Your Hospital’s C-Suite Needs a LinkedIn Makeover
You’re proud of your hospital’s C-suite. All their accomplishments, all their hard work, all their dedication to the hospital. But have you ever looked at one of their LinkedIn profiles and thought, “Meh?”
If that’s the case, you might need to sprinkle some of your marketing magic on their profile (or hire me to do so). Let the sprinkling begin:
Start with a professional headshot
Make the case to hire a professional photographer to take headshots of your C-suite leaders. If that winds up being you and your iPhone, take these tips from a LinkedIn blog:
· Their face should take up 60% of the shot
· Encourage them to wear professional clothes
· Tell them to smile with their eyes (or really, just smile)
Don’t forget to add a background photo with your hospital’s logo to make the profile come together in a nice, tidy way.
Tell a story
Your C-suite leader has their 30-second elevator pitch down pat. Think of LinkedIn like a 60-second escalator ride. You’ve got a little more wiggle room to get into the details, but the ride will come to an end (hopefully, with a “follow” or a “connect”).
· Set aside 30 minutes to interview your C-suite leader about their career. When it comes to reviewing their job history, ask them questions like: “What were you most passionate about when you worked at this place? What kind of interesting projects did you work on?” If you stick to the basic, “What were your job duties?” you’ll just wind up with blah, blah, blah answers.
· The first sentence in the “About” section is a make-or-break moment. Don’t bother writing the second sentence until you’ve hooked the reader with the first one.
· Get rid of the third-person narrative. This style only works for author bios on the back of books.
· Go beyond the standard work resume. Don’t forget to add the volunteer organizations or clubs your leaders belong to show they have a life outside of the office.
· If you’re going to use bullet points to describe their job duties, cut yourself off after five.
Develop a posting strategy
Everything looks great now, right? It does! But you’re not done yet. It’s time to start posting. However, most C-suite leaders don’t have the time to keep their LinkedIn profiles active. That’s where you come in, good ‘ole marketing guru. If you’re managing LinkedIn accounts for several leaders, keep your sanity by coming up with a posting schedule that’s easy to manage.
To gather content, ask your C-suite leaders what websites or blogs they read most frequently. Narrow down five to seven topics they’re most interested in having you post about. Write a couple of sample posts to make sure you’re getting their style down before you take the reins. But take the reins. Somebody has to.
Share inspiration
Your C-suite got to the suite because they are competitive. Now’s the time to show them who’s making a splash on LinkedIn. Sharing LinkedIn’s top 15 voices in healthcare might be a good place to start.
Hire a professional
I’ve written LinkedIn profiles for an electrical engineering consultant, a lawyer and taught a workshop about improving your LinkedIn profile. If you’re interested in having me write one for your favorite C-suite leader (or even yourself), I’d be happy to help. Contact me for more information.