Visual Identity On LinkedIn And How To Establish It (With Examples)

Visual Identity On LinkedIn And How To Establish It (With Examples)

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We all know LinkedIn is more than just a job board or your online resume by now. With new features coming out regularly, and over 800 million users, it has become the main social media platform for B2B marketing, generating leads for sales professionals, executive recruiters, and market research experts. 

What does that mean for you? 

It means that you need to be visible and establish visual identity on LinkedIn to put yourself in a position to bear fruit of these new LinkedIn trends. It also means that you need to think carefully about your brand and your visual identity. 

Your visual identity is made of two main things: your profile picture and your cover photo. Here’s how to pick them in order to establish visual identity on LinkedIn.

1. Your profile picture

You’re probably wondering if you need to invest in a professionally done photo. If you at all care about your visual identity on LinkedIn I would say yes, it’s worth it. This service typically costs between $200 and $400. Alternatively, if you don’t have the budget, get a talented friend to do it for you. Just don’t try to do it on your own and steer clear of selfies. Remember that you’re aiming for a headshot with a professional background, good natural lighting, and exceptional quality. 

You want your face to be occupying 60% of the frame. This is important. Minimize all kinds of distractions, including the pool in the background, sunglasses, colorful logos, or over-the-top clothing. You should be wearing your casual, everyday attire that you’re comfortable in and your face should be the star of the show.

Try to show your warm personality with a radiant smile that will make you seem a lot more approachable, friendly, and even more recruitable. This applies to entry-level professionals as well as C-level executives. One study of 800 profiles found that people perceive you as more competent and more influential if you smile in your photo, while smiles that show teeth were rated twice as likable as closed-mouth smiles. 

2. Your cover photo

Your cover photo also called a background photo is what you will put in that grey area behind your profile picture. Just upload a photo from your computer by clicking the edit button in the upper right corner. 

Chose this picture wisely. Don’t waste this valuable space on a picture of the skyline of your city. Make it both visually appealing and informative. This picture should complement but not overpower your profile picture and it should be relevant to your industry, your company, or what you’re passionate about. However, this should not be a picture of your dog, your favorite vacation spot, or a mountain track where you go hiking. It also should not be a generic picture of the office space or nature. 

To create outstanding, customized banners you can look into websites like Canva.com and Hotpot.ai

Here are a few good examples: 

customized banner

customized banner

customized banner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of these things make a big difference. This is your first chance to make a good impression so think about the message that you want to send. Think about the color that you pick and what emotions it evokes. Lastly, don’t forget to consider your audience and how you want them to perceive you, and then choose your visuals accordingly to establish your visual identity on LinkedIn. 


 6 Questions to Ask Yourself To Build Your Personal Branding Strategy


 

Andjela Milenkovic
About the Author
Andjela Milenkovic

Andjela is a Career Advisor at Ivy Exec. With a background in recruiting, she helps professionals tell a powerful story on their resume and provides actionable job search tips. She holds a BA in psychology from the University of Iowa and enjoys writing.

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