I’m always looking for ways to grow my network and have more meaningful, relevant conversations in LinkedIn. I’m not fond of the batch messages with sales promos and cold calls in my LinkedIn inbox. Some people promote this, and it works because it’s a numbers game.
You throw enough darts at a dart board, and you’re bound to get a bullseye some time, right?
That’s how I view cold call messages and to me, that’s a very ineffective way to get a customer.
LinkedIn is starting to crack down on this too by limiting the number of connection requests you can send each week. The latest I’ve read is 100 new requests a week. However, it is measured by your current activity, so if you have a spike in activity, it alerts LinkedIn that you may be using it for sales, and they want you to upgrade to a paid program. Who can blame them? They offer such an awesome product for free for most of us.
What do you do to increase your engagement and attract more prospects?
I was doing some research on LinkedIn, and here’s exactly what they recommend (I love it when it comes directly from them):
“1) Treat each post as a conversation. Our algorithm optimizes for great conversations. Try posting things that encourage a response and make sure you’re replying back to each comment to keep your audience engaged.”
My Tip: Yes!! Don’t post and then ghost your followers. That does not build relationships and you are missing out on the people who are interested in what you have to say. Comment back with more than 5 words to get the algorithm going. Make them meaningful comments, don’t just say “thank you.” If you can ask another question and get the dialogue going, that’s the best approach.
“2) Post Frequently. Plan to post at least 4x a week so your audience can continue to stay engaged. It’s important to get your thoughts out there and let your audience help you shape your next post, whether through video, articles or posts.”
My Tip: Share your knowledge on LinkedIn. It’s a great place to give value. Repurpose your ideas. Don’t just use one form of posts, use all the types you can. I love starting with articles (like this) because it gives me a month worth of content. I can go deeper into any of these ideas and also share them in different formats like e-books, posts, and video. Get more longevity with your ideas. Heck, I even turn them into speeches and trainings.
Step into your role as Thought Leader, Trusted Advisor and Industry Resource.
“3) Use hashtags and @mentions. Include relevant and niche hashtags and @mentions in your post to reach the right people and encourage engagement. Try going as specific as possible for increased exposure (#TED2021 vs. #marketing).”
LinkedIn gives you a hashtag best practices guide to get more advice. Click here for the guide.
My Tip: Use 3-4 hashtags in your posts, but do not overdue it. I see posts that have so many hashtags, there is no content. When people do that, their audience glazes over and after a few times, no-one pays attention to the posts. Overloading hashtags is not giving value.
One thing I love to do is to tag people (using the @theirname) in a post when I’m in a virtual networking meeting, or when I want to feature someone’s great work in my posts. What I don’t like to do is tag a bunch of random people to get into the newsfeeds of their audiences.
“4) Diversify your content types. Between articles, videos and documents you have a lot of tools you can use to communicate with your audience. Remember to try a mix of things to see what works best for your audience. Don’t be afraid to use more than one format!”
My Tip: A media mix is always the best way to go. There are pros to each different type of content. Articles have their own unique URL so they are searchable on Google, and research shows that high level decision makers are article readers. Text only posts seem to get the more views. Documents are my hidden weapon because not too many people use them, they get massive views, and people have to physically engage with them to turn the pages.
In addition, people like to learn in different ways. Some like to read, some like to watch video, others like to listen to audio. If you have a mix, you will encourage engagement from all types of learners.
“5) Focus on niche topics. Members are more interested in going deep on topics they’re interested in. We consistently see better conversation around niche ideas (#performancemanagement) than broad one (#management).
My Tip: This is such a great suggestion. My posts can get over 3,000 views when I am posting about a specific topic, for example, creating a 30 second elevator pitch was very popular, as was the document managing your time after work. Go deep on a specific topic and you’ll have a home run!
If you get stuck, using online tools like SEM Rush’s Keyword Magic Tool or AnswerThePublic.com will allow you to access questions people are asking about your topic. Use the information you get to put your spin, opinion, or opposite reaction to the subjects you find.
“6) Expand your reach off of LinkedIn. Consider sharing you LinkedIn content (especially your long-form articles) on other platforms where you may have an audience.”
My Tip: Heck Yes! When I publish an article, I always share the link from LinkedIn to Facebook and Twitter. I also use the article for my email marketing list. I’m investing the time into giving my advice, suggestions, and tips, I want to share ideas with as many people as possible. A few might see it on multiple platforms and that’s great… that give my message frequency.
So, what about you? What ideas are you taking away from this article? What’s the one thing you are going to implement into your content marketing strategy?
I would love to hear back from you. Hit reply and let me know!
Cheers,
Jennifer