Good Links

LinkedIn has quickly become the largest networking social media platform, hosting a staggering 58 million companies and counting. With all these like-minded people, shouldn’t it be easy to gain traction? Apparently not! More and more professionals are fighting for their share of airtime only to acquire a single, meagre like or even have posts pass by completely unnoticed. The platform is a personal one, and with some thought you can really up your engagement.

Show what you’re doing. Tell how you’re feeling.

Social media guru, Katie Steckly, posts YouTube content on how to improve your social media strategy. She says to increase engagement on video content: “You would get much better engagement and develop a more authentic relationship with your viewer if you showed what you were doing and talked about what you were feeling.”

In the context of an image-based LinkedIn post. If you’re posting images of your staff at a conference, and the next three lines of text describe what you did at the convention to your audience, you’re wasting precious seconds of their interest by saying what they can see. Instead, say how you felt when you were there. So not only are you avoiding repeating yourself by using this tip, but you’re also telling your audience an invaluable piece of information. This makes them more likely to see you as source of reliable knowledge.

Position yourself among your peers–not above

them.

LinkedIn is a very different platform for businesses compared to other social media platforms, everyone is aware of their business and professionality. This means your audience, unlike on other social media platforms, is largely made up of businesspeople who want to be acknowledged for being, like you, professionals trying to improve their business. This is not the time to sell yourself to them. It is the space to be transparent with them.

By setting yourself alongside other professionals and being open to creating a community of equals, you can be in touch with LinkedIn’s core purpose: to be supported by like-minded professionals. Make it easy for people to relate to you, tell personal stories, tell people how your business made an error and then corrected it. In keeping with the previous tip, tell your audience how you feel. But most importantly don’t sell your product: by building relationships that comes later. People don’t trust brands, they trust people.

Be useful to the people who connect with you.

Interact with others. If you’re expecting engagement from your peers, but you don’t engage with their content, you’re cutting off key exposure opportunities. Being on other people’s radar by supporting them constantly means you not only prove your business is an active member of the community, but you also get in touch with the person behind the screen. Behind the likes, comments, and shares on your posts are ordinary people –goodwill goes a surprisingly long way and positions you as someone who cares.

Make sure your post formatting is varied.

Though an image with text is the standard form of post for LinkedIn, don’t be anchored to one format. Use multiple types of content; there are carousels, polls, and videos to explore. Having a range of content will keep your audience on their toes.

Similarly, cycle the type of content you post about. You may have frequent advice and anecdote posts integrated with the occasional “meet a team member” profile. You might have a monthly round-up post where you show a collation of the projects you did that month. Experiment with your content and don’t be afraid to take down, edit, and try again if something didn’t have your desired effect.

For further advice on boosting your LinkedIn profile, feel free to get in touch with our digital experts here at H&E North.