Most social networks are a place where you can make friends, keep in touch with family and find all kinds of photos and videos to entertain yourself. LinkedIn, on the other hand, is where you can build a better career.
Lots of people did the bare minimum with LinkedIn — created a profile that offers the highlights of their resume — and then neglected it.
If you haven’t been on for a while, though, one visit should be enough to show you that LinkedIn has become a dynamic community, where professionals exchange all kinds of information and ideas.
Your feed will likely show a continuous stream of updates from people you’ve worked for, people you admire and even people who are newer to the market. Some of these updates will simply be links to articles. Others will have nuggets of insight they’ve learned directly on the job.
There will also be people who have uploaded videos of themselves natively to LinkedIn, who have authored a LinkedIn post or who are running a LinkedIn group.
It might be best to think of LinkedIn as the world’s largest, most decentralized and perhaps most successful intranet — an online destination for relevant work-related content that transcends a single employer.
Lots of recruiters and HR managers are regularly scouring LinkedIn looking for talent, of course. But there are also just as many people using LinkedIn to connect with prospects or customers, to create thought leadership that bring new connection requests their way and to nurture long-established relationships.
As with any social platform, you need to get to know the nuances of using LinkedIn and make sure you’re only contributing content that others will find valuable. Here are a few things to consider:
1. Update your ‘evergreen’ content first
Successful companies know they need to ensure the information on the “About” page of their website needs to be both accurate and compelling. The same goes with your LinkedIn profile, particularly the “Summary” section near the top.
This is almost like an “About” page for you and your career history. Use this space to talk about your inner sense of purpose or “why” —what makes you driven to succeed?
Make every paragraph of this area outcome-oriented, where you talk at a high level about what you’ve done for your employers and customers.
Remember that a customer or lead might look up your profile prior to a call or introductory meeting, so make sure you have something that creates a digital first impression before the “real” one.
2. Strategize shortform and longform posts
On a day to day basis, you can post updates on LinkedIn that others in your network might have missed. Some examples could include the latest market research that pertains to your industry and your customers, a news article from a trade publication or even just a video pointing to a webinar recap.
Don’t use LinkedIn posts to overtly pitch products and services. Instead, look for content that reinforces your company’s value proposition. If they’re not working for a competitor, for instance, there might be posts from industry thought leaders (such as business book authors) that you can reshare with your own commentary added at the top.
Use longer content to share your best insights. LinkedIn often offers prompts for these posts, such as lessons from your mentor, recollections from your first or best job experience and so on. These posts are almost like a blog that focuses on your career, and your reflections on what you’ve taken away from your first-hand job experiences.
3. Stand out with video
Video is still a relatively recent addition to the kind of content you can share on LinkedIn, which means it’s easier to get noticed when you use it.
Again, this isn’t an excuse to upload your company’s latest promo or TV spot. Here are a few other ideas you could add to your feed:
- Record a video call with one of your top customers on the secrets of their success and inspire their peers
- Create a video FAQ of the top questions you get asked by leads and customers
- Upload an explainer video where you break down a new industry term or explain an emerging trend
Keep these kinds of videos simple but professional with good lighting, audio and if possible captions, given that people might be watching at work.
4. Keep the comments coming
We call platforms like LinkedIn social media because they’re supposed to be like a digital conversation, rather than a one-way posting of information. The difference is that LinkedIn comments need to be of a much higher calibre.
You can certainly make simple comments like, “Nice post!” or “Well said” on LinkedIn, but look for ways to say something more specific and meaningful. Maybe you have a statistic or example that builds upon what someone said in a post. Perhaps you have a personal anecdote that will put their post in a new light.
LinkedIn comments can be longer than what you might see on Facebook or Instagram, but they have to be worth the full read. Even if you disagree with a post, a respectful counterargument made as a comment could help keep the dialogue going.
5. Use tags tactfully
Sometimes you might see a job posting and think of someone you would be a perfect fit. Tag them in a comment — as long as you’re sure that person would be okay with it.
The same goes for a comment thread where you know a customer or prospect would jump at the chance to weigh in. Just using the “@“ symbol and their name is all you need to do.
Make sure you also use hashtags for your posts if you want them to be noticed by leads or prospects you haven’t connected with yet. Like keywords in an article, hashtags are a great way to help people navigate all the riches within LinkedIn.
Creating content on LinkedIn might seem like an extra chore, but in reality it’s more like working within a much larger pool of colleagues and peers. You’ll learn a lot, while possibly teaching others — and making relationships stronger every step of the way.
