Robin Colner: New LinkedIn features to support personal branding for professionals
Social media platforms introduce new features every few months. LinkedIn is no exception. LinkedIn”™s growth is accelerating as more professionals at all levels recognize its value in helping them establish a personal brand that will support their career objectives.
Here are the very latest developments that LinkedIn will be rolling out to its users over the next few months. These features are designed to help LinkedIn users highlight their expertise and unique combination of skills. I expect that in the near future more recruiters will require video resumes as well.
Showcase Your Cover Story in Video
Soon LinkedIn will be offering members the ability to add a 20-second cover video introduction to their profiles to share their personal stories and attract clients, customers and recruiters. Some of you may have the feature, which is only accessible on mobile devices.
You actually create a video on your phone and profile visitors will see an orange circle around your picture, which when clicked will begin to play your video as a 3-second preview with a link to see the rest of the video. Wow.
A New Clubhouse
What else is coming? In a prior article I recommended that Microsoft buy Clubhouse. They actually listened but decided to create their own unique audio experience. It will be rolled out in the coming weeks.
A LinkedIn spokesperson confirmed that the platform is considering ways to incorporate audio with live events and group discussions. Imagine having audio debates and conversations on a business networking platform. I wonder if LinkedIn will get it right.
Now there will be so many more ways to showcase your expertise. Soon thought leaders will need to hire full-time staffs to manage their audio online presence with moderation, messaging and funnel management.
A New Creator Mode
LinkedIn is also rolling out a set of features for active content creators. You will be able to turn on the Creator Mode when it is available at https://members.linkedin.com/linkedin-creators-home.
Once you turn on Creator Mode the following will occur:
- The Connect button on your profile will change to Follow.
- The number of followers you have will be displayed in your profile.
- Your profile should reorder to show your Featured and Activity sections first.
- You can highlight the #hashtag topics you cover as a creator.
- Your Activity section will showcase more of your recent content and will no longer show the likes and comments you add to your connections”™ content.
- The purpose is to highlight more actual valuable content and show engagement from users, which is very valuable for users and content creators.
Caveat: You will not be able to see this feature on profiles until it is rolled out to you. You will also lose this feature if you switch your Followers setting from Everyone to Your Connections or if you disable the Follow feature on your profile.
LinkedIn Live Video Will Now Play
in Your Background Image
LinkedIn Live producers will now have their live-streams play as their background image when they are streaming live. This will definitely encourage additional engagement for creators that have LinkedIn Live broadcast privileges.
Pro Tip: Remember everyone can record a 10-second mini-introduction using the Audio Recording feature found in the edit mode. It is designed to help profile visitors learn how to pronounce your name and can include your unique selling proposition. You have to record this on your mobile phone.
Robin Colner is the CEO of DigiStar Media, a full-service branding and marketing firm that helps businesses and professionals generate visibility, leads and sales using effective digital and social media strategies. She can be reached at 914-826-5512 or at RColner@DigiStarMedia.com and on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Clubhouse with the handle @RobinColner. Robin is also the co-host of the “Adman and Robin Show” streaming live on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube on Thursdays from 12:30-1:30 p.m.