A LinkedIn summary is one of the most important sections on your LinkedIn profile. It’s located right below your name and headline and is often the first thing people will read about you. Your summary should showcase your skills, experience, and goals in a compelling way to help you connect with the right people and opportunities. Here are some best practices for writing an effective LinkedIn summary for marketing professionals:
Keep it concise
You only have 2,000 characters for your summary, so don’t feel like you need to fill the whole space. In fact, most experts recommend keeping your summary at 1-2 short paragraphs or around 3-5 sentences. You want it to be long enough to showcase your top skills and experience, but short enough that it’s easy to read and digest.
Use keywords
Incorporate keywords related to your industry and job function throughout your summary. This helps ensure your profile will come up in LinkedIn searches for relevant terms. For marketing professionals, this could include words like “marketing,” “advertising,” “branding,” “communication,” “social media,” and more specific terms related to your niche.
Tell your professional story
Structure your summary like a story that highlights your career progression and top marketing accomplishments. Briefly explain where you started out, how your career has progressed, your current role and goals, and where you want to go in the future. This narrative format helps showcase the value you bring to an organization.
Focus on skills and impact
Rather than just listing job titles and duties, emphasize transferable skills, measurable results, and impact. Use bullet points to highlight key achievements like “Increased website traffic by 30% within first 6 months by launching a content marketing strategy.” This quantifies the value you delivered in past roles.
Align with your headline
Your LinkedIn headline appears right above your summary, so the two sections should align. Make sure your summary supports and expands on the top skills mentioned in your headline. This consistency strengthens your personal brand and areas of expertise.
Mirror language in target job listings
Review job listings that appeal to you and identify key words and phrases commonly used. Incorporate some of this language into your summary to show your fit for those types of roles. But don’t just copy and paste—put it in your own words.
Close with a call to action
End your summary with a statement on what you’re seeking next in your career. This gives the reader context for how to connect with you, like “Seeking a Director of Marketing role at a consumer goods company.”
Examples
Here are two sample LinkedIn summaries for marketing professionals:
Marketing Specialist
Innovative Marketing Specialist with 5+ years of experience delivering successful campaigns and programs for leading consumer brands. Skilled at developing integrated digital marketing strategies encompassing content, social media, SEO, and paid advertising to generate leads and increase brand awareness. Proficient in Google Analytics and CRM platforms. Completed over 50 marketing campaigns and product launches, leading to a 20% increase in digital engagement. Seeking a Senior Marketing Specialist role to expand integrated campaign management experience.
Digital Marketing Manager
Data-driven Digital Marketing Manager with 8+ years of experience devising and executing innovative digital strategies for global brands. Managed a cross-functional team of 5 delivering multi-channel digital marketing campaigns that accelerated lead generation by 30% year-over-year. Oversaw $5M+ marketing budget and implemented cost-saving initiatives to improve campaign ROI by 25%. Passionate about staying on top of digital marketing and social media trends. Seeking a Director of Digital Marketing role within a people-oriented consumer company.
Tips
Here are some additional tips for crafting a compelling LinkedIn summary as a marketing professional:
Showcase soft skills
Highlight relevant soft skills like communication, strategic thinking, project management, collaboration, and leadership. These universal skills show you can bring value beyond just technical marketing abilities.
Quantify achievements
Use numbers and metrics to quantify campaign, project, and team results you delivered. This proves the tangible impact you made.
Balance skills and personality
Incorporate some personality by mentioning passions outside of work like fitness, travel, or volunteering. This gives people a better sense of you as a whole person.
Proofread for errors
Double check your summary for any spelling, grammar, or formatting errors before publishing your profile. These details matter for marketing pros.
Customize for different applications
If using your LinkedIn profile when applying for jobs, customize your summary to better match each position’s requirements. But keep your core skills consistent.
Update it regularly
Revisit your summary every 6 months to update achievements, skills, goals, and contact info so it stays current. This is key for showing ongoing career growth.
Common LinkedIn Summary Mistakes to Avoid
Here are some key mistakes to avoid so your LinkedIn summary is as effective as possible:
Too generic
Summaries that are vague with general claims about skills and experience are forgettable. Include specific details, examples, and metrics.
Just a list of previous job titles
Don’t just state your work history. Focus on top achievements, skills, and how you drove impact in each role.
Typos or grammatical errors
Summaries with errors come across as sloppy. Carefully proofread before posting your profile live.
Too sales focused
Avoid pitches for your services or heavy promotion of your company. Keep the focus on your professional background and value.
Too modest or boastful
Find a middle ground between being overly humble or arrogant when summarizing your accomplishments. Focus on facts.
Outdated information
Be sure to update your summary as you take on new roles and gain additional skills. Stale, old information can hurt your credibility.
Too long
Summaries that drone on with long blocks of text lose reader attention. Use concise paragraphs and bullets to focus on the most relevant details.
By avoiding these common mistakes and highlighting your top skills and marketing achievements, you can write an effective LinkedIn summary that makes a strong first impression.
LinkedIn Summary Examples by Industry
Here are examples of strong LinkedIn summaries tailored to different marketing jobs across various industries:
Marketing in Technology
Driven B2B Marketing Manager with 7 years’ experience driving integrated campaigns and content strategies for SaaS companies. Core skills include demand generation, product marketing, and sales enablement. Achievements include building a content strategy that increased lead conversion rate by 15% and website traffic by 30%. Seeking a Director of Marketing role at a fast-paced SaaS organization.
Marketing in Healthcare
Innovative marketer combining 10+ years of pharmaceutical and medical device marketing experience with a passion for improving patient outcomes. Proven ability to execute integrated campaigns across digital, print, conferences, and KOL engagement channels. Seeking a Brand Marketing Lead role within a mission-driven healthcare organization.
Marketing in Financial Services
Results-driven marketing expert with proven success devising and executing data-driven marketing strategies for banking and fintech brands. Skilled in leveraging analytics to turn insights into higher conversion rates. Strong project manager recognized for leading cross-functional teams to accelerate campaign development by 40%. Seeking a VP of Marketing role at a financial services firm to make an impact through creative problem-solving.
Marketing in Retail and eCommerce
Creative brand and campaign builder with 8+ years driving engaging shopping experiences online and in-store. Experience leading integrated marketing strategies encompassing social media community building, influencer collaborations, interactive content, and personalized promotions. Seeking a Director of E-Commerce Marketing role to combine passion for retail marketing innovation with brand storytelling expertise.
Marketing in Hospitality and Travel
Results-driven marketing leader with expertise in go-to-market strategy, branding, and campaign execution for hospitality and tourism brands. Proven success devising digital marketing, social media, and loyalty programs to increase brand engagement and reservations 15-20%. Passionate about crafting immersive guest experiences. Seeking a VP of Global Marketing role at a lifestyle hotel or travel company.
Marketing in Consumer Goods
Strategic marketing expert with 6+ years’ experience driving brand growth for CPG companies through insights-based digital marketing, influencer partnerships, and integrated campaigns. Proven success increasing social media engagement 400%+ and accelerating product launches by 30-40%. Seeking a Sr. Brand Manager role focused on innovation.
How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your LinkedIn Summary
Once you’ve written your LinkedIn summary, it’s important to monitor its effectiveness. Here are some ways to measure and track your summary’s impact:
Profile views
Monitor weekly and monthly visitor activity to see if your profile views and unique visitors increase after updating your summary. More visibility indicates it’s catching people’s attention.
Engagement metrics
Analyze metrics like reactions, comments, and shares on your summary section to see if it prompts readers to engage. Higher engagement implies it resonates.
Click-through rate
Add a call-to-action link like “Connect with me” in your summary and track click-through rates over time. Increasing rates show your summary compels readers to connect.
Conversion rate
For summaries optimized for job searches, note conversion rates from profile view to application or inquiry. Improving rates indicate your summary converts readers to candidates.
New followers and connections
Monitor the number of new followers and connection requests you receive weekly or monthly. More activity may signal your summary effectively showcases your brand.
Mentions and shares
Track if your summary or personal brand are mentioned or shared by others. Being organically highlighted means your professional identity leaves a mark.
Survey selected connections
Ask some existing connections if your updated summary gives them a good sense of your capabilities and career goals compared to before. Direct feedback is always insightful.
Regularly assessing these metrics helps optimize your summary’s structure, content, keywords, and calls-to-action over time. Set clear goals and monitor the data to refine your summary so it best showcases your marketing skills and supports your career aspirations.
Conclusion
Your LinkedIn summary is a core part of your professional identity and brand on a powerful networking platform. For marketing professionals, an effective summary clearly communicates your skills, experience, achievements, and career goals to the right audiences. It should be concise, compelling, and keyword-optimized while showcasing both technical expertise and soft skills. Avoid common mistakes like generic claims, spelling errors, self-promotion, and outdated information. Regularly refresh your summary and track key metrics to maximize its impact. With an engaging summary that aligns with your target roles, you can build connections and uncover new opportunities to advance your marketing career.
