“What is a good headline for LinkedIn?”
I get asked this question a lot.
A lot.
And, my answer has always been simple.
“Something that will get your potential prospects to click on it”
We’ve written a lot about LinkedIn headlines in the past here at BAMF and at one point, we even built a headline generator.
Think of today’s guide as the latest update to the experiments that we’ve been doing on headlines, and how we’ve been leveraging them to bring in leads for a lot of our clients.
Are you ready to jump into the headline rabbit hole?
Let’s do this.
What Headline Am I Using?
We love real-world examples at BAMF and today let’s take a look at my headline for starters.
Do you know how many messages I’ve been getting on a daily basis on LinkedIn?
More than I can keep up with.
I’ve had to design a funnel to make sure that inbound leads were being given Calendly links to make sure that they don’t get lost in the pipeline.
(More on this in a later article along with our latest stats. We’re running a top-secret experiment right now that’s going to blow you away!)
What is a Good Headline for LinkedIn? Here Are The Parts.
First: Straight Up Tell Them What You Do
I don’t beat around the bush anymore.
Why?
People don’t have time for that.
Most of the prospects that will run into you on LinkedIn might only have this moment for the rest of their lives to figure out who you are – unless you’re running an all-out campaign to capture their attention.
You want to tell them exactly what you do without creating too much mystery.
Mystery works when you have someone’s sustained attention.
And, you won’t get that all the time.
I don’t like headlines with mystery.
That’s why you’ll see I literally put in all caps what BAMF and I do for our clients.
Think about it.
Do you want to create mystery when you’re applying for a job?
No, you want to show the people that will potentially hire you what you’re all about.
This is the most important part of your headline.
Second: Tell Them Who You Represent!
Put in your company name.
You want that to be ingrained in their minds.
If you’re going to create or add a little mystery, this is where adding your organization’s name comes into play.
You want them to go: “why are people from this organization so confident?”
Check out my headline again.
Notice the second thing I mentioned is BAMF?
After I tell them about what I do, I mentioned the website and the organization because they’re probably thinking, “I wonder what BAMF does”.
Now, as a small optimization tip, don’t forget to make it a URL. This way, if you really pique their curiosity, they have a place to visit and be converted.
Add some formatting if you want to keep it lively and it also helps break up the text.
Third: Think Social Cred
You’ve told them what you do and you told them where you’re from.
By this time, your prospect wants to find out more about you.
So, what do you do?
You show them how credible you are.
You don’t want to use this area to tell them about what else you can do, it will be a waste of space and confuse them. People like specialists and they want to see you doing too many things.
We always advise that you add some social proof or cred to back up your claims in the beginning.
Add in three to four achievements that you think back up the first part of your headline.
Have you been nominated for an award? Worked for a famous/popular organization? Have a nickname in the industry?
Add all of that in.
It’s not just part of your social proof, but it also helps you build a picture of who you are and where you’ve been.
“Alright, but Houston, isn’t this better in the About Me section?”
Glad you asked.
If you don’t hook them in the beginning, the About Me section on LinkedIn is not going to help you very much.
You want to be able to get them curious, but you want them to hold you with credibility, too.
Fourth: Loosen Up
Always end your headline with something fun that shows off your personality.
Why?
People are disarmed with fun in the same way that they are disarmed with humor.
Adding something fun makes you human and relatable.
Yes, people want to know what you do and if you have credibility, but they also want to know a little more about you personally.
This builds rapport and shows them that you’re just like them.
It makes them trust you.
How About the Other Types of LinkedIn Headlines?
Don’t get me wrong.
Other types of LinkedIn headlines still work really well in driving in traffic.
However, we also have to learn to adapt to the times.
We are fighting for people’s attention.
Your prospects don’t like their time being wasted so you need to be upfront with what you have to offer and then back that up accordingly.
I’ve never stopped tweaking my headline, and I can tell you from experience that a lot of the passive inbound leads we’ve been receiving would not have been there if I wasn’t constantly on the lookout for a better way to present myself on LinkedIn.
That’s the way it works.
And, I can tell you that it works almost too well.
Takeaways
There are a lot of ways to create a LinkedIn headline.
However, sometimes keeping it simple is the best approach.
Tell them what you do, where you’re from, why they should trust you, and something that will make you memorable.
For all intents and purposes, think of it as an elevator pitch.
It’s quick, concise, and memorable.
So what is a good headline for LinkedIn?
One that gets the message across.
