LinkedIn isn’t the platform it used to be. Over the years, it has transformed from a CV library with basic social functionality into the world’s largest professional network, with more than one billion members worldwide.
The user base has shifted from being mostly job-seekers and recruiters to professionals, business owners, decision-makers and industry experts sharing ideas, building relationships and discovering new opportunities.
Most importantly, from our perspective, it has gone from somewhere you can find staff to somewhere you can meet customers.
For B2B businesses, LinkedIn is now an important part of building brand awareness, establishing credibility and generating new business. But getting results takes more than posting updates from your company page.
In this article, we’ll explore why you should be using LinkedIn to champion your people and not just your brand.
Social networks are about people
We are hardwired to seek out social interaction with others. That’s why social media is so appealing, not to mention addictive.
When we use social media, we usually want to find interesting content, learn something new or interact with others. We rarely log on with the sole intention of interacting with brands or businesses.
“Interacting with a company just isn’t the same as interacting with a person.”
Even if a company’s social media activity is sophisticated and well-executed, interacting with a company just isn’t the same as interacting with a person.
Think about your own LinkedIn feed. Which posts make you stop scrolling? A corporate announcement about a new service, or a business leader sharing their experience of solving a problem you’ve faced yourself?
There’s a good chance it’s the latter.
That’s not to say company pages don’t matter. They’re an important part of your business’s online presence, helping people understand what you do, what you stand for and why they should work with you.
But personal profiles offer something different. They give your business a voice, a personality and an opportunity to build relationships through the people behind it.
LinkedIn’s feed considers a range of factors when deciding which content to show, including relevance and professional interests. There isn’t a simple rule that personal posts will always outperform company posts. However, your employees have their own networks, expertise and relationships, giving your content more opportunities to reach the right people.
And those relationships matter.
The 2025 Edelman–LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report found that high-quality thought leadership can influence people involved in purchasing decisions, including those working behind the scenes who may never speak directly to your sales team.
In other words, the people reading and engaging with your content today could be influencing a buying decision tomorrow.
Put your people first
A smart and professional company page is useful for building your brand, communicating company news and attracting new talent. But if you want to make the most of LinkedIn, you should also focus on your people and their profiles.
Your people can bring something to LinkedIn that your company page cannot always deliver: their own experience, expertise and professional relationships.
This is the difference between companies that simply have a LinkedIn presence and companies that use the platform to build meaningful relationships.
And it isn’t just about business leaders, although they should certainly be active.
Your sales teams, marketing teams, technical specialists and other employees all have knowledge worth sharing.
Someone in sales might share a common challenge they hear from customers. A technical expert might explain a development in your industry. Your leadership team might offer a perspective on where the market is heading.
These different voices can help your business reach audiences that your company page alone may never reach.
This is particularly important for sales teams.
If your salespeople are regularly sharing useful insights, interacting with potential customers and building their professional networks, they are creating opportunities for conversations long before someone is ready to buy.
That doesn’t mean turning everyone into a salesperson on LinkedIn.
In fact, constantly pitching your services is one of the quickest ways to lose people’s interest.
The goal is to become someone your audience recognises, trusts and wants to hear from.
There is also a commercial benefit to thinking beyond immediate leads. Building familiarity and credibility can help your business stay front of mind with potential customers who aren’t ready to buy just yet.
Of course, some business owners get nervous about encouraging their teams to build large professional networks during working hours. What happens when those employees eventually leave?
If you’re one of those people, we have some news…
Your employees will change jobs, and they’ll take their professional relationships with them. Just as they’ve always done.
But while they’re part of your business, their knowledge, connections and credibility can contribute to your company’s growth.
The better approach is to create an environment where people feel supported in building their professional reputation while representing the business well.
Don’t be shy
Not everyone is a natural when it comes to social media.
Some people find sharing content nerve-racking. Others find the performative nature of LinkedIn a bit cringeworthy.
And with so much polished, promotional and increasingly AI-generated content appearing online, it’s understandable that some employees are reluctant to add to the noise.
If you’re going to ask your team to get involved, you need to lead by example.
Business leaders are well placed to do this. They often have established professional networks, industry experience and perspectives that customers and colleagues genuinely want to hear.
If you run your own business, you probably know a thing or two about your industry.
So share that expertise. Talk about the challenges your customers face. Explain what you’ve learnt, offer a different perspective and ask questions that encourage discussion.
You don’t need to be provocative for the sake of it, and you certainly don’t need to become a LinkedIn influencer.
You just need to have something useful to say.
The same principle applies to your employees.
Give them the confidence and freedom to share their own experiences, rather than handing everyone the same carefully scripted company update.
You can make this easier by helping people identify topics they feel comfortable discussing, providing useful content and encouraging them to contribute in their own words.
Start with the people who are already comfortable using LinkedIn and build from there. Not everyone needs to post every day, or even every week.
Consistency, relevance and genuine interaction are far more valuable than asking the whole team to publish content simply to meet a target.
And remember, posting is only part of the picture.
Commenting thoughtfully on other people’s content, keeping in touch with existing connections and contributing to industry conversations are all important parts of building a professional network.
“People do business with people.”
People often say that LinkedIn is a great place to ‘humanise your brand’, and it is.
So be a human being.
People do business with people. We listen to people. We interact with people. And we’re more likely to remember someone who has helped us understand something than another promotional company update.
Your company page still has an important role to play, but it shouldn’t be expected to do all the work.
Encouraging the people within your business to become more active on LinkedIn can help strengthen your brand, extend your reach and build relationships with future customers.
And in an increasingly competitive B2B market, those relationships can make a real difference.
People often say that LinkedIn is a great place to ‘humanise your brand’, and it is.
So be a human being.
People do business with people. We listen to people. We interact with people. And we’re more likely to remember someone who has helped us understand something than another promotional company update.
Your company page still has an important role to play, but it shouldn’t be expected to do all the work.
Encouraging the people within your business to become more active on LinkedIn can help strengthen your brand, extend your reach and build relationships with future customers.
And in an increasingly competitive B2B market, those relationships can make a real difference.
Want to make LinkedIn work harder for your business?
The Marketing Centre helps ambitious businesses build marketing strategies that support real business growth. If you’re looking to improve your B2B marketing and generate more opportunities, book a discovery call to find out how we can help.
