If LinkedIn Profiles Could Predict the President...

Who Would Win the Presidential
Nomination and Election Based on
Their LinkedIn Profiles?
2016
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Jen Dalton, CEO of BrandMirror, has over 15 years of experience in strategy, marketing
and coaching. In 2012, after graduating from the Georgetown University Executive
MBA program, she made a gutsy move and launched her branding business. Jen has
since become a REACH certified master personal branding strategist.
Jen Dalton is a gutsy “purpose sherpa” for her clients. She helps them identify their
figurative mountain and climb it with intention. Clarity on your WHY and unique
value, is critical to convince others to follow you and “go big”. Be a noisebreaker, not a
noisemaker.
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LinkedIn is a Powerful Tool
• LinkedIn can be free marketing, don’t forget to leverage it
• Every professional should be on LinkedIn, yes even
presidential candidates
• Re-visit your LinkedIn profile at least every 6 months to
make sure they have the latest and greatest information
• Be brave this year and try at least one of these suggestions
from the profile assessments: writing a blog, doing a video,
and move the needle on your visibility & impact

Top 10 Insights from the Presidential Candidates
1. Do have a great headshot and banner for your profile
Make sure the sizing is right and look at your profile as a visitor would,
View Profile As.
2. Do create a company page
Leverage it to share information and news, this is a self-selected audience,
and they care about staying in touch.
3. Don't underestimate the power of writing Posts
LinkedIn allows you to blog and write your own story. The most powerful
part of LinkedIn is that you have the ability to create your own narrative -
visually and verbally.
4. Check your profile and update it on a consistent basis
Many of the candidates have outdated profiles and could use some help
checking them and making updates.
5. Make sure your profile can be seen by others
Donald Trump and Chris Christie do not have profiles; it could be because
their profiles were private. Double check and make sure your profile is
public.

Top 10 Insights from the Presidential Candidates (cont.)
6. Tell Your Story - I.M.P.R.E.S.S. people
Earlier, I wrote about leveraging the I.M.P.R.E.S.S. model to assess your LinkedIn
profile and resume. It is important to include details that highlight your impact and
conveys the value of your contribution. Most candidates missed this opportunity.
7. Do leverage video this year
If you have not done a video, it is highly recommended to create a short video bio to
introduce yourself on your profile. You could also include video about your company,
a TED talk you gave, etc.
8. Share content regularly
Be sure to share interesting insights that you curate and create with your audience. If
you never interact, do not be surprised when you are out of sight, out of mind.
9. Do develop goals and metrics
Be clear on what you want LinkedIn to do for you and then invest accordingly.
Measure where you are on views, engagement, etc. and then go for it.
10. Reframe your perspective
Think of LinkedIn like your professional playground, get to know others, celebrate
others, and share interesting and provocative ideas. Remember to be nice and keep it
professional.

Hillary Clinton
Key Wins:
 Influencer status
 Great use of visual
content
 Excellent engagement
with posts (blogs)
 Use of video content on
the profile to tell a
story
 Over 265K views of her
posts on LinkedIn
 Over 167K followers
Opportunities:
 Add additional media,
video content
 Post events and
information on how to
engage
 Include wins in
experience sections
 Incorporate TV
segments or other
evidence that supports
her results

Bernie Sanders
Key Wins:
 Great use of visual
content
 Use of video content on
the profile to tell a
story
Opportunities:
 No followers or
connections – huge
missed opportunity
 Blog and post input
here – great place to
share insights
video content
 Post events and
engage
 Include wins in
experience sections
 Incorporate TV
segments or other
her results

Martin O’Malley
Key Wins:
 Has a profile
Opportunities:
 Get a head shot
 Add in a banner photo
 Write about your
candidacy
video content
 Post events and
engage
 Include wins in
experience sections
 Incorporate TV
segments or other
results
 Newspaper stores, etc.

Comparing Democratic Candidates Profiles
1st
2nd
3rd
Key Takeaways:
 Great use of visual content
 Excellent engagement with posts (blogs)
 Use of video content on the profile to tell a story
*Although Martin has more points, Bernie’s personal
page is better

Donald Trump
No LinkedIn Profile / Not Public
*LinkedIn does the work for you while you are away, so this is an easy one that
could be set up and left alone, although not recommended.

Jeb Bush
Key Wins:
 Has a great banner
 Engaging head shot-
although kind of far
away
 Made one post
 Have one piece of
media
 Great use of describing
results and experience
Opportunities:
video content – one is
not enough
 Post events and
engage
 Incorporate TV
segments or other
results

Marco Rubio
Key Wins:
 Has a profile
Opportunities:
 Banner is there, but not
great
 Roles listed, but no
evidence
 Lack of media in the
summary
 Head shot needs to be
taken
 Write a few posts or
share content that
supports his
viewpoints

John Kasich
Key Wins:
 Has a profile
 Lists experience
 Nice headshot, presidential
Opportunities:
 No banner
 Unclear that he is now running
as a presidential candidate
 No evidence in the experience
section
 Lack of media
 No summary to tell a story, his
story and use visuals, video,
media to back it up

Dr. Ben Carson
Key Wins:
 Has a profile
 Uses banner, although some text
does not fit quite right
 Excellent use of awards
 Solid use of publications
 Highlights the Carson Scholars
Fund
 Use of posts / blogs
Opportunities:
 Very little experience
articulated, because he has only
had two jobs, missed
opportunity to make it look
bigger
 Not following any organizations
or influencers
 Head shot photo is a little hard
to read – although the idea is
interesting

Ted Cruz
Key Wins:
 Has a profile
 Uses banner (although could use
a clearer picture)
 Great use of media highlighting
family – aligning to the values
 Visuals reflect what the audience
is looking for – family, Spanish
speaking
 Shares how to contact
 Highlights education
 Written a few posts
 Following groups & influencers
Opportunities:
 Share more recent content
 Include interesting research, or
documents that highlight
positions
 Update his summary to tell more
of a story

Carly Fiorina
Key Wins:
 Has a profile
 Uses banner (although could
use a more “on-brand” or
relevant photo)
 Lists out roles, including non-
profits
 Highlights education
Opportunities:
 No headshot
 No media or visuals that
support her brand or tell her
story
 Lack of a summary or a story
 Added high school, which is
not necessary
 With so many roles, it is a
complex profile – plus,
management trainee for 15
years seems odd

Chris Christie
No LinkedIn Profile / Not Public
*LinkedIn does the work for you while you are away, so this is an easy one that
could be set up and left alone, although not recommended.

Rand Paul

Comparing Republican Candidates Profiles
1st 2nd
3rd
4th

Company Page Comparison
2nd
3rd
Huge missed opportunity to have a central place for your team and stakeholders to get
information and updates. Easy enough to put a logo and description.
1st
4th
5th

Highlights
• LinkedIn is an easy tool that is accessed by over 370 million
professionals – yet sorely underleveraged by many of the
candidates
• Hillary Clinton has the best LinkedIn profile as far as reach,
engagement, usage, and sharing a consistent message
• Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz are all
Influencers
• Donald Trump, for all of his business savvy, is not on
LinkedIn. Chris Christie also seems to be missing a profile.

# of Followers and Engagement %
Engagement = (Likes + Comments)/Total Views, the number here is a percentageTotal Followers = Connections + Followers
Overall, Hillary Clinton dominates on LinkedIn with her content strategy and sheer volume of
followers. Even though there are changes to make to her profile to make it even more effective.
Although her engagement percentage is not the top one, the sheer volume makes up for that. This
could also be a place where she could assess how to increase engagement.

Overall Score* by Candidate
*See scoring table in the back of the presentation
Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz are close enough that it is an insignificant difference, especially given
Hillary’s number of followers. However, there are several things every candidate should do to
improve their profile. Given each of them has someone for social media, LinkedIn is low hanging
fruit.

Does LinkedIn profile success predict nominations and
then elections? Check back later this year.
1st
2nd

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