LinkedIn for Business Owners: What to Post on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn posts are an opportunity for your business to engage with your audience and build on the relationship you have with them. Posting content that aligns with your brand’s vibe, mission and objectives can help you connect with your audience and position your company as an industry leader. 

LinkedIn is more than just an online resume, it’s a place to grow meaningful connections and engage with a professional network.   

In New Zealand and Australia alone, LinkedIn’s reach has far exceeded that of Instagram; and with 1 billion members worldwide it’s the ideal platform to manage your professional identity. 

So, what should business owners be posting on LinkedIn? 

Share Valuable Content 

Valuable content, to put it simply, is when you share something with your audience that they want to know or need. It’s well-thought-out content, that provides people who see it with some sort of benefit. 

It could be an interesting article, a relevant piece of advice, tips on how to do something better, eBooks, tutorials, guides, or how-to videos or demos.  

A survey of 87% of LinkedIn users said they considered it a trustworthy source of information. So, by sharing valuable content on LinkedIn you can help establish your brand and showcase your expertise. 

Real-life Content 

As the saying goes, “People do business with people.” Sharing real-life content on social media helps people get to know the business behind the brand. Real-life content allows people to connect with your brand on a more personal level, it is about being authentic. 

According to recent data, personalised images can increase engagement with your content by 45% and help establish a stronger authority.  

Types of real-life content you can share may include: 

• Behind-the-scenes content: Posts about your values, daily habits, your team, day-to-day meetings, and processes behind the development of your work.  
• Content about you: Your interests outside of work, what inspires you, conferences, or networking events you’ve attended.  
• Posts about the people who work for you: Their wins and achievements, photos or videos showing their work behind the scenes, get-to-know-your-team posts, or fun facts about your staff.  

LinkedIn Polls 

LinkedIn Polls have been identified as an effective tool for gathering opinions and stimulating conversation. People love to share their thoughts and opinions, and polls make that easy to do.  

In fact, polls are a top performer on personal and company pages and make for great follow-up posts, because you can share the results. Here are a few tips for using polls: 

• Limit the number of polls you create to one per month, because otherwise, they can get a bit spammy. 
• Ensure your questions are broad enough to engage a wider audience. 
• Communicate the context of your poll in the post text, this approach is said to generate 35% more engagement.  
• And, avoid promotional polls. Typically, these are far less effective in reach and engagement.  

Sharing Other People’s Content 

Sharing other people’s content on LinkedIn can be a great time saver, and can amplify the visibility of the original post and boost your profile.  

There are several ways you can leverage other people’s content on LinkedIn:  

1. Comment on the original post. 
2. Repost and share it without a comment. 
3. Re-share it with your thoughts.  
4. Use it as inspiration to create your own content, but tag the source for appropriate credit. 

Research indicates that if individuals who are tagged in your content then engage (comment) on your post, it can positively affect your post’s visibility. So, tagging is a powerful tool for growth on LinkedIn.

Video 

LinkedIn videos have become a compelling medium for sharing insights and stories. Videos between 1 and 2 minutes receive the most engagement, with an ideal length of 1.20 minutes.  

Videos are great because they allow people to see you and get to know you. This can help you build a relationship with your followers, and influence perceptions of trust. 

When posting videos opt for a vertical format and ensure you upload your video directly to LinkedIn, as sharing links to videos has been said to decrease reach. It is also recommended that you include subtitles and captions, as people tend to watch videos with the sound off.  

LinkedIn Articles 

Publishing content on LinkedIn Articles is a handy tool for delving deeper into a topic. Articles are a useful search engine optimisation (SEO) tool because they can contain backlinks to your website and enhance your credibility in search engines.  

Top tips for LinkedIn Articles: 

• Aim for a word count between 800 – 1,200 words. 
• Structure your article in short paragraphs and include clear headlines. 
• Include a cover image. 
• According to data, bimonthly publications perform the best. 
• Include hyperlinks, tags, pictures and video.  

Need help putting a LinkedIn content strategy together? The best place to start is with an expert. Get in touch with me today to see how I can help you build your personal and professional brand on this valuable platform.