6 Ideas For Getting More Engagement From Your LinkedIn? Content

“I am publishing content on LinkedIn?, but just not getting any engagement.” is a popular refrain I hear. People want to know how to get more engagement with their posts, polls, articles and newsletters. Here are six ways you can help yourself.?

1) Grow your subscriber network

This is both remarkably obvious and remarkably overlooked. And it completely has to do with LinkedIn? algorithms. When we publish, LinkedIn? puts our content in front of a small percentage of our connections and followers, thought to be somewhere in the five to seven percent range. Let’s say you have 500 connections and followers. So LinkedIn? puts your content in front of, say, 30 people. If you get some good engagement, LinkedIn? will put it in front of more people.

Now if you instead had 500 subscribers, that is people who subscribe to your newsletter if you have one, or just to your content via ringing the bell on your profile, LinkedIn? promises that those 500 subscribers will be notified when you publish. That’s a huge advantage.?

Encouraging people to subscribe instead of just following you can make a huge difference in the number of people seeing your content.

2) Have your own voice?

When I write, I poke fun at just about everything, including myself. The comment I get more than any other about my writing is that I am different from most everyone else. I don’t write clinical boring prose, and I don’t just regurgitate LinkedIn? press releases. I write about what I think. I have opinions.

My main suggestion for most people is to write like you are speaking with a friend. Be engaging. Tell stories. Let your personality come out. Don’t be a robot.

If you come across as interesting and engaging, people will be more disposed to read and comment on your content.

3) Be a specialist?

Find your niche, the part of your work that really intrigues you and write about that. You do need it to have broad enough appeal though to attract the interest of enough people to be worthwhile. I suppose you could sum up what I do as being “studying the way LinkedIn? works, and helping people translate that into making LinkedIn? work for them.” I avoid parts of LinkedIn? that I think are flawed or have little value. You may have noticed I rarely mention LinkedIn? Groups (now there’s a topic for a future newsletter) and that’s because I don’t think they will help my clients and readers. I don’t try to be everything. You shouldn’t either.?

4) Be regular

It’s hard for people to comment when you don’t publish something for them to comment on. If you have problems coming up with ideas, sign up for ChatGPT and use it to come up with ideas. It’s a terrific tool for people with writer’s block. Just don’t use it for the finished article. That’s your voice, as I mentioned above.?

Also being a regular publisher helps people set expectations. I usually publish on LinkedIn? every second Tuesday or Wednesday. If I alter my schedule I actually get messages from people asking where my latest article is. If you are writing content that people genuinely interesting, you will develop regular readers.

5) Invite your readers to comment?

Ah, the CTA - Call To Action. If you want comments, you need a call to action. What not to do: ask a question that is easily dismissed or results in an answer that will go nowhere. An example of this that I often see is “Do you agree?” Which results in a yes or no answer. Hardly a compelling piece of engagement.?

Instead, think of your Call To Action as an invitation for your readers to tell a story. Then, word your Call To Action in that manner. Close your article or post with something, like one of these:

“What would you add to this list?”

“Based on your experience, is there anything I have left out?”

“When faced with a similar situation, what have you done in the past?”

You want to get across the idea that you welcome their ideas and that you consider them additions to your original content.?

6) Be responsive when you do get comments?

If someone takes the time to read your post or article and then takes the additional time to write a thoughtful comment, reply to it. First, thank them, and then add something further - respond to their question or point, putting your take or spin on it, and then maybe add another question back to keep the conversation going.?

Three good things happen when you respond to your commenters: LinkedIn? thinks your content is more relevant, and puts it in front of even more people, the person you responded to is encouraged to continue the conversation, and is more likely to comment on your next article, and also more likely to become a follower or connection (maybe that’s four things, but they are all good).

And that’s it. I was trying to come up with a snappy acronym for these six ideas, but “ghbbib” sounds more like someone clearing their throat or maybe the name of a town in Wales.

Have a look at your last few pieces of content against these six ideas and see if there are places you can shore up your posting. And of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask, what would you add to this list??

This newsletter is a shorter version of my weekly email newsletter. I usually publish one of the four articles from my email Newsletter on LinkedIn?. If you are interested in this deeper weekly dive into Using LinkedIn? Effectively, here’s a link to the signup page: https://www.practicalsmm.com/free-email-newsletter/

For complete access to everything I know about using LinkedIn? effectively I have my All Access service. All my how-to’s, all my what-to-watch-out-for‘s, all my lists, all my experience as to what works, what doesn’t work, and why on LinkedIn?. Everything I have learned from working with and studying LinkedIn? for the past fourteen years. Around 135,000 words, with another 2,000-2,500 more words added each week. This is a paid subscription service, but the cost is very reasonable, and there are no long term contracts. Here’s a link to more information and the sign up page. https://www.practicalsmm.com/all-access-membership-plans/

The obligatory disclaimer: I do not work for or have any business association with LinkedIn? other than being a user who pays for a Sales Navigator subscription.