LinkedIn is a world-leading professional networking site. It connects industry leaders, helps people find jobs, and much more.
Alongside these things the platform serves as a tool for establishing thought leadership.
Currently, there are over 610 million LinkedIn users. Only 3 million of them share content every week. That’s only 0.5% of the whole LinkedIn force.
Do you feel the opportunity here?
There are some simple steps you can take to improve your content marketing strategy on LinkedIn.
In this blog post, we will show you exactly how to be a content guru on LinkedIn.
Optimize for search
Your profile is more than a digital resume. To build strong connections and be at the top of your industry you shouldn’t focus only on
Spice up your profile
The first thing that people look at is your profile design. Except for the headline, summary and experience sections, what else is there?
The profile photo and cover image are the keys to optimizing your aesthetics. They help people recognize you and hopefully you may appeal to them.
Are looks important? You tell me.
Use keywords the right way
Keywords are the key to beating platforms’ algorithms.
Don’t overstuff your profile with keywords. Rather use the most relevant to the skills you are offering. Avoid generic terms like “General Manager,” “Entrepreneur,” or “Marketing Director”. They are less likely to be searched.
Here’s one trick you can use.
- Go to “Jobs” and type in your desired keywords
- Choose one of the many jobs
- Read the job description, responsibilities and requirements for each post. You will notice that some words continue to appear in several publications. They will serve you as keywords.
Job description - Use the keywords you choose in the title, summary, experience, and content when applicable.
Create engaging content
You can publish a wide variety of content from different media on LinkedIn:
- Personal profile
- Company page
- Groups
- Direct messages
- Emails
- Other peoples’ content
Google likes long-form content and ranks it higher. And guess what? LinkedIn does like it too.
It turns out that smart businessmen and women like to read high quality and engaging content. Recent studies state that there are 3 million long-form posts written on LinkedIn, with 130,000 long-form posts generated per week.
People want pieces of content that give good advice, tips, and value. Keep that in mind!
According to the numbers again, 6 out of every 10 LinkedIn users are interested in industry insights. That’s the most demanded type of content among the user of this platform.
Second, in terms of industry, the company news attracts 53% of LinkedIn members. New products and services occupy third place by popularity, with 43% interested in this type of content.
One thing you can do is take a piece of content from other sources, re-write it and then publish it. We’re not promoting plagiarism. You’ll have to do a bit of research and then re-write.
Headlines are going to kill you or save you
Here is an interesting fact – most people share and comment on the article based on its’ headline. The headline helps them determine if the content is worthy. The same thing applies to LinkedIn.
Think about it for a second. What makes you decide to open an email/article/post?
The headline does.
Based on BuzzSumo research these are the top choices:
- How to…
- The future of…
- You need to…
- Why you should…
- Can learn from…
BuzzSumo recommends sticking to two main thoughts:
- Success, what successful people have done to achieve it, how can you use tips for building success.
- Write about industry trends or other news topics that are at the top of your potential customers’ minds.
Use numbers or controvert a famous opinion
People love big numbers. They create the extra intrigue that‟s needed to turn peoples‟ heads.
That BIG number grabs your attention and makes you want to know their secret. Our next favorite headline tactic is to give contrarian advice.
There are established clichés and rules. When you go against a famous opinion the audience needs to take a second look and see what‟s inside.
Let‟s look up at the stats that were mentioned before. There are over 130,000 new pieces of content going up on LinkedIn each week.
Use the headline’s power to stand out from the crowd.
Post to LinkedIn multiple times per day
On average, the best time to post on LinkedIn is between 3 pm and 5 pm CDT on Wednesday. Other high platform-operating times are between 8 AM and 10 AM CDT on Tuesday, 10 AM and 12 PM CDT on Wednesday, and 1 PM and 3 PM CDT on Thursday.
During these periods, people are getting ready for work, starting the day, enjoying their afternoon break, or going home.
The data mentioned above suggest that the day with the highest engagement is Wednesday. Other best performing days are Tuesday and Thursday. The rest of the week is with the lowest engagement rates.
What is the point to post when your audience is sleeping? There’s none. Learn to be timing ninja and keep your people informed on time.
Repost
To beat the LinkedIn algorithms you‟ll have to publish a lot of content. Many high-performing accounts strategy is formed of 90% republishing. Some of them have never created completely original pieces for the platform.
Don‟t worry about duplicate content issues or the impact on organic search rankings. Make sure you leave a note that links to the original article and everything will be fine.
Google can understand which the source is and which the copy is.
Repost your content
The big secret for getting engaged is quite simple.
Post a few times a day. Every few hours if possible.
And while this raises concerns about duplicate content issues in the previous paragraph we said that this is the best tactic.
The “repost” strategy applies to your publications as well. A widespread technique is making two pieces of content out of one. Here is how:
- Publish the original article with a brief outline.
- After 3-5 hours repost it with different copy
The original one will have 2-4 times more engagement. However, the second will give a chance to the late viewers to read the article.
Network your way to success
One of the best ways to step up your content marketing game is networking.
Participate in groups. They are your ticket to building relationships with like-minded people. You can also show your experience with specific topics.
How to find the best groups
The perfect group for you are the ones in your industry, region or related to your job. If you find a combination, you will probably make the most of it.
Join a few groups and start engaging in discussions. Share your content, ask questions, be social.
Connect with members of the group. They’ve to be beneficial to talk to or know long-term.
Aside from the obvious benefit of knowing this person, approaching a shared group membership makes you look less like a stranger and it’s more likely to consider you as “one of my people.”
Conclusion
LinkedIn is ideal for B2B companies. Content marketing can be your secret weapon, especially if you are chasing upper management.
LinkedIn members love industry trends and analytics. Combine this data with an eye-catching headline to get it picked up by Groups, Influencers, and The Pulse Network.
To sum it up you have to:
- Create an appealing profile
- Define your audience
- Create engaging content
- Use industry insights, numbers and company news
- Post, post, post
- Make new friends
Don’t try to create a 100% unique thing. See what works, do research and add your unique voice.
Add these tips into your marketing strategy and get ready for overwhelming success. What are your LinkedIn tips and tricks?
