LinkedIn has evolved from its beginnings as a successful job-seeking tool to a powerful platform to build your business network, elevate your brand and learn about your industry and competitors. Keen to expand its appeal further, LinkedIn is seeking to transform into a destination for inspiring content, encouraging members to activate ‘Creator mode’ to unlock additional features, publish content and transform how they and their businesses are perceived on the platform. But what are the key differences, benefits and potential drawbacks to becoming a LinkedIn Creator for your personal and business brand – and should it be part of your marketing strategy?
What is the difference between LinkedIn Creator mode and normal mode?
The LinkedIn platform has become a cornerstone of many professionals’ working lives, enabling users to keep in touch with – and in front of – their networks. However, the creator feature opens up the site’s possibilities far beyond job searches and digitally connecting with clients, suppliers, (former) colleagues, associates or relevant influencers.
The key difference between the standard professional networking setting and the Creator mode is access to additional tools to expand your network, increase reach and push content to your followers, including:
- The opportunity to contribute to collaborative articles
- Access to LinkedIn Live
- Facility to host Audio Events
- Ability to publish newsletters
- Use of the Follow link on your profile
Who can become a LinkedIn Creator?
If you have more than 150 followers, abide by the Professional Community Policies put in place by LinkedIn and actively engage (like, comment, follow, share) across the platform regularly, you will have the option to become a ‘Creator’.
A business profile or a personal profile can become a Creator. We would recommend for larger enterprises the Creator mode is activated on the business page, to keep content streamlined. For SMEs, posting from your personal page can be a great way to forge a human connection to your LinkedIn network.
What are the benefits of becoming a LinkedIn Creator?
Becoming a LinkedIn Creator gives you access to the marketing tools listed above, which can all help to grow your following and promote your business. It is primarily designed to reward users who contribute to the platform with content and thought leadership and makes you eligible to be presented to other users of LinkedIn by being featured as a suggested Creator, making you more visible on the platform. LinkedIn provides lots of supporting articles to explain how to utilise Creator mode to your advantage.
What is the difference between LinkedIn creator mode and normal mode?
Your profile will change in a few ways once you change to Creator mode:
- Follow button: Once you become a Creator, users will be able to follow you as well as connect with you. Almost half of your future connections on LinkedIn are estimated to come from profile viewers (rather than people you have met/been introduced to and opt to connect with), so this button is designed to grow your audience.
- Number of followers: The number of followers that you have will be displayed once you are a Creator, appearing next to the number of connections. This is to allow successful thought-leaders to exhibit their following to the masses, as opposed to simply stating 500+ connections.
- Hashtags: A notable Creator mode feature is the ability to add up to five hashtags that help you to succinctly define your chosen topics and interests to your profile viewers. This feature also makes you discoverable to new audiences when they search for these topics.
- Activity section at the top: Your profile will be reordered to showcase your Featured and Activity section first. It takes the focus away from your ‘About’ section and comments on other people’s insights and shifts it towards the content you have recently created.
Things to consider before becoming a Creator
The LinkedIn Creator mode essentially makes you more visible, more discoverable and displays your followers more explicitly. This can be a fantastic way to grow your following further and demonstrate your expertise, reliability and superior standing within your industry. However, there are some negative factors to reflect on if you are unable to contribute regularly and engage with followers successfully.
- Are you engaging enough? The increased prominence of ‘Feature’ and ‘Activity’ sitting at the top of your profile page when you become a LinkedIn Creator could be an important change to consider. Of course, prioritising your best and most current posts at the top of the page is a positive step to promoting yourself, but only IF your posts are getting good traction. Some people use indicators such as engagement levels, following and likes to qualify you as a candidate, supplier or client; if these analytics are low, you could be damaging your reputation on the platform as a whole.
- Are you committed enough? If you are not able to create at least two posts a week, Creator mode may be best left alone – or handled by a social media expert. By not keeping up with content creation and implementing a strategy to display core brand values and actively engage with the platform, you risk your credibility.
The LinkedIn Creator mode can transform the way you use the platform. The best way to utilise this tool is with a fully joined-up strategy; this may require expert input to maintain the outputs required to maximise the benefits for your personal and business brand.
Based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Sharp Minds Communications offers brand development, digital marketing, offline marketing, and public relations to businesses across Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and Greater London.
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