Are your LinkedIn posts not living up to your expectations? Do you want more engagement?
The key to creating a strategy that works is understanding what sets LinkedIn apart from other social media platforms. From there, you need to familiarize yourself with LinkedIn’s three content categories to focus on. The better acquainted you are with all things LinkedIn, the better content you can create. You will also be empowered to use a proven post formula to maximize your content’s potential.
LinkedIn vs. Facebook vs. Instagram
LinkedIn is mainly used for professional networking and career development. The platform’s primary audiences are job seekers and employers. LinkedIn brims with collaborative energy.
“I want to connect with others so I can grow professionally,” a typical LinkedIn user might say.
Facebook was designed to let users share their lives with friends and family. The platform has generated a self-involved focus.
An average Facebook user might say, “Look at what I did.”
Instagram has become more than a fun way to share photos and videos. The emergence of influencers has created more persuasive energy than before.
“It’s not enough for you to see what I did,” an Instagram user could say. “I want you to wonder what I’m doing.”
Keep LinkedIn’s Purpose In Mind
When you create and publish posts on LinkedIn, remember that the platform has a cooperative slant. You want to share content with your peers, not your relatives or followers.
One easy way you can leverage this line of thinking is to consider how you would talk to your peers. What would you say? What tone would you take? Use this information to craft your content.
Take this one step further. Upgrade your peer voice. Take an authoritative tone. Make your audience believe you are a leader.
How can you accomplish this?
- Reveal your credentials: Why are you able to comment on a particular topic?
- Maintain the peer relationship: You don’t want to let on that you think you’re better than your colleagues. Praise and recognize your peers in your posts.
- Confidently create your content: Know your subject.
LinkedIn Content Categories
Your content can fit into several categories. These categories can help you focus on what you should create, giving you a blueprint to follow to optimize everything you publish.
Industry Insights
Industry insights are opinions about information that is relevant to your field.
Sharing a new story and commenting on it is a prime example. Relaying thoughts about an industry-related event is another major example. Lately, podcast sharing and reviewing have picked up popularity. This might be another avenue worth exploring.
Content that features these insights can increase your audience’s perception of your knowledge and authority in your field.
Sharing insights goes beyond expressing opinions.
Listen
You should accept all types of feedback. You want to invite discussion. Your opinion is one of many. Listen to others and you can learn new approaches and facts. Try not to publicly judge your audience.
Ask questions
Soliciting feedback can spark audience engagement. Do they agree with your opinion? Do they have similar or different experiences? Replying to the people who answer you can foster your community’s growth.
Storytelling
This category simply requires you to tell your professional story. Remember, LinkedIn is not the platform to share your personal history. Your audience wants to know how you do business.
An arresting way to tell your story is to give a behind-the-scenes look at what you do. If you own a company, what goes on behind closed doors? Who is your team and what do they do? What are their experiences? What have you learned?
Another behind-the-scenes idea is to document any conferences or workshops you and your team attend. Content like this shows people in action and highlights the specific event, which can satisfy your audience’s curiosity.
Since LinkedIn is a social media platform at its core, pictures and videos can open up a world of storytelling possibilities. They can convey what mere text can not. Sights and sounds can immerse your audience and create an experience they enjoy and remember.
Relatability
The Cambridge Dictionary defines relatability as being “the quality of being easy to understand or feel sympathy for.” You want your audience to relate to you via your content.
You can share your insights humorously. How you tell your stories can make you relatable. The actual items you share can cause your audience to relate to you, too.
While it’s true LinkedIn is a professional platform, you can still add personal touches to your content. You’re a human. Show your audience that you are. Be goofy in your behind-the-scenes video. Be natural.
Make content that you like to make. People might tell when you’re faking it. You don’t want to give the wrong impression.
LinkedIn Post Formula
This 3-step formula can create interest, value, and engagement in your content.
1. Hook your audience at the beginning
It’s been said that audiences typically remember the beginning and end of anything from movies to books. The same can be true of LinkedIn posts. You want to give people a reason to view your content. You have to immediately get their attention.
The hook should answer this question: Why should anyone view this post?
You can hook your audience with statistics and facts related to your field. You can also start your post with a question or two.
2. Compel your audience
Next, you should reward your audience’s attention so they view your content until the important end. You want them to expand your post.
Introduce this section with a secondary hook. This can be the first line of a story or the introduction of a video. You want to drive interest until the big finale.
Use your content – your insights and stories – to get people to care about your message.
3. Ask your audience to do something
Finally, you want to give your audience a call to action. Hopefully, your audience followed your content to this point. You hooked them. You compelled them. Now you want them to act. This is the big finale.
What do you want your audience to do?
You can ask people to visit your website or book a meeting. You can even ask them to share your post. This is the point where you ask people to do something.
Strategy Summary
- Grab your audience’s attention from the beginning.
- Give your audience something of value (news, insights, stories) that relates to them.
- Ask your audience to do something.
Now that you know the basics of this easy LinkedIn strategy, you can create engaging content that creates interest and encourages interaction.
(A major bonus is that you can adopt this strategy for use across different social media platforms!)
