A strong LinkedIn content strategy is one of the best ways to develop industry authority and build relationships with leads.
More and more brands and entrepreneurs are learning about the power of a solid LinkedIn content strategy.
Much like any other platform, LinkedIn has a unique algorithm that can be hard to master. Because of this, many users unknowingly create content that’s hurting their results rather than improving them.
Today, we’ll review some of the top bad content practices that LinkedIn penalizes people for. Avoiding these bad practices can help you expand the reach and engagement of your content.
Here are the top bad practices to avoid on LinkedIn:
Only Talk About Yourself
Personal anecdotes and life lessons have a place on LinkedIn. Part of building a relationship with your audience is sharing a bit about yourself and your journey. However, all of your content should not just be about you and your business.
People will quickly tire of your content if it’s all about you. People want to hear about you, but only sometimes. They also want to know industry trends and information that can help them. Don’t only talk about yourself, otherwise, your engagement will suffer in the long run.
Tagging Irrelevant People on Posts
Tagging someone is a great way to alert them of your content, boost credibility, and encourage engagement on your content. When done tastefully, tagging can be a simple way to enhance your content and drive results.
However, incorrect tagging is becoming a huge mistake on LinkedIn. Rather than reserve tags for the most relevant people, many posters are tagging dozens of their connections randomly. Even when the content is not something that the person is interested in, people are still tagging them as a way to gain exposure.
Using tags at random will detract from your post. Only tag someone when you know the content is pertinent, or you are talking to/about them. Spamming your posts with irrelevant tags will annoy those you are tagging and come across as scammy to your viewers.
Copying the Competition
You should study your competition and their content strategy. You want to know what they are posting and how their content performs. It’s an important part of creating content, but you want to be careful not to simply copy and paste everything the competition does.
Find ways to make something with a higher value than your competitors. Do not only post something because they do. Being aware of the competition is one thing, but chasing them will not help your strategy.
Posting Too Often
Yes, posting too frequently is possible. Many people on LinkedIn also make this mistake. While you do want to post consistently, and moderate frequency is to your benefit, you do not want to overpost.
LinkedIn’s algorithm prioritizes engagement, even more than frequency. Quality is far more important than quantity for LinkedIn posts. If you try to post too often, there’s a good chance your content quality will suffer. Lower quality content will not garner as much engagement.
Instead of focusing on churning out a high volume of content, focus on consistently producing high-quality content. We recommend 3-4 high-quality posts per week.
While high-quality content is certainly appealing to the eye, it is not synonymous with highly produced or expensive content. The best posts are well thought out and resonate with your audience.
Overdoing High-Performing Content
Part of your content strategy involves testing different types of content and figuring out what earns the best engagement. Some types of content perform quite well consistently, generating high engagement.
You should certainly include highly engaging content into your strategy, but do not overdo certain types of content just because they generate high engagement.
For example, polls are very popular right now on LinkedIn. They generate a ton of engagement and interaction. However, your entire content strategy should not just be doing polsl. You still need to incorporate other forms of content.
Overall, your content strategy should be balanced. Include a mix of different types of posts for the best long-term results.
Using Formatted Text
Formatted text is any text that’s in italics, bolded, underlined, etc. Many users incorporate formatted text to improve readability.
While formatted text can help readability, it can harm your post’s reach. Formatted text is generated outside of the LinkedIn platform, and LinkedIn might not like that.
This is not to say that you should never use formatted text. Carefully consider if you need formatted text and other alternatives that could improve readability. Keeping the copy concise and using shorter paragraphs are a couple of simple strategies that can help.
Only Posting Written Content
Blogs, quotes, and other typed content are going to be a big part of your LinkedIn content strategy. But if you only use written content, you are missing out on a huge opportunity for engagement.
One of the best ways to make engaging content that LinkedIn will prioritize is to add rich media, like photos and videos. Rather than just sharing a statistic, make a simple graphic out of it to post. Turn some of your blogs into short and simple text videos. Share video testimonials, and add captivating photos to your posts.
Hashtag Overload
Undoubtedly, hashtags are helpful for getting your post to the right audience. LinkedIn’s algorithm classifies your posts on specific niches depending on which hashtags you’re using.
That’s why using too many hashtags in the same post can harm you. If you add too many hashtags to the same post, it can confuse the algorithm because it won’t know which is more relevant, especially if the hashtags are too broad.
Narrow down the list of hashtags you will include in a given post. Choose the most relevant and specific hashtags. Include a mix of very popular and more niche hashtags. Try to mix up the exact hashtags you use from post to post, even on similar content.
Conclusion
Are you guilty of any of the bad practices above? Now is the time to make adjustments and improve your LinkedIn content strategy. Doing so gives you the best chance in LinkedIn’s algorithm, helping you get in front of your target audience. Leaving the bad practices in the wayside will also help you to create a more engaging strategy that your audience will appreciate as well.
For help with your LinkedIn content strategy and thought leadership, Beep2B is here to help. Learn more about how we can help by setting up your free strategy session today. Contact us to get started!
