5 Tips to use LinkedIn in promoting your research

Author: Lucy Frisch

The Source has launched a new series which details how authors can better promote their work (and themselves!). As part of this series, we will be featuring tips and tricks to author self-promotion and advancing discovery of their work. Today we look at one of the most prominent professional networking sites, LinkedIn. 

Are you under the impression that LinkedIn is all about making business to business connections? That it’s a gold mine for job seekers and head hunters, but a platform that isn’t quite relevant to you as a cholar? Think again!

Since its beginning in 2002, LinkedIn has become a valuable directory of over 430 million professionals globally. Building and maintaining an active presence on LinkedIn can help you grow your professional network, increase discoverability of your work, and aid you in connecting with people of similar interests and backgrounds.

Whether you’re an author, editor, reviewer, or early career researcher, here are five ways you can optimize your presence on LinkedIn today and help your work reach a wider audience:

1. Build a robust profile.
   Every article you’ve written, every talk you’ve given, and every class you’ve taught is significant enough to be included on your LinkedIn profile. Use your page as a space to showcase your experience, achievements, and interests in order to give your connections a complete picture of who you are and what your work is all about.
2. Constantly connect.
   Once you’ve connected with someone on LinkedIn, their activity (position changes, latest posts, etc.) will be included on your news feed. LinkedIn gives you daily opportunities to engage with the happenings of your connections, including something as simple as ‘liking’ their updates. Growing your connections also allows you to share your own updates with a larger audience.
3. Get your group activity going.
   Joining professional groups on LinkedIn is a fantastic way to increase your discoverability. Pose questions or respond to queries from other members in groups to position yourself as a thought leader in your respective field.
4. Open opportunities for partnership.
   Whether you’ve been trying to get funding for a new project, get in touch with policy makers, or you simply want to get your voice heard by a wider audience, use LinkedIn as a channel to reach out to people with whom it’s unlikely you’d get face time.
5. Start a conversation about science.
   By introducing your research and ideas to your LinkedIn network, you are personally helping evolve the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge as we know it. Some of your connections may only know about your field of study because of your presence on their news feed, so maximize their exposure to your specific line of research with a comprehensive profile and engaging LinkedIn behavior.

Help the impact of your research grow beyond your scholarly community and take advantage of all that LinkedIn can do for you and your work today! Feel free to comment below with any questions, suggestions, or tips for maximizing a professional’s LinkedIn potential.