Should You Focus on Your Personal LinkedIn Page or Your Company Page?

One of the most common questions I get is - should I focus on my company page or my personal profile?

It’s a legitimate question, as you only have so much time in your day to focus on creating and engaging with your social strategy. So you’ll likely need to decide to prioritize one over the other.

My answer is almost always - it depends. 

Many factors go into which page, personal or company, should get the most love and attention. These factors include the size of your company, the features you want to use, and the brand you’re trying to develop.  

In this article, we’ll review what the difference is between personal and company pages, key considerations for your strategy, and suggestions based on your type of business. Let’s dive in! 

The Difference Between Personal and Company Pages

Personal pages on LinkedIn represent individual professionals, showcasing a profile picture, headline, work experience, and skills. Connections on personal pages are capped at 30,000, but there is no limit to the number of followers. 

In contrast, company pages represent businesses and include a company logo, description, industry, size, and website link. Company pages have no limit on the number of followers they can accumulate.

The type of content you can post on each is essentially the same. Text, video, images, documents, etc., are all post types that are supported. However, personal pages get far more reach (impressions) for each post. This is mostly because social platforms like LinkedIn are actively encouraging businesses to pay to play through their advertising platforms.

This brings me to another major difference between personal and company pages - their features. 

Generally speaking, personal pages are going to have features designed to help you connect with individuals (messages, recommendations, and connection requests), whereas company pages are going to have more features designed to help you promote a business (advertising, job posting, company data, etc.).

A large part of choosing your preferred channel is likely to depend on which features are most attractive to you and your business.

Key Considerations When Choosing Personal vs. Company Page

When deciding whether to focus on a personal or company LinkedIn page, it's important to ask yourself a few key questions:

What is the Goal of Your Social Strategy?

• Are you trying to grow your influence or develop a company asset?
• Are you aiming to network and start conversations, or are you pushing for product purchases?

Are You Focused on Organic or Paid Traffic?

• Which are you trying to develop more: organic content or paid promotions?
• Organic content generally performs better on personal pages.
• Company pages can advertise, whereas personal pages cannot directly.
• Thought leadership ad formats allow you to promote personal posts through your company page.

Do You Have Platform Features You Need to Use?

• Consider whether you need features like direct messages, recommendations, or job postings.
• Personal pages are better for direct messaging and connecting with groups.
• Company pages are ideal for job postings and structured advertising.

What Type of Brand Are You Trying to Develop?

• Are you building a personal brand or a company brand?
• What’s the voice of your content? Are you sharing personal experiences or building a company brand not identified with an individual?

Do You Need Multiple People Managing the Page?

• A business page allows for multiple administrators directly on the platform.
• For personal pages, sharing passwords (which is not recommended) or using a social media scheduling tool to grant access to others would be necessary.

By considering these questions, you can determine whether a personal page, a company page, or a combination of both will best meet your goals and strategy on LinkedIn.

Recommendations Based on Company Size

Beyond the questions to consider above, I also think your company size can be a great way to determine your focus. 

Solorperenuers and small companies tend to benefit most from personal pages due to increased organic reach, and larger organizations tend to benefit from company pages with their large brand equity and advertising budgets.

Here is a breakdown for reach:

For Solopreneurs

As a solopreneur, focus on your personal LinkedIn page to build your audience more effectively. Sharing the majority of your posts from a personal voice helps build trust with your audience. However, it's still important to create a company page for linking to your experience section and future advertising needs. Ensure this page includes a brief description of your business and links back to your website.

• Post from your personal page daily, and your company page a few times a month.
• Reshare important and well-performing posts from your personal to your company page.
• Use the "Thought Leadership" ad type to boost posts if you need to advertise.

For Small Businesses

Small businesses should have their employees work on building personal brands through their profiles, sharing personal experiences, and growing relationships via connections and direct messages. Concurrently, creating and actively building a company page is crucial. This page should post educational content, engage in discussions, and have clear calls to action. Using the company page to engage with employees' content helps raise their authority and can extend the reach of the company.

• Encourage employees to build their personal brands.
• Engage with employees' content to boost their authority.
• Post from the company page 2-3 times each week.
• Leverage strategic advertising campaigns to target your ideal buyer.

For Large Organizations

Large organizations should encourage their employees to develop personal brands through their LinkedIn profiles, offering workshops and training to help them get comfortable with personal branding. The company page should be developed as a strategic brand asset with a distinct voice, style, and strategy. Multiple people should manage the page, creating content and responding to comments. Posting daily content that mixes educational and sales-focused material is essential.

• Train and encourage employees on social selling strategy.
• Senior leadership should set the example of digital strategy.
• Use multiple people to manage the page and respond to comments.
• Post daily content to your company page, mixing educational and sales-focused posts.
• Use various advertising types to increase followers, expand reach, and drive sales conversions.

For this week’s action items, I want you to consider where your focus is going - personal profiles or company pages.

I’ll remind you that this doesn’t have to be an either/or situation. It’s more about finding what will enable you to have the most social selling success.

Here are your action items for this week: 

1. Review the Key Questions: Reflect on the questions outlined above to assess your current goals, traffic strategy, platform features, and management needs.
2. Decide Your Focus: Based on your answers, determine whether to prioritize your personal LinkedIn page, your company page, or a combination of both.
3. Commit to Your Strategy: Develop a plan for the coming weeks to consistently post and engage according to your chosen focus. Whether it's building your personal brand or enhancing your company presence, commit to your strategy and track your progress.