How to Write a Killer Linkedin Summary
With more than 690 million members, Linkedin is an invaluable networking tool for marketers and salespeople. Four out of five of Linkedin's members make key business decisions for their organizations.
The robust nature of Linkedin's engagement, however, makes it a competitive environment. In your Linkedin summary, users will see your unique value proposition for the first time beneath your photo. That's why it's so important to convey it in your summary.
Your brief overview should not exceed 2,000 characters and should highlight your professional strengths and background. In addition to showcasing your personality and sharing your greatest accomplishments, the summary contextualizes your professional life and shows off your greatest accomplishments.
Overall, your Linkedin summary consists primarily of your bio that reflects your skills, experience, and professional bulletins. Regardless of whether you're looking for a job or are a tenured professional, your Linkedin summary should highlight your skills, experience, and professional bulletins. Individuals who believe in and rely strongly upon networking will benefit greatly from this digital elevator speech. You can be promoted as a subject matter expert who is interesting to engage with.
Why is a good Linkedin summary important?
In the beginning, LinkedIn profile summaries may not seem that significant, but they are the very first thing recruiters notice after your headline on Linkedin. You should invest a lot of time and effort into writing this and getting it right because it can transform your career and attract life-changing opportunities.
Having a well-written Linkedin summary makes your profile relevant, gets your profile seen by recruiters who are looking for you, and sets your profile apart from your peers. You might also consider a summary for the following reasons:
- Remember to highlight your accomplishments and expertise succinctly, as these things will get you noticed and demonstrate why you are so desirable.
- Recruiters can get a feel for your personality, and gauge if you're culturally fit, by reading your Linkedin bio, which displays flair and humour.
- Your organic ranking on Linkedin is affected by how good your summary is. Keyword-rich summaries make you more visible to recruiters and attract more views. Topics such as "content," "management," or "analysis" are good places to start.
How to write a Linkedin summary?
These five tips can help you make your Linkedin bio stand out and attract attention.
1. Develop a career story that led you from point A to point B
In your summary, you have the opportunity to contextualize yourself. If you had to create an elevator pitch for yourself, what would it be?
Your resume could include hard-to-quantify details, like passions or motivators, that may prove difficult to quantify.
Don’t try to do too much.
It is better to pick a single narrative focus. The best Linkedin summary examples can be from a story about what you do during a typical day, both in the office and afterwards. For example, you could mention a passion that led you from childhood through your professional life.
2. Appeal to your core clientele
As with all writing, the audience matters when it comes to Linkedin profile summaries. You would write a summary differently if you wanted to appeal to mid-career executives than you would if you wanted to connect with the C-suite. That's why it's so important to identify your audience before deciding what to write.
An implied audience can work as well as addressing your audience directly in your summary.
As an example, here is what I mean:
My focus has been on helping mid-career executives plan and implement dynamic career moves over the past five years."
Clearly, this makes sense to the audience.
3. Write conversationally about your career history
It is not a resume summary or a self-congratulatory reiteration of what you have accomplished. Instead, the best Linkedin summaries describe your career history without being boastful.
Here's an example:
"What motivates me every day is helping brands discover what sets them apart. Helping clients find that insight is what keeps me going."
Through the use of inaccessible, down-to-earth language, this writing highlights passion.
4. Share details about your life, while staying professional
Having shared interests outside of business, such as sports teams, hobbies, and family, is appreciated by clients. As you highlight your humanity and open yourself to more meaningful connections, it's a good idea to sprinkle in references to what you do outside of the office.
Likewise, the keyword is "sprinkle in." We've seen dozens of Linkedin summaries where people talk too much about their kids or soccer, causing the summary to be hijacked. Stay professional, even if your life outside of work is intertwined with your work life.
For instance,
As a child, I played in professional chess tournaments. Turns out I couldn't think under pressure, but I developed a skill that has helped me and my clients in many ways."
5. Emphasize your values
Showing commonalities with your audience is another way to build connections and attract clients most likely to work with you.
Having said that, don't overload your Linkedin summary with values, but rather let your story organically convey what matters to you.
Here's what you can try:
Despite the late hours, you might find me working on my laptop with a coffee in hand.
Self-deprecating humor and a core value are combined in this example.
6. Highlight your professional interests
As this is the time to write a good Linkedin summary, it is a good idea to highlight your professional interests. You may include points on how you have helped others or how you have achieved your goal by doing so. Unlike skills, this does not require quantifiable or fact-based evidence. Interests do not require backed-up evidence. Only the dedication and passion to pursue them are sufficient.
You can use:
In the last five years, I have coached multiple small teams on how to optimize their efforts and workflow to get the job of their dreams as an interview grooming coach. By educating individuals about time value and advancing their careers on the go, I have invested crucial knowledge.
7. Speak about your industry expertise
It is now possible to add industry expertise to the Linkedin summary. It is possible to describe the professional experience and educational qualifications in two or three sentences. As an example, if you are a salesperson who wants to get more leads through the platform, you might want to discuss your industry expertise and your desire to assist people in resolving their problems. The availability of your consulting services should also be highlighted.
Here's an idea you can try:
In key account sales and vertical management roles, I have 9+ years of experience.
8. Include a call-to-action with the contact information
There is one final but very important point that you should include in every Linkedin professional bio. You can also make a great first impression by including a list of clients that you have successfully worked with. A call-to-action or contact information makes it easier to follow up.
Include this:
Contact me at email@address.com or schedule an appointment on my calendar here: [CALENDAR LINK].
What to put in a Linkedin summary?
You should include a few sentences about your industry experience, area of expertise, organizations you have previously worked with, and maybe your skills. Here is what you should include within 30 seconds:
- Showcase your passion- A profile with an honest description of your passion will definitely draw the attention of the audience it was meant for. By talking more about your passion, you will demonstrate your expertise.
- Providing solutions for your prospects' pain points- This approach keeps your prospects engaged without revealing any details about your knowledge of their problems. In such cases, you will appear more like a solution provider than a salesperson.
- The summary should show some personality, as it will draw prospects' attention, thus increasing their trust in the profile.
What not to put in a Linkedin summary?
To avoid ruining your Linkedin bio, you should also consider what you should not include in your bio after you get a handle on how best Linkedin bios should be written.
- A bio without clichées like "guru" or "master" is good to go. Such terms are subjective and don't reflect the real abilities.
- There is no harm in making mistakes, but it is also important to check what you write twice before posting anything online. Any error, in summary, can undermine your credibility and distract you from your goals.
- Copying points from the resume will turn off anyone viewing your profile. Instead, provide a short introduction that is fresh and crisp.
Linkedin summary examples
- Indicating that you are their right pick
You can easily accomplish this by identifying the buying persona you are targeting in your Linkedin about us section, and describing them there. This will allow them to self-identify you with the message you wish to share.
- Making yourself approachable
The fact that you mention your personal interests may seem untraditional, but it serves another purpose. It allows your prospects to connect with you on a personal level.
- Telling a story
Several stories can be used to reveal the prospects' professional values and mission.
- Engaging prospects
By using interactive videos and posts, prospects can get to know you better.
- Intriguing the readers
If you mention what an exciting career you had in the past and what you are pursuing now, the readers will be intrigued.
Now, write your own Linkedin summary
You need to write your Linkedin summary well if you want to make a good first impression. Well-written or unappealing summaries encourage new connections, while poorly-written or unappealing summaries leave a negative impression. In your Linkedin summary, you should emphasize who you are and what you can offer your specific clients. If you hit the right notes, people browsing your page will be encouraged to read more about you—or schedule a meeting with you!
