Why Won’t You Like Me? A Look at LinkedIn Content Creation and Engagement

The article was written in collaboration with Angela Westhead, CCWP

Some conversations stick with you days after you have them.

During a catch-up call with Angela Westhead, we came across the topic of publishing content on LinkedIn. I showed her the meme I created (article cover art) to get her reaction and thoughts. It sparked a conversation about things I've been contemplating for a while, and I finally had the chance to discuss them with someone. She gave fantastic points of view I hadn’t considered.? The conversation stuck with me.

A week later, when I was lucky enough to see her in Dallas, I mentioned this to her and asked if she would be interested in collaborating with me on an article on the topic of LinkedIn content creation, motivations, roles, favoritism, and what to make of it all.

So here we are.

So Where Are We?

As we’ve seen the advent of social media over the past 20 years and its movements into business, we are in the Age of Marketing Ourselves. When it comes to posting on LinkedIn, whether we like it or not, every post we put out there is some form of self-promotion. From posts talking about the great work we/our team is doing, discussing a new product, to sharing familial milestones, to sharing a layoff announcement – we are promoting ourselves.

And that’s OK!

That’s why social media is there, even in the professional world. We let our network know what we’re up to, what we’re about, and what we think.

But “self-promotion” is a very generalized way of describing why we publish content. The humble side of our minds may not feel that it’s self-promoting. In fact, there are much deeper motives for creating and posting content on LinkedIn.

What Are We Accomplishing When We Publish Content on LinkedIn?

Motivation and goals around content publication will vary based on persona. For many, it’s selling a product or service – creating awareness that something exists, generating excitement. Other times, it’s not a product or service, it’s thoughts or ideas. We share our insights with our connections and greater network – again this could simply be selling a product or service layered under the guise of thought leadership, “Hey I’m smart, come let me consult with your business because of how smart I am…”

Even when not directly selling a product or service, we have hopes that our post and comments do other things. They help us:

• Build credibility around what we know and what we do
• Remain relevant and remind others we are still around
• Generate a presence or “brand”

There are also intrinsic and very personal needs being met underneath it all. We want a connection of shared thought, agreement, and mutual understanding of a topic. We seek validation and reassurance that we know what we’re talking about. That can be a confidence booster.?

Angela Westhead:?

I thought hard about my own motivations before I started publishing my writing. If I’m not driving clicks or sales, what am I doing? Does anyone care? Eventually what I decided was that I wanted to build my own credibility, internally and externally. As someone who struggled deeply with overcoming[1]? imposter syndrome, I knew the lay-off from my dream job in November of 2022 could be the final blow to my confidence if I let it. After ruminating on this for 6 months, and starting a new dream job at Zendesk, I decided to start writing CW content and publishing it on LinkedIn. [2]?Being able to demonstrate my experience and have it validated (or respectfully challenged) was a step in the right direction of rebuilding my confidence in my ability.

One of my mentors pointed me to another valid reason to write and publish my thoughts: building thought leadership. Yes, I am one of those weirdos that LOVES to speak on stage (Confusing for someone with Imposter Syndrome, I know). Having a body of work to point back to further established my credibility in the thought leadership space. Maybe I was marketing something after all – my skills and expertise. The more I wrote, the better and more competent I felt, and the more people who reached out to have me speak. In the words of Michael Scott: win-win-win. The unexpected benefit of marketing my thoughts in writing was the incredible connections it began to help me forge. Being bold enough to start a conversation encouraged other people to speak up and share ideas, too.?

Roles and Content Engagement / Where’s the Love?

While there are varying motivations for posting content by role (client vs. provider), there are also varying motivations for engaging with content on both sides of the spectrum. Here are some questions for readers to consider about engagement with content on LinkedIn:

• Do viewers of content favor posters based on their role as a way of establishing a better relationship and growing in favoritism?
• Think about the content you choose to engage with – is their bias towards people based on who they are, where they work, their role, and what their connection can do for you?

In follow up to these questions, here are some assumptive answers:

• Client-side leaders are more likely to receive engagement on their content due to their role in the overall CW ecosystem.
• Providers have to have great/meaningful/relatable content to get engagement from either side

Angela:

What scared me about posting my writing was that I was not sure who was engaging with me for genuine reasons. Of course, I knew my gang of friends would always be there to throw me a like or challenge me in the comments. But what about those folks who I didn’t know well? I noticed that my posts were getting way more engagement than some of my counterparts in the supplier world. This did not sit well with me; I am not more deserving of recognition for my thoughts than someone else because of my job. Especially when I could see that the number of reactions didn’t match up with my page views – who was engaging in the comments and the reactions just to get my attention and strike up a potential sale.

After that revelation, I’ve gone out of my way to be thoughtful about the content I personally engage with on LinkedIn. I check myself – am I engaging with this person for true networking or exchange of ideas, or am I looking for something reciprocal.? Challenge yourself to make sure to read the content closely, seek out new points of view, and find new people to follow from across the CW landscape.

Love by Obligation

Keeping the above in mind, it’s easy for a client-side leader to think their content is only getting love because of who they are in the CW ecosystem. They may question if their content is really of merit and quality. On the provider side, it can feel discouraging to publish content because they may worry that no one will read it due to their position in the industry, even if the content is of the highest quality. Assumptions aside, and regardless of your role in a company or the great CW world, none of that should matter.

Angela:

Quality content can come from anyone. And if it doesn't take off right away, it will eventually find the audience that needs it. I recently had a chat with Lou Holcomb, head of CW at UKG, who used Erika Novak’s LinkedIn content from years ago to expand her CW education when she took over an expanded CW role at UKG. You just don’t know when your audience will find you. Don’t let the potential of who may or may not engage prevent you from starting on a body of work that could be helpful to others or help elevate your career, regardless of what seat you’re in now.

Say What You Need to Say

If you have something to say and want to share it, get content out there. No matter what side of the CW spectrum you are on, put your content out there. Don’t avoid posting because you fear:

• People only engaging with you because of who you are
• People not engaging with your content because of who you are
• Saying something silly in a public forum
• People disagreeing with you
• You’re adding more noise (we all know there is a lot out there)

If you are posting genuine content based on what you are passionate about, then you should go ahead. Let people react how they want. Say what you need to say. Your crazy idea may be the one that turns heads and gets people thinking. It may be the one that’s been said 1000 times, but it’s new to someone who has never read it before. Let the content exist, put it out there.

As for your seat in the CW ecosystem? Write/create/post because you enjoy it, regardless of what seat you’re in. ?If you have a platform and following because of where you sit, leverage it while you got it – because you may not always have it. Everything you create becomes a portfolio of who you are and what you know, and that’s a great thing to have.

Angela:

Ultimately, there will always be a lot of reasons to be afraid to put yourself out there. But they say 90% of success is showing up, so show up for yourself and start succeeding by your own standards. If you’re passionate and genuine about what you want to say, it will shine through in your delivery. This goes for everyone in the ecosystem. We all have different and valuable experiences that we can share to educate?each other and encourage elevation in our careers.

Experienced buy-side folks, we need your authentic voices now. Every conference I have attended in the last year has been overrun with newbies. What seems basic to you may be the intellectual jumpstart someone else needs in a new role. And, bonus, you’ll have a portfolio that you can easily share with potential employers of what you know.

Accept that the first few posts might suck, or that no one will react to them, or that people may puff up your ego undeservedly, or that you may sound like ChatGPT until you find your voice…but just start. Do it because you want to do it, and you have something to say.