6 Best Practices for LinkedIn Content Marketing
LinkedIn is no longer a job-hunting platform, and that's why we decided to talk about LinkedIn content marketing in this article.
After years of transformation, it has become the most active and valuable social media platform for developing thought leadership, industry leadership, and generating high-value leads. Correspondently, it has also produced a group of so-called influencers posting fluff, empty content, as well as a team of spammers shoveling pitches down people's throats.
Here are the things we plan to cover:
How LinkedIn's algorithm pushes valuable and relevant content
Content creation best practices
Connect with Your Audience and Their Goals
Understanding LinkedIn's Algorithm
If you're active enough on LinkedIn, you would have noticed that sometimes content posted weeks before remains on top of your feed. Why — you ask? The answer is simple.
LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes relevancy over recency.
You may very well see posts from days before on your “top” feed.
Your default feed view is set to "top" post. By top, it means the most relevant and engaging content from your network — or your network responded to.
So, how does the algorithm evaluate content relevancy, engagement level, and comprehensive value? Keep the following items in mind:
Account authority — an account with large followers and high average engagement outranks a less developed account. The same goes for LinkedIn profiles. An optimized profile with relevant information works better than a simple profile that serves as a resume.
Interest relevance — this is where LinkedIn's algorithm pulls content keywords, structure, media format, as well as hashtags to compare it to an audience's interest. Based on the result, the algorithm predicts engagement probability and decides whether and how to push the content.
First-hour performance — a post's engagement performance within an hour after the creation heavily affects the algorithm's content value evaluation. That is why many people belong to LinkedIn marketing pods, or growth pods, to boost each other's content through the algorithm.
Best Practices for LinkedIn Content
Now, let's talk about best practices for content creation on LinkedIn.
If you're an active LI user, then you've probably seen everything you need to see. Videos, LinkedIn live, polls, memes, gifs... The content format and style on LinkedIn in 2021 has developed as user's expectations for the platform grew.
Know Your Audience
With the various content trends popping up all over the place, it's easy to forget the fundamental principle of social media marketing:
Let your audience guide your content.
First, let's look at what LinkedIn itself has to say about its user intention:
“Because people invest time on LinkedIn, a proven approach is to help your audience perform their jobs better, answer questions, and help address pain points.”
LinkedIn users are looking for value, and different populations will have different ideas regarding what is valuable to them. Your audience doesn't need to be actively buying to gain value from your content — your goal here is not to sell, nor convert (as much as others may tell you otherwise!), but to build a relationship with other users so when the time is right, you become the person they approach for a solution.
Be Smart with Line Breaks
LinkedIn shows the first 140 characters of your post, then hides the rest after a "...more" button.
But did you know...
Emojis count as characters too.
These 140 characters don't have to be in the same paragraph.
If your entire post is somewhere around 140-150 characters, LinkedIn will show the whole thing.
You can force the "...more" to show up with a blank line break!
Use a forced line break to trigger user curiosity.
Learn to maneuver this character limit to create suspense and excitement among your audience. But also a good mix of short and long posts so people don't have to click to expand every time they see you on their feed.
Get Smart with Hashtags
Hashtags is a magic realm on LinkedIn. They help your content get discovered by a relevant audience, instead of blindly bet on algorithm ranking. Make sure your core posts — ones that are highly valuable for you and your goals, use one or two of the most popular hashtags on LinkedIn.
Diversify Your Content Format
There are two things you don't want on today's social media — boredom and predictability.
The solution to both is diversification of content.
Facebook used to be king when it comes to content format, but today, LinkedIn is nothing short. Currently, the content formats available to you on LinkedIn include:
Articles
Long-form posts (up to 3,000 characters)
Polls
Static images and gifs
Videos
LinkedIn Live
Except for LinkeIn Live, all users have full access to the remaining formats. Understand the pros and cons of each and maintain a good mix of all. That way, you can keep your audience entertained and always throw in a wild card for a bit surprise.
Tag, but Never Overtag
Many users underestimate the importance of tagging your networks in your post. This could be tagging company pages but also individual users.
You don't have to be in a giant marketing pod and be forced to respond to every single post for tagging to work. To start, simply focus on building targeted relationships with thought leaders in your industry. Join the conversation and make your voice familiar to the rest.
After you've established your presence and your style, start tagging people you've built relationship with. Only tag those who will find your content interest and can contribute to the discussion because once tagged, they will continue to get notifications on your thread until they remove the tag mannually.
Therefore, over-tagging, or inaccurate tagging not only wouldn't get you the traction and engagement you want, it may also annoy your valuable connection.
You're Not Done After Posting
Sounds familiar? "All you need to do is sharing value on your page."
Wrong.
LinkedIn is a social media platform, meaning the community is where it's at. And how to build a strong and active community? Through interactions.
If you think you're done once the content is posted, think twice. Comments are where conversations develop and valuable ideas are exchanged. Your comment section also affects how likely the algorithm thinks your content will sparkle meaningful engagement, which again, affect your post's visibility.
Some Final Thoughts
Did you find any of these best practices for LinkedIn content marketing helpful? These strategies are adaptable to both your personal profile and company page, so feel free to experiment and explore. When it comes to building a LinkedIn audience base, it's all about distinguishing yourself from the crowd with authenticity and undebatable value. And finally, keep in mind your community is what will help you grow beyond your limit. So give your connections the attention you'd want them to give back to you.
Also, the best way to see if your content optimization has been successful is by utilizing analytics. Digital marketing is a science, after all.