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LinkedIn is a great platform for building a professional network and discovering new career opportunities. But it can also be a fantastic content marketing channel.LinkedIn creator mode is designed to make the platform more suitable for content marketing. Here’s everything you need to know about it, including a breakdown of the key features and how they can help you grow your audience on LinkedIn.What is creator mode on LinkedIn?Creator mode is a LinkedIn profile setting designed to help content creators boost their influence on the platform. It offers access to a range of tools and features that can help you grow your audience, while also changing the way your profile looks and works.Turning creator mode on can improve the results you get from LinkedIn content marketing. The profile changes, tools, and analytics it unlocks give you more opportunities to expand your reach.Creator mode featuresTurning creator mode on unlocks a range of tools, features, and profile changes that are tailored to suit content creators.Follow buttonCreator mode changes the ‘Connect’ button at the top of your profile to a ‘Follow’ button instead. This can help to increase your following – giving other users the chance to keep up with your content without needing you to accept their connection request.Your total number of followers will also be shown prominently on your profile, alongside your number of connections. Bear in mind that people still have the option to connect with you. They just have to click the ‘More’ button to find the option.Profile hashtagsTurning creator mode on means you can add up to five hashtags to the top of your profile. These should represent what you talk about most on LinkedIn, telling potential followers what kind of content to expect from you. They also allow people to find your profile using hashtags, which can grow your audience.Reordered profile pageCreator mode profiles are reordered to better suit their focus on content. Unlike regular profiles, where the ‘About’ section comes first, LinkedIn creator mode profiles show a ‘Featured’ section first, followed by the ‘Activity’ section.The ‘Featured’ section is unique to creator profiles. It shows previews of your three most recent posts to give other users a flavour of the type of content you post. The ‘Activity’ section is the same as it appears on normal profiles, but appears above the ‘About’ section.Both of these changes reflect the purpose of creator mode: it changes LinkedIn from a relationship-building platform to a content delivery platform.Profile discoveryDelivering on LinkedIn’s claim that creator mode ‘can help you grow your reach’, this feature makes your profile eligible to show up in the discovery sections across the site, including on the ‘My Network’ page.Your profile will be recommended to users who have an interest in other, similar creators. And there’s a ‘Follow’ button built into each profile preview, which makes it a great opportunity to build your audience.LinkedIn newsletterCreator mode profiles can take advantage of LinkedIn newsletters. This feature allows you to create pieces of long-form content, similar to LinkedIn articles. But unlike articles, other users can subscribe to your newsletter to get a notification every time you post a new one.Your newsletter will be recommended to followers when you first create it, and can also be recommended to other users if it’s relevant to their interests on the platform. This makes it a great way to grow your audience on LinkedIn and get more eyes on your content.LinkedIn liveLinkedIn creators can also accessLinkedIn Live, a streaming feature that allows you to broadcast live video content. You can go live spontaneously or schedule a live stream to build anticipation. Both methods are a great way to engage with your audience or report on industry news in real time.Creator analyticsLinkedIn creator mode unlocks more sophisticated post analytics, allowing you to monitor the performance of each individual post and track the growth of your overall audience.Creator analytics includes data covering engagement, impressions, and audience demographics. This information can help you to improve your content and increase its impact over the long term.Pros and cons of creator modeLinkedIn creator mode offers plenty of benefits, but it also has some drawbacks to be aware of. If you’re trying to decide whether to turn creator mode on, weigh up these pros and cons to determine if it’s a good idea.• The changes to your profile will make it easier to grow a following, with a prominent ‘Follow’ button and a ‘Featured’ section to spotlight your original content.• Exclusive content mediums like LinkedIn newsletters and live streams give you more opportunities to engage with your audience with quality content.• More detailed creator analytics make it easier to figure out how your content is performing, meaning you can make adjustments to increase its impact.• Your profile will begin to appear in discovery sections across LinkedIn, increasing your reach and helping you to grow your follower count.• If you’re just getting started as a LinkedIn content creator, the changes to your profile can work against you. A low follower count and sub-par content in your ‘Featured’ section might make it hard to gain followers.• People will be less likely to connect with you because the option is hidden in a drop-down menu, which can limit the growth of your professional network.• To make the most of the creator mode tools and features, you’ll need to be committed to creating content. The trade-offs might not be worth it if you don’t post regularly.How to turn on creator modeTo access the creator mode features, you’ll need to turn it on for your profile. Here’s how to do it, step-by-step:• Go to your personal profile and click ‘Creator mode’ in the ‘Resources’ box.• You’ll see a preview of what the top of your profile will look like in creator mode. This will show you how many followers you currently have. Click next if you’re happy to proceed.• Add up to five focus topics that you’ll cover as a creator. These will be displayed on your profile as hashtags.• Click ‘Turn on’ to make the switch, and go and check out your new creator mode profile.You’ll now have access to all of the tools and features creator mode offers, and can get started on growing your following and reaching new audiences.

LinkedIn has built up quite the reputation as a lead generation platform, especially for B2B campaigns. We’re here to explain why, as well as providing seven of the best tips for launching and managing a successful LinkedIn lead generation campaign. Why LinkedIn is the perfect platform for lead generation LinkedIn has long been the social media platform of choice for B2B lead generation. Its popularity is a product of several different factors that combine to make it the perfect hunting ground for qualified leads.It has a vast userbase made up of diverse prospects, withover 930 million users representing 63 million companies from across the world. Perhaps more importantly,LinkedIn research has shown that four out of five LinkedIn users drive business decisions, and members have 2x the buying power of the average internet user.The nature of the userbase means that lead generation campaigns on LinkedIn feature conversion rates that are3x higher than other major ad platforms.And LinkedIn is also a great platform for lead generation from a functionality perspective. It has a diverse set of features designed to make finding, reaching, and converting prospects easier. These include great networking tools, a range of content formats to use in marketing campaigns, and even a built-in ads platform. 7 steps to a perfect LinkedIn lead generation strategy LinkedIn is designed to facilitate successful lead generation marketing, but you still need to put care and attention into your LinkedIn lead generation strategy to get the best results. These seven tips will help you make the most of the opportunity: Optimise your profile/page Your personal profile and/or company page play the same role in a LinkedIn lead generation campaign as your website would in a lead generation campaign carried out through organic search. In other words, they act as the central hub you’ll funnel leads through.Whichever method you use to generate leads on LinkedIn, whether it’s organic content distribution, targeted ads, or direct outreach, your profile or page will be involved.In fact, it’s likely to be the first step your audience takes into the conversion funnel. Accordingly, it’s important that you optimise your profile or page to contribute positively to your lead generation campaign.This firstly involves covering all of the LinkedIn profile best practices, like having a suitable display picture, a compelling headline, and a comprehensive summary. Beyond that, spend the time to flesh out your profile or page further, pinning featured posts, adding examples of your work, and seeking recommendations. Expand your LinkedIn network Your LinkedIn lead generation efforts will go further the larger your audience is. While there are plenty of ways to target your audience without them being in your network (more on that later), no approach is as impactful as reaching them over and over again with the right message delivered organically.Expanding your network by connecting with potential leads increases your potential for success. Done right, it can maximise the inbound performance of your organic LinkedIn content marketing significantly by increasing the reach of each post you share.And it’s not just the size of your own network that you can benefit from. When your connections engage with one of your posts, there’s a chance their network will see it too.Capitalise on this by growing your LinkedIn network as a priority, connecting with potential leadsand people who might be connected to potential leads. Develop a compelling strategy Good content is the cornerstone of the best lead generation campaigns. While you can get results solely from reaching out directly to people or targeting them with ads, organic content is the best way of creating scalable success.There are lots of different ways to approach your LinkedIn content strategy, but the following tips apply to them all:• Take the time to create a strategy with concrete objectives, rather than posting randomly• Use diverse LinkedIn content formats, including text posts, images, and videos• Focus on creating ‘scroll-stopping’ content, capturing attention on peoples’ feeds• Make sure your content is readable by using formatting to your advantage• Stay consistent to build your audience over time and generate more engagementBut knowing your audience is arguably the most important part of a LinkedIn content strategy. Without knowing the details of who you’re targeting, you won’t know how to interest or engage them.So, before you get started creating LinkedIn content, carry out some audience research and delve into the wants, needs, preferences, and challenges of your ideal leads. This information can guide your work and make sure every piece of content has an impact on your overall strategy.And if you want to maximise the efficiency of your content process, make sure to use tools to your advantage. The VulseContent Theme Planner can help you come up with great ideas for LinkedIn posts, for example, and our AI-poweredLinkedIn Post Generator can streamline production. Maintain a consistent presence Consistency is key in organic LinkedIn lead generation. Posting high-quality content frequently helps your account to build momentum, resulting in audience growth, increased engagement, and ultimately more potential opportunities to attract leads.The most important factor in maintaining a consistent presence on LinkedIn is planning. Without concrete objectives or a long-term content schedule, you’ll most likely end up reverting to posting spontaneously. And while this isn’t bad in moderation, it’s not the recipe for great lead gen results.To make sure you remain consistent in your LinkedIn lead generation campaign, spend time at the start of your campaign producing content in bulk. You can then schedule this content to go live over a certain period of time, ensuring you’ll always be in the conversation.You can schedule posts natively on LinkedIn, but tools like the VulseLinkedIn Post Scheduler offer more features, including the ability to edit scheduled posts. Use LinkedIn ads to reach your audience Organic lead generation can generate great results on LinkedIn, but LinkedIn Ads makes a compelling case for being included in any serious lead gen campaign. After all, if you have a budget for ads, it makes sense to spend at least some of it on the top B2B lead generation platform.LinkedIn Ads offers access to a wide range of different ad formats, including image posts, carousel posts, sponsored content, video ads, message ads, and pure text ads. Each ad format includes the same targeting capabilities, which allows you to refine your audience based on key factors including demographic details and job titles.And you can also create a natural funnel on LinkedIn usingLinkedIn Lead Gen Forms. These forms can be used in both message ads and sponsored content and provide you with a simple way to move leads on to the next step in the funnel.And they’re auto filled for leads based on their profile data, which reduces the friction typical of form-based CTAs. This quirk makes them a hugely valuable tool, converting at up to3x the rate of standard landing page forms. Try LinkedIn sales navigator LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a tool designed specifically to make it easier to seek out ideal leads on LinkedIn. If your approach to LinkedIn lead generation revolves around outbound activities, Sales Navigator can prove invaluable in making sure you can find and reach prospects.There are more than 30 filters you can use to refine your searches, including filters for company size, job title, and seniority level. You can build lead lists directly on the platform and seamlessly move on to sending connection requests or InMail messages.There are also several upgraded versions of LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Advanced and Advanced Plus. These can add extra value if you find the basic version promising, unlocking new features like CRM integration and CSV upload functionality. Track and measure your performance Finally, make sure that you have a system in place to measure the success of your LinkedIn lead gen campaign. This is essential if you want your approach to improve over time. Without the right data you’ll be unable to figure out what’s working and what’s not.You can use LinkedIn’s built in analytics platform to do this. But the insights you’ll get there are relatively limited compared to using a dedicated LinkedIn analytics solution.Vulse LinkedIn Post Analytics, for example, has a range of additional features which can drive more valuable insights. Use it to measure how well different types of content perform, identifying the common threads between top-performing post so you can replicate their success in the future.

LinkedIn is a social media network like any other, and your profile page is your own little slice of it. LinkedIn profiles give you all the opportunity you need to explain who you are, what you’ve done, what you’re doing, and why people should care.We’ve put together a comprehensive guide to making the most of that opportunity. Follow these 15 simple tips covering how to make a good LinkedIn profile, and you’ll be set up to succeed in your LinkedIn marketing goals. Choose the right profile picture Your profile picture is the first thing people will see when they visit your profile. Use it to make a great first impression. Firstly, that means actually having a profile picture. Profiles without them get14x fewer views. If you want to build momentum on LinkedIn, anonymity isn’t an option.When you’re choosing a profile picture, prioritise a photo that accurately reflects what you currently look like, is high enough resolution (400 x 400 is ideal), and focuses on your face. It doesn’t have to be a professional headshot, or overly formal. What’s most important is that it matches the impression you want to put across. Add a background photo You can also add a background photo to your LinkedIn profile that appears as a banner at the top of the page. This doesn’t have a practical purpose, so you can use it however makes sense to you. It’s a great opportunity to add a bit more personality to your profile or highlight your company.For the former, consider adding a photo of your workspace, the area you live in, or a more abstract image. For the latter, useCanva or another design program to create a branded banner that showcases your tagline, services, contact information, or awards. Whichever one you choose, make sure your background photo is high-quality and in the right dimensions (1584 x 396). Optimise your headline Your headline is a one-liner that sits at the top of your LinkedIn profile and appears under your name in search results, posts, and comments. It’s widely seen as one of themost important parts of your LinkedIn profile, giving you the chance to sell yourself in a concise statement.It should get across key information about who you are and what you do, with the aim of making a strong impression on your target audience. But you only have 220 characters to play with, so every word counts.Instead of defaulting to using your job title as your headline, try to get a bit more inventive. Focus on your unique value proposition. What makes your profile worth looking at compared to other people who have the same job? But while you’re getting creative, avoid making your headline confusing. It should still clearly display what you actually do. Make your summary a story Your LinkedIn summary, or ‘About’ section, is a key part of your profile. It’s your first chance to expand on your skills and experience, offering 2,000 characters to play with. But avoid the temptation to use it as a CV replacement (there’s plenty of chance to do that further down on your profile page). Instead, prioritise telling your story.No matter how mundane you think your job, career, or sector is, there’s always an interesting story behind it. And using storytelling techniques and emotional language in your summary will help it make an impact on the reader.A good template to follow is to start by explaining what you do and why you do it. Then go on to talk about the journey that got you there and what you learned on the way. Feel free to sprinkle your personality in – LinkedIn doesn’t have to be all serious, all the time. Get detailed on your experience The ‘Experience’ section on your LinkedIn profile is your opportunity to really get into the detail of your career. It works just like the main section in a CV, giving you the chance to outline your career role-by-role and explain what you did and what you learned in each position.Spend some time to make the most of this opportunity. Add an entry for each role you’ve taken on and write a short description of how you excelled and what experience you gained. And take extra care to write a compelling description for your current role. This will be your main opportunity to explain what your company does and why your target audience should be interested. Highlight your key skills Your skills are what got you so far in your career, so use the ‘Skills’ section on your LinkedIn profile to describe them. You can add up to 50 unique skills from LinkedIn’s comprehensive collection, from soft skills like relationship building to specific proficiencies like Photoshop expertise. Adding more than five skills has been linked with receiving up to17x more profile views.Don’t worry about filling up the full quota, though. Instead, focus on choosing the skills that best reflect your actual value proposition. Only three skills are displayed natively on your profile, anyway, so choose the ones that you’re both really strong in and relate to the kind of work you want to do.You canhand-select the most important skills to show up at the top of your list to put a spotlight on them. Aim to build endorsements Other LinkedIn users can endorse you for the skills you’ve chosen to add to your profile. This is a powerful feature that can help you demonstrate your proficiency through social proof. Skills look much more impactful on your profile when they’re backed up by other professionals in your network.There are two main ways to build endorsements on your skills. You can directly ask people you know or have worked with before to endorse you for the skills they’ve seen in practice. Alternatively, you can proactively endorse other peoples’ skills and hope that they return the favour. Show off your certifications LinkedIn has a built-in training platform which offers certifications to users who complete courses and demonstrate their proficiency in a skill or field of knowledge. These certifications are displayed on your profile and authenticate your skillset, supplementing the skills you’ve already added and received endorsements for.Take a look through the library of2,000 certifications you can achieve through LinkedIn Learning and see if any of them suit you. These certifications can add a new level of depth to your profile, while also giving you the chance to brush up on your skills in the process. Don't forget the small details While your headline, summary, experience, and skills will make up the bulk of your profile, don’t neglect the smaller details. Your LinkedIn profile has lots of fields for basic information, like your contact information, where you live, and your pronouns.Fill them all out to make sure your profile is ‘complete’, and to add useful context for people who come across you on the platform. You can also link to your personal or company website in your contact info, giving other users the opportunity to find out more about you or what work you do. Get a custom URL Your LinkedIn profile will have an automatically-generated URL when you first create it. But you have the option tochange it to something more descriptive, memorable, and interesting.You can change it up to five times every six months, but it’s best to just change it once and then stick with it. Strike a balance between a creative URL that will stand out and one that’s practical in how it represents your profile.One method of creating a strong custom LinkedIn URL is to use your name, job title, and one or two key skills, all separated by hyphens to ensure readability. Spotlight your services If you want to use LinkedIn for lead generation, even if it’s not your main goal, adding services to your profile can help. To do this, you need to create a separate ‘LinkedIn Service Page’, butthe process is simple enough.You can add up to 10 services in total, choosing from the diverse options LinkedIn provides. Alongside these services, you can include other information like examples of your work, your pricing structure, and client or customer testimonials.A completed service page acts like a brochure advertising your professional offering. And the key details – what services you offer – pull through on to a prominent section of your main profile, highlighting them for your entire LinkedIn network to see. Feature examples of your work You can also feature examples of your work in action on your main profile using the optional ‘Featured’ section. This gives you a platform to display the work you’re most proud of, whether it’s articles you’ve written, reports you’ve put together, websites you’ve built, videos showcasing your products, or something else entirely.These featured examples are displayed natively on your LinkedIn profile and add further depth to the collection of information. They’re like a micro-portfolio, allowing you to demonstrate your skills in practice to help convince potential customers or clients that you’re capable of helping them with their challenges. Ask for recommendations ‘Recommendations’ are another LinkedIn profile feature well worth taking advantage of, essentially acting as on-profile character and proficiency testimonials. They sit near the bottom of your profile, split into recommendations you’ve given and received. It’s the latter ones you’re interested in. The more high-quality recommendations you can add to your profile, the more impactful it’ll be with viewers.There’s no easy way to get recommendations. The same two methods that apply to endorsements apply here. The best route is to ask people you’ve worked with (whether that’s colleagues, clients, or managers) to give you one. You can then return the favour to strengthen their profile too.A collection of recommendations help to add some colour to your profile, lending extra context to your experience section. They can also help to highlight your key skills and career achievements. Make your profile public You have the option to make your LinkedIn profile private or public. The former means that only people who are connected with you can see your profile details. The latter means that anyone who visits your profile can see all of the information it contains.While online privacy is important, having a public profile is essential if you want to maximise your LinkedIn presence. It allows people from outside of your network to check you out without connecting, which removes friction from the opportunities you’re exposed to.It also means that your profile can be discovered from off-platform – through Google Search for example. Paired with a custom URL that’s optimised around the right keywords, this can expose you to even more opportunities for work or network-building. Stay up to date Finally, make sure to keep on top of your LinkedIn profile and avoid it becoming outdated. LinkedIn is a huge social media network, withover 900 million users, and your profile acts as your face in that crowd.Committing to regular profile reviews, or remembering to update your LinkedIn profile every time there’s a development in your career or skillset, makes sure that you’ve always got your best foot forward, helping you make the most of the platform.