Media on LinkedIn can stuff your reputation. If done without thought. Yup, gotta put thought into it. The banner on your LinkedIn profile strengthens or weakens your message. I explained this in “3 Things you need to know about your profile banner.” This goes for any media you add to your profile. Make sure it sends one clear message with the words on your profile.
TYPES OF MEDIA TO ENHANCE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE
Below 5 ways to use media on LinkedIn that are pretty clever. First, let me tell you what types of media you can add to your profile.
- Video: if you are lucky, you can now record native video on LinkedIn (I haven’t got it yet (July 2017). You can also embed from 50+ providers such as YouTube, Vimeo or Hulu.
- Images: I love creating images with Canva and with Paint (scribbling on screenshots). You can upload an image from your computer or embed an image from sites such as Instragram, Dribble or Dinosaur Comics. Yeah right!
- Rich Media: I always struggle with this. What does the rich stand for? Also makes me wonder if we can display poor media on LinkedIn. LinkedIn gives Slideshare (which they happen to own 🙂 ), Prezi and Storify as examples.
You can also add ‘Audio’, ‘Products’ and ‘Other’ to your profile. Explore all 50+ options here, pretty much anything you can embed with embedly by the looks of it. (I got this from this page on LinkedIn Help).
5 CLEVER WAYS TO USE MEDIA ON LINKEDIN
- Counter attack prejudice.
- Showcase written publications.
- Conduct a mini lecture.
- Record a live video.
- Make a point.
1. An Armenian guy (3rd generation in The Netherlands) asked me: “When your last name is 5 syllables and your hair is pitch black, any idea what that does for your profile views?” Unfortunately, I understood his point. To counter attack he recorded a 1 minute video introducing himself. The main aim of the video was: prove he spoke flawless, accent-less Dutch.
2. If you’ve been published in a magazine, journal or newspaper there is not always a digital version to link to. You can take a picture of the publication and add this to your profile. Does miracles for establishing your authority. I published several articles in a Dutch Publication called “Marketing Rendement”. The generation that values paper publications is a dying breed, but we have not gone extinct just yet!
3. After you add media to LinkedIn, 2 items display without scrolling. I wrote 3, went to grab a screenshot and LinkedIn had changed it to 2! You can create three images that explain a topic to your audience or give step by step instructions. If you want to go over 2 images, write a table of contents on the first image, so people will know to scroll. Pay attention with uploading. The most recent upload displays first.
4. Social platforms always favour their own content. It won’t surprise me if LinkedIn will favour ‘native video’ over embedded video. What I like about live video (I use it on Facebook) is that people do not expect high tech quality. I do download the video afterwards, add captions, upload it to my YouTube channel and share it again. 85% of Facebook video is watched without sound. I have no doubt things on LinkedIn will go in the same direction.
5. Why would people read the articles you publish on LinkedIn? If you have a good title, that might entice people to click through. When people scroll quickly through their news feed an image stands out more than a text message. Always create a banner image for you LinkedIn articles that includes wording with the main point of your article.