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There is little doubt that LinkedIn is the best platform for professional networking, but sometimes getting meaningful engagement from your posts can feel a bit puzzling.
Potential attention is present, as 91% of marketers cite LinkedIn as the best platform for finding professional content related to their field. These are not just passive hands, as four out of five LinkedIn members directly manage business decisions and run 2 times the purchasing power of the average web visitor.
There is a lot to gain from being active on the platform, but to be different from the pack, you need to follow a few tested tips and tricks. Engaging your audience will not happen magically overnight but as a result of effective action taken over time.
1. Post consistently
A consistent posting schedule is a foundation on which the rest of a content strategy can be safely created. Post too little and you’ll be lost at random; Too much and you run the risk of disturbing your connections.
The name of the game found in the “Goldilocks Zone” on the far right.
Posting once a week gives a profile four times the number of clicks per share compared to those who do it less frequently. This kind of return is huge for driving engagement, because each post is an opportunity to connect with you.
Of course, there are limits, and posting more than once a day can quickly end your digital reception. So make sure each post is quality and worth first and foremost, but then provide a reasonable amount of space between them so that they have room to breathe.
Related: How do you know if you are creating quality content?
2. Use different formats
While a lot of success is possible with the classic text-only update, the LinkedIn algorithm nowadays prefers it when users shake their post format.
In particular, videos have taken the social media scene by storm in the last few years, and this is true on LinkedIn because video posts get three times more busy than text or image-based posts. This means that they are more likely to start conversations with your audience, which is what users should look for in their posts.
These don’t have to be full-length feature films, as they seem like a sweet spot for a platform of 15 seconds or less. Creating concise, impactful videos for your brand helps you stand out and serve as a natural springboard for user engagement.
3. Add a call to action
Even the most intriguing post will fail to generate a response if it does not contain a call to action. At the end of the post it might be a simple open-ended question like, “What do you think?” Consider this a welcome mat to let users know their opinions and use strong, proactive verbs here for best results.
Adding a call to action doesn’t take much, but it’s an essential element of engaging driving with your posts. Each post requires a call to action if you want to maximize the impact of content that you have already decided to create or share.
Related: The underrated ability to create LinkedIn content
4. Use tags (but not too many)
Tagging is a powerful tool on LinkedIn, because it can connect your posts with people and organizations around the world. Combined with quality content, it creates a web effect that can attract all kinds of attention from afar.
When scheduling your post content, add a sort of list of people who will be a good match as tags. Their posts need to be relevant to the topic and relatively small in number so that it does not feel spammy.
A good rule of thumb is that at least 50% of the tagged links respond to the post. If you haven’t met this metric, it’s best to rethink your tagging goals and strategies.
5. Turn on creator mode
LinkedIn launched its “Creator Mode” feature in March 2021. Enabling this on your profile is an easy way to get involved with your posts.
In essence, it shifts your profile to be more content-oriented than the default mode, and it will feature a suite of your recent posts, related topics, and other options. It’s designed to build your community around followers rather than connections, an audience that is eager to hear and hear from experts in their field.
This tends to favor those who create their own posts instead of sharing, so be aware of this change before making a change. For those who want to be a thoughtful leader in their field, though, this is an important step that adds legitimacy and reaches a profile.
Driving engagement on LinkedIn may seem like a daunting task for some, but once you work and work internally with these simple tips in mind, you will be skating smoothly and gathering all kinds of valuable connections.
