How to write better LinkedIn posts

LinkedIn can be a powerful marketing tool, as long as it’s a good fit for you or your organization. They’ve positioned themselves as a publishing platform, and you can use that to demonstrate your expertise to LinkedIn members.

According to LinkedIn, they analyze the content of your article to show it to the appropriate audience. There’s also a good chance your connections and any others who have followed you will see it. So it’s an opportunity to make a good impression.

If you’re willing to put in the time, here are six tips for putting your best foot forward with LinkedIn long-form posts.

1. Write appropriate length

Occasionally, I see people writing extremely short posts, treating them more like status updates.

On LinkedIn, the intention with posts is for long-form content. According to LinkedIn, “The long-form posts that are best received are more than 3 paragraphs.” Personally, I like to shoot for 300 – 600 words or so.

2. Write consistently

Consistency is often the key to success, and LinkedIn posts are no exception. Publish your long-form posts on a consistent basis. For most, once a month, twice a month, or weekly will make the most sense. More frequently can work, but may be a challenge to keep up with. Less often than monthly, and I wouldn’t bother.

I’ll admit, I’ve struggled with this one. While blogs let you pre-schedule your content, LinkedIn currently doesn’t. Personally, that’s led to less consistency on my part than I would like.

3. Pick appropriate topics

This is not the place for hawking your services or products. It’s also not the place for articles about your personal life.

According to LinkedIn, “Your long-form posts should share your professional expertise.”

If you have trouble coming up with topics, I’m happy to once more plug my book, Blog a Week. Or if you’re cheap (a.k.a. thrifty), download our free ebook, 101 Blog Topic Recipes.

4. Have a great headline, intro, and images

You need to hook readers with the promise of great content. For LinkedIn posts, that means a great headline, introduction, and hero image. Of course, be sure to follow through with a great article! The headline, intro, and hero image should make a promise your article delivers on.

As a rough guideline, I recommend spending about half your time on the article itself, and the other half on the headline, intro, and images.

5. Consider a Call To Action

LinkedIn lets you see how many views, likes, and comments your article has. But another metric you can add yourself (and track through Google Analytics) is a call to action with a link at the end of your post.

Be specific, and only have one or two calls to action. The fewer, the better. Consider linking to a related blog article you wrote, or a related ebook or white paper you created. Or perhaps a sign up page for your email newsletter.

6. Market it yourself

While LinkedIn will do some of the marketing of your post for you, don’t rely on their algorithm. Share it with other people yourself!

Consider sharing it on your other social media platforms, and even emailing it directly to customers, leads, and strategic partners. You might even encourage them to like, comment, and share if they feel it’s warranted.

Get started!

Remember, sharing long-form posts on LinkedIn is not about being promotional. It’s about sharing information that your target audience can apply whether they use you or not. That will help demonstrate that you’re in it to help them, not just make money.

Follow these six tips I’ve shared, and get started sharing your expertise on LinkedIn!