For years, many business owners and decision makers viewed LinkedIn as an online CV - originally it was the ‘recruiters’ platform where you were hunted out for (or searched for) that perfect job; a place to update your job title, connect with a few people and maybe post the occasional company update.
But, the way we research and buy has changed.
Buyers are researching differently, prospective customers form opinions before they even click on your website and potential employees are judging teams and company ethos before applying for roles.
Partners, suppliers and investors are all making judgements based on what they find online and people want to know who's behind the business - and that's exactly why building a personal branding on LinkedIn has become so important.
Because visibility builds trust.
People buy from people (no matter how cliche that sounds)
Whether you're running a manufacturing company, engineering business, consultancy, tech firm or professional service, your customers are making decisions based on trust.
They want confidence that you understand their challenges, reassurance that you've solved similar problems before and to know your business is credible, experienced and capable.
Trust used to be built almost exclusively through face-to-face interactions - trade shows, networking events, sales meetings and trusty referrals. But covid forced change for a lot of people and we all adapted to a new way of working (and living!)
Of course, those more traditional channels all still matter, but they're no longer the only places where trust is formed. Trust starts online, it’s available 24/7 and we don’t need to be in the office (or on office hours) to start researching.
So it’s very likely that before a prospect has even booked a meeting, they've visited your website, looked at your LinkedIn profile, viewed your content and researched your company. If they're really keen, they've probably checked out your Instagram too!
They've formed an opinion before you even know they exist.
Your buyers watch before they enquire
One of the biggest misconceptions about LinkedIn (I'm focusing on Linkedin because it's the biggest B2B social channel, it's where all your customers and prospects hang out) is that noone's bothered about what you post.
People often say ‘my customers aren't on LinkedIn’ or ‘I don't have anything interesting to say’.
The reality is very different.
- Many decision-makers rarely post.
- Many never comment.
- Most don't engage publicly at all.
But they're reading.
- They're consuming content.
- They're researching suppliers.
- They're checking profiles.
- They're seeing who's knowledgeable, credible and trustworthy.
This is important for those industries with longer sales cycles.
In the manufacturing, engineering and technical sectors, buyers often spend weeks or months researching potential suppliers before making contact. If your competitors are consistently in their feed while your business remains invisible, who do you think they'll remember when the time comes to have a conversation?
You have more content than you think
One of the biggest barriers to personal branding is that you need endless content ideas - most business owners assume they have nothing worth talking about, but the opposite is usually true!
I advise clients to think about conversations you’re having every week, the questions customers ask, problems your team solve, industry news, lessons learnt in your career, the wins, the losses…there’s heaps of content opportunities just living in your head.
What feels obvious or disinteresting to you is often incredibly useful to someone else. People want opinions, insights, experiences…they want a story. The expertise you've developed over years in your industry is exactly what potential customers want to learn from.
Consistent will always beat perfect
Many people approach LinkedIn with an all-or-nothing mindset, and I’ve been guilty of it myself.
Posting every single day for two weeks, get busy, disappear into the sunset only to come back and start again - repeating over and over.
My clients always come first, so their work is prioritised. But when does that become detrimental to growing our own business? It’s the same with you and your clients. That visibility (or invisibility in my hiatuses) starts to build up over time.
Rarely is anything built - or sold - in one post but it is built through consistently being seen.
Show up regularly, share useful insights and demonstrate expertise.
Continue to be seen long after everyone else has stopped or gone on their cyclical break, only to pop up 3 months later!
Personal branding supports more than sales
Many people think LinkedIn personal branding is only about generating enquiries. Whilst it does support business development, when done well - the benefits extend further.
A strong personal brand can help:
- Attract better talent + support recruitment effort
- Strengthen customer relationships
- Increase referral opportunities + create partnership conversations
- Open speaking opportunities + position your business as an industry expert
- Improve credibility during sales processes
In many cases, prospects arrive at sales conversations already familiar with your business because they've been following your content for months.
That means instead of starting from zero, you're building on existing trust.
The goal isn't more followers
The goal isn't to just collect likes and followers - it’s to stay visible to the people who matter, to build trust before conversations begin and to create a digital presence that reflects the expertise you've spent years developing.
If you think about your current profile, will viewers find a visible, credible expert or an empty profile that tells them very little so they scroll by?
People want to know who they're buying from, who they're partnering with and who they're trusting with their investment.
LinkedIn gives business owners and senior decision makers a huge (free!) opportunity to build that trust at scale by consistently sharing valuable insights, expertise and experience.
