Five LinkedIn mistakes that are killing your posts — and how to quickly get thousands of eyes on your content
Most people are using LinkedIn wrong.
The vast majority of posts get very few views — and even less engagement (likes/comments).
The problem is that LinkedIn is a unique platform with its own algorithm. Unless you understand some basic rules about how the platform works, then all that energy and effort you put into generating content will be wasted.
Here are five things you need to avoid if you want to get eyes on your content on LinkedIn.
1. Don’t share other people’s content
Sharing other people’s content on LinkedIn is a waste of time — 90% of the time, every time.
Take a quick scroll through your LinkedIn feed and you’ll immediately see what I mean. Most of your connections are re-sharing other people’s content without adding any original thought or insight of their own. Very few of those re-shares will have substantial engagement.
Why is this?
- Re-shares generally get about 10 -15% fewer views than other forms of content. The LinkedIn algorithm seems to prefer original, organic content, rather than repurposed content.
- People don’t tend to comment on re-shares. Instead, people prefer to comment on posts that other people have already commented on.
- It’s damaging for your personal brand — you want to build your profile around your own, original thoughts, not the content of other people.
How to fix it
I get that you might want to share an occasional clever article from HBR or show your company loyalty by promoting their blog.
But before you recklessly smash the re-share button, take a second to think of an original sentence or two that you can add to the top of the post. Sprinkle some original fairy dust on the top of that old idea and — wollah! — you’ve got yourself some brand new content for the platform to chew up.
Once you’ve discarded hapless re-sharing from your LinkedIn strategy, you’ll need to think about developing original content. That’s where big no-no number two comes in…
2. Don’t just sell
When you start creating original content, it can be tempting to talk a lot about your product, your company or your accomplishments. That’s called selling.
And don’t get me wrong, you should do some selling — we’re all in business here. A bit of back-patting and humble-bragging is good for your soul and no one‘s gonna do it for you.
But selling yourself or your company isn’t a great long term strategy for building an audience on LinkedIn.
How to fix it
Posts that get the most engagement on LinkedIn will do one or more of the following three things:
- Educate — what information can you provide people that will help them?
- Inspire — what stories can you share that will motivate your audience?
- Entertain — Got a funny story or professional-friendly meme? We all love someone who can make us laugh.
Importantly, there’s a mindset that goes along with creating posts that educate, inspire and entertain. It’s the mindset of adding value.
Every time you create content on LinkedIn, ask yourself — how does this benefit people? What value am I adding to my audience? And am I educating, inspiring or entertaining my network?
As you move away from selling yourself and towards adding value, you will no doubt see a huge spike in engagement with your posts.
At which point, you’ll need to implement the next two quick tips to ensure your great, original content isn’t getting killed by the algorithm.
3. Don’t include links in your posts
There are plenty of times when you might want to post a link on your feed. But it can be a fruitless exercise unless you follow one simple rule:
Post your link in the first comment.
Your post will reach more people and score a better click-through rate if you post your link in the first comment, rather than in the body of the post itself.
I’m not 100% sure why this is the case, but I know it’s true — and you can check out this interesting experiment from GrowthRocks for more detail.
One theory is that LinkedIn (and other social media platforms) wants to keep users on their site. They don’t want to promote content that will drive people away from LinkedIn and onto other websites.
Posting your link in the comments may also help stimulate conversation and engagement, as people are more likely to comment on posts with existing comments.
And once you’ve cut the links from your posts, you can pick up another quick win by posting at the right times.
4. Don’t post at the wrong times
This might not sound like a mind-boggling, transformational tip, but it’s surprising how few people actually think about timing their posts.
While different audiences will use LinkedIn at different times, you can safely assume that a professional audience is less likely to see your post during work hours.
Most people find success posting:
- Tuesday to Thursday
- 8am — 2pm
- Not on weekends or outside business hours
Timing your post is an important part of improving your reach — and it’s not hard to do. A little shift around timing can make a big difference.
Which leads us to the final point…
5. Don’t just follow the rules
Understanding the unique dynamics of LinkedIn will help set your posts apart from the noise.
But playing by the rules will only get you so far. To quickly grow a valuable audience, your posts need to be original. In my experience, original content is about values.
Values make valuable content
Everything you post should be underpinned by the fundamental values that mark your personal brand. Ask yourself:
- Who are you? What do you stand for? What do you care about? How do you want to show up to others?
- Who are your customers/clients? How do they relate to you? What do they care about? What problems are they wrestling with? How can you help?
These are big questions, for sure. But if you can’t answer them, then you don’t have much of a personal brand.
As a result, your posts will lack substance, consistency, authenticity and originality. And people can sense that — even via their LinkedIn feed.
Don’t just follow the rules. Do the hard work of really figuring out who you are and how you add value to your network.
When you do that, your posts will come to life and your LinkedIn network will take notice, and your audience will grow rapidly.
