How to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile in 2026 (With Examples)

B2B go-to-market has been running the same tired playbook for years: paid ads to capture attention, SDR teams burning through cold lists, gated content collecting emails that go nowhere and elaborate funnels designed to push people toward a sale.

Here’s what that playbook gets wrong: they’re designed to capture attention, not build trust.

And in 2026, trust is the only thing that actually drives B2B buying decisions.

Your buyers are ignoring ads and deleting cold emails because they’ve been burned multiple times by salespeople who overpromised and underdelivered. Before they’ll even consider your solution, they need proof you understand their world and can actually solve their problems.

The old playbook treats buyers like they need convincing, but modern B2B buyers don’t want to be sold to. They want to buy from people they already trust, and they’re not starting their journey on your website or landing page anymore. They’re starting with you, the person behind the business.

Before they book a call or reply to your outreach, they’re checking your LinkedIn profile, reading your headline, scrolling through your posts, and looking for signals that you actually get their problems and aren’t just another vendor trying to close them.

That’s why learning how to make a good LinkedIn profile is no longer a “career” thing. It’s a GTM lever.

Your personal LinkedIn profile has therefore become your most important go-to-market asset.

It now acts as the front page of your business. The place where awareness turns into trust, and trust turns into conversations.

This guide shows you how to improve your LinkedIn profile into a 24/7 inbound engine that warms cold prospects, supports your outbound, and converts attention into pipeline while you sleep.

Why Personal Profiles Outperform Company Pages (And It’s Not Even Close)

There’s a reason your founder’s posts get 10x more engagement than your company page, and it’s not an algorithm fluke.

Personal profiles drive 2.75x more impressions and 5x more engagement per post compared to company pages, even when the personal account has fewer followers. (Source: Refine Labs)

But the real reason goes deeper than reach.

People don’t buy from brands. They buy from people they trust.

A company page is just a logo and some copy. It can’t share the messy reality of how you actually solved a problem, the tradeoffs you wrestled with, or the mistakes you made along the way. But when a founder, operator, or GTM leader shares how they actually think (not just what their product does), buyers start evaluating competence in real time. They’re asking themselves: 

• Do I trust this person’s judgment? 
• Do they understand the same tradeoffs I’m dealing with? 
• Would I want them in the room when we’re making decisions?

Here’s the pattern we’ve seen show up over and over:

When a company page posts a product update, it gets minimal engagement. But when a founder posts about why the product exists, what changed their thinking, or how it solves the problem differently, the response is completely different. Comments pour in, profile clicks jump, and DMs start rolling in.

It’s the same product with the same audience but a completely different outcome. The only difference is attribution.

It’s exponentially easier for buyers to connect ideas to a person than to an abstract brand. Once that connection forms, familiarity compounds across every other GTM motion you run.

When trust is already established, your ads convert faster, your outbound feels warmer, your sales cycles compress, and your conversations start at a higher level.

That’s why LinkedIn profile best practices matter, your personal profile isn’t just another distribution channel. It’s a trust layer that makes every other lever in your go-to-market strategy work harder.

The Profile Optimization Framework: 5 Sections That Convert

Most LinkedIn profiles are built like resumes. They list credentials, past roles, and responsibilities, but they don’t sell.

If your profile is going to work as a GTM channel, every section needs to move the buyer closer to a conversation.

Here are the five most important areas to optimize your LinkedIn profile for conversions.

1. Headline: Who You Help + How + Proof

Your headline is the first thing people see. Don’t waste it on a job title.

Use this instead: “I help [who] do [what] | [proof or differentiation]”

Examples:

❌ Bad: “CEO at MarketingPro | Digital Marketing Expert” 

✅ Good: “Helping B2B SaaS teams turn content into pipeline | 200+ clients scaled”

❌ Bad: “Sales Consultant | 10 Years Experience” 

✅ Good: “I build outbound systems that book 50+ demos/month | ex-Salesforce”

❌ Bad: “Marketing Leader | Strategy & Growth”

✅ Good: “Fractional CMO for PE-backed companies | $40M in attributed revenue”

Your headline should answer the buyer’s immediate question: “Can this person help me?”

Also: your headline is visible every time you post, comment, or show up in someone’s notifications so it’s one of the most important places to apply LinkedIn profile tips.

2. Banner: Show the Transformation, Not a Tagline

Most people use their banner for a logo or motivational quote. That is wasted real estate. You can use it to show proof instead.

What to include:

• Before/after metrics (“From 5 demos/month to 50 demos/month in 90 days”)
• Client logos (social proof that recognizable brands trust you)
• Clear CTA (“DM me ‘strategy’ for my sales playbook”)

Example concepts:

3. About Section: Problem, Agitate, Solution

This is where you build trust and make the pitch. We recommend using the PAS framework for this.

Structure:

Paragraph 1 (Problem): Start with the pain point your ideal buyer faces.

Paragraph 2 (Agitate): Make the problem urgent. What happens if they don’t solve it?

Paragraph 3 (Solution): Introduce your approach and how you solve it differently.

Paragraph 4 (CTA): Tell them exactly what to do next.

Example About Section:

Most B2B sales teams are stuck in the same cycle: throwing budget at ads that don’t convert, hiring SDRs who burn out in 6 months, and watching their pipeline dry up the moment they stop spending.

Here’s what that actually costs you: wasted ad spend, inconsistent revenue, and a sales team that’s always starting from scratch instead of building momentum. Worst of all, you’re watching competitors with worse products close deals faster because they figured out a system that works.

I help B2B SaaS companies build predictable outbound engines. Not the spray-and-pray kind. The kind that books 50+ qualified demos every month without burning through your team or budget. My approach combines LinkedIn automation, multi-channel sequences, and hyper-personalized messaging that doesn’t feel like spam.

In the last 3 years, I’ve helped 200+ companies scale from inconsistent pipeline to predictable revenue. If you’re tired of the feast-or-famine sales cycle, let’s talk.

Book a 15-minute strategy call: [Link] Download my outbound playbook: DM me “playbook”

Write like you’re talking to a colleague over coffee, not submitting a press release.

4. Featured Section: Link to Proof

The Featured section is your mini-portfolio. Use it to showcase tangible proof you deliver results.

What to include:

• Case studies: “How We Helped [Company] Go From 10 to 60 Demos/Month in 90 Days”
• Your booking link: Calendly with a preview image that says “Book a Strategy Call”
• Lead magnets: “The Cold Outbound Playbook: 47 Message Templates That Get Replies”
• Testimonials: Short video testimonial or LinkedIn recommendation screenshot

Example layout:

1. “Our Proven Outbound Framework” (PDF guide)
2. “Client Case Study: $2M Pipeline in 6 Months” (link to article)
3. “Book Your Free Strategy Session” (Calendly link)
4. Video: “What Our Clients Say” (30-second testimonial compilation)

Make it easy for someone to go from “This person seems credible” to “I want to talk to them.”

5. Experience: Position as an Offer, Not a Resume

Don’t just list what you did. Reframe it as what you offer now.

Examples:

❌ Bad: “VP of Sales at TechCorp (2019-2023) | Managed a team of 15 sales reps | Responsible for pipeline generation and quota attainment”

✅ Good: “VP of Sales | Built a $10M pipeline from scratch using multi-channel outbound | Scaled outbound from 0 to 50 demos/month in 12 months | Created the playbook now used by 200+ SaaS companies”

❌ Bad: “Marketing Manager at SaaS Startup (2020-2022) | Led content marketing initiatives | Managed social media campaigns”

✅ Good: “Marketing Manager | Turned Content Into Pipeline-Generating Machine | Grew organic LinkedIn reach from 5K to 150K impressions/month | Content strategy generated 40% of company’s SQLs”

Every experience entry should reinforce your expertise and the value you bring today, not just chronicle your career history.

Turning Your Profile Into a Conversion Funnel

Your optimized profile is only half the equation. The other half is actually using it to start conversations that turn into pipeline.

Here’s how to turn your profile into a funnel that generates inbound conversations:

Step 1: Content Builds Awareness

Your posts are top of funnel. They get you in front of buyers and position you as someone worth following.

Post consistently (3-5x per week) with content that educates, relates, or converts:

• Educate: Share frameworks, insights, or how-to breakdowns
• Relate: Tell stories about challenges, failures, lessons learned
• Convert: Case studies, client wins, before/after transformations

The goal isn’t virality. It’s relevance. Every post should speak directly to your ideal buyer’s pain points.

Step 2: DMs and Comments Start Relationships

When someone engages with your content, that’s your cue to start a conversation.

Most people either ignore engaged prospects or jump straight into a pitch. Both are mistakes.

Here’s how to turn engagement into relationships:

Reply to Comments Thoughtfully (Within 24 Hours)

Don’t just like comments or drop a generic “Thanks!”

Add value in your reply. Ask a follow-up question. Share an insight.

Example:

Someone comments: “This framework is gold. We’ve been struggling with low reply rates.”

❌ Bad reply: “Thanks! Glad you liked it 🙌”

✅ Good reply: “Appreciate that! Low reply rates usually come down to targeting or messaging. Are you sending to cold lists or warm connections?”

This keeps the conversation going and positions you as someone who actually cares about solving their problem.

Step 3: CTAs Convert to Calls

Sprinkle low-friction CTAs throughout your content and profile:

• “Comment ‘guide’ and I’ll send you my cold email framework”
• “DM me ‘strategy’ for my playbook”
• “Book a 15-min call to talk outbound” (link in Featured section)

Make it easy for interested buyers to take the next step without feeling sold to.

Step 4: Automate Follow-Ups

Manually tracking who’s engaging with your posts is time-consuming and easy to miss. You need a system that scales without losing the personal touch.

Here’s how to systematize relationship-building with Expandi:

The best-performing GTM teams use automation to identify people who engage with their content and trigger personalized follow-up sequences. Instead of scrolling through notifications trying to remember who liked what, you can set up campaigns that do the heavy lifting for you.

Setting up post engagement tracking in Expandi:

First, you’ll need to create a post engagement search. This captures everyone who liked or commented on a specific post and lets you build a targeted outreach sequence around that engagement.

Here’s how to set it up:

Step 1: Get your post URL

Go to your LinkedIn profile, click on your profile icon, and select Posts & Activity. Find the post you want to track engagement on, click the three dots next to it, and select “Copy link to post.”

Step 2: Create the search in Expandi

In Expandi, go to the Search section and click “Add new search.” Select “Post engagement search” from the list.

Paste your post URL in the relevant field. You’ll also need to add the post ID, which you can pull directly from the URL you just copied.

Here’s what a LinkedIn post URL looks like:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/username_activity-7053716001854472192-QA_X?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

The post ID is the long string of numbers after “activity”: 7053716001854472192

Copy that number and paste it into the Post ID field in Expandi, then click Next.

Note: Some posts on LinkedIn have an “Embed this post” option in the menu, which also shows the post ID. But not all posts have this feature. If you don’t see it, just grab the ID from the URL like we showed above.

Step 3: Configure your search settings

Name your search something you’ll recognize later (like “Cold Email Post – Jan 2025”). If you want to assign it to a campaign immediately, you can select the campaign here. You can also enable auto-reload, which automatically pulls new engagers as they interact with your post over time.

Click Confirm. Expandi will process the search and pull everyone who’s engaged with that post. Once it’s done, you’ll see the results and can add them to your campaign.

Building your message sequence:

Now that you have your engaged audience, you’ll set up your outreach sequence. In Expandi, you can add multiple messages with time delays between each one (Day 1, Day 3, Day 7, etc.).

Here’s what your sequence structure should look like:

Message 1 (Day 1): Acknowledge + Open Loop

• Trigger: Immediately after they’re added to the campaign

“Hey {{firstName}}, saw you engaged with my post on [topic]. Appreciate that! Quick question: are you dealing with [related pain point] on your side right now?”

Message 2 (Day 3): Value Drop

• Trigger: Only sends if they replied to Message 1

“{{firstName}}, thought this might be helpful. Just put together a quick breakdown of the exact framework we use to [solve their problem]. It’s been working really well for [type of company]. Want me to send it over?”

Message 3 (Day 7): Soft CTA

• Trigger: Only sends if they replied to Message 2 or engaged again
• Stop condition: End of sequence

“{{firstName}}, if you want to dig into how we could apply this to [their company/situation], happy to jump on a quick 15-min call. Here’s my calendar: [link]. No pressure, only if it makes sense for you right now.”

Using dynamic variables for personalization:

Expandi pulls data directly from LinkedIn profiles, so you can personalize at scale without manually customizing each message. Use variables like {{firstName}}, {{companyName}}, or {{jobTitle}} to make each message feel tailored.

You can also reference the specific post they engaged with. For example, if your post was about cold email deliverability, mention that: “Saw you engaged with my post on email deliverability…”

Setting your campaign parameters:

In your campaign settings, configure your daily limits to stay within LinkedIn’s safety thresholds. Start with 20-30 new messages per day. This keeps your account safe while still giving you meaningful volume.

You can also set up webhooks to connect Expandi with your CRM, so when someone replies or books a call, that data flows automatically into your sales pipeline.

Track Which Conversations Lead to Calls

Expandi’s analytics dashboard shows you exactly how your sequences are performing. Check your campaign stats weekly to see how many messages were sent, how many replies you got, and how many conversations turned into booked calls.

Pay attention to which posts drive the most engagement and which message variations get the best response rates. If you notice certain hooks or value offers consistently outperform others, create more sequences around those angles.

The goal is simple: start conversations, not sales pitches. Build rapport first. The sale comes later. But with Expandi handling the tracking and follow-up, you can focus on the actual conversations instead of the administrative work.

This is what separates “having a profile” from how to improve your LinkedIn profile in a way that actually drives revenue.

Content Strategy: The GTM Flywheel

Most people post randomly, hope something hits, and wonder why their profile isn’t converting.

The difference between content that gets likes and content that books calls comes down to system and iteration.

Here’s how to build a content flywheel that actually drives pipeline.

The 3-Post Weekly Framework

Don’t just post for the sake of posting. Every piece of content should serve a specific role in your funnel.

Monday: POV or Insight Post (Top of Funnel)

Get discovered. Show you understand the landscape.

Share your take on a trend, framework, or industry shift. This is how new people find you.

Example hooks:

• “Most B2B teams are doing outbound backwards. Here’s why…”
• “The 3 biggest mistakes I see in LinkedIn automation (and how to fix them)”
• “Everyone’s talking about AI in sales. Here’s what actually works.”

You’re not selling. You’re educating. This builds authority without triggering sales resistance.

Wednesday: Client Story or Case Study (Bottom of Funnel)

Build proof. Show you can deliver results.

Highlight a win, transformation, or lesson learned from working with a client. This is where skeptics become believers.

Example formats:

• “How [Client] went from 5 demos/month to 50 in 90 days”
• “We helped [Company] fix their LinkedIn outbound. Here’s what changed.”
• “This company was burning $10K/month on ads. We shifted to LinkedIn. Here’s what happened.”

Results speak louder than claims. Concrete numbers and real stories build credibility.

Friday: Founder Mindset or Personal Take (Trust Builder)

Be human. Let people connect with you, not just your expertise.

Share something vulnerable, reflective, or honest about your journey. This is what turns followers into people who actually want to work with you.

Example angles:

• A mistake you made and what you learned
• A moment of doubt or failure
• Why you started your business (the real reason, not the polished version)
• A contrarian belief you hold about your industry

People buy from people they trust. Vulnerability builds trust faster than authority alone.

Measuring What Actually Matters

Here’s the part most people skip: actually measuring what content drives business outcomes.

Vanity metrics (likes, impressions) don’t matter. What matters is whether your content moves people closer to a conversation.

Track these metrics weekly:

Metric	What It Tells You
Profile views per post	Are people curious enough to click through?
DMs received	Is your content prompting conversations?
Comments mentioning pain points	Are you attracting your ICP or random followers?
Booked calls from LinkedIn	Is your content actually converting to pipeline?

Set up a simple tracking sheet:

Post Date	Topic	Format	Profile Views	DMs Received	Calls Booked
1/6/25	Outbound mistakes	POV	245	3	1
1/8/25	Client case study	Story	412	7	2
1/10/25	Founder struggle	Personal	189	2	0

Look for patterns. Which topics get the most profile clicks? Which formats generate the most DMs? Which posts lead directly to booked calls?

Then double down. If client stories consistently outperform POV posts, do more client stories. If posts about a specific pain point drive more DMs, create a series around that topic.

Common Mistakes That Kill Profile Conversions

Even with an optimized profile, these mistakes can easily tank your results.

Posting Without Engaging

If you only post and never comment on others’ content, you’re building a megaphone, not a network. Engagement works both ways.

Spend 15-20 minutes daily commenting on 10-15 posts from your ICP. Add value, ask questions, share perspectives.

Generic Connection Requests

“I’d like to add you to my professional network” is a fast track to getting ignored.

Personalize every request. Reference a post they made, a mutual connection, or a shared interest.

Pitching Too Soon

When someone accepts your connection request, don’t immediately pitch your service.

Build rapport first. Start a conversation about their challenges. The sale comes later.

Ignoring Your DMs

If people are reaching out and you’re slow to respond (or don’t respond at all), you’re leaving money on the table.

Set aside 20 minutes twice daily to respond to DMs. Treat them like sales opportunities, because they are.

Inconsistent Posting

Posting 5x one week and disappearing for 3 weeks kills momentum. The algorithm penalizes inconsistency.

Commit to a realistic cadence (3x/week minimum) and stick to it. Consistency compounds.

Most of these mistakes violate basic LinkedIn profile best practices: consistency, clarity, and conversation-driven follow-up.

What to Do Next

At this point, you have everything you need to turn your LinkedIn profile into a real go-to-market channel. You know how to structure your profile so it actually converts, what kind of content moves buyers closer to a conversation, and which metrics tell you if it’s working.

But most people hit a wall when it comes to execution at scale.

You can manually track who’s engaging with your posts for a while. You can send personalized DMs one by one. You can try to remember to follow up with everyone at the right time. But none of that scales past a certain point, and if it doesn’t scale, it won’t drive the kind of consistent pipeline your business needs.

The companies getting real results from LinkedIn aren’t doing everything manually. They’ve built systems that handle the repetitive work (tracking engagement, triggering sequences, managing follow-ups) while keeping the actual conversations human.

That’s the difference between treating LinkedIn as a side project and treating it as a legitimate growth channel.If you’re ready to build that kind of system, start your free 7-day trial for Expandi here →