LinkedIn added a story feature like Instagram and most other Social Media platforms and with that offers new opportunities for personal branding on LinkedIn.

I think it's great. I've talked about this a lot in the book I wrote on personal branding: We hire people, buy from people, engage with people. More often than not our decision to do either one of those things is driven by how pleasant the interaction with the person is. Character matters (often more than skills)!

The feature has been criticized a lot, mainly for mimicking Instagram, Snapchat & Co. and the fear that LinkedIn, a professional network, is turning into just another social media platform.

I honestly believe that most things we do today need a social angle in order to attract an audience. And isn't that what we want to achieve on LinkedIn? Attracting potential employers, clients, partners, co-founders or like-minded people in the industry? Stories are great for that.

Utilize your personal Point of Sale

That being said, does it really matter if the feature is similar to the ones available on social media platforms? I don't think so, because the demographics are different, the goal of the stories is different and the targeted audiences are different.

We consume Instagram Stories for leisure, but LinkedIn Stories for business!

That means, if someone watches LinkedIn Stories, they're in a business mindset. They're receptive of career- and business-relevant content right in that moment! It's a brilliant way of engaging a customer right at the point of sale - utilize that! Utilize it to sell yourself at your personal Point of Sale. What does that mean?

5 Tips for Personal Branding with LinkedIn Stories

LinkedIn Stories are 20seconds long. On average, that's the maximum amount of attention we invest in something before we decide whether it's interesting and worth our attention or not. That being said, if you want to promote and market yourself, you have to make these 20 seconds count.

Here's how you can do that.

How to Boost your Personal Brand with LinkedIn Stories

As I mentioned above, companies and people hire people. Character and personality matters. While it's rather difficult to market your personality in the usual LinkedIn posts, it's very easy to do so in stories. Use LinkedIn Stories to record videos of yourself.

1. Show personality: Be authentic, talk and act how you really are and how people would experience you in a job interview, business meeting or at a networking event.
2. Show expertise: Don't use LinkedIn Stories to boast, but to share information that highlights your expert status. Talk about things relevant to your business network and things you want your personal brand to be associated with.
3. Add value: Make sure whatever you talk about, the listener has some sort of take-away. That strengthens your position as an expert and increases the chance that they will watch your stories in the future.
4. Stay consistent: Stick to your brand image and messaging, promote a consistent brand and stay consistent with the type of content you share or talk about. If people know that they get great insights from you consistently, they'll come back and keep watching your LinkedIn Stories.
5. Make it entertaining: ... but professional! Be engaging, but always keep in mind that you're talking to your business audience and want to strengthen your personal brand. So, choose a scenario that checks both boxes. For example, I shared a 'home office' picture where I was sitting on my road bike in the living room, pedaling and working at the same time. It aligned with my brand, was fun and engaging.

LinkedIn Stories are a great tool to highlight that personal brands are personal. That personal brands are not things else but human beings who understand how to market themselves. It's a beautiful tool for your audience to connect with you and learn about who you really are. The more authentic and consistent you are, they quicker you'll be able to build trust and a lasting reputation.