LinkedIn Marketing for Founders: Personal Brand + Ads
How founders should use their personal presence plus paid advertising
Founders have a unique advantage on LinkedIn: authentic personal brands. Combine that with smart advertising and you have a powerful system.
Why founders matter:
People buy from people, not logos
Founder stories are compelling
Authenticity builds trust
Personal networks open doors
Media loves founder narratives
Building founder presence:
Post regularly (3-5x per week)
Share authentic insights, not just wins
Engage with comments and others' posts
Show personality and values
Be consistently present
Content founders should share:
Lessons from building the company
Transparent challenges and how you solved them
Industry insights and predictions
Company milestones and team wins
Behind-the-scenes of founder life
Combining personal and company:
Founder posts organically
Company page promotes with ads
Founder engages with ad comments
Ads feature founder story/face
Unified message, different channels
Founder-led ad strategies:
Use founder photos in ads
"A note from our founder" campaigns
Video messages from founder
Founder sharing customer stories
Personal invitations to events
When founder should be front-and-center:
Early-stage startups
High-touch sales processes
Premium/luxury positioning
Consulting or services businesses
Content/thought leadership plays
When to keep founder separate:
Enterprise sales needing corporate feel
Multiple founders with different visions
Founder doesn't want spotlight
Company outgrew founder story
Brand is bigger than individual
Leveraging founder network:
Ads to first-degree connections
Lookalike audiences from founder's network
Target employees of companies founder knows
Reference mutual connections
Founder content + ads workflow:
Founder posts organically
Track what gets engagement
Turn best posts into ads
Amplify founder's best content
Drive to company offers
Protecting founder time:
Use tools like Stirling for ad creation
Batch content creation
Repurpose across channels
Focus founder on high-value activities
Let team handle execution
Founder mistakes on LinkedIn:
Being too salesy
Only posting company news
Inconsistent presence
Not engaging with comments
Ignoring personal brand
Balance personal and professional:
Share some personal interests
But keep it mostly professional
Show personality within reason
Respect your own boundaries
Quality over quantity
Measuring founder impact:
Profile views and followers
Inbound opportunities
Brand recognition
Sales mentions of founder
Influence on company growth
When founder becomes liability:
Controversial opinions alienate customers
Inconsistent with brand values
Takes too much time from operations
Creates single point of failure
Personality doesn't resonate
The modern founder:
Thoughtful and transparent
Active on LinkedIn
Uses ads strategically
Builds community
Scales influence
Founders, you're your company's best asset on LinkedIn. Use it wisely.
