Lets walk through the LinkedIn Playbook to maximise your efforts on the network and generate a return on your time and efforts. Translating effort into sales!
1. Picking Your Ideal Customer Persona (ICP) - The Critical Foundation
Focusing on an Ideal Customer Persona (ICP) is critical to LinkedIn success because it transforms your approach from scattered networking to precision targeting. By deeply understanding a specific audience, you can create content that speaks directly to their unique challenges, pain points, and aspirations, which significantly increases engagement, relevance, and the likelihood of attracting high-quality connections.
Comprehensive ICP Mapping
Start by creating a detailed persona document that includes:
- Industry vertical (retail, corporate, hospitality, etc.)
- Company size
- Geographic location
- Specific signage challenges
- Budget range
- Decision-maker profiles
Niche Targeting Strategies
Once you have your ICP nailed down, its time to pick some highly relevant sub-niches. This is the foundation data you will use when strategically building your LinkedIn connection network.
Example niches for sign makers could be:
1. Tech startup office branding
2. Healthcare wayfinding solutions
3. Eco-friendly sustainable signage for green businesses
4. Hospitality experiential signage
2. Personal and Company Brand Alignment
Linkedin isn’t just about your company page, Personal brands have never been more important. However, you need both a business presence and a personal presence to build the trust and make meaningful progress with LinkedIn. As employee profile posts get 561% higher reach in comparison with company pages, lets focusing on nailing your profile!
Headshot Optimisation
First impressions are everything and your profile picture is one of the most important aspects of your linkedin profile. Keep in mind the following rules for the perfect headshot:
- High quality, Close up shot
- Non-distracting background
- Natural lighting & Authentic smile
If you are struggling to choose or take a professional headshot, there are some excellent AI tools that can help you generate a true to life headshot by using the images you do have to hand. We would highly recommend trying AI tools such as: headshotpro.com or aragon.ai
Headline Crafting Techniques
Your headline is the next most important asset to your Linkedin profile, this headline is used in over 7 locations on the network. So making it clear, concise and authentic is key. Follow the formula below and you can’t go wrong:
Headline Formula:
[Primary Role] | [Who You Help] | [Unique Value Proposition]
Examples:
"Signage Solutions Architect | Helping Brands Transform Spaces | Turning Blank Walls into Powerful Communication Tools"
"Commercial Signage Expert | Solving Brand Visibility Challenges for Growing Businesses"
Banner Design Strategy
People often get caught up on their banners when starting out on LinkedIn, although it is a great part of your profile to maximise on, starting out with a simple “on brand” block colour is a great place to start. Once you have the time and understand your strategy further, it is good to start including your value proposition, a call to action and also your company branding.
Technical Specifications:
- Size: 1584 x 396 pixels
- Use high-quality, professional design tools
- Recommended tools: Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Figma
Examples of great banners
Featured Section Optimisation
The featured section is a big one, often over looked and underappreciated. The featured section is your chance to put together two or three CTAs that are directly relevant to the ICP and sub niches you have chosen, driving leads to interact in your chosen way. Think about what your value proposition is and try and turn that into relevant CTAs. E.g
1. Take a look at our portfolio showcase
2. Free Sign Consultation
3. Industry Insights/Case Study
To really maximise the potential of your featured section follow the checklist below for thumbnail creation:
- Consistent branding on thumbnails
- Size: 502 x 262 pixels
- Use high-contrast, engaging visuals
- Highlight key benefits
Here's a great example from Alex Colhoun:
About Section Transformation
Don’t make your “about section” a boring CV list of your previous jobs and experience. You need to use it tell your story, be authentic and convey what you’re all about! Be sure to include your unique approaches, differentiators and value. Speak solutions and write in a conversational manner, this is all about building trust and bringing across your character.
Use a simple storytelling framework- Origin story
- Professional journey
- Mission statement
Take a look at Dan Sally's about section, its concise, creative and authentic:
3. Content Strategy: Conversation Over Selling
I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times…. “Content is king”, well nothing has changed. However, its important not to mistake quantity over quality. Successful content on LinkedIn revolves around conversations. You can post a new sales offer everyday of the week and get nowhere. People aren’t on LinkedIn to see Ad after Ad, they want to connect to like minded professionals and have genuine conversations. Storytelling, curiosity and statistics are what grab peoples attention, they want to hear about real life experiences, not shiny sales pitches. The end goal is to foster relationships, not hard sales conversion.
Here are some rules to boost your engagement and reach when posting on LinkedIn
LinkedIn Post Building
The anatomy of a successful LinkedIn post often follows a common structure, following these key stages in content writing will really help you achieve good engagement levels with your posts:
- One line Hook to grab attention
- Re-hook to add curiosity
- Numbers or statistics in body
- Short concise summary
- CTA (Call to action)
Check out Charles Miller's post below that highlights this structure:
Posting Frequency & Schedule
How often should you post on LinkedIn? As a general rule, post frequency directly impacts your reach, with LinkedIn favouring users who consistently share content that drives high engagement. However, most sign makers are time-strapped amid their daily operations. We suggest aiming for at least one quality post per week, but to truly supercharge your content reach, commit to creating 3-5 posts consistently.
Best posting times are dependant on industry however a golden rule is to post in these timeframes: Between Tuesday-Thursday ( 7-8 AM, 12-1 PM, 5-6 PM)
Types of Engaging Hooks for Sign Makers
An effective LinkedIn hook captivates your audience by blending emotional intelligence with strategic communication. It should immediately grab attention through a surprising statistic, provocative question, or personal story that resonates with your professional audience. The key is to create a curiosity gap, demonstrate immediate value, and speak in an authentic voice that connects with readers' challenges and aspirations.
Here are some examples of killer hooks:
- Opening Statistic : 76% of consumers enter a shop based on its signage
- Social Proof: How I helped Coffee Cuppa transform their branding
- Bold Opinion: Hard Truth: MOST companies view signage and an expense, not an investment
- Though Provocation: How do you know if you're business signage is hurting your revenue?
Pro tip: External Links
Never add external links in the main body of a post, LinkedIn does not favour driving traffic away from its own network. Instead post links in the first comment and use URL shorteners you can track clicks with.
4. Strategic Networking and Tactical Engagement
So you have your ICP and sub-niches at the ready and your profile should be looking slick! Now you need to begin your strategic networking. The goal is to build connections with as many people that qualify in your sub-niche as possible. Use LinkedIn search to find prospects that are in your target niche, invite up to 20-30 connections a day and you'll begin to get a snowball effect on your network growth.
With your network expanding, its time to start getting noticed and engagement is the key to success. Instead of just hoping for your posts to get likes and comments. You should begin engaging with your connections posts wherever you can add value or insights. Keep the below points in mind
- Respond to every comment within 24 hours
- Ask follow-up questions and drive reach
- Share additional insights where possible
- Tag relevant connections to increase conversation
- Be genuinely helpful!!
Conclusion: Your LinkedIn Transformation Roadmap
Implement these strategies systematically. Consistency is key. Your LinkedIn presence is a living, breathing extension of your signage business—treat it with the same creativity and precision you apply to your craft. With some time and effort the results will speak for themselves!
Garrick Dartnell
Marketing Lead @ Sign Trade Supplies Ltd