Writing for conversation: A different approach to LinkedIn content

Two women in business attire talking and holding drinks at a conference networking event
Create content that is a conversation starter, think networking rather than broadcast. (AI-generated image)

Writing readable LinkedIn content is, of course, important, but writing to encourage engagement or action on your LinkedIn post is an increasingly important strategy.

LinkedIn wants genuine and meaningful interaction with content. It’s not merely about broadcasting anymore; it’s about conversation and value.

The platform increasingly seems to reward posts that get people talking and valuable content that people want to save, share and send to others.

So how can you write to encourage engagement that goes beyond a simple ‘like’?

First of all, think of it as striking up a conversation with your peers and potential clients as you would at a networking event.

💡 Comment on other people’s posts. Aside from being great for visibility, showing goodwill and a willingness to have a conversation is more likely to be reciprocated.

💡 Don’t just share company news, share a view or observation about something happening in your industry.

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Hidden features on LinkedIn to power-up your B2B content’s impact

LinkedIn introduced over 200 new features in 2023 alone, so you can be easily forgiven for not knowing them all.

Ayo Abbas and I went live on LinkedIn to highlight some hidden features and tools to help power up your B2B content’s impact.

Some may be completely unknown, and some we think are underused.

Given how much content there is out there vying for attention, we believe these are great tools to help you stand out and forge better connections with your audience.

Here’s a topline summary of that discussion. If you want the full-fat version, which includes screen grabs and audience questions, scroll down for the video replay.

This was launched a while back to give users more access to content tools and better analytics. It also gives users more control over the appearance of their profile.

Not everyone qualified for creator mode, and you had to ‘switch it on’ in your profile, but LinkedIn has recently announced that it is changing creator mode and making the features more widely available.

Content power up:

💡 You can choose which type of content you want to spotlight on your profile.

So, for example, if you create a lot of videos, you can choose to highlight videos first.

💡 You can curate your own featured section. Ayo has created some whizzy artwork for hers in Canva:

💡 Content tools like live events and newsletters (see below) only available in creator mode will become more accessible.

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4 things that might be killing your reach on LinkedIn

Photo by Gabriel Varaljay on Unsplash

LinkedIn is a platform full of quirks, and while no one outside of LinkedIn will ever fully understand how it works, there are some practices which may impact your reach and are, therefore, best avoided.

These are gleaned from 5 years of using the platform regularly and devouring content from a range of LinkedIn experts.

Tagging

You want to thank people or highlight a team of people who worked on a project, so you reach for the @ key to tag.

But be careful. Excessive tagging is sometimes used as a ‘hack’ by spammers to try and draw attention to a post.

LinkedIn doesn’t like hacks or its users getting spammed. If people don’t respond when they are tagged in a post, it can be a black mark against your content.

Yes, tag, but tag sparingly. And if you are legitimately tagged in a post, make sure you respond, even if it’s just hitting a reaction.

Posting too frequently

LinkedIn isn’t like X/Twitter, where you can fire off Tweet after Tweet without any problems.

Posts have a longer shelf life, and posting again too soon can affect your reach.

24 hours between posts seems to be the consensus.

So if you’ve got a lot to say or lots of news to announce, try and spread it out if you can.

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Getting more from LinkedIn for B2B marketing and comms teams

If you work in B2B marketing and communications, sharing company and client news on LinkedIn is pretty much a given, but there are benefits to branching out and posting your own content.

In the September edition of the B2B Comms Breakdown online event, Ayo Abbas and I discussed how it can help you and your company.

We also talked about how to get started if you are unsure about posting non-company content.

Here’s a summary of the discussion; scroll to the bottom to watch the full video, including audience questions.

How can LinkedIn help marcomms professionals?

Stacey

• Posting as yourself boosts your overall visibility, which is good for you and your company.

• Personal LinkedIn accounts get more attention than company accounts, which can help broaden your network.

• It’s an opportunity to write about and explore a more diverse range of ideas and topics that interest you personally.

• More visibility and talking about different things potentially opens the door to other opportunities, such as speaking engagements.

• You can also try different styles of content for personal development but also as a chance to prove them for company use.

Ayo

• As marketers, you network with a lot of directors, and you see a lot of an organisation and that insight on how we see the world is worth sharing.

• Putting your view out externally helps position yourself internally as it gives you more gravitas.

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Benefits of publishing regular B2B content or practicing what you preach

I’m a bit of a hypocrite. When it comes to posting regular content on my business website, I don’t practice what I preach.

In my work as a B2B content strategist and writer for property businesses, my advice is to publish articles or blog posts regularly to get results.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Sporadic publishing isn’t going to increase traffic to your website – and potential business leads.

The reason?

💻 It takes time to build up an online presence.

💻 It takes time to build authority.

💻 It takes time to build trust.

💻 It takes time for people to get to know you and want to do business with you.

If you publish regular, interesting and useful content on your website it helps to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise.

It shows what value you offer – and what you value.

And it can make you more visible in searches.

But when it comes to posting regular content on my own website, my efforts fall way short.

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