If you already have a business account on Linkedin you are probably wondering how to use it to your full advantage. In case you don’t have an account yet, be sure you are missing out.
With more than 690 million members, brands and companies are using LinkedIn to network, connect and sell. While it is a social network mostly used to meet new business professionals, it's quite different from the other social media platforms. How you present yourself through the content you share has a big impact on your connections, followers and current employees but also on any employees and clients you might have in the future.
This is why you have to think more strategically and carefully craft content that will spark engagement and make your brand stand out. Simply posting on your LinkedIn profile isn't enough to bring your business to the next level. It's important to produce content that drives engagement. Why?
Social media engagement is one of the most important social media KPIs all marketers should track. The more people interact with your content, the more new followers you can reach. Growing your followers equals higher brand awareness which builds trust and creates positive associations.
Here is a list of a few things we recommend you try doing to get your company LinkedIn game on.
Make it human
People looking for jobs, people joining a new team, people celebrating learnings, success, and failures. People-centric content really does the trick on LinkedIn, so make sure you talk about the people in your company; write about them, post pictures, tag them and congratulate them. Also, don’t forget to talk about your own learnings.
Make it regular
We recommend posting at least 2-3 times a week, meaning you have to commit yourself to post regularly. However, make sure you don’t post more than 30 times a month for optimal engagement. When you post is also significant, so try posting in the mornings, perhaps on your way to work. Then you can have a look at those posts in the evening and reply to any comments to boost engagement.
Make it your own
LinkedIn likes native content more than external content. Native content gets more engagement and impressions than links and videos from external websites such as Youtube or Medium. Videos see 5 x more engagement on LinkedIn than any other content type. An advantage of LinkedIn native video is that it auto-plays when someone scrolls by it. As a result, it does a better job at catching someone’s attention. Plus, videos hosted on the platform are prioritized by the LinkedIn algorithm. So, put an effort into creating your own videos, posts, articles, slideshares and similar. It will pay off, we promise.
Make it last longer
Post content that keeps people engaged for a longer period, eg. carousels, videos, long- text posts. A great example of content that will get a high amount of dwell time is a PDF document posted as a carousel. Also, try creating infographics. These are an amazing way to cover “heavy” topics in an enjoyable way. Visuals will help your connections and followers to process the content more efficiently, assuring they pay extra attention to your post.
Make it personal
It’s important you have a company profile on LinkedIn, however, the same content posted from personal profiles gets double the reach from the company page. Encourage your colleagues to share company posts, blogs, photos as well as their experiences on their personal profiles. This will boost engagement and create a network of valuable contacts for you and your company.
Make it stand out
The key to success on LinkedIn is standing out from the crowd. Identify what sets you apart from other businesses. Harness the power of storytelling and share your idea of who you are and what makes you unique. Be curious and seek feedback, engage in other people’s posts and show your authentic passion for your brand and industry.
Make it work
Format and optimize LinkedIn posts to produce more clicks and engagement. When you share a URL to a blog post or article, consider removing the preview image to keep the post entirely text-based as text posts tend to outperform image posts and video on LinkedIn. If you want to share an external source of content try including the external link multiple times in your post (midway through and then at the end, for instance). Make sure you use only 1–2 sentences per paragraph and incorporate emojis, symbols and bullets to keep your audience’s attention. Choose emojis with colors that aren’t part of LinkedIn’s interface (grey, white or blue).
Endless possibilites
To summarize, sparking engagement on LinkedIn will maximize your business potential on the number one professional social media platform in the world. The possibilities are endless and it’s up to you to grab them all. Make sure you share timely and relevant content, grab attention with an image or video, keep your copy short and concise, post at the right time, tag people and pages you mention, write strong headlines, respond to comments promptly and don’t forget to share who you are and what makes your company or brand unique.
Go ahead and start being awesome on LinkedIn now! If you need our help, reach out to us, we will help you seize your LinkedIn potential in the best possible way.
Also, besides sparking engagement, make sure you learn how to get strategic with social media by reading this blog.
