Executive LinkedIn Playbook: Zero to Visible Leadership Brand in 30 Days

You’re a leader, an expert, and a decision-maker. Yet, for many executives, the professional impact stops at the boardroom door.

While your company enjoys a robust brand and industry recognition, your personal influence remains largely untapped online.

This is a missed opportunity for businesses across all sectors.

Today, a visible executive brand on LinkedIn is no longer optional; it’s essential for:

• Attracting Top Talent: The best recruits follow influential leaders, not just corporations.

• Shaping Market Narratives: Controlling the conversation around your industry and your company’s future.

• Accelerating Business Development: Generating inbound interest from investors and high-value partners.

And here’s the data to prove it:

• 82% of employees research a CEO’s online presence when considering whether to join a company (Brunswick).
• 92% of professionals say they are more likely to trust a company whose senior executives are using social media (FTI Consulting).

• 71% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company if its CEO is active on social media (Edelman).

This 30-day playbook is a zero-fluff, strategic roadmap designed to transition you and other senior executives in your organization from industry experts to influential thought leaders quickly and credibly.

We move beyond generic social media tips to focus on high-impact, strategic actions: from optimizing your profile for authority, to deploying a content strategy that commands attention, and finally, to scaling your influence.

Your goal for the next 30 days is simple: Establish the foundation of a visible, authentic, and authoritative leadership brand on LinkedIn.

The first ten days are dedicated to ensuring your LinkedIn profile reflects your real-world experience and is optimized for visibility.

This is also a great time to audit your connections to ensure your network includes the people you want to reach.

Before you start creating and sharing content, it’s worth investing some time into making sure your profile shows you in the best light and uses keywords to target your desired audience.

After all, there’s no use posting if no one sees what you have to say!

Here are the best practices we recommend as a starting point:

Visibility is driven by the network you keep. LinkedIn has explained that its algorithm isn’t designed for viral posts, but rather, to show relevant content for every user in the feed.

This means you should get specific about who you’re targeting and ensure your network includes people who would be interested in what you have to say, such as colleagues and professionals in your industry.

The goal is to maximize your feed’s quality and ensure your posts reach the most relevant people.

Before you actively seek new connections, it’s useful to evaluate your current network and ensure it’s strategically aligned with your experience and sector.

This isn’t about mass deletion, but about understanding and organizing your audience.

If you already have a network with hundreds of connections, it’s probably not worth your time to go through each profile individually.

Instead, an easy way to prune your network is by reviewing your feed. If your current connections primarily post content that is irrelevant to you or low-quality, remove them.

Next, focus on adding individuals who strategically fill gaps in your network. You’ll want to target people like:

When connecting, it can be helpful to send a short personalized note referencing a recent achievement or shared interest.

For example:

“Hi [Name], I’ve been following your work on [Specific Topic]—your insights on X are compelling. I’d be keen to connect to follow your perspective on the changing landscape of Y.”

The initial ten days were dedicated to building your digital stage. Now, it’s time to turn up the volume.

Over the next ten days, you will define your unique thought leadership pillars, deploy a content strategy that resonates with peers and decision-makers, and systematically engage the network you need to succeed.

This is where you move from being an expert known internally to a leader visible externally.

Your executive brand needs focus.

Identify 3-5 core themes where your expertise is undeniable.

Everything you post should fit under these pillars.

Example pillars could be:

• Digital Transformation
• Sustainability
• AI
• Hyper-Growth

Commit to sharing 2-3 posts per week. Focus on delivering genuine insight, not promotional noise.

If this isn’t possible right away, start with 1 high-quality post weekly, then scale over time.

Getting your marketing team involved can be very effective when it comes to managing your time.

Use a secure platform like DSMN8 for delegating access (no password sharing!), and use the approval workflow to approve or deny content created on your behalf.

AI tools can help turn your thoughts into content optimized for LinkedIn, but DSMN8’s Personal Voice feature takes it to the next level. The platform analyzes the content you’ve shared (or provided writing samples if you haven’t posted on LinkedIn yet), to understand your tone of voice and writing style.

As for the content itself, use the L.I.K.E. strategy to make things simple:

Even the best insights can be drowned out without an initial visibility boost.

The LinkedIn algorithm prioritizes content that receives rapid, quality engagement (likes, comments, shares) immediately after posting.

Your colleagues can make a huge difference here by amplifying your posts.

Don’t be embarrassed to ask! This is not about vanity; it’s about making sure your company’s message is seen by the market.

Communicate the why: explain that social media algorithms push posts further when they receive early engagement, and that this is strategically important to your organization.

To further encourage engagement, make it as easy as possible for employees to quickly show their support.

This is where DSMN8’s boost post feature comes in. It enables you to easily request boosts for executive and company page posts.

Here’s how it works:

1. Automated Content Capture: DSMN8 automatically pulls in new executive LinkedIn posts as they are published.

2. Seamless Distribution: When you request a boost within DSMN8, your post is then instantly distributed to employees through preferred channels (DSMN8 Desktop/Mobile app, or directly via internal comms integrations like Slack channels).

3. Easy Engagement: Employees can immediately like or share the post with a single click, maximizing the critical early engagement window.

A visible personal brand is maintained by engaging with your network, not just broadcasting to it.

As with all social media, the LinkedIn algorithm rewards engagement. Your job is not done once you hit ‘post.’

Follow these best practices to keep on top of engagement, without it taking over your entire day:

By this point, you should have a good amount of content.

Consider repurposing your posts into different formats, such as turning a text-only post into a carousel or short video.

Here are some more ways to leverage your existing content:

Naturally, you’ll be drawn to checking metrics like followers and likes on posts.

There is value in those metrics, but to truly understand the impact of your executive personal brand, you’ll want to dive deeper.

Keep track of:

• Quality Inbound DMs: Are senior-level people reaching out to you directly for advice or potential deals?

• Profile Views from Key Targets: Are board members, journalists, or key competitors viewing your profile?

• Website Form Submissions: Ensure your website inquiry forms have a ‘how did you hear about us?’ field. At DSMN8, we often see submissions mentioning our CEO, Bradley Keenan. This is a great way for us to see the impact of his personal brand.
• Earned Media Value: This is a great way to compare the organic impact of your personal brand vs. what it would have cost in paid social advertising. DSMN8’s executive influencer platform does this for you.

By day 30, you’ll be well on the way to building an authoritative executive personal brand, with a well-optimized profile, a routine for consistent engagement, and a foundation of content that showcases your expertise.

It’s time to stop being the hidden expert and start shaping the conversation.

Ready to go further?

If you’re ready to scale this process across your C-Suite and VPs without adding to their workload, see the DSMN8 executive influencer platform in action:

The platform is built to empower your leaders with:

• Delegated Access: Allow trusted teams to post on behalf of executives securely (no shared passwords).

• Tailored Content: Provide ready-to-share, approved content tailored to each leader’s voice, supported by AI.

• ROI Analytics: Track the real financial value and impact of your executive influence program.

Wondering how active your executives are on LinkedIn, and how this compares with your competitors?

👉 Get a free executive influence competitive analysis report to find out.

More resources you’ll find helpful:

• CEO Personal Branding: Strategic Guide for Marketing & Comms Teams.
• Getting Executives Active on LinkedIn (Podcast).
• Executive Social Media Security: Guide to Safe Delegation.