EP #013: How to optimize your title (and why it matters)

Hey there - we need to talk about your LinkedIn title.

Why your title is so important

Your LinkedIn title shows up everywhere:

• When you comment

• When you post

• When people visit your profile

• When you write an article

This really hit home on a sales call earlier this year. I started off the call by asking: How did you hear about us?

His answer surprised me: You commented on my friend’s post. I thought it was an insightful comment. I saw your title, and I clicked through to your profile. I understood what your company does. So now we’re talking.

He signed up within 30 minutes of getting off the call.

You want your title to pass the 3-second rule. Can someone understand - in under 3 seconds - what you do and why they should talk to you?

Let’s start with some examples of what not to do.

3 Examples of bad LinkedIn titles

There are no shortages of bad examples on LinkedIn, but here are a few that stood out to me recently:

Congrats! It’s great to see you’re hiring! But… what is Rappipay? Why would I apply? Am I a potential customer, investor or partner? Who knows.

Woah. Lots here. It’s great to see you’re a fellow veteran, but I don’t really know what to do with you. Speaker, Advocate, Igniter, Veteran. My fear is you’re a jack of all trades, and a master of none. Not sure why I would ever reach out to you.

Nice job! You’ve gone big on Point72 and clearly have a global focus…But again, I have no idea what Point72 is or why I would ever work with you.

Let’s look at some great examples next.

3 Examples of great LinkedIn titles

You want your LinkedIn title to instantly communicate your value (and why someone should check you and your company out).

Here are a few examples I like:

Kate gives her title (succinctly) and makes space for what she does (Modern Portfolio Ops) and, even better, who her target audience is (Private Equity and Venture Capital). In a very small amount of real estate, she’s made it clear who she serves and how she serves them.

Todd’s title is a little long (ie. this will be truncated in his comments), but he makes a smart move of keeping his job title short. For me, it’s wasted space to say “Founder & CEO” when that takes too many characters. “CEO, Exitwise” is as short as they come.

He then goes on to define his audience (Business Owners) and his value (Learn about M&A and Create the Exits they Deserve).

For me, I don’t mind the length of this… in a comment it will get truncated, but you’ll get the gist of it:

But the longer version of his title will be there when you look at his profile page.

Here’s another example:

Logan makes it really clear the value he delivers: We produce B2B podcasts that drive revenue. What a great elevator pitch! It’s immediately apparent why I might speak with him.

His next piece is more nuanced: Christ Follower. If Logan is selling primarily to Christian owned businesses, this is great - it will attract people who share his religious views.

However, if he is selling to people regardless of their religious background, I’d argue he has more to lose than to gain with this addition.

You don’t want to give people a reason to say “no” to you. As one example, in my profile I used to have a featured image of me shaking hands with a US President. However, I removed this image, as I realized that half of my likely audience could say “no” to me if they did not agree with the political party of that particular president. So I removed it.

One last example:

Austin is a great person to follow on LinkedIn: he has 1,000,000+ followers and is a masterclass in LinkedIn best practices.

His title is great too - if you’re a job seeker, you’re going to immediately resonate with his title and understand why you should follow him.

The takeaway

Just like a company elevator pitch, your LinkedIn title is worth refining. Given how much visibility it receives, it is worth iterating on until you can succinctly explain WHY people should engage with you.

Next week, we’ll look at commenting - it’s an overlooked way to gain attention, and a secret weapon to grow your following.

Until then, feel free to reach out if there are any questions I can answer.

Until next week,
Justin

Justin M. Nassiri | Founder & CEO
M: 650.353.1138 | E: [email protected]
250 Fillmore St Suite 150, Denver, CO 80206
www.ExecutivePresence.io

We specialize in helping top-tier executives boost their visibility, activate their network, and position themselves as thought leaders via our premium, fully-managed LinkedIn service.

Our unique process involves ex-McKinsey, BCG, and Bain consultants conducting monthly hour-long interviews with our clients, and turning them into impactful daily LinkedIn posts to establish their unique voice and authority. On average, our clients see a 500% bump in engagement in their first 30 days with us. Data is continuously analyzed to improve engagement and identify impactful messaging that you can use for conferences, podcasts, and internal communications.