Top 3 Mistakes You're Making on Your LinkedIn Content — and How to Fix Them

Are you making these top three mistakes on your LinkedIn content?

1. You "hijack" your own post.
2. You post on LinkedIn only to promote your self-interest.
3. You don't have a LinkedIn content strategy.

I'm seeing so many of these kinds of posts in my feeds, so I thought I should share with you why these are mistakes and how you can fix them. Here we go:

#1: You "hijack" your own post.

I don't want to use the term "hijack," but it's the best way to describe what it is. If you're familiar with the term "thread hijacking," then I mean the same thing. But this time, it happens in your own post, and you're the one doing it to your own post — most probably without you realizing it.

To hijack your own post means to start your short post with an interesting topic with supporting images, then you suddenly go off topic at the end of the post.

Here's a sample post I created for this purpose:

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You'll see on the sample post above that the images were taken during the LinkedIn Local Philippines Campus Tour. And the post started with an enthusiastic statement:

As a reader who's familiar with what LinkedIn Local is, it would sound interesting to me. I might think — it must be really fun holding LinkedIn Local events in campuses!

So I would want to know how the event turned out, what the key takeaways were, who the panelists were, etc. But there was no mention of any of these details on the post.

Instead, the second paragraph was totally off topic:

So with this example, to hijack your own post means to write a short post — which can initially get the attention of your network — only for them to realize at the end of your post that your main intent is to sell, not really to highlight what you've started.

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN FIX MISTAKE #1:

In every short post, remember to have ONLY ONE main point. In this case, I will split the post above into two separate posts, each with a clear focus, then post them in a strategic order.

• How we enjoyed the 1st LinkedIn Local Campus Tour (emphasis on the event being the first one!)
• How graduating students or future professionals will benefit from my online course, LinkedIn for Students: The Ultimate Guide to Leveraging LinkedIn to Kickstart Your Career

In each post, I have to make sure that the images I use will support the single idea I want to focus on; otherwise, the image just serves as a "bait" to get the attention of my network.

#2: You post on LinkedIn only to promote your self-interest

I get it. You are a thought leader. You are a world-renowned speaker. Or a best-selling author. You have speaking engagements here and there. You hold events in almost every location one can ever think of.

But if all you do on LinkedIn is to promote your self-interest, you won't go too far in terms of reach and engagement.

I've seen a lot of LinkedIn members, particularly from the Philippines, who seem very popular and well-respected in their fields, but fail to "connect" with their network here on LinkedIn.

The truth is, every LinkedIn member has this in mind: "What's in it for me?"

As I always say in my posts, the best way to leverage LinkedIn is to build relationships by providing value to your network.

Nobody wants to be sold to. No one wants to connect with you just so you can sell them your new online course, your newly released book or your insurance policies, or so you can endlessly invite them to your upcoming events.

If you do it once or maybe twice, they will tolerate that, but if that's all you do each and every time you post, it might be time to unfollow you.

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN FIX MISTAKE #2:

Stop focusing on your self-interest. Start thinking about how you can GIVE, rather than take. If you consistently show up to help others succeed, you can get your goals accomplished in no time.

But if you want to use LinkedIn only to promote or sell and not help, by all means, you can do so; however, you have to pay to advertise using LinkedIn Ads.

If you're not willing to spend on paid ads, then, spend time figuring out how you can build relationships by providing value to your network. Or you can leverage both organic engagements and paid ads for better results!

Either way, you still have to invest — invest money on ads or invest your precious time on building relationships.

#3: You don't have a LinkedIn content strategy

If you're on LinkedIn to use it as "just another social media platform," that's fine — you probably don't need a strategy.

But if want to create opportunities for yourself to help advance your career or grow your business, you can't afford not to have a LinkedIn content strategy that is aligned with your overall marketing goals.

It's easy to see here on LinkedIn who have strategies, and who are just posting "in random." Remember that without any plan, you're setting yourself up for failure.

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN FIX MISTAKE #3:

If you don't have a clear LinkedIn content strategy, stop posting now and think about it first. Start with these five questions:

• What is your goal for using LinkedIn?
• Who is your target audience?
• What are their pain points and challenges?
• How can you help them address their pain points and challenges?
• How will you measure your success?

Your LinkedIn content strategy should be aligned with your overall marketing goals, and if possible, in sync with your offline activities.

Having a clear content strategy and a detailed content calendar will help you achieve your marketing goals organically.

It's simple: If you want real results here on LinkedIn, you've got to put in the work.

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About Virginia Bautista

A freelance writer and editor for over 11 years, Virginia Bautista is the first LinkedIn trainer, speaker and consultant based in the Philippines and one of the top LinkedIn evangelists in Asia. Virginia has been featured on Forbes (2x), Entrepreneur Media (2x) and Marketing In Asia (2x), among others.