Having separate personal and company LinkedIn profiles can be beneficial for both individuals and organizations. While there is some overlap in the type of content you might post, keeping them distinct allows you to cater to your different audiences more effectively. Here are some key differences to consider when managing personal versus company LinkedIn profiles:
Purpose
Your personal LinkedIn profile is all about you as an individual – your background, skills, accomplishments and connections. It serves to represent you professionally and attract opportunities.
A company LinkedIn page serves to represent the organization as a whole. It markets the business, communicates key messages and attracts customers or clients.
Audience
Your personal connections and network are the primary audience for your individual profile. You want to attract the interest of recruiters, colleagues, new professional contacts, etc.
The company page audience consists of current and potential customers or clients. You want to build your brand, market services or products and connect with your target demographic.
Content
Personal profile content includes your employment history, education, skills, recommendations from colleagues and relevant work samples or projects. Content focuses on your professional capabilities and achievements.
Company page content communicates organizational messages, values, products/services, thought leadership and industry news. The focus is on informing and engaging your customer base.
Voice
Your personal profile should adopt a professional, first-person voice when sharing background, accomplishments etc.
The company page voice should represent the organization’s brand identity. It may be more formal or conversational depending on brand style. An active, engaging tone keeps followers interested.
Management
You have full control over your personal profile content and connections. You can customize settings and sections as needed.
Company pages allow admins to add other managers who can post content or monitor engagement. This allows cross-collaboration and a consistent brand presence.
Key Differences in Detail
Let’s explore some of the key differences between individual and company LinkedIn profiles in more detail:
Profile Structure
Personal profiles have sections for your background summary, experience, education, skills, recommendations and accomplishments. The focus is on your professional capabilities.
Company pages spotlight different elements like products/services, company culture, career openings, company news and industry updates. The focus is promoting the brand.
Imagery
Your personal photo or avatar image helps convey your professionalism and personality.
Company pages often use brand logos, banners, product photos, team pictures and other visuals that communicate company identity.
Tone and Voice
As mentioned, your personal profile should adopt a tone appropriate for a professional profile. Be authentic but avoid overly casual language.
Company pages require brand-aligned messaging and voice. This may mean formal language for a traditional company or a conversational tone for a trendy startup.
Content Format
Personal profiles lend themselves to first-person written narratives about your background, career highlights, skills etc.
Company pages accommodate different formats like news announcements, product descriptions, event promotions, employee spotlights, video clips and more.
Engagement Goals
You want your personal profile to attract new connections and opportunities with individuals like recruiters or collaborators.
Company pages aim to increase brand awareness, website traffic, leads and sales by nurturing ongoing relationships with customers/clients.
Analytics
Your personal profile provides data on who has viewed your profile and how your content is performing.
Company pages offer robust analytics into follower demographics, content engagement, clicks, impressions and more. This allows data-driven content strategies.
Advertising
Personal profiles do not accommodate advertising or sponsored content options.
Company pages provide opportunities to run sponsored content campaigns to reach broader audiences and amplify content.
Best Practices for Maintaining Distinct Presences
Here are some best practices for keeping your personal and company LinkedIn presences distinct:
Separate Profiles
Maintain completely separate profiles for your individual versus company presence. Do not comingle personal and company content on the same profile.
Customize Settings
Tailor your personal profile and company page settings and sections to match their different goals and audiences.
Distinct Branding
Make sure your company profile fully represents its visual branding and messaging. Your personal profile should express your own professional brand.
Content Consistency
Ensure content on your company page aligns with other branded touchpoints like your website, blog, emails etc. Show a unified presence.
Audience Targeting
When sharing updates, use targeting options to reach the appropriate audience – your own connections for personal posts and followers for company posts.
Separate Content Strategies
Develop distinct content strategies and calendars for creating and sharing content that fits each presence.
Collaboration
If you oversee both profiles, collaborate with other company representatives to ensure cohesive, on-brand messaging on the company page.
Interaction Boundaries
When commenting or interacting as the company page, maintain a professional brand voice – do not comment as the personal profile.
Analytics Review
Regularly review analytics for your personal profile and company page to see what content resonates and identify opportunities to improve.
Should You Link Profiles?
Whether or not you should link your personal and company LinkedIn profiles depends on your specific goals and situation. Here are some pros and cons to consider:
Pros of Linking Profiles
– Provides transparency by showing you represent the company.
– Allows you to easily cross-post content between both profiles.
– Visitors can seamlessly navigate between your profiles.
Cons of Linking Profiles
– Reduced separation between personal and company brand presence.
– Company updates may be irrelevant to your own connections.
– You lose some content customization and targeting abilities between profiles.
In many cases, the best solution is to reference your company in your personal profile summary or work experience section but keep the profiles separate. However, businesses with limited staff may benefit more from linking profiles. Evaluate your own circumstances.
Tools to Manage Multiple Presences
Platforms like Hootsuite and Sprout Social can help manage LinkedIn profiles more efficiently:
Hootsuite
– Connect up to 10 LinkedIn company or personal profiles.
– Schedule content updates in advance.
– Use a single dashboard to manage all profiles and posts.
– Provides analytics on post engagement.
Sprout Social
– Connect unlimited LinkedIn accounts.
– Offers a unified inbox to manage conversations.
– Provides advanced analytics and reporting.
– Allows collaboration with other teammates.
Buffer is another popular social media management tool for scheduling content across profiles.
Key Takeaways
Here are some key tips on managing personal versus company LinkedIn profiles:
| Your personal profile is all about you as a professional. | Your company profile represents the organization as a whole. |
| Cater your personal profile content to connections and recruiters. | Optimize company page content to engage customers/clients. |
| Adopt a professional first-person voice on your profile. | Use a consistent brand voice and tone on the company page. |
| Focus your personal profile on your background and capabilities. | Showcase company culture, products, news and thought leadership. |
| Regularly update your profile with new roles, projects, skills etc. | Post company updates, initiatives and industry content frequently. |
Keeping your LinkedIn presence professional while highlighting your individual capabilities and achievements takes some strategy. But maintaining a separate, robust company profile allows you to effectively promote your brand and engage customers. Dedicate the time to cultivate both profiles.
Conclusion
In summary, while personal and company LinkedIn profiles have some overlap, keeping them separate offers greater customization and targeting options. Optimize each profile for their distinct goals and audiences, while collaborating across teams to ensure unified brand messaging on company pages. With thoughtful management, you can leverage LinkedIn’s capabilities to highlight your professional brand as an individual while also supporting your organization’s marketing and engagement goals.