Your LinkedIn Content Guide for 2022

Linkedin is easily the best social media for professional networking, B2B, and employer branding – after all, that’s what it has been designed for.

However, the platform can offer businesses much more – it can be used in client prospecting, thought-leadership, building a reputation in your industry, and showing your company values.

With the right Linkedin content strategy, you can do all this, all the while nurturing a community of loyal partners, clients, and followers!

And yet, there are many brands that don’t use its potential to the fullest, because they only see it as an overcomplicated recruitment tool.

More often than not, the root of their issues is that they find it difficult to come up with things to post on Linkedin, as the platform is very different to other social media networks.

If you tend to experience similar issues or often struggle with ideas for your posts, fret not!

In this article, we’ll provide a Linkedin content guide that will help you create a strategy, grow your following, and boost your presence.

Read on and take notes!

How to Create a Linkedin Content Strategy

To successfully build a following on Linkedin and keep up the engagement, first, you need to create a content strategy.

Furthermore, you need to be consistent in your approach and stay active.

That’s because if you publish regularly and manage to attract the attention of your audience, they may start to obtain the feeling that they know you.

Regardless of whether those are potential clients, partners, or talent, this will create a bond between you that will lay the foundation of your relationship.

If an opportunity arises to approach them, they will be more likely to choose you over a competitor, because you’ll seem more familiar and trustworthy.

How to create a Linkedin content strategy which helps you accomplish that?

Let’s have a look:

1. Know Your Audience

As with any other business strategy, this one should start with knowing your audience.

You should research what your Linkedin followers care about, what they like and dislike, what types of native posts they engage with, what types of content resonate with them, and what public figures and businesses they follow.

It’s best to build three overall personas to target:

• A potential client
• A potential business partner
• A potential employee

Understanding the profiles of these groups of people will help you to create well-targeted content, and boost your chances of engagement.

2. Set Goals

The main goal of your campaign should be engagement. This includes reactions and shares, of course, but the focus should fall on the comments.

On Linkedin, once a user comments on a post, it is automatically featured on their profile, and their friends can see it.

The more people that comment on your posts, the more engagement they will have and the more people will see them and may be compelled to comment as well.

These types of discussions will not only boost your presence and, potentially, increase your following, but will also provide valuable insight into your audience’s attitude towards topics that matter to you.

When setting goals, you should also consider the type of image and branding you are after – whether you are looking to attract new partners, impress others in your industry or show yourself as a thought leader.

You should align the content you publish with these goals, and may even consider building separate strategies to pursue them.

3. Figure out Your Brand Personality

As mentioned, Linked in is all about building professional relationships and showing who you are as a brand.

To that end, it’s a good idea to have a well-defined brand personality.

This way, you are more likely to attract exactly the type of followers you need and want – those who identify with your brand and share the same values, ethics, ideas, interests, and goals.

While your brand personality is more or less a fictional character, you should still stay true to yourself and avoid misrepresentation. Otherwise, you risk setting up the wrong expectations and disappointing people once they get to know you.

This is especially important when it comes to employer branding because it can lead to high employee turnover, and, as a result, cause performance issues for your business.

4. Plan What Types of Content to Publish

To stay on the radar of your followers, you should regularly publish engaging posts.

To that end, it’s advisable to list a few types of Linkedin content that you feel comfortable creating, and create workflows.

This includes who is responsible for creating the text and the visuals, who will monitor the analytics, who will respond to comments, etc.

Also, once you start publishing regularly, you should keep an eye out to see what types of content elicit the most engagement, and strive to recreate them in the future.

By following the analytics and real-time responses of your followers, you can obtain a better idea of your audience and adjust your content strategy accordingly.

5. Create a Publishing Schedule

The best way to maintain consistency in your Linkedin content is to create a publishing schedule.

This will allow you to plan what content to publish and when, and create a content calendar based on your goals and objectives.

Also, with a schedule in place, you are less likely to run out of content ideas to post, because you will be able to better oversee the process and plan your efforts accordingly.

What to Post on Linkedin: 9 Engaging Post Ideas

Linkedin content can be difficult to come up with.

That’s because, as mentioned, more often than not, businesses are not sure how to approach the platform and its specifics. The confusion comes from the fact that Linkedin is different from other types of social networks – it’s strictly professional.

And finding the correct balance between staying professional with your content and making it engaging can be challenging.

Here are 9 types of Linkedin content to consider including in your strategy:

1. Write Native Articles

Linkedin has a built-in feature for posting native articles.

You can use it to create original local content, or you can repurpose existing pieces you already have on your blog.

However, when repurposing, keep in mind that Linkedin pages rank in the SERPs just like any other page. This means that you shouldn’t directly copy-paste, otherwise, you risk duplicating content.

What you can do instead is provide a different version of it, such as, for example, focusing on highlights, statistics, and/or on a different angle entirely.

In your Linkedin article, you can link to the original page on your website and suggest that readers who want to learn more about the topic can follow the link.

Furthermore, in order for your Linkedin content to rank well in searches, it should also follow the best SEO optimization practices. That means that while the platform may take care of the technical stuff, you still have to pay attention to keywords, content structure, and quality.

2. Reshare Your Blog Posts

Linkedin is a great place to promote your business blog and reshare your posts.

 

You can publish them with a short description that may include a quote from the article, pertinent information, and/or some additional thoughts that you’d like to share with your audience.

Furthermore, you can use the post to invite your followers to express their opinions on the matter, say whether they agree or disagree with the ideas presented, and comment on whether they have anything else to add.

This way, you increase your chances of starting a discussion and boosting engagement.

And the more engagement you have, the more people will see your post and, potentially, click on your link.

As a result, you will increase both your Linkedin engagement and website traffic.

3. Repurpose Your Posts into Slides

Linkedin slides, a.k.a. presentations and documents, are a native format that allows you to upload a premade document or presentation, and publish it together with the relevant text and hashtags.

These types of posts, more often than not, have high engagement and click-through rates, because they provide information in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Furthermore, to interact with the content, the user doesn’t have to leave the platform, which is a huge benefit.

You can create such posts by using information from your blog articles – just pull the highlights and create the visuals based on them. Or you can make available to your audience relevant documents, statistics, insights, etc.

You can even use the format to create a sort of live-action meme by posting images or comics that follow a mini-plot.

Before you start using the format, consider creating a template that can be utilized in similar types of posts, such as, for example, blog articles.

For better consistency, the visuals should align with your overall branding. This will boost the recognition of your publications and can, potentially, positively affect engagement, Linkedin branding, and authority.

4. Reshare Interesting Third-Party Content

When you come across information that may be relevant to your audience in one way or another, you should consider resharing it.

This may include industry insights, inspiring stories by other brands, interesting information, content that reaffirms your values and ethics, and, practically, anything that you think may resonate with your followers.

If the information was originally published by a brand or person that you are connected to on Linkedin, you should consider @mentioning them in your post and sharing your thoughts.

This way, you show that you not only respect them, but your publication will become visible to their followers as well.

5. Post Job Opportunities

Let’s not forget that Linkedin is still a place that brands and professionals often use to hire employees and/or find talent.

Therefore, whenever you have a new vacancy, you should consider creating a post about it that explains what the position entails and who to approach if a candidate is interested.

If you want to shake things up a little, you can talk about your work culture, awesome team, and the benefits that potential employees can look forward to.

This way, you can express your brand identity, boost your employer branding, and attract like-minded people.

6. Create Videos

As with any other social media network, videos are growing popular on Linkedin as well.

However, keep in mind that the format is not that commonly used, and may not deliver the same engagement as other content choices that feel more organic.

Nevertheless, it is still worth experimenting with. You can see how your audience reacts, and decide whether to pursue your video efforts based on the results.

Some viable video ideas to consider include, but are not limited to:

• Live video from events relevant to your business and industry.
• Interviews with team members, industry experts, and other interesting people.
• How-to videos that are pertinent to your product and service.
• Repurposed videos from other social platforms.
• Content showcasing your culture, team, and brand.

7. Publish an Inspirational Story

If you are relatively active on Linkedin, you probably know what we mean by an inspirational story – we’ve seen a lot of those in the past few years.

Of course, as Linkedin is a professional network, it’s advisable that the information is relevant to your business, or at the very least to your area of business in general. However, sometimes just sharing a piece of information or a story that can inspire a person’s day is enough.

After all, while the people on Linkedin are professionals, they are still humans. Showing a different perspective and your human side can help you build a stronger relationship.

That said, try not to overdo it with these types of posts because they can annoy some professionals.

8. Create Polls

 

Polls are a great way to learn more about your audience.

You can use them to gauge their knowledge on topics in order to provide targeted content and fill in information gaps. Or you can collect information on industry-relevant topics and use it in your business and marketing strategies.

Furthermore, as the choices you can provide in a poll are limited, these types of posts usually have a high engagement in the comment section as well. If people don’t find their answer as an option, they are more likely to express their opinions – which you should also encourage them to do regardless of the action taken.

Once the poll is closed, if it resonates with your audience, the results are also likely to become the main topic of discussion.

What people say can provide valuable insights, so monitor the comments and make sure to always answer or, at least, react to each and every one of them.

9. Write Comments and Join Discussions

While comments are not exactly a stand-alone format, they are one of the most important forms of Linkedin content.

They allow you to build connections with other brands and creators in your industry, as well as with potential customers.

For example, when conducting client prospecting, you can introduce yourself and your brand to viable leads, and show them your expertise.

As a result, later on, when you reach out to them, you won’t be a complete stranger if they decide to do business with you.

Of course, for this approach to be successful, you have to be subtle about it and avoid imposing on the person – after all, you don’t want to come off as a stalker.

Aside from that, as mentioned, writing a comment automatically makes the post visible to your audience. This means that if for some reason you don’t want to share a particular post, you can just write a response.

Bottom Line

Linkedin can be a powerful tool in your business strategy, reputation management, and employer branding.

However, for your profile to be effective you have to post the type of content that engages your followers.

Each audience is unique, so don’t be afraid to experiment with different formats to see what works, causes a reaction and the types of engagement they elicit.

When you figure out the best types of Linkedin content for your business, you can build a community, rather than just a following.