Many professionals use LinkedIn to network, look for jobs, connect with colleagues, and build their personal brand. With over 800 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the largest professional networking platform and an important tool for career development. However, creating and managing a robust LinkedIn presence can be time-consuming. This leads some busy professionals to wonder – can I hire someone to manage my personal LinkedIn profile and presence?
The short answer is yes, you can hire a professional LinkedIn manager. There are freelancers and agencies that specialize in managing personal LinkedIn accounts on behalf of clients. A LinkedIn manager can help build and optimize your profile, make connections, post regular updates, respond to messages and comments, and overall maintain your presence on the platform.
Below we will explore some key questions around hiring a LinkedIn manager:
Is it allowed by LinkedIn to have someone else manage your profile?
LinkedIn’s User Agreement states that each member is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their password and account. This means you should not share your login credentials with anyone else.
However, the User Agreement does not explicitly prohibit someone else from managing your profile content once you have provided them access. Many LinkedIn management professionals report that LinkedIn appears to allow and tacitly approve of account management, as long as ethical practices are followed.
The key ethical practices to follow are:
– Being transparent that someone else is managing your profile. This can be done by mentioning it in the About section.
– Ensuring the content and messaging is consistent with your brand, values and voice. The profile should still be an authentic representation of you.
– Not utilizing automated bots or mass messaging that could be seen as spamming. Connections and engagement should be individualized.
As long as you follow ethical practices that uphold the integrity of your profile, having someone else manage your LinkedIn account appears to be permitted by LinkedIn.
What are the benefits of having someone manage your LinkedIn profile?
There are many potential benefits to hiring a LinkedIn manager:
– Saves you time and effort in maintaining your profile and presence. This allows you to focus on higher value tasks.
– Results in a more optimized, compelling and impactful profile that properly captures your brand, accomplishments and value proposition. Most individuals do not give their profile the proper attention it needs.
– Leads to more connections and engagement from the right audiences. A manager will proactively network and communicate on your behalf.
– Provides ongoing account maintenance such as responding to messages, comments, endorsements and update requests. This keeps your profile active.
– Generates more opportunities like business leads, partnerships, speaking engagements and job offers by expanding your reach and visibility.
– Creates consistent messaging surrounding your brand across your profile and posts. This strengthens your authority and influence.
The main advantage is that a dedicated LinkedIn manager can devote focused time and effort into elevating your presence far beyond what you could achieve yourself. They utilize best practices and optimization strategies most individuals are unaware of.
What are some specific services a LinkedIn manager provides?
The services a LinkedIn manager provides may include:
– Profile optimization: Crafting engaging About and Experience sections, adding rich media, showcasing achievements, optimizing keywords.
– Initial content creation: Developing your core brand messaging. Writing and designing introductory posts.
– Ongoing content creation: Developing and posting regular written, visual and video content that engages your audience and positions you as an industry thought leader.
– Networking and outreach: Proactively finding and connecting with relevant professionals in your industry. Personalized invites and InMail messages.
– Monitoring messages/notifications: Replying to comments, messages and update requests in a timely manner.
– Local SEO optimization: Ensuring your profile appears prominently in search results for relevant industry keywords and phrases in your geographic location.
– Analytics and reporting: Tracking the growth and engagement of your profile. Regularly updating on metrics and account performance.
– Keeping your profile active: Commenting on posts, sharing content, liking and reacting to others’ activity.
– Lead generation: Identifying and contacting ideal prospects and partners who would benefit from connecting with you.
The right LinkedIn manager will execute strategies tailored to your specific goals and audience for maximum impact.
What qualifications should a LinkedIn manager have?
When evaluating LinkedIn managers, look for the following important qualifications:
– Extensive expertise in LinkedIn best practices – The platform’s algorithms and features change frequently. You want someone highly knowledgeable in current optimization tactics.
– Proven success managing accounts similar to yours – Ask for examples of profiles and metrics they have improved. Experienced managers will have a portfolio to showcase.
– Familiarity with your industry – They should understand your target audience, brand messaging and goals. Industry connections are also helpful.
– Excellent written communication skills – Your profile content must represent you in a compelling, professional manner.
– Graphic design skills – Visual assets like banners, infographics and videos are key to standing out.
– Client management experience – They should have a structured process for working with clients long-term.
– Analytics competence – Maximizing your presence relies on in-depth analysis of profile data and trends.
Ideally look for a LinkedIn pro with a mix of platform knowledge, content creation skills and relationship management experience. Their process and qualifications should set your mind at ease.
What types of professionals offer LinkedIn management services?
There are a few primary categories of professionals who offer LinkedIn account management and consulting services:
– LinkedIn Marketing Agencies – Agencies specialize in managing LinkedIn and other social platforms for business clients. Solopreneurs and individuals could benefit from their expertise as well.
– Freelance LinkedIn Specialists – Independent consultants who focus solely on LinkedIn consulting and management either part-time or full-time.
– Online Reputation Managers – Many ORM professionals offer LinkedIn services in addition to general online brand management.
– Personal Branding Consultants – Those focused on building executive and thought leader brands often include LinkedIn as part of their personal branding services.
– Virtual Assistants – VAs provide general admin assistance to clients which can include LinkedIn management.
When vetting providers, favor those whose primary business is LinkedIn management over those offering it as an add-on service. Look for in-depth LinkedIn expertise.
What should you look for when hiring a LinkedIn manager?
Assess LinkedIn managers based on the following criteria:
– Niche – Do they specialize in personal profile management or only company pages? The personal branding niche requires a different skillset.
– Experience – How long have they been managing LinkedIn accounts? More experienced is better.
– Client examples – Review examples of profiles they currently manage along with metrics improved.
– Process – Do they outline what their management process looks like? Is it ongoing or project-based?
– Pricing – Quotes will vary based on level of service. Expect rates starting around $500/month up to $2,000+/month for more extensive management.
– Reporting – Will they provide monthly reports detailing activities, metrics growth, and strategy results?
– Contracts – Quality providers will have you sign contracts protecting confidentiality and IP.
– Reviews – Check client testimonials and LinkedIn recommendations for positive feedback.
Take the time to vet several potential LinkedIn managers before selecting the one that seems the best fit to represent your personal brand online.
What are some mistakes people make in trying to manage their own LinkedIn profile?
Attempting to self-manage your LinkedIn presence often leads to suboptimal results. Some common mistakes include:
– Not keeping your profile updated regularly – Your profile gets stale and overlooked if not refreshed continually.
– Using generic descriptions – Failing to showcase your unique value and differentiators.
– Interacting passively – Just commenting or liking occasionally versus proactive networking.
– Not optimizing profile content – Lacking key terms, titles, rich media, and keywords that drive discovery.
– Not cultivating an authoritative brand – Inconsistency in messaging and positioning.
– Being too self-promotional – Pushing your own agenda versus providing value to your network.
– Not tracking analytics – Unable to measure your growth and engagement over time.
– Automating connection requests – Mass outreach is frowned upon and often flagged as spam.
– Ignoring messages and notifications – Failing to respond promptly damages relationships and opportunities.
Without the right strategy and effort, it is challenging to create a high-impact LinkedIn presence entirely on your own. Know when to seek assistance from a professional.
How can you vet and select the right LinkedIn manager?
Here is a process to follow to vet and select the best LinkedIn manager for your needs:
1. Define your goals – What are your targets in terms of profile growth, engagement, lead generation, etc? Share these so providers understand your priorities.
2. Research options – Search for LinkedIn managers on Google, LinkedIn, freelancing sites. Look for specialists.
3. Shortlist – Select 3-5 managers that seem to match your needs and have impressive client results.
4. Interview – Have exploratory video calls to discuss your goals and their process. Get a feel for their professionalism.
5. Review proposals – Compare custom proposals detailing their fees, services, and portfolio.
6. Check references – Speak to 1-2 of their clients to learn about their working relationship.
7. Compare – Consider the differences between proposals and your call impressions. Who seems most qualified?
8. Run a trial – You may want to start with a 1 month trial period to test the working dynamic before committing long term.
9. Review metrics – At the end of the trial, review the growth and engagement metrics achieved. Were you pleased?
10. Extend if satisfied – If after the trial you are happy with their work, sign a longer 3-6 month contract to maximize results.
Taking the time to thoughtfully vet LinkedIn managers will help surface the best fit to entrust your valuable profile and brand reputation to.
What types of expectations and requirements should you set for a LinkedIn manager?
To ensure an optimal working relationship, communicate these key expectations and requirements to your LinkedIn manager:
– Update frequency – How often do you expect your profile to be updated? 1-2 times per week is common.
– Response time – Set an expected response time to comments and messages, such as 24-48 hours.
– Content authority – Content added should position you as an industry thought leader.
– Brand alignment – All content must be consistent with your brand identity and voice.
– Review process – What is the process for reviewing content drafts and publishing approval?
– Performance metrics – Define key metrics like profile views, engagement rate, followers.
– Strategic plan – They should present a quarterly strategic plan for your approval.
– Results reporting – Require monthly reports detailing growth, engagement, metrics achieved.
– Communication method – Establish your preferred channel and cadence for routine check-ins.
– Compliance – They must comply with LinkedIn’s terms plus your confidentiality requirements.
Setting clear expectations upfront ensures your LinkedIn manager understands what is required to produce successful results in an ethical manner.
How can you maintain control of your LinkedIn presence while outsourcing management?
When outsourcing LinkedIn management, you can maintain control of your presence by:
– Remaining the profile admin – Do not hand over your password. You retain admin access.
– Approving major changes – Review and authorize additions like new sections, featured media, apps.
– Approving messaging – Any new messaging must align with your brand values.
– Directing overall strategy – You steer the direction. The manager executes tactical activities.
– Requesting modifications – If you dislike something added, instruct them to modify or remove it.
– Monitoring activity and metrics – Audit their work regularly. Are the numbers aligning with goals?
– Providing ongoing feedback – Communicate what you like and don’t like about their management approach.
– Meeting regularly – Have check-in calls or virtual meetings to discuss your account.
– Reviewing proposals/plans – Ensure major initiatives and campaigns have been reviewed by you before launch.
– Controlling length of contracts – Start with short term contracts and renew at your discretion based on performance.
Stay engaged with your account’s activity and you can achieve your goals while retaining ultimate oversight over your LinkedIn presence.
Conclusion
Managing your own robust LinkedIn presence is a difficult endeavor. The platform’s algorithms favor those who put in consistent time engaging with their network.
Seeking assistance from a qualified LinkedIn management professional can accelerate your results and free up valuable time for focusing on higher priorities.
However, it is critical you take precautions when outsourcing control of your profile. Thoroughly vetting managers, setting clear expectations, controlling branding, monitoring activity, and providing feedback enables you to achieve your LinkedIn goals while preventing potential issues.
With the right specialist relationship, you can benefit from elevated profiles results and still retain ultimate oversight of your personal LinkedIn brand. Handled strategically, outsourcing management is an effective way to gain an authoritative LinkedIn presence.
