How to Get Your Stuff Read on LinkedIn as a Nobody

LinkedIn has become the most powerful business to business social network. With around 600 million user accounts of which about 50% are considered active, it is little wonder people want their information read on LinkedIn. The numbers are huge and because LinkedIn is all about business there is an assumption that the people using LinkedIn are the right people. I am one of the 300 million or so active LinkedIn users, a nobody in a sea of people but I do have a very good idea on how to get posts read on LinkedIn. So here, goes...

The Fear of Not Being Read

People use LinkedIn differently from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and while most people are comfortable writing on the other social media platforms they are wary of LinkedIn. “What if what I write is not businessy enough?”, “What if my post doesn’t have big words?” or “What if my post is just not interesting or relevant?” are all common concerns. The truth is that as long as your message, your post or your article means something to you in your business world or thinking then it will more than likely matter to someone else. The fear of not being read puts many people off of writing for LinkedIn if should not.

Dumb Down your Writing

LinkedIn is not an academy of super-literate academics, LinkedIn is a social media platform full of people like you and me. Of course, some are better educated or have a top job, but as in life, these are the minority, not the majority. For this reason, you can dumb down your posts or write them as you say them. There is a notion that for a post to always get read on LinkedIn that it must be written at close to an academic level. Posts that are written in easy to understand English are the ones that get read because they are understood. If you can explain your often complicated or jargon-filled thinking in something close to layman’s terms with a polish of clear understanding of the matter you have a post that will get read.

Structure your Posts Well

Compared to other social media platforms, LinkedIn is more structured. Whenever you visit LinkedIn you will automatically feel a flow and this flow matters. A good headline works but this is not the be-all and end-all of getting your post read and engaged with on LinkedIn. As noted above you should dumb down your post but with this, you need to structure it well. Short sentences with a gentle conversational tone and like a good story you must have a beginning, a middle and an end. Always try to end on a positive note. Try not to use Jargon but feel free to use an unusual word or phrase such as “Hello Mum”. You have to shine with a wow in LinkedIn if you want to have your post read, even if your subject is not exactly exciting. Tell a story and think about who needs to hear your short story and why.

When a Picture Doesn’t Tell a Thousand Words

Having looked back over my own posts and posts I have written on LinkedIn for clients I have noticed something odd. Instagram and Facebook, even Twitter, are very much about what can be seen. LinkedIn is about what is said. The oddity I noticed when posting on LinkedIn is that the short posts with no images perform better than those with supposedly eye-catching images. However, this does not mean to say images do not work on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a platform filled with professionals hungry for information, well-known and less-well-known quotes, perfect presentation fodder, by the way, work well. Images with faces and emotion are winners but images on LinkedIn need careful consideration. The question you need to ask is “is my image relevant?”

LinkedIn and Video

The world is hungry for moving images, even on LinkedIn the average user prefers to watch over reading. More and more LinkedIn users are experimenting with video on LinkedIn and these posts do strong engagement. Video is not just something you can jump into, it needs planning and more thought than using images. The best videos that grab attention are learning and teaching videos as well as interviews. LinkedIn is a hub of learning less a place of sharing the “look at me” videos. Video is a powerful platform and good quality video is how growing numbers of people and companies are getting superb results posting on LinkedIn.

Grammar Police

Their is nothing worse than a poorly written post… oops I mean… There is nothing worse than a poorly written post. It is very easy to rush when writing for LinkedIn and, I know I have been there, it is very easy to make simple spelling or grammar errors that as good as wipe out your post. Take your time, read your post twice, get someone else to read your post, find a 12-year-old to read your post to see if they can understand it and invest in something like Grammarly. The few extra minutes spent checking your post are the most valuable minutes of the post.

Get Ready to Post

Finally, as with most business communication tools, there is a good time and a not so good time to post your LinkedIn message. According to Social Sprout, the best times to post on Linkedin in 2021 have seen a shift from the pre-pandemic optimal times of:

· Wednesdays between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and at noon

· Thursdays at 9 a.m. and between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

· Friday mornings at 9 a.m.

To the post-pandemic

· Wednesdays at 3 p.m.

· Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.

· Fridays between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m

Weekends are still the worst times to post unless some world event or world news is breaking, then anytime is a good time.

Summary

In summary, to get your posts read on Linkedin you need to write them in a way a 12-year-old can understand with images that make sense in a logical structure. Ensure your grammar and spelling are checked and feel free to play with video. Finally, post at the right time and you can’t go wrong… but who care’s, I am a nobody after all!