5 Ways To Get Engagement on Your LinkedIn Posts...

I hear from a lot of people on LinkedIn. One of the big struggles people have is that they struggle to get engagement. They put time into creating posts but seem to get very little engagement. It's also frustrating for those with smaller accounts who invest time, only to see others blowing up.

If you are putting time in and getting very little out, it can make you feel like quitting as the effort to reward ratio is out of wack.

Of course there are a ton of 'hacks' to drive engagement, I'm not going to cover those as in the long term all those hacks fail. What you need to some simple things you can do to help drive REAL and organic engagement.

First things first

If you haven't been posting consistently, you will find yourself a little invisible. You'll post and get very little traction. This is normal and it make take 5-7 posts before you start to see any shift on this. What's really important to understand is that posting content is about building momentum. Every post that does get engagement makes future posts more visible, as long as you stay consistent. You will carry the benefits of previous content engagement into the visibility of your future posts - as long as you stay consistent.

So, momentum is what you need to build. Momentum isn't something you can magic up with one post, but over the course of 2-3 months you can 'catch fire' by sharign content which adds value for your target audience and deliberately designing your posting activity to drive engagement.

So I've put together some tips you can implement to drive engagement and build some momentum behind your content...

Go Ronseal

I see a lot of posts with abstract imagery, flowers, skies, all nicely taken but they are totally abstract.

If you want to get more eyeballs (which will yield more engagement) do it the Ronseal way - do what it says on the tin. Tell people the value you'll gain from the post in the image. You'll see I do this a lot. This acts as a filtering mechanism - it attracts and piques the interest of people who resonate with the promise I've made in the post.

If I'm writing a post giving 5 ways to get more clients from LinkedIn - say that on the image.

It will attract the people who resonate.

I do this a lot and it means I get more of the people I want - people who want to get clients on LinkedIn.

Action you can take:

If you aren't comfortable with graphic design, don't worry, you can use free software like Canva.

Here is a simple Canva template I've made you can use and customise for yourself.

Polls

I've seen a number of people, including some of the MAVERRIK® team use polls as a way to build their engagement. Polls, whilst not as popular as they were, they give people an easy way to engage. They click a button and share their opinion. Posting polls regularly can help drive more engagement. I don't mean posting polls about stupid things like what you had for breakfast. Nor do I mean creating a poll asking if people want to buy from you. I mean asking people about the topic and challenges you help with.

"Where do the majority of your leads come from?"

I'm not selling but I am giving people an easy way to engage.

I've seen some people build big accounts simply by doing a poll every other day. This is what I call the content sandwich. Sharing content on social media every other day which is very easy for people to engage with.

Action you can take:

• Create polls about news stories which are relevant to your audience
• Use the challenge method - "What is the big challenge facing your industry?"
• Use a poll once per week to drive more engagement and get some momentum behind your posts.

Dumb it down

Often when you scroll through the feed there are posts which look interesting, but when you read them, it's really hard to comment.

When we have a new starter, one of their first jobs is to comment on 25 random peoples posts each day.

Everyone who has done this has told me "commenting is really hard"

Why is it really hard?

Because most of the content is too high level, too long winded and doesn't make it easy for you to comment. It's broadcasting information and not really creating a conversation.

You can dumb down your content by using more simplistic language, focusing your content to make more defined points, share your opinions on topics relevant to your audience and giving people specific actions they can follow from your posts.

I try to live by this rule...

"if there is a simple way to say it, say it"

Action you can take:

• Write as you would speak.
• Keep paragraphs short (easier to follow on mobile)
• Use Hemingway Editor to simplify your posts

Drive Comments with Questions

This is an obvious one. Ask more questions.

If you start your post with a question (reflecting on my previous point) you are more likely to gain engagement. I've also found asking a few different questions in the post can help make it easier for people to share their opinion.

It's also important to ask more neutral questions, if you state your opinion and then ask questions, you are either inviting people to agree with you or challenge you, not many people will choose to disagree with you on a post.

For example,

"Are you in the social selling camp or do you prefer cold email?"

Whilst I don't proactively advocate for cold email, I'm making it open for people who do to engage.

Whereas, if I say

"Do you hate cold email too?"

I alienate people who disagree, who potentially could be persuaded to consider social selling.

Actions you can take:

• Start your posts with a question.
• Ask more than one question per post
• Ask neutral questions, so you can encourage diverse opinions.

Share Personal Stories

Over the last few years you've seen more personal posts on LinkedIn. Selfies, Pet pics and personal stories. You may wonder why, well, quite simply, more people are doing them because, they work. They work because they help people get to know you as a person, not just the slick profile they see. It makes people more human and people can relate to you better.

So, once or twice per week, share some personal things. I don't mean share arguments you've had with your partner - this isn't Facebook. Share things which people can relate to, make you more human, but don't undermine your credibility.

The idea behind the personal posts is to let your network get to know you better and humanise you. It doesn't always have to be good news, it can be bad or sad news. Just don't turn your profile into your own melodrama every day.

What hobbies do you have?

What lessons have you learned?

What mistakes have you made in the past?

What do you enjoy?

What challenges have you overcome?

Actions you can take...

Share one of two posts each week which are personal. Some suggestions below:

• Obstacles you've overcome in your career
• Personal struggles outside of your area of expertise.
• Behind the scenes of your life, weekend activities, family elements.
• Books you are reading
• New things happening in your career

Getting engagement is about building momentum behind your account. If you start to get traction it will make it easier in the future to get traction. I can remember some days, I would get no likes or comments. I know many reading this will have had the same experience.

I know now, that momentum has to be built.

I also know that some posts fly and some bomb - it's about how you are doing over a period. It's not a one-post game.

Some of the posts which have had low engagement have brought me the most business, BUT many of my highest posts have brought me the most reach and visibility.

It isn't about engagement for engagement sake - I know likes and comments make us feel warm inside BUT it's about sharing things which people agree with, disagree with, get value from - that's why engagement matters.

If you engage people with content, you are building your personal brand, increasing the awareness of who you are and building trust with your audience.

Try these tips out....

You won't get it perfect on the first time. Work at it and build that momentum.

If you've enjoyed this article and it's been helpful, would you do me a favour?

Would you share it on your socials too?

I'd appreciate it if you can 🙏