LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Getting personal: The changing landscape of LinkedIn posts

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It’s no secret that LinkedIn has long been the go-to platform for professionals looking to network and expand their careers. But lately, this social media giant has been undergoing a transformation of sorts. With more and more members sharing personal stories and thoughts, LinkedIn is no longer just the place to post your CV and industry news. But what sparked this shift? And what does it mean for small business owners who use LinkedIn to connect with potential clients and partners?

In this article, we’ll explore how the pandemic, Zoom meetings, and a growing desire for authenticity in professional settings have all contributed to this new trend of “getting personal” on LinkedIn.

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Showcasing skills

For many years, LinkedIn has been viewed as a place to showcase one’s professional skills and accomplishments. The platform serves as a digital CV, allowing members to highlight their careers and connect with others in their industry. It wasn’t entirely uncommon to see articles and posts related to industry trends and business best practices, but personal stories were few and far between.

However, in recent times, that has changed. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shift to remote work created a sense of isolation for many people. Face-to-face interactions were replaced with Zoom calls, which can often feel impersonal and disconnected. Many LinkedIn members began to use the platform as a way to share their personal experiences and connect with others on a more emotional level.

Be authentic

The desire for authenticity in professional settings has been growing for some time. In a world where social media filters and staged Instagram photos dominate our feeds, LinkedIn members have been seeking out more genuine and relatable content. Personal stories that touch on topics like mental health, work-life balance, and career setbacks have all become more common on the platform.

But should these personal posts be restricted to Facebook or Instagram? Many argue that LinkedIn is not the place for such content, and that personal stories do not belong in a professional setting.

However, there is evidence to suggest that sharing personal stories on LinkedIn can actually be beneficial. For one, it allows small business owners to connect with potential clients on a more direct and personal level. When clients feel that they know and trust a business owner, they are more likely to work with them.

Sharing personal stories can help establish a business owner’s brand and position themselves as an expert in their industry. By sharing insights gained from personal experiences, business owners can demonstrate leadership and a unique perspective that sets them apart from competitors.

One of the significant advantages of sharing personal stories on LinkedIn is the increased visibility that comes with it. The LinkedIn algorithm prioritises content that generates engagement, meaning posts that spark discussion or elicit an emotional response from others. Personal stories often fall into this category, as they tend to resonate with others on a deeper level.

Connecting on a personal level

The landscape of LinkedIn has undergone a significant shift in recent years, and personal posts are becoming increasingly common. While some may argue that such content belongs on Facebook, there are several benefits to sharing personal stories on LinkedIn, especially for small business owners.

By connecting with potential clients on a more personal level, establishing brand, and increasing visibility, business owners can leverage the power of the platform to help grow their businesses. As we continue to adapt with hybrid/remote work and seek out genuine connections in our professional lives, it’s likely that this trend of “getting personal” on LinkedIn will continue to grow.

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LinkedIn Hashtags

LinkedIn hashtags

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Hashtags are a staple of social media channels such as Instagram and Twitter to help extend reach or say how you feel in a fun and quirky way. Whereas, hashtags are a relatively new addition to LinkedIn.

Introduced in 2018, hashtags can extend reach to new connections. However, the difference with LinkedIn is that it’s a professional social channel. It’s about networking, engaging with new business prospects and joining in industry conversations as part of Groups. 

So, here’s a few tips to help you the next time you share a post with hashtags on LinkedIn.

Accompany text

Hashtags on LinkedIn are best used with accompanied text rather than within the message itself. So, when you write an update add in a call-to-action and then include some hashtags relevant to the post.

Hashtag limits

Whilst there’s no limit to the number of hashtags, this is where you will start to hear talk of algorithms and if you use too many it could be seen as spam. So, having researched and talked to people the consensus is 3 hashtags and at the very most a maximum of 5 hashtags – that’s if you really think you have some great relevant hashtags to include.

Be relevant

To help you decide on hashtags, LinkedIn usually makes some suggestions when you add an update. But, be prepared and have a look at what’s relevant to your industry as well as popular hashtags.

You can follow hashtags which can alert you to interesting topics relevant to your industry and target audience. You can then engage with those comments and strike up conversations.

Analysis

Understand which hashtags are working well. You can get a feel for this by looking at your analytics which will highlight the impressions of the posts you share. Take note of high impressions and what the post included and the hashtag.

Be clear

Try and avoid acronyms when you use hashtags, that won’t help extend reach as many in your network may struggle to understand what it means and therefore it’s a hashtag that won’t be searched for.

Here’s some business hashtags to consider:

#Leadership
#Innovation
#Management
#Business
#BusinessIntelligence
#SmallBusiness
#WomenInBusiness
#Networking

Social Media agency Croydon

If you feel you need support in getting your business noticed on social media, then get in touch with Smart Cow Marketing to discuss your needs further.

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Social Media scrabble letters

What can LinkedIn Sales Navigator offer my business?

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LinkedIn is the social media platform for business networking. It’s not about posting filtered images of lovely cups of coffee (unless that’s your business of course), it’s about networking with people to support and grow business. But how can you find the right prospects in a more efficient manner and in a way that’s not intrusive?

This is where using the Sales Navigator tool by LinkedIn can help.

What is LinkedIn?

Firstly, here’s a quick recap about what LinkedIn is. Think of LinkedIn like attending a local monthly business breakfast group, you go there to network find business opportunities and help connect suppliers. The difference is that LinkedIn is a social media platform. But the principle is the same, you engage, network, support, share updates and insight.

Whilst you would have your own individual profile, you can also set up a company page for your company. You can post updates and add links back to your blog post on your website. These provide quality links which in turn helps your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy and being found in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Over time you will build your network with followers through ongoing engagement with topical social media posts and the type of content relevant to your audience.

Lead generation campaign

There’s so many social media analytics to draw on from your LinkedIn company page including, seeing who has just followed you, the companies to track as well as engagement rates on posts so you can get a feel for what your audience likes to hear about most.

However, you can also ramp up your lead generation strategy with the adoption of LinkedIn Sales Navigator. The professional features mean that you can get more targeted and reach a wider audience from LinkedIn’s network.

Key benefits include being able to see who has viewed your profile allowing you to engage with them as a warm lead.

You can add tags to your prospects enabling you to filter and then synch back to your CRM (Customer Relationship Management).

You can view job changes in real time, alerting you to new business opportunities.  

The benefit of networking is connections and once you are aware of a mutual link then this makes it easier to engage with a prospect. The TeamLink connection filter allows you to reach prospects that match your search criteria and have a mutual connection. It taps into the networks of people in your company.

There are three levels of Sales Navigator package to explore from Professional for individuals, through to Team and Enterprise. Find out about LinkedIn Sales Navigator here.

Social media marketing agency

Your social media marketing strategy should form part of your overall inbound marketing. Don’t look at social media in silo. Make sure your approach to reach your target audience is holistic and also right for your business. If you’re not already on LinkedIn but feel you should be, then get in touch. As one of Croydon’s top social media marketing companies we can discuss your social media marketing plan, the social media channels for your business and a tailored approach.

There’s no one size fits all which is why we provide a mix and match digital marketing solution for our clients so we can offer a proactive approach utilising different elements of digital marketing to suit requirements. 

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Using social media for inbound marketing

LinkedIn introduces new product pages

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The networking social media platform has launched LinkedIn Product Pages for companies to showcase their products to LinkedIn’s audience of over 722million professionals.

This specific tab is available on a company LinkedIn page to help businesses highlight key products to followers with the aim of helping to build brand awareness. This in turn will help to generate leads for your business.

The function also allows for videos, images as well as the ability to highlight user testimonials and include a bold call to action to request a demo.

A clever aspect of the Product Pages is the capability to drill down to your target audience by specifying job roles so that your product is relevant to those viewing.

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Grow your business with LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business2business (B2B) social channel with networking at its core. It enables you to connect with other professionals, clients, colleagues, prospects and employers. It provides another marketing touchpoint to promote who you are and your business. This all helps your social media manager to build trust and brand awareness.

If your business is not on LinkedIn, then perhaps now is the time to explore it for your business. Do some research to check if it is relevant for your business. If your competitors are on the social media platform then maybe you should set up a company page too.

Our blog on how LinkedIn can help you grow your business has some tips on how to set up your company page.

Social media agency

If you need support from a digital marketing agency in getting your social media channels set up and to run social media campaigns, then get in touch with us for a free consultation.

As part of your marketing strategy, a social media marketing agency such as Smart Cow can assist with your social media strategy optimise your website in the long term to help it be seen in search engine results pages. Based in London, Smart Cow can create a tone of voice for your organic social posts as well as managing paid social campaigns.

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