Edozien is a coach who helps mid-to-senior level career women gain visibility on LinkedIn so they can receive the recognition they deserve, access exceptional career opportunities, and position themselves as sought-after experts and thought leaders in their respective fields. Having built a career on LinkedIn, she shares how you can be the next LinkedIn influencer with the right set of tools at your disposal. “For every portion of LinkedIn, you have to understand how it works,” she tells AMAKA. 

AMAKA: When did you realise you could monetise your experience and expertise on LinkedIn and turn this into a career?

Glory Edozien: I didn’t join LinkedIn with the intent of profiting from it, in fact in the beginning I was unaware that it was even a possibility. When I began posting my own content, suddenly people started asking me questions and seeking advice from me. Senior executives from top brands in Nigeria started reaching out to me, and I started receiving opportunities abroad without actively looking for them. That’s when I began to realise that users on LinkedIn were connected to people with opportunities but they were not cognizant of this. Until and unless you demonstrate that you have the capacity to perform in a potential opportunity, no one will tell you about it. 

How is LinkedIn content different from other different social media platforms?

On LinkedIn people are not averse to reading lengthy texts, in fact, they expect them. They expect professional conversations, topical news, and opinions on topical news which attracts a niche market. I remember reading something about how LinkedIn content is consumed more than job postings, the reason being that people expect to consume thought leadership content and they’re invested in how you create that content. LinkedIn has also created an environment for people to share the full scheme of professional life, users paint a picture of how they manage their work-life balance and allow space to share how one deals with personal issues such as burnout and parenting. 

In terms of monetisation what distinguishes LinkedIn from Instagram?

Similar to Instagram, on LinkedIn, it’s important to understand how the algorithm works. When people go on Instagram they expect to be entertained. A key difference between LinkedIn and Instagram is that it’s easier to connect with people who have the authority to make business decisions on LinkedIn and use LinkedIn content to influence their business-making process. LinkedIn provides one with the opportunity to reach senior leaders in top organisations. 

How To Thrive On LinkedIn with Dr. Glory Edozien

Create content that matches the expectations of your audience

For some time now we’ve seen the rise of LinkedIn influencers. What advice can you offer to someone who wants to make the transition from Instagram to LinkedIn?

It’s all about understanding your audience, who you want to reach, and what kind of strategy you’ll employ to appeal to your audience. If you want to reach CEOs of conglomerates, having a strategy that’s predominantly entertainment would not work for them, you have to think about the way they would digest content. If you are trying to target Gen Z and Millennials then you have to create bite-size content that’s fun and engaging. I believe LinkedIn is doing a lot to help its creators with things like LinkedIn’s Creators Accelerator Program, an incubator-style program where participants can bring new concepts and visions to life, grow their audience, and engage with the LinkedIn community. 

In terms of making that transition, it really depends on your audience. You have to understand how your followers absorb and find information, once you understand that you can create a strategy to match it. You also have to think about how you create content that presents your brand value, for example even though I mostly create written content in my videos I’m very personable, I smile, I showcase my authenticity, I do a few skits here, and there but always dress professionally. You have to maintain that trust. You have to make sure that you don’t deviate from the content that they expect or are used to. Consider how your audience accepts information and then create content that matches those expectations.

Looking at segmentation, what kind of content do different generations gravitate towards?

In my case, my main audience is 30 and above, in terms of the reception of my content I’m very aware of how my followers are used to getting information and how they expect me to dress and look. A lot of times people do not realise that there are a lot of non-verbal cues, so sometimes what you are saying is not important as how you dress or look and all of those things.

What I have come to realise looking at my feed is that inspirational content does really well on LinkedIn. You have people at the top echelon of their careers talking about their failures and how they started, it really encourages people who are kick-starting their careers and seeking mentorship, I feel the younger generations respond to that.

Think outside the box and don’t limit yourself

What challenges may African creators face?

From an African context, I think it’s about your mindset and limiting yourself to an African audience when you could be building visibility and thought leadership content to a global audience. Upon that realisation I think the second thing is now asking yourself how you can create content that’s relevant for non-Africans or rather how do you make African content relevant for non-Africans. 

For me, that’s one of the things I’m trying to do now with building visibility for some of the companies I work for. How do I help African women secure global opportunities? How do you create a story that resonates globally? Being able to turn that curve is a challenge but one that when is cracked can bring untold opportunities.

Most people do not go on LinkedIn thinking about monetisation, however, given that such an opportunity exists, how do you suggest one takes advantage of that?

I think clarity is very important. Answering these 4 questions can help in your monetisation strategy.

1) What are the sort of opportunities I'm looking for? 

2) Who are the types of people who can pay me? 

3)What are the problems that I can solve?

4) How can I demonstrate that I’m the right person to solve these problems? 

Those are the first things you need to consider. This is even more important when the person you are trying to reach is overseas because they cannot physically interact with you and they need to ensure that you are a verifiable source. 

How does one promote a product or service on LinkedIn in an authentic way?

I think it’s about how you present the information. Recently I was contacted by a brand that was launching organic skincare products and they wanted me to promote their products as a LinkedIn influencer. What’s important to understand when creating a campaign on a platform like LinkedIn is that the same gimmicks you would use on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter won’t work. You have to slowly introduce the product. For example, the way I introduced the skincare brand was by making posts about my skincare routine on the weekend; after developing some engagement I introduced the product. It’s all about storytelling.

Ten African Funds Bridging the Finance Gap for African Women

I monetise on LinkedIn every day. My content is based on a monetisation strategy. The reason I created the LinkedIn live sessions is two-fold; it’s a branding strategy, and my goal is to help accomplished female executives build visibility. So, I’m building a brand showcasing that I have access to such people and that builds trust. You get to see me in my element, it's almost like experiential marketing. But if you create content that builds the trust factor first, you can also use that to monetise. For my clients, it is a way to showcase their abilities.

What advice can you share for LinkedIn creators who are starting out?

Make sure your profile showcases your expertise or the legitimacy of your service. Think about who is going to buy your service. Create content around problems you want to solve and create solutions for problems your connections have.