3 Overlooked LinkedIn Features That Boost Visibility By Up To 246%
Utilize every relevant tool on your LinkedIn profile so you can increase visibility and grow your ... More business and career
If you've been on LinkedIn for the past year or more, and have no clients, partnerships, or job opportunities to show for it, you're likely under-utilizing this platform.
LinkedIn is not your everyday social media. And it's a whole lot more than a job board or learning platform (even though LinkedIn Jobs and LinkedIn Learning are great features too).
LinkedIn is perhaps the number one asset you should have in your toolkit as a professional, not just when you're representing your employer in a role like sales or business development, but beyond this, for growing your career and the breadth of opportunities you have access to.
Where many people go wrong is that they create a profile, and then forget all about it until it's time to look for a job and put their green banner up. They'll probably check in every now and then when their name is shouted out by their boss or when the company celebrates them every six months, but beyond that, there's no presence, authority, visibility, or credibility developed.
So when it's time to set yourself up and promote your services as a freelance professional, or look for your next job opportunity, you're stuck and have to start from scratch because you failed to build your visibility consistently beforehand.
To help you establish visibility and thought leadership (both of which help you stand out from your competitors as a professional) there are three LinkedIn features you need to be familiar with, which many people unfortunately under-utilize:
LinkedIn Carousels is a feature that allows you to showcase your expertise beyond posts in a deep, meaningful, and practical way. It allows you to explore a topic further and be very hands-on with your audience. You can literally upload a PDF that you've created, such as a list of tools and resources, prompts, helpful tips, step-by-step guide, etc. It will then convert into a carousel that people can scroll through.
This boosts your value in the eyes of your audience, especially when you're answering a problem that they have directly, and it positions you as a thought leader.
You can take inspiration for how to design and format your LinkedIn Carousels by browsing through and studying your favourite creators on LinkedIn, especially those who already work within your industry or field.
And you don't need to worry about being a designer because you can literally create carousel templates from Canva's vast library of templates, and tweak according to your style, industry, and brand.
Quick tip: if including multiple pages, try to make it one small idea per page so that it's easily digestible and it entices people to click reading for more. LinkedIn Carousels have been proven to boost engagement by as much as 246%, according to a Buffer experiment, so this will help you bring more eyeballs to your profile.
This is another underrated gem. When you create a LinkedIn profile, you need to view it as your portfolio, or better yet, your storefront. That doesn't mean everything should scream 'buy now.' But what it does mean is that it should look enticing enough for people to want to consider checking out what exactly you do even further.
LinkedIn has a section called 'featured' that sits nicely towards the middle of your profile as visitors scroll down.
Use this space to showcase items like:
This section is valuable real estate, so handpick three to five items to display here as proof of expertise and credibility, and choose wisely.
Another gem which is not directly on your profile, but is connected with it, is LinkedIn's SSI score (this means Social Selling Index). To find out yours, simply copy and paste this URL into your browser: www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi
Ensure you're logged into your LinkedIn profile on the same browser first.
When you view the SSI page, it should look something like this:
This data is invaluable, because it reveals the health of your LinkedIn's profile and presence. The higher your score, the better, as it indicates that you're more visible, have a higher likelihood of building strong client and partnership relationships (even as a job-seeker), and have a strong personal brand.
You'll also notice a section which shows that you're in the top X percent of your network (you fill in the X). Look at the four metrics and see where most improvement is needed, and aim to be in the top 10%.
Using all these tools help to gradually establish you as an industry thought leader.
The "featured" section of your profile is valuable real estate, so use it wisely
Ready to transform your LinkedIn profile? Which feature will you begin with today?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Bloomberg
LinkedIn's CEO Has Advice to Help AI-Proof Your Career
LinkedIn's CEO offers his thoughts on how AI is changing the way people work, himself included. But first… Three things to know:
Entrepreneur
6 hours ago
- Entrepreneur
How to Stop Overthinking and Start Taking Action
Business success requires quick decision-making — not long, drawn-out consensus-building. The risk isn't as great as you think, so make a decision and get moving. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Are you a doctor? Me neither. So why do we spend so much time obsessing over business decisions like we're performing open-heart surgery? If I had to make a medical decision, I would really be in trouble. And that's why I don't. But guess what? A lot of medical decisions are made quickly. I've worked in both giant corporations and scrappy startups. You know what sets them apart? In large companies, 99% of the time is spent worrying about the 1% of things that might go wrong. In small ones, 99% of the time is spent sprinting forward — because there's no time to sweat the small stuff. Get moving or start dying (metaphorically). It's that simple. In essence, what I'm talking about is the difference between paralyzing risk management and bold risk acceptance. One keeps the wheels spinning; the other keeps the business moving. I once wrote a LinkedIn post that simply said: "The biggest mistake you can make is being afraid to make one." It's something I remind myself of on tough days. Because no matter how chaotic it gets, what we do isn't life or death — it's business. And business requires momentum. It doesn't require months of groupthink. Related: Entrepreneurs Don't Overthink Things. They Make a Decision and Go With It. How do you keep the business moving? 1. Be ruthless, but thoughtful, about hiring I worked at a company where closing a deal required six levels of approval. Six. Levels. Of. Approval. That's not process — it's pure bureaucracy and pain. As you grow, be intentional. Every hire should have a clear purpose and deliver real value. If you can't answer these questions in a positive manner: What does this role do ? How does it help us grow? Is it really a full-time position? Would it be better to outsource it than keep it in-house? …then don't hire. You're building a team, not a padded org chart. 2. Make the call at 51% You don't need 100% certainty to act. You don't even need 60%. If you're 51% sure — leaning ever so slightly toward one direction — that's enough. It has to be. Waiting for perfection leads to paralysis. Move. Decide. Adjust later if needed. Deal with the fallout, if it comes. In my experience, the big scary "what-ifs" rarely happen. What does happen? Nothing — because no decision gets made. 3. Two days max If it's a decision that keeps your business running, it shouldn't take more than a day or two. That includes tough calls like terminations. Sure, major events like acquisitions or IPOs deserve more deliberation. This isn't a one-size-fits-all prophecy. But day-to-day? You're stalling if it drags on. Every extra day adds uncertainty — and that's a cost you don't want. Let me tell you a secret: The decision you come to on day 30 is likely the same one you came to on day two. Try it sometime and see ... or don't, because that means you're seriously delaying. 4. If you're wrong? The world won't end. In most cases, the worst-case scenario is a loss of revenue. Not good — but not fatal either. As long as your decisions are ethical, you'll live to fight another day. Don't let fear of failure keep you frozen. Action beats inaction. Every time. Related: Time to Stop Overanalyzing and Start Making Decisions! How to think less and do more 1. Build smart consensus Get input from your team, but don't let collaboration become a boomerang. Bounce ideas around, align direction, and then execute. Note, this does not mean that everyone has to agree. Quite the opposite. Use smart consensus to inform your decision. This isn't picking curtains — it's about moving the business forward. Stop polishing decisions and just ship them. 2. Get expert advice (but don't marinate in it) Need a legal opinion or some financial expertise? Great — get it. Find a lawyer. Hire an accountant. Use experts like a compass, not a crutch. Their guidance should help you move faster, not slow you down. You should get additional warm fuzzies relying on information provided by an expert who has seen the problem before. That should give you even less incentive to delay. 3. Trust your gut Seriously. Your gut's smarter than you think. I once ignored mine and joined a hot startup that felt "off." Turns out, it was. The founders ended up under federal indictment. Your instincts are data, too. Learn to listen. When your gut is screaming, pay attention. Your first impression is often the correct one. Related: Overcome This Common Entrepreneurial Struggle and Stop Sabotaging Your Progress Time is the real currency Time isn't just money; it's everything. You only get so much of it. Long, drawn-out decisions not only stall your business — they eat into your life. When you take forever to make a call, you're not just delaying growth — you're delaying freedom, balance and personal progress. So don't waste time trying to perfect every move. Businesses aren't built on perfection. They're built on momentum. Ask yourself: What feels better — crawling or driving a Ferrari? Start the engine. Let's go.
Forbes
9 hours ago
- Forbes
Break The 5,000 LinkedIn Follower Wall With Proven Growth Tactics
Break the 5,000 LinkedIn follower wall with proven growth tactics If you created your LinkedIn account a while ago, have been posting decent content, and adding new connections after meeting people in person, you could have just hit 5,000 followers or pretty close. That's the easy bit done. There's a benefit to your account being this size. LinkedIn's algorithm favours content from accounts with highly engaged followers. The data shows that accounts with under 5,000 followers (58% of LinkedIn creators) often achieve an engagement rate of nearly 6% per post, which is significantly higher than the 3% seen by accounts with over 100,000 followers. So you want to build your account beyond 5,000 followers, but you want to keep your engagement rate high. You want to break through a follower plateau and hit the next level while making it worth your while. Growing beyond 5,000 requires fundamental shifts in how you create, engage, and think about growth. Let's get intentional about growing on LinkedIn. Those accounts getting all the attention already did the hard work. They found your people. Now stop competing and start complementing. Look at what they never talk about. Maybe they skip the messy parts of running a business. Maybe they avoid pricing discussions. Those gaps become your opportunities. Create content that makes their audience need both of you. Message them directly. Propose a follower swap where you each shout out the other's email list. Run a series where you tackle the same challenge from opposite angles. Partner with three so-called "competitors" and you could triple your growth in three months. Unless you're offering identical services to the exact same audience, you're not competing. You're building an ecosystem. Your rivals have what you want. Turn them into partners and watch both accounts grow. Your audience followed you for your specific take, not recycled LinkedIn wisdom. They can get generic tips anywhere. Share the weird stuff only you know. The pricing model that shouldn't work but does. The onboarding process you invented after losing three clients. The framework you built from your biggest failure. Give your methods names. Document them so precisely someone could steal them. When you package expertise into systems nobody else teaches, every share expands your reach. Call it the "7-minute meeting method" instead of "meeting tips." Show the exact steps, the specific results, the measurable outcomes. A post about a unique sales process could get shared hundreds of times when people see an approach they've never considered. Your unique methods are your growth engine. Stop hiding them. The LinkedIn algorithm gave you a free ride to 5,000 followers. That ride's over. Now you need allies with bigger accounts who share your audience. Find creators with 10,000-20,000 followers in adjacent spaces. Comment meaningfully on their posts for a week. Then propose something they can't create alone. Add messaging that serves both audiences. Maybe you know productivity systems and they know team management. Write comments combining both, and build out carousels from the comments that do well. Host a LinkedIn Live debating opposite approaches. Your 5K sees you partnering with someone they admire. Their 15,000 discovers fresh perspective. One collaboration beats fifty solo posts. Pick partners who make your content better, not just bigger. If you've gotten this far by posting once or twice a week, it's time to scale up. There's almost a direct relationship between posting frequency and LinkedIn account size, so you might as well get involved. Every post gives you a chance to hit people with your strong beliefs and ethos in a brand new way. You never know what might land. Staying consistent on LinkedIn isn't easy. You need a proven way of creating great content three to five times a week. But crack that content system and you'll likely see consistent, week-on-week growth. Scale far beyond 5,000 followers in no time at all. Every DM holds a content idea. That founder asking about your recent results represents hundreds with the same question. The consultant confused by your tech stack speaks for a silent segment. Your inbox shows you exactly what your audience needs. Screenshot the best questions and turn them into posts. Share your detailed answer then expand with context. This guarantees relevance because real humans asked for this exact information. Track which DM topics generate the most engagement. Build weekly series around those themes. You could grow from 5,000 to 20,000 by turning DM conversations into content. Your inbox already has your next viral post. Build past 5,000 followers by throwing everything at LinkedIn and not stopping until you are growing by thousands every month. Other people have done it, and it's possible for you. Share others' brilliance with your unique lens. Explain why it matters. Add the context your audience needs. Become the filter that saves them time while establishing your takes as worth trusting. Post better stuff, more often. Suddenly, you're everywhere, adding value to conversations you didn't start. People find you and follow, and the number grows from there. Access my best ChatGPT prompts to build your personal brand.
