How to share new LinkedIn posts with your followers

Posting on LinkedIn is similar to posting on Facebook. Write an update, and send it right? Well, Not quite. LinkedIn has a few extra features that you can use to make sure that your post gets to the audience it was intended for.

It is important to make sure that you have good quality content to share and share content regularly. Getting engagement is often difficult across social media as people scroll by. However, tagging someone with their name in a post is more likely to foster engagement from the person you have tagged.

You can use hashtags to demonstrate the topic of the post. Hashtags will ensure that your content is found when searching for the hashtag, and the algorithm will also recognise the hashtag and surface it in searches.

Rich media, i.e. posts with video and images are more likely to get engagement and clicks compared to text postings – as well as thought leadership posts looking forward in your industry. We all want to know what will happen next.

Commenting on newsworthy topics will highlight you as a thought leader in the field and bring followers to hear your thoughts about the industry.

To post an update, click in the ‘Start a post’ dialog box at the top of your page on the LinkedIn desktop. You will see that you can adjust the audience for the post.

You can share the post with anyone on or off LinkedIn, only your followers, or a particular group you are a member of. If you select the Groups option – a list of all of the groups you are a member of appears for you to choose which group to post to.

If you have connected your Twitter account to Twitter you can also share your post with your Twitter followers.

You can choose to share the post with your connections only – which makes this visible to all of your first-degree connections across LinkedIn.

You can share other content in addition to mere text. You can click the camera icon to share photos, or the video icon to share videos. If videos are your thing, keep them short and snappy with a great opening sentence, and keep the video to under two minutes if possible.

How to improve LinkedIn engagement

Videos are great for you to share tips about your industry, showcase events you attend or make your point with a demo. These videos do not need to be professionally shot. Hold your phone camera, point it at your face, hit record, and start talking. It is a good idea to use an external microphone and head[hones if possible to get a clearer sound.

You can also share documents across LinkedIn – a great way to get corporate information to your followers.

You can click on the ‘Write Article’ icon to publish posts on your company page – or a page you manage. Remember, headlines are important, so craft them well. If you wouldn’t click on the headline, then there’s a chance that no one else will too. Keep headlines punchy, concise, and meaningful, which will drive more clicks.

Try not to write articles that are too short – or too verbose either. The best articles are between 500 and 1000 words long for the best engagement.

Schedule your posts

A nifty feature recently introduced in LinkedIn is the ability to schedule posts. If you batch up your posts and want to make sure that they are sent out regularly, then use the scheduling clock icon in the post window to make sure that the post is sent at the time you choose.

LinkedIn topics

So what could you write about? With the raft of layoffs across the tech industry, I have seen a lot of posts from previously laid-off employees offering advice on how to get through the practicalities of a layoff. The posts explain practical things you need to do to maintain connectivity with your co-workers (hint – back up your contacts list so you always have the details of your co-workers – ad make sure that your LinkedIn profile is up to date).

I even saw a post about one of my former colleagues talking about his struggle with his mental health after being let go, and what he had done to mitigate the feeling of not being valued. Posts like these could resonate with your connections who might be struggling too and may appreciate your insights if you have been through a similar event.

With the right tools like a mobile device camera and microphone, you can quickly become an engaging expert on LinkedIn. Sharing insights about your work, and events and engaging the audience will drive more viewers to your profile – and extend your reach.

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