Let’s face it, our online audiences are being force fed an incredible amount of content on a daily basis. Sadly, it doesn’t matter if they bookmark or subscribe to blogs, find things in search or locate articles in their Twitter or Facebook feeds; it’s overwhelming.
And it’s not going to slow down. In fact, 76% of marketers recently surveyed shared that they planned to create even more content in the coming year.
Part of the problem is that despite best efforts, content is not always as targeted as it should be. So while readers may stumble into an article thinking it can help solve their problems, they often make it halfway through the content before realizing the material is not for them (hopefully that is not happening in the case of this article).
One option for creating more customized and targeted content is to utilize the publishing function available within LinkedIn. In this post we’ll dig into 3 tips for publishing better content LinkedIn as well as 6 marketing influencers that are walking the walk with LinkedIn content publishing.
3 LinkedIn Publishing Tips
#1 – Know Who You’re Writing For
One of the benefits of publishing on LinkedIn is that it take the guesswork out of who exactly your content should target. To quickly understand who you should be creating content for, take a peek at your 1st connections to determine the industries, job functions and seniority levels of the people that you’re connected to. This will help you pinpoint what topics will resonate most with your LinkedIn audience.
When publishing a new post on LinkedIn, your connections will receive an alert and a message in their stream that indicates you have created a new post.
And while it may seem like you’re limiting your options, people that are connected to your connections will receive posts in their stream indicating posts that your first connections have liked, shared or commented on.
#2 – Repurpose Existing Content
To give your LinkedIn publishing a jump start, you may want to consider repurposing other content that you created previously. Now, that doesn’t mean copy and pasting a 1,500 word article directly from your blog to your LinkedIn account.
Instead, you can re-use bits and pieces of separate articles, or slightly change the narrative and information offered within the content that you publish on LinkedIn.
#3 – Review Analytics & Refine Your Approach
Each post that you publish on LinkedIn will also include access to the stats for that particular piece of content. Within the stats section you can gain access to valuable information including:
- Number of views over a particular timeframe
- Demographics of the people reading your posts including:
- Industries
- Job Titles
- Locations
- Traffic Sources
- Specific connections that have liked or commented on your post
All of this information is incredibly valuable and can be used to help formulate your content strategy for your LinkedIn profile.
6 Marketers Creating Great Content on LinkedIn
Gary Vaynerchuk
CEO, VaynerMedia
Gary’s LinkedIn content is a fantastic example of how professionals can take an outspoken and insightful approach to creating content. You’ll find that his posts cut to the point and have a way of drawing the reader in, starting with a great headline.
My Top Post Picks:
- Uber and Airbnb Never Should Have Happened The Way They Did
- Numbers Don’t Matter, Influence Does
- One Piece of Content Can Change Your Life
Larry Kim
Co-Founder, Wordstream
Larry’s content on LinkedIn has a little something for everyone. You’ll find everything from insights from recent industry reports, tips on how to use particular tools and general content that can help marketers continue to develop their expertise and management.
My Top Post Picks:
- Test Driving the New Keyword Explorer Tool from Moz
- Use This Stupid-Simple Secret Ingredient to Boost Social Engagement
- 12 Crazy Secrets About the Human Brain to Make You a Better Marketer
Sujan Patel
Co-Founder, ContentMarketer.io
On LinkedIn, you’ll find Sujan providing advice to marketers looking to increase their thought leadership through speaking, and general best practices. Not surprisingly, you’ll also find that many of his posts are about different topics related to content marketing.
My Top Post Picks:
- 3 Easy Ways to Get More Speaking Gigs
- 13 Helpful Resources to Answer All Your Social Media Questions
- Why Feeling Uncomfortable Is The Key To Success
Hana Abaza
VP Marketing, Uberflip
Hana has the opportunity to interview some of today’s top marketers via her Flip the Switch podcast. Many of her LinkedIn posts contain snippets of what you’ll learn in the full podcast. You’ll also find some great B2B content marketing advice when browsing through her posts.
My Top Post Picks:
- How to Create Better Experiences Through Content & Social
- 7 Mistakes That Make Your Marketing Automation Investment Worthless
- Content, Public Speaking & How A Little Bit Of Crazy Goes A Long Way
Lee Odden
CEO, TopRank Marketing
Lee’s LinkedIn content is a great combination of inspiring marketing thought leadership and insight into some of digital marketing’s biggest trends. In Lee’s content you’ll find answers to the questions that today’s marketers desperately need answered.
My Top Post Picks:
- How B2B Marketers Can Really Harness the Power of Influencers
- Focus on What Matters: 8 B2B Content Marketing Trends
- 5 Creative Sources for Customer Centric Content
Andrew Davis
Founder, Monumental Shift
In person, Andrew is an incredibly smart and entertaining individual. Fortunately for his readers on LinkedIn, that same energy translates very well to his posts. You’ll find that his content provides a glimpse into real-life marketing learning experiences.
My Top Post Picks:
- UNSOLICITED ADVICE: Notice a particular smell in the jet bridge? Stop with the surveys.
- UNSOLICITED ADVICE: Love your stores. Can’t Stand your emails.
- Ballrooms Are Boring
The LinkedIn Publishing Challenge for Content Marketers
The six influencers listed above are proof that you can create successful content on LinkedIn. Between learning from their example, and the three tips included in this article, you should have what you need to get started.
Many people create a publishing schedule and commit to creating content, only to find that they can’t keep up (I’ve been guilty of the same). Instead of creating lofty and unattainable goals, focus on trying to create a post that you believe aligns very closely with the needs of your LinkedIn audience and then refine and repeat based on the statistical data provided.
What do you say, can I count you in?
Disclosure: LinkedIn is a TopRank Marketing client.
Good roundup Ashley. Content formation and marketing on linkedin is not that straight. I would add Gail Gardner and Christoph Trappe as well in this list. BTW, good read 😉 Cheers.
Excellent post, Ashley. You wrote the last paragraph for me, just FYI. I especially liked the easy links to add the influencers to my LinkedIn following list. I was surprised I wasn’t already following a couple of them.
Thank’s for sharing! I enjoyed the advice and began putting it to use. After reading this article I wrote my first post on a social media start up that I’m working with.
Ashley, great article and sharing specific examples of publishers is great because we can always learn from those who are doing it well. There have been great posts by a non-influencers also proving that everyone has a voice and if done well can generate interested followers.