Describing LinkedIn’s publishing platform as “awesome” doesn’t quite capture it. This channel allows marketers and individuals to connect with new audiences from various backgrounds. Plus, since LinkedIn is a newer publishing platform, there are great chances for content creators to enhance their visibility, start conversations, and receive recognition.
One of the biggest barriers to exploring LinkedIn, however, is lack of time. Between Medium, your company blog, guest posting, and multiple other social media channels, you may find yourself wondering how to make the most of LinkedIn.
We wrote this blog post for you, time-strapped marketer.
Here are six tips to help you make the most out of your publishing presence on LinkedIn.
1. Syndicate Existing Content
Don’t have time to write new content?
Don’t worry. Instead, tap into the sources where you may already be writing (or considering writing) like your personal blog, company blog, or Medium. Republish this content on LinkedIn with a link back to the original source, and you’ll have an extra content distribution opportunity.
2. Publish Consistently
As with any platforms that rely on news feeds to drive visibility, LinkedIn is a channel where attention spans are likely to be fleeting. To generate a following and remain visible, you’ll want to be continuously visible—which means publishing and promoting your content often.
3. Harness the Power of Groups
If you’re looking for a way to kickstart visibility to your articles, try cross-promoting them within the industry groups that you’re a part of. Post your content as new discussion threads, or respond to existing conversations with links to what you’ve written.
4. Include a Call to Action (CTA)
LinkedIn’s publishing platform provides an opportunity for readers to discover new content—and authors to discover new readers. Make sure to keep the discussion going by including a CTA with everything that you write: a prompt to sign-up for your email list, follow you on Twitter, or to add you as a connection on LinkedIn. Make the most out of every time that you have with your audience by encouraging your readers to stay in touch.
5. Include Embedded Visuals
With every post that you publish, use charts and photos that you’ve created. If you don’t have these handy, embed SlideShare and YouTube videos instead. Make sure that the the visuals that you choose are licensed for you to use—if you’re using LinkedIn for content that’s related to your company, you might need to work with images that are licensed for commercial use.
6. Optimize Your Visibility
To drive visibility on LinkedIn, you need to get featured on a channel. This process won’t happen by accident—you’ll need to take steps to get the attention of LinkedIn’s editorial team. Follow the directions in this post to get a human being’s attention.
Posts with high view and share counts are likely powered by this behind-the-scenes process—not luck.
Final Thoughts
The bottom line is that you need to be smart about the time that you’re spending on LinkedIn. Make every moment and every interaction count as a relationship-building strategy with your target audience. Work smarter and not harder: there’s no reason for publishing to feel like a time suck.