The drum on LinkedIn content - why, what, how & when

There are now so many LinkedIn content options, features, opinions and algorithm changes. It can be a headache for businesses as they decide what is the best approach and cadence for a successful content strategy.

And make no bones about it, a content strategy is essential. In this newsletter I unpack the why, what, how and when of LinkedIn content and how to maximise?

Why publish content??

Content that engages, educates and encourages conversations is the juice of LinkedIn’s promise in building networks and brands.

The purpose of content marketing on LinkedIn is to essentially to raise visibility, influence and impact ideal target market/s.??

Traction derives from relevant networks, quality content, organic reach and engagement. This applies to every business sector or profession.

But there are no silver bullet for quick success so don't ever be tempted to take short cuts via dodgy engagement pod services and paid reactions.

And if you ever hear advice to saturate with a deluge of daily content please run for the bloody hills. Be wary of any consultants who promote the idea that as many posts a day 10 builds traction - its the opposite for reputation and value, let alone algorithm demotion.

The keys are persistence, consistency creativity and value add strategies backed by the latest research and tools.

Whatever your industry or profession, the purpose of publishing content will include attracting new business enquiries, referrals, networks and career opportunities.?But whatever the intention and goals there are fundamental elements to maximise ROE (return on effort)

Get these elements right and success is a shorter road. Get them wrong and organic reach and success can be compromised.????

Some formats are like salt and must be used sparingly

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Some formats are like pepper to be used liberally for spicy impact

And whilst high engagement metrics are important (views, likes, comments) they do not paint the total picture of success as large numbers of members lurk and read without engaging.?

The length of time spent on content is an important algorithm trigger to distribute further. This is the algorithm process filtering system known as?Dwell Time?which analyses value and a fairer weightage and feed ranking of content.

TOPIC GENRES

Mixing up content topics is important for a healthy and vibrant content strategy on both personal profiles and company pages.??

1. Expertise & thought leadership: Insights, opinion pieces, education, new ideas
2. News & Trends:?Current affairs, industry news, statistics, insights, commentary
3. Promotion/PR: Announcements, events, updates, hiring, promoting services
4. Celebration:?Staff updates, awards, stories of success, fun stuff
5. Feedback: Calls for industry feedback and advice, questions

CONTENT PREFERENCES

We?are all both content consumers and creators.?Factoring in LinkedIn’s brand positioning and members format preferences is important.??It’s illogical to assume that 100% of any industry, gender or age demographic will 100% favour a specific format.

This was evident from the LinkedIn Poll I ran asking: What is your No 1 content preference on LinkedIn?

Respondents were mid to senior professionals and business owners from most professional sectors. Across 511 people, ages ranged from 30 to 55+ with 285 men and 226 women. There have been many polls since all with similar global polls similar findings.?

Results as below with further detailed analysis and information here?LinkedIn Content Preferences Revealed

CONTENT FORMAT OPTIONS

All options are now available from both personal profiles and company pages.??

Newsletters?

A brilliant new format that is Subscriber based with Google SEO juice. .?This is a game changer as it provides the most detailed content value and opportunity.?It is available free?to all members who have Creator Mode turned ON and on Company Pages.

Once you set up the Newsletter all your network receives a notification to subscribe.?Then each edition you publish they receive a notification – the BEST way to ensure your content is seen by those who want to see it.

Articles?

Whilst they get little algorithm reach and love they hold unique value. Indexed on Google (only format that is) their SEO juice is exceptional.??A permanent body of work of your best content the value is a tool of marketing reference and value versus ephemeral newsfeed eyeballs.

?PDF Document Carousel

Excellent visual option publishing PDF documents in an easy UX downloadable carousel (up to 300 pages).

The algorithm and reach is quite high as the creative impact and information engages members for longer and is boosted.??A case of pepper to spice content reach here.?

Posts: Text, Image & Text

LinkedIn have just increased character limits from 1300 to 3000.?Sometimes less is more and other times more is required.?

Research shows that posts with a good image gets 94% more views, Note that posts which contain one URL link are no longer penalised as previously.?

External Articles as Posts

Posting an external article directly has fair to very good reach. Some media and websites have a high domain authority which can often translate to greater reach and AI triggers when tagged correctly.?

Note?that re-sharing of original LinkedIn posts and articles rarely delivers high views and engagement as original posts are the king and queen of engagement.

Polls

Polls require a salt approach: use sparingly and strategically. The algorithm once gave huge boosts to them.?But because they were terribly over used and misused for total drivel questions,

LinkedIn are now assessing if a Poll has value or just gaming intent in distribution. Still use when there is a valuable question that will be helpful and brings conversation of value...

Videos?

Definitely an essential part of a solid all round marketing content mix. Best videos are less than 1 to 2 minutes and with subtitles.???This includes interviews and media.??

TOP TIPS

I could write a book on top tips on content and update it regularly alongside platform changes.

The following 8 tips are ones that stand the test of time.

1. Always use top and relevant hashtags.?Don’t hashtag stuff like Instagram? It looks desperate and unfocussed - max 3 to 5. Download my research of the?Top 600?LinkedIn Hashtags here
2. Posting more than once a day significantly decreases reach on subsequent posts. Ideally no more than 5 pieces of content a week from your personal profile. Company pages posts and articles are in addition.
3. Minimise tagging people in posts and only when they have direct relevance to the content. Excessive tagging can create a SPAM trigger if people do not engage. Best to tag in comments.
4. Most scheduling tools don’t work well so be careful.?They don’t transfer hashtag or other relevant links properly.??
5. Keep growing a quality network of relevant connections to increase eyeballs.
6. Don’t use Unicode or fancy bold fonts to try and stand out. They can be garbled and unreadable on many Android devices.
7. Invest time and genuine engagement in your networks and ideal target markets content. This will trigger the algorithm to share more of your content and tailor your unique AI and reciprocity reach.
8. Re-purpose your content from your website to LinkedIn and LinkedIn to other social channels.?You don’t need to keep re-inventing the wheel.

????Have a great week.?Till next time.

About

Sue Parker is the founder and owner of DARE Group Australia.??

She is a?personal brand communications, career search strategist and LinkedIn specialist.

Sue works with business leaders, small businesses and professional career executives in both?public and private sectors

?A well regarded and regular media contributor, Sue is also Australia’s leading media commentator on LinkedIn news and updates.?TV & Media Portfolio here

Contact Sue [email protected]?/?www.daregroupaustralia.com.au

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