LinkedIn’s Authentic Edge: Why ‘Real You’ Marketing Outshines the Polished Pros

Are we deceiving our audiences on LinkedIn? Alright, that might be a tad harsh. Let me rephrase.

In an era dominated by AI, building a personal brand and establishing yourself as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on LinkedIn drives more company traffic than ever before. People crave authentic connections with real individuals. But what’s really happening on this professional networking platform?

The LinkedIn Landscape

Out of the mere 1% of active users who post on LinkedIn, 75% of those users seem to embellish their content. Okay, I’ll admit that the 75% statistic is false. But now that I have your attention, let’s delve deeper.

It’s natural to want to showcase our best selves through our experiences and content, aiming to gain followers and boost engagement. However, presenting an inauthentic version of yourself can actually harm your personal brand and company in the long run. Why? Because within that small percentage of LinkedIn users posting online, word spreads quickly and people eventually uncover the personality behind the profile picture.

The Social Media Persona

We’ve all crafted social identities for ourselves when building profiles on specific channels. The way we respond to direct messages or comments often differs significantly from how we’d interact with our network in real-life situations – and for good reason. Online interactions afford us more time to:

– Contemplate our responses
– Conduct additional research
– Carefully select words and phrases that make us sound more articulate in the digital realm

Embracing Imperfection

But what if I told you it’s okay to make occasional grammatical errors or respond less professionally?

[These imperfections make you more human and showcase your true personality, which will build an audience faster and drive more traffic.]

Would you embrace this authenticity?

I’m not suggesting you abandon tools like Grammarly or share your deepest, darkest secrets in a LinkedIn post (lest you end up featured in the “LinkedIn Lunatics” subreddit – yes, that’s a real place). However, consider the consequences of altering your tonality and identity to replace your genuine self in the social sphere. You risk losing your audience’s trust once they find out you may be someone you’re not.

The Power of Uniqueness

The beauty of being your unique self online is that there’s no one else quite like you. You stand out. You build trust because people connect with and invest their time in the real you, not a facade.

Reliability: The Secret

Let’s take a quick trip into reliability for a second.

In this wild world of LinkedIn theatrics, being consistently you is like finding a unicorn. Reliability isn’t just about showing up; it’s about showing up as the same authentic version of yourself, time and time again. When your audience can count on you to deliver genuine insights, unfiltered opinions, and the occasional joke (because why not?), you’re not just building a brand – you’re cultivating trust. And trust turns casual connections into a loyal network and potential clients. So, while everyone else is busy putting on their “professional” mask, dare to be reliably, unapologetically you.

Addressing Concerns

“But Josh,” you might ask, “How can I be myself on LinkedIn? It’s a professional platform where my career depends on sounding knowledgeable!”

Yes, your career does indeed depend on it.

However, when you use your personal LinkedIn profile to establish yourself as an SME, sharing your expertise in a specific area with users who rely on you to solve their problems, you begin to cultivate a trusted community that believes in you. When you finally meet these people in real life or over a video call, you want to present the same persona they’ve come to know online.

Tips for Authentic LinkedIn Presence

The last thing you want to do when building a personal brand on LinkedIn is to be someone you’re not. Here are some tips:

1. Approach each conversation with your existing knowledge.
2. Use the vocabulary you’d naturally employ when chatting with someone new at a bar.
3. Adopt the tone you’d use when speaking with a fellow conference attendee.
4. Ask questions.
5. Be wrong sometimes.
6. Be right when you actually know the answers.
7. Don’t pretend.

Being your authentic self from the outset allows people to connect with someone fresh and unique because, let’s face it, many social voices sound the same.

Stand out, and I promise your brand will too.