One question that comes up fairly regularly is:

"Should we focus on growing the founder's LinkedIn profile or invest more heavily in the company page?"

Like many things in marketing, I don't think there's a universal answer.

The advice you often hear is that every founder should become a content creator, every CEO should be building a personal brand and every business should be founder-led on LinkedIn.

I'm not convinced that's always the right approach.

I think the better question is whether you have somebody who can realistically become the face of the business.

Because LinkedIn is still, largely, a platform built around individuals.

Personal profiles tend to generate more engagement, more conversations and more reach than company pages. People are naturally more inclined to interact with individuals than they are with brands, which means businesses with a recognised figurehead often have a significant advantage.

That might be a founder, a managing director, a subject matter expert or somebody who already has credibility within their industry.

If that person exists and they're comfortable being visible, then building around a personal profile usually makes a lot of sense.

When a personal profile makes sense

For businesses with a clear figurehead, a personal profile can become an incredibly powerful asset.

People begin to associate that individual with the business itself.

They see their content regularly, hear their opinions, understand what they stand for and gradually become more familiar with the organisation behind them.

Over time, that familiarity helps to create trust long before any sales conversation takes place.

We've seen this work particularly well in professional services businesses, consultancy businesses and founder-led organisations where clients are often buying into expertise as much as they are buying into a product or service.

In those situations, a personal profile can become one of the most effective ways to build awareness organically.

But not every business needs a founder strategy

At the same time, not every organisation has a natural figurehead.

Not every founder wants to create content, not every leadership team wants to spend time posting on LinkedIn, and I don't think businesses should force it.

If there isn't somebody who can naturally become the face of the company, then I think company pages deserve more attention than they often receive.

Whilst company pages generally don't achieve the same organic reach as personal profiles, they can still be highly effective when supported in the right way.

That might involve boosting content, running awareness campaigns or investing in paid promotion to make sure the right people see it.

The objective remains exactly the same.

You want prospects to become familiar with your business before they need your services.

The route you take simply depends on the type of organisation you have.

The most important thing is being intentional

I don't think businesses should feel pressured into following the latest LinkedIn trend.

Just because founder-led content works brilliantly for one company doesn't necessarily mean it's the right strategy for another.

The businesses I see doing this well tend to make a deliberate decision.

If they have somebody who can genuinely become the face of the organisation, they lean into that opportunity.

If they don't, they focus on strengthening the company brand and supporting it with paid activity where appropriate.

Both approaches can work.

The important thing is understanding which approach aligns with your business, your resources and what you're realistically able to sustain over time.

A final thought

I actually don't think this is really a question of personal profile versus company page.

It's a question of understanding where your strengths lie.

If you have a credible figurehead who is comfortable being visible, there's a strong argument for investing in their profile.

If you don't, there's absolutely nothing wrong with building around the company brand instead.

Both strategies can be effective.

The key is being intentional about where you invest your time, effort and budget.

Book Free Linkedin Audit Call with Ben for better clarity.

P.S. If you're not sure where your business should focus its efforts on LinkedIn, it may be worth stepping back and asking, “if somebody discovered your business tomorrow, who would they expect to hear from first?”