LinkedIn Profile Summary: Why and How to Build Yours

by Susan Perez in Marketing Agency Tips

While social media is ever-evolving, it is still a steady form of communication in our daily lives. Engagement and membership tend to fluctuate from platform to platform, and recently, LinkedIn has reported record levels of each.

In Q1 of 2024, overall LinkedIn sessions increased by 12%, reaching new record heights. In the past, LinkedIn may have been underutilized or solely thought of as a professional networking site. While it continues to be a place to make professional connections, LinkedIn is now also a trusted place to build brand awareness, share high-quality thought leadership content, and successfully run B2B campaigns.

The point is – if you aren’t on LinkedIn, you should be. And your LinkedIn summary and bio need to hit all the right spots. Keep reading for tips on how to create an effective LinkedIn profile.

What is a LinkedIn profile summary?

A good LinkedIn profile starts with a great LinkedIn profile summary, otherwise known as the “About” section. In this key section, you should provide an overview of your professional life, skills, and accomplishments.

You want to let people who are viewing your profile know what makes you stand out, but you need to do it in a succinct, effective manner. Any friends, colleagues, potential employers, or recruiters reading your profile should come away from your “About” section knowing your unique value proposition and a bit about your personality.

Further down your profile, you’ll have your resume – start dates, job titles, responsibilities, etc. You don’t need to cram all this information into your “About” section. Instead, present yourself the way you want to be received. Highlight accomplishments, let your personality shine, talk about your career goals, and so on. This is your chance to make a great first impression.

How to make a good LinkedIn summary

If you’re not sure where to start, it can be helpful to check out some examples. Here are some tips you can follow and some real profile sections to inspire you to write your best LinkedIn profile.

Start with an engaging hook: Begin with a hook that captures attention, such as a statement about your passion or a unique aspect of your career. Is there anything interesting about where or how you grew up? What about a notable career moment or a personal accomplishment that you’re proud of? Share it!
Describe your current role: Explain what you do in simple terms, focusing on the problems you solve and the value you provide, rather than just listing your job title. What’s the elevator pitch when people ask what you do?
Highlight key skills and experience: Mention relevant skills and significant accomplishments, using specific metrics to illustrate your impact. For example, “increased sales by 30% in one year.” Make sure you highlight your strengths and what makes you a valuable team player.
Add personality: Let your personality shine through by sharing personal interests or unique experiences that relate to your professional life. What are interesting things you do in your spare time? What’s the latest book you’ve read? Are you known for something specific in your professional and personal circles?
Include a call to action (CTA): End your summary with a clear CTA, inviting readers to connect with you or discuss specific topics, which encourages engagement.
Keep it short and skimmable: Aim for clarity and brevity, using bullet points or short paragraphs to make the summary easy to read, while staying within the character limit (up to 2,600 characters). You want to entice people to get to know you further and you don’t want to make your profile cumbersome to read.

Let’s evaluate some examples:

This is a great, punchy profile. This user succeeds at showing off her personality while quickly conveying important career information to know. She comes across as funny, approachable, yet highly accomplished.
What works:

An engaging hook – it’s funny and right off the bat, the reader knows what to expect
It’s easy to read – A numbered list is an appealing format
She highlights some strengths – an engaged Twitter following, an interesting anecdote about how she landed her first role
She’s vulnerable, yet relates her personal experiences to hr work
It’s impressive – she’s worked on some A-list campaigns, which builds credibility and establishes expertise

The author of this profile makes it feel like she’s talking directly to the reader. She is super effective at conveying her personality and what she believes is her biggest strength.
What works:

With her first 7 words, she hooks in the reader. People love personal anecdotes, and this one gets right to the point
The author effectively conveyed what could have been perceived as a negative into her biggest career strength – she has built her career on communication
The profile is short and easily skimmable
It is clear that one would hire her to be a recruiter

This is an unconventional, yet effective profile example that excels at one thing: the author staying true to themselves.
What works:

In this fun-to-read ‘About’ section, we get the full trajectory of this person’s career, which is hard to do without boring the reader
This profile is not intimidating – you do not need to be an Ivy League scholar to wow your reader
The use of emojis is eye-catching and doesn’t feel out of place
It’s humorous, authentic, inspiring, and feels attainable

When you have an outstanding career and have amassed numerous accolades, you lead with them.
What works:

The reader is instantly hooked upon learning that the author is recognized by The New York Times, WSJ, and more
This author has big names in their client portfolio, which builds credibility and trust
The profile is short, but packs a punch
It’s clear what this author would be hired to do: blogging, speaking engagements, and growth through marketing
There’s a clear CTA and information for contacting the author

LinkedIn summary examples for specific professions

You should follow the aforementioned tips anytime you’re creating your LinkedIn profile summary, regardless of the line of work you’re in. Should you do anything different for your specific profession? Ahead, we round up six roles and what you should highlight in your LinkedIn profile if you currently hold or are seeking these kinds of positions.

LinkedIn profile summary for digital marketing professionals

If you’re a digital marketing professional, you’ll want to highlight your skills and your relevant accomplishments in your LinkedIn profile. Show off your expertise and how you would be of value in the digital marketing space. Can you share impressive campaign results? Have you managed the creation of a new website that exceeded traffic and lead generation expectations? When possible, be specific and use stats.

This digital marketing strategist does a good job of listing out areas of expertise, with specific details, certifications, or experience highlighted along the way. It provides a quick snapshot of how this person delivers value.

LinkedIn profile summary for content marketing specialists

Content marketing specialists should talk about their areas of expertise – what types of content do you focus on? Blog posts, long form content, eBooks, video scripts, social media, ads? Has any of your content received awards or recognition? What accomplishments are you most proud of in regards to your content?

This profile starts with a short, relevant quote to engage readers and highlights impressive accomplishments, where their work has been featured, and areas of expertise for a well-rounded (but not too wordy!) summary.

LinkedIn profile summary for SEO managers

SEO experts can have fun with their LinkedIn profile summary by optimizing it with relevant keywords. Practice what you preach. Use your profile as an opportunity to show what you’re capable of doing, how you typically go about it (what tools you use, etc.), and what results you tend to see.

This summary is short and sweet, with keywords peppered throughout, recognitions from reputable sources to build credibility, and impressive results to establish trust.

LinkedIn profile summary for sales professionals

As a sales professional, you’re used to pitching prospects. In your LinkedIn profile summary, you need to pitch yourself. Be personable, have conviction, be persuasive, and back up your claims with facts.

This profile is a bit long, but the way it is formatted makes it easy to read – we can clearly see the user’s contact information, the industries they have experience in, and their impressive accomplishments which speak for themselves.

LinkedIn profile summary for job seekers

Anyone using their LinkedIn profile summary as a job application of sorts should be direct. Talk about what kind of role you’re looking for, but also what kind of culture and job environment matters to you. What values are important to you? How do you want to collaborate? What do you look for in leadership? And so on. And don’t forget to include what you would bring to the table.

This profile successfully sets the stage for this job seeker’s next role – we know what their experience is, we know what kind of culture they encourage, and we know what their values are.

LinkedIn profile summary for IT professionals

IT professionals have skills that are valuable across every industry. If you are specialized in one area, make sure to communicate that clearly. Lay out expectations for how you manage networks, provide technical support, build databases, and so on, and highlight accomplishments you’ve had in these areas. If you have relevant certifications, highlight them as well.

We love the way this author included a little snippet of code at the end of their profile, a clever way to relevancy and creativity to their LinkedIn page.

Use dedicated landing pages in your next marketing campaigns

At the end of the day, what are we doing on LinkedIn? We’re marketing ourselves. And any good marketing campaign needs a solid strategy from start to finish.

Personalized, dedicated landing pages can drive game-changing results for marketing campaigns in terms of generating leads and conversions. Instapage is a leading landing page platform that empowers marketers to create landing page experiences that increase brand trust, customer loyalty, and conversion rates.

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