How to create a LinkedIn content strategy that works for your startup

Are you looking for a way to create a LinkedIn content strategy that works for your startup? Do you want to learn how to use LinkedIn to grow your brand, generate leads, and increase conversions? Do you want to discover the secrets of successful startups that have leveraged LinkedIn to achieve their business goals?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are in the right place. I am a content strategist who helps startups craft and execute their content strategy. I have helped many startups create content that connects, engages, and converts their target audience .

In this post, I will share with you some tips on how to create a LinkedIn content strategy that works for your startup. I will also show you an example of a startup that has successfully used LinkedIn to grow their business. By the end of this post, you will have a clear idea of how to create a LinkedIn content strategy that works for your startup.

But before we dive into the tips, let me ask you a question: Why do you need a LinkedIn content strategy for your startup?

LinkedIn is more than just a platform for networking and job hunting. It’s also a place where you can tell your story, share your vision, and showcase your passion. It’s where you can reach, educate, and entertain your ideal customers, partners, and investors. It’s where you can grow your startup from an idea to a reality.

According to LinkedIn, there are over 722 million members on the platform, with 40 million decision-makers, 61 million senior-level influencers, and 10 million C-level executives. That means there are plenty of opportunities for you to connect with the right people for your startup.

But how do you stand out from the crowd and attract the attention of your target market? How do you create content that resonates with your audience and drives them to action? How do you measure and improve your performance on LinkedIn?

That’s where a LinkedIn content strategy comes in. A LinkedIn content strategy is a plan that outlines what type of content you will create, how you will create it, when you will post it, and who you will target with it. A LinkedIn content strategy helps you:

• Define your goals: What do you want to achieve with your LinkedIn content? Do you want to generate leads, increase traffic, raise funds, or establish thought leadership? Your goals will guide your content creation and distribution process.
• Know your audience: Who are you trying to reach with your LinkedIn content? What are their pain points, needs, interests, and preferences? How can you provide value to them? Your audience will determine your content topics, tone, and format.
• Choose your tone: How do you want to communicate with your audience? What is your brand personality and voice? How do you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors? Your tone will reflect your brand identity and values.
• Pick your format: What type of content do you want to create for LinkedIn? Do you want to write articles, post videos, share infographics, or host live events? Your format will depend on your goals, audience, and resources.
• Plan your frequency: How often do you want to post on LinkedIn? How much time and effort can you devote to creating and distributing content? Your frequency will affect your reach, engagement, and consistency.
• Measure your success: How do you know if your LinkedIn content strategy is working for your startup? What metrics do you use to track and evaluate your performance? Your success will depend on your goals and expectations.

Creating a LinkedIn content strategy that works for your startup is not a one-time task. You need to constantly monitor, analyze, and optimize your content based on the feedback and results you get. You also need to stay updated on the latest trends and best practices of LinkedIn marketing.

Now that you know why you need a LinkedIn content strategy for your startup, let me share with you some tips on how to create one.

Tip #1: Start with why

The first tip is to start with why. Why did you start your startup? What problem are you solving? What impact are you making? Your why is the core of your content strategy. It’s what connects you with your audience on an emotional level. It’s what makes them care about what you have to say.

To find your why, ask yourself these questions:

• What is the purpose of my startup?
• What is the vision of my startup?
• What is the mission of my startup?
• What are the values of my startup?

Once you have answered these questions, write down your why statement. A why statement is a concise and compelling statement that summarizes why you do what you do. For example:

• We started our startup because we believe that everyone deserves access to quality education.
• Our vision is to create a world where learning is fun, easy, and affordable.
• Our mission is to provide online courses that help people learn new skills and achieve their goals.
• Our values are innovation, excellence, and customer satisfaction.

Your why statement should be clear, specific, and authentic. It should reflect your passion and your value proposition. It should also be aligned with your goals and your audience.

Your why statement will help you create content that showcases your story, your vision, and your passion. It will help you inspire, educate, and entertain your audience with your unique perspective and value proposition. It will help you grow your startup from a dream to a reality.

Tip #2: Know who

The second tip is to know who. Who are you talking to? Who are your ideal customers, partners, and investors? What are their goals, challenges, interests, and preferences? How can you help them achieve their desired outcomes?

Your who is the focus of your content strategy. It’s what guides you to create content that is relevant, valuable, and engaging. It’s what makes them trust you and want to work with you.

To know your who, ask yourself these questions:

• Who are my target segments?
• What are their demographics, psychographics, and behaviors?
• What are their pain points, needs, wants, and aspirations?
• How can I solve their problems, fulfill their needs, satisfy their wants, and help them reach their aspirations?

Once you have answered these questions, create buyer personas. Buyer personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers based on real data and research. They help you understand your audience better and tailor your content to their needs and wants.

For example, if you are a startup that provides cyber security awareness training for employees, one of your buyer personas might look like this:

• Name: XYZ
• Job title: IT manager
• Company: ABC Inc.
• Industry: Manufacturing
• Location: New York
• Age: 35
• Gender: Male
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in computer science
• Income: $80,000 per year
• Goals: To protect his company from cyber attacks, to improve his team’s skills and performance, to advance his career
• Challenges: To keep up with the latest cyber threats and trends, to train his team effectively and efficiently, to justify his budget and ROI
• Interests: Technology, security, innovation, leadership
• Preferences: He prefers to consume content that is informative, practical, and authoritative. He likes to read articles, watch videos, and attend webinars. He uses LinkedIn to network with peers, learn from experts, and find solutions.

Your buyer personas will help you create content that addresses their pain points, needs, interests, and preferences. They will help you provide value to them and build trust and rapport with them. They will help you generate leads, increase conversions, and grow your business.

Tip #3: Choose your tone

The third tip is to choose your tone. How do you want to communicate with your audience? What is your brand personality and voice? How do you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors?

Your tone is the style of your content strategy. It’s what reflects your brand identity and values. It’s what makes them like you and remember you.

To choose your tone, ask yourself these questions:

• How do I want my audience to feel when they consume my content?
• What adjectives describe my brand personality?
• What words or phrases do I use or avoid in my content?

Once you have answered these questions, write down your tone guidelines. Tone guidelines are a set of rules that define how you express yourself in your content. They help you maintain consistency and quality in your content production and distribution.

For example:

• I want my audience to feel informed, inspired, and entertained when they consume my content.
• My brand personality is fun, innovative, and professional.
• I use words or phrases that are casual, humorous, and authoritative. I avoid words or phrases that are formal, boring, or offensive.

Your tone guidelines will help you create content that communicates your brand personality and voice. They will help you differentiate yourself from your competitors and position yourself as an authority. They will help you attract and retain your audience’s attention and loyalty.

Tip #4: Pick your format

The fourth tip is to pick your format. What type of content do you want to create for LinkedIn? What format suits your goals, audience, and resources? What topics are relevant, interesting, and trending?

Your format is the substance of your content strategy. It’s what delivers your message and value proposition. It’s what makes them click, read, watch or listen to your content.

To pick your format ask yourself these questions:

• What type of content aligns with my goals?
• What type of content resonates with my audience?
• What type of content can I create with my resources?

Once you have answered these questions choose the best format for your content. LinkedIn offers various formats for you to create content such as:

• Articles: Articles are long-form written content that allow you to share your expertise knowledge opinions or insights on a topic. Articles are great for establishing thought leadership generating traffic and building credibility.
• Videos: Videos are short-form visual content that allow you to showcase your product, service, or story in an engaging and dynamic way. Videos are great for increasing awareness, engagement, and conversions.
• Infographics: Infographics are graphical content that allow you to present data, facts, or information in a visual and concise way. Infographics are great for simplifying complex topics, highlighting key points, and educating your audience.
• Live events: Live events are interactive content that allow you to host or join live sessions with your audience on a topic of your choice. Live events are great for building rapport, trust, and community with your audience.

Your format will depend on your goals, audience, and resources. You should choose the format that best suits your message and value proposition, resonates with your audience’s preferences and behavior, and can be created with your available time and budget.

You should also consider the topics that are relevant, interesting, and trending for your audience. You can use tools like LinkedIn’s Content Suggestions or Bing’s Trending Topics to find out what your audience is interested in and talking about. You can also use tools like BuzzSumo or Google Trends to find out what type of content is popular and viral on the web.

Your format will help you create content that delivers your message and value proposition. It will help you attract and retain your audience’s attention and interest. It will help you achieve your content goals.

Tip #5: Plan your frequency

The fifth tip is to plan your frequency. How often do you want to post on LinkedIn? How much time and effort can you devote to creating and distributing content? Your frequency will affect your reach, engagement, and consistency.

To plan your frequency, ask yourself these questions:

• How often does my audience expect me to post?
• How often can I create quality content?
• How often can I distribute content effectively?

Once you have answered these questions, create a content calendar. A content calendar is a tool that helps you plan, schedule, and organize your content production and distribution. It helps you maintain consistency and quality in your content strategy.

You can use tools like Google Calendar, Trello, or CoSchedule to create your content calendar. You should include the following information in your content calendar:

• The date and time of your post
• The title and description of your post
• The format and topic of your post
• The goal and audience of your post
• The keywords and hashtags of your post
• The call to action of your post

Your frequency will help you create content that reaches, engages, and converts your audience. It will help you maintain consistency and quality in your content strategy. It will help you grow your brand awareness and loyalty.

Tip #6: Measure your success

The sixth tip is to measure your success. How do you know if your LinkedIn content strategy is working for your startup? How do you track and evaluate your performance? How do you improve and optimize your content strategy?

Your success will depend on your goals and expectations. You should set SMART goals for your LinkedIn content strategy. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example:

• I want to generate 100 leads from LinkedIn in the next month.
• I want to increase my website traffic by 50% from LinkedIn in the next quarter.
• I want to raise $1 million from LinkedIn in the next year.

To measure your success, you should use the right metrics and tools. You should use metrics that align with your goals and reflect your performance. For example:

• If you want to generate leads, you should measure the number of clicks, conversions, and sales.
• If you want to increase traffic, you should measure the number of impressions, views, and visits.
• If you want to raise funds, you should measure the number of contacts, meetings, and deals.

You can use tools like LinkedIn’s Analytics or Bing’s Webmaster Tools to measure your metrics. You can also use tools like HubSpot or Salesforce to integrate with LinkedIn Marketing Partners in marketing automation and CRM. These tools will help you track and evaluate your performance over the entire lead lifecycle.

To improve and optimize your content strategy, you should analyze your data and feedback. You should find out what works well and what doesn’t work well in your content strategy. You should also test different variables in your content strategy such as headlines, images, formats, topics, etc.

You should use tools like A/B testing or multivariate testing to experiment with different versions of your content. You should also use tools like surveys or polls to collect feedback from your audience. These tools will help you analyze what works well and what doesn’t work well in your content strategy.

You should also stay updated on the latest trends and best practices of LinkedIn marketing. You should follow industry experts, influencers, and thought leaders on LinkedIn. You should also read blogs, articles, and books on LinkedIn marketing. These sources will help you stay updated on the latest trends and best practices of LinkedIn marketing.

By measuring, improving, and optimizing your content strategy, you can ensure that your LinkedIn content strategy is working for your startup. You can ensure that you are achieving your goals and expectations. You can ensure that you are creating a LinkedIn content strategy that works for your startup.

Conclusion

Creating a LinkedIn content strategy that works for your startup is not a one-off project. It’s an ongoing process that requires careful planning, research, creativity, and optimization. It also requires knowing what to say, how to say it, when to say it, and who to say it to.

But don’t worry, you are not alone in this journey. I am here to help you create a LinkedIn content strategy that works for your startup. I am a content strategist who helps startups craft and execute their LinkedIn content strategy. I have helped many startups create content that connects, engages, and converts their target audience on LinkedIn.

If you are interested in working with me to create a LinkedIn content strategy that works for your startup, please contact me today. I would love to hear from you and help you grow your startup with LinkedIn.

To give you an example of a startup that has successfully used LinkedIn to grow their business, let me introduce you to SoSafe. SoSafe is a German company that provides cyber security awareness training for employees. They used LinkedIn Marketing Solutions to generate high-quality leads and increase conversions. They achieved a 30% lower cost per lead, a 50% higher conversion rate, and a 122% increase in marketing qualified leads compared to other channels.

You can read more about their success story here. You can also check out the Success Hub, where you can find more customer stories, best practices, and tips on how to use LinkedIn for your startup.

I hope you found this post helpful and informative. If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know in the comments below. Thank you for reading and happy LinkedIn-ing! ??