6 (More) Thoughts On Creating Content For LinkedIn?

1) You Have As Much Right To Publish On LinkedIn? As Anyone Else. So Do So.?

Get rid of your stage fright. You are an expert in what you do. You have answers to your customer’s questions. So write about their problems and the answers to their questions.?

From a marketing standpoint, being the best kept secret in the industry isn’t a really smart idea.??

2) Don’t Cut Corners?

We’re all busy, so the temptation is to automate things, or use gimmicks like Pods on LinkedIn?. Don’t. It’s too easy to spot, LinkedIn? doesn’t like it, but more importantly, I don’t think automation shows much respect for your prospective customers.?

3) Avoiding Content Drift

One of the big problems I see with many companies and people using LinkedIn? for sales and marketing is what I think of as “content drift”. They start off with “what does the customer really want?” at the front of their mind, but over time their thinking somehow changes to “what do I really need? Sales leads!” And instead of being all about the customer, the content becomes all about the person or company posting the content. And a piece basically listing how wonderful we are is not going to resonate with a customer who is trying to solve a problem.?

Suggestion: write down who your ideal customer is, and what the problems are that they are trying to solve. When you are thinking about your content, test it against those two points.?

4) Understand “Which LinkedIn?” Your Customers Are Part Of

There is one LinkedIn? for the people that use it a lot, and whose customers use it a lot… people in sales, marketing, recruiting and consulting for example. For those people, LinkedIn? can be social and a place to find customers. The other LinkedIn? is for the purchasing people and engineers and coders, the manufacturing workers and IT people. For them it’s a place to put their resume, look for jobs and maybe do the odd bit of research. Your job is to understand which LinkedIn? your customers belong to and use your content accordingly.

5) I Prefer Content On My Profile To Content In The Feed

Don’t get me wrong, I continue to depend on my newsletter and people reading and engaging with it. But, I want those people wanting more and going to my profile to find and get it.?

As organic reach continues to slowly dwindle, the value of having a lot of good content attached to your profile - both in your Featured Section and in your Activity archive - will keep increasing.

6) Have A Plan For Your Readers And Followers

If you publish regularly and your content is good, you will build a following. Some of your followers will really take your content seriously and become regular consumers of your content. You need to figure out how to bring these people to the surface, whether it is by encouraging comments or inviting them to subscribe to a newsletter or sign up for an event. You need to do something, as impressions don’t pay the rent.?

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.