding, and vice versa, here on LinkedIn.

As long as all corporate parties and functions, follow and implement the three above guidelines.

More tips and creative "moves" on LinkedIn, to elevate your Employer & #CorporateBranding, you'll find on LinkedIn Challenge I'm happy to participate this year!

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Ethel Agelatou is a Corporate & Career Branding Coach, an HR Consultant, as well as an Editor of Career Consulting Journals (online & offline), covering topics on personal branding, unemployment, HR researches, Social Media and entrepreneurship (LinkedIn Blog, Payroll.gr, Kariera.gr, BusinessCoachingLab.gr, HominumOpus.gr, HR Professional, CareerGuide.gr, WeareSocialMedia.gr).

But most passionately of all, she is a LinkedIn Trainer & Evangelist, specializing in promoting and highlighting the Corporate, Employer and Personal Branding of LinkedIn users’ profiles and pages, while conducting:

• In-house corporate trainings (customized services according to clients’ needs/online brand)
• Open seminars (speeches/hands-on workshops)
• One-to-one sessions, bringing out personal or corporate eBranding

She has trained more than 3,900 people via hands-on workshops and auditorium lectures, and collaborated so far with more than 50 organizations & associations. Follow Ethel's work on her LinkedIn Company Page, her LinkedIn Greek Community Facebook page, Twitter and About.me.