Every week, three billion people compete for a spot on a LinkedIn feed.
That means fighting three billion other creators for a target audience’s attention.
How can your content come out on top? The answer might be simpler then you think.
Carve Communications (author's agency) has worked with dozens of founders and executives on their LinkedIn thought leadership strategies. In that time, it's learned that breaking through the noise can be as easy as avoiding these four mistakes.
LinkedIn Mistake #1: Reposting Consistently.
The more obvious mistake to call out here is posting inconsistently, period. Posting once or twice per month won’t grow an audience.
But worse than not posting consistently? Serial reposting.
A repost does more work for the original creator than for the reposter. If someone simply clicks the repost button and calls it a day, all eyes still land on the post's original feed.
That’s not to say one should never repost. If the goal is to support a fellow creator, hit that repost button and add a few lines of copy. But if there's a larger point-of-view (POV) or response, create an original post instead. Then tag the creator or upload a picture of the original post. That way, LinkedIn sees and rewards the user for imparting fresh thoughts to an audience.
Posting original content consistently helps achieve content, audience and reach goals faster.
LinkedIn Mistake #2: The Content is Promotion-First, Not Thought-First.
Everyone has heard versions of this from potential clients before:
“Our problem isn’t content—it’s getting our content seen.”
And after doing a content audit, a lot of promotional content is revealed. They may be posts that say “We’re hiring!” or “Our webinar is next Tuesday!”
While these posts are necessary, they're self-promotional and don't serve a target audience. Here's what does:
- Industry stories that intrigue an audience and start conversation.
- Bold POVs that challenge an audience or meet a moment or trend in time.
- Advice that helps an audience break down complexity in their jobs and lives.
Eighty percent of a feed should be dedicated to true thought leadership content. Promotional content can be the other 20%.
Focusing on thought leadership first allows a page or person to build trust. When trust is the foundation of a feed, the audience will care exponentially more about those promotional moments.
LinkedIn Mistake #3: Forgetting the Algorithm.
There’s nothing more frustrating than investing time and effort into content that never gets seen or only noticed by the same few people.
If this happens to the content, some food for thought: Is it working with the LinkedIn algorithm?
There are many “rules” at play behind a feed, and it’s important to not unknowingly work against them.
For example:
- Tagging individuals that never interact reduces reach.
- Posting multiple times within 24 hours lessens views.
- Posting-and-ghosting decreases the visibility of a posts in others’ feeds. After posting, stay and interact with creators in the feed.
The algorithm should not dictate everything in a LinkedIn content strategy. But when one knows how the game works, one knows when to break a few rules.
LinkedIn Mistake #4: Ignoring the Biggest Secret Weapon…YOU.
Embrace the social networking aspect of LinkedIn. Be social. The most successful LinkedIn posts pull back the curtain on the person behind the posts.
Brands and individuals should share stories of success and failure, or what they are excited about for the future. Muse about milestone moments. Even travel updates or team pictures can go far. Give the audience a reason to stop scrolling and connect.
Don’t overthink it. Not everything needs to be connected to a life lesson. Some posts can just be fun.
Standing out on LinkedIn is attainable, especially by avoiding these four mistakes. Now go create fresh, bold content—because that will catch an audience’s attention, every time.
Ashton Mathai is Associate Director of Content at Carve Communications.