11 hacks for writing more engaging LinkedIn posts

More than 50% of all social media traffic to business websites comes from LinkedIn.

It’s an excellent lead generator for your business, so if it’s not part of your marketing strategy, I’d strongly suggest adding it.

I’ve been actively using LinkedIn for a while now. It’s safe to say I’ve tried every strategy there is. I’ve crafted posts that got over 93,000 views, & some that fell flat. My network scaled from just over 900 connections to just under 6,000 (a 495% increase), and it keeps growing.

Here’s what’s worked to get my connections to engage & build my LinkedIn profile: 

1. Keep it simple. Stick to plain text

I’ve had great success using plain text posts, so that’s what I advocate. You don’t need all the bells and whistles. You don’t need fancy imagery or slick videos.

You just need a great message. An “aha moment”—if you like.

So before writing anything, be clear in your mind about: 

• What’s the point of your post?
• How will it benefit your connections?

2. Add emojis to your posts

To be honest, adding emojis to my LinkedIn posts isn’t something I’d typically do. But the reality is they help to highlight ideas and make your content more digestible, so I’ve become more conscious about including them.

Adding emojis can help make your post stand out. 

• They break up walls of text.
• They show your personality.
• They add color to your post.

BUT don’t go crazy when inserting emojis. There is such a thing as too much.

3. Write a killer headline

Believe it or not, you’ve got roughly two seconds to catch the eye of a user. So you need a headline (or opening statement) that makes them pause and think, I’ve got to know more.

Tap into your inner journalist and focus on packing a punch. I’ve found the following to work really well on LinkedIn.

• Statistics
• Inspirational or motivational quotes
• Questions
• How-to offerings
• Humor
• Compelling statements
• Clickbait headlines

4. Open with a story

Whether you’re in B2B or B2C, you’re dealing with humans, and they respond to shared experiences. 

By opening with a story, you create a sense of kinship and instantly become more relatable.

So many of my most effective marketing campaigns come back to human-to-human marketing.

5. Break up walls of text

Walls of text can be intimidating, whereas single sentences are easy to digest and easy on the eye. I like to write in short sentences that can be understood by a 14-year-old.

You’ll want to include three or four hard paragraph breaks between your headline and opening sentence. This creates intrigue. By not being able to see the next sentence, the user has to click on the see more button.

6. @Mention well-known connections

Get new eyes on your post by @mentioning someone, particularly someone notable. It helps if you've already formed a relationship with this person. Maybe this person was influential to your business or your career. Perhaps they shared valuable advice, wrote a book or featured you on their podcast, whatever.

The goal is to get them to respond to or comment on your post. If they do this, your LinkedIn post is more likely to appear in their connections feed.

7. Give specific instructions

Now that you've shared your wisdom you need to tell the reader what to do next.

• Do you want them to comment?
• Do you want them to like your post?
• Do you want them to answer a question?
• Do you want them to share it with someone who might benefit from reading it? (This is a great way to build your network.)

Giving specific instructions encourages engagement. You’re starting a two-way conversation, and beginning to build a relationship. From my experience, the posts that give specific instructions outperform those that don’t. 

8. Always end by asking a question

When you close your post with a question, you encourage commenting, which is critical for three reasons:

1. LinkedIn rewards posts with comments.
2. Posts with more comments have a higher chance of trending.
3. Trending posts are more likely to appear in the feeds of 2nd- and 3rd-degree connections.

Also, asking your connections for their viewpoint is flattering. 

9. Share some intellectual property (IP)

I recently started doing this at the urging of my good friend and LinkedIn expert consultant Paul Higgins, and the results have been great.

But what is intellectual property (IP)? 

IP is a piece of content that you’ve created based on your professional experience. Think of it as the “gold standard” of how to do something. It’s based on facts and results.

You can upload:

• A checklist
• Scripts for inbound messaging
• How-to guides
• Instructional videos
• A press release template

As long as you have something of value to share, don’t be afraid to put it on LinkedIn.

10. Add up to 10 hashtags

Hashtags are a great way to reach an audience outside your network. I recommend using up to ten, and it's a good idea to create a branded hashtag.

You’ll also want to choose a mixture of niche and well-known hashtags. You can find these by typing a word or phrase into the search bar. LinkedIn also suggests hashtags based on the content within your post.

11. Don't include a link to an external site in your post

Don't link to external site. LinkedIn will punish you, and the results will be low engagement and poor views.

LinkedIn wants to keep you on its site as long as possible, so if you’re linking to your website, a podcast, article, YouTube clip, whatever, your post will suffer.

Instead, I like to mention in the post that they can find the link to the site in the comments section. I’ll also ask my connections to like that comment, so it stays on the top. 

In closing

Consistency is the key to growing your LinkedIn following. You have 1,300 characters to establish your authority, build rapport, and entice your audience to engage. Make it count. Craft your headline, tell a story, select emojis and hashtags carefully, ask questions, and be specific about what action you want your connections to take.

Most importantly, don’t forget to respond to any comments you get.

Write “TIPS” in the comments & we’ll send you our FREE infographic—The Top 11 Tips for Writing a Lead-Generating LinkedIn Post.

To read the original article and see the full list of tips click here.