Before branded content and #ads were mainstays of every digital marketer’s playbook, LinkedIn began quietly staking out its space as a knowledge-sharing hub for the corporate set—and became an unlikely gathering place for proto-influencers in the process.
Okay, so it doesn’t have the shine of Instagram or TikTok. But LinkedIn’s got something equally important: reach. Today, the platform boasts over 830 million members worldwide spread out over 200-plus countries. At nearly 20 years old, it practically redefined the network effect while illustrating the true power of finding the right audience.
Naturally, B2B marketers have caught on. LinkedIn’s reputation as a content marketing platform now extends beyond the confines of professional circles; B2C-focused brands and individuals are getting in on the action, too.
So how are savvy content marketers really leveraging the platform? Here are 4 essential strategies that can help you reach LinkedInfluencer status.
Boost brand authority
From navigating ever-changing SEO guidelines to getting the right eyes on your content, garnering attention—and credibility—is no small task. As the Search Engine Journal described, brand authority is a holy grail: “Everybody wants it, but not everybody knows how to get it and keep it.”
How, then, can you stand out in a world of content overload? Get authoritative by diving deep and offering nuanced industry insights.
That’s where LinkedIn’s publishing feature comes in. As the only social media platform supporting original long-form articles on your page, the “publish” option lets you provide in-depth analysis and start a conversation. While other mediums favor quick bursts of content, going long pays off on LinkedIn; one independent researcher even found that posts between 1,900 and 2,000 words are shared most frequently.
Formats range from thought leadership pieces to infographic explainers, but high-traction posts tend to include:
- Industry-focused commentary on trends, predictions, or personal opinions
- Inside looks at your brand’s culture and values (like sustainability commitments)
- Product highlights with expert demos and FAQs
- People-focused mentorship pieces offering career development and advice
After publishing, dive into the details with built-in KPIs like article views, average number of comments, and devise a word count sweet spot.
Double down on video
Video is here to stay, and LinkedIn has proven to be a prime place to showcase it. Whether it’s a product promo or a company overview with character, integrating video into your LinkedIn content marketing is a proven way to boost engagement. That gives a hint as to why it’s now the most popular video platform, trailing only YouTube in terms of popularity among marketing professionals.
So what do successful LinkedIn video campaigns have in common?
- Start strong: In-house research from LinkedIn shows that a viewer’s attention tends to drop off after the 10-second mark. Hook them early by featuring punchy, key information first—and back it up with your best visuals.
- Optimize for mobile devices and accessibility: More than half of LinkedIn’s overall traffic comes via mobile devices; videos that don’t cater to the small screen are more likely to get lost in the mix. To make a video versatile across desktop and mobile, some experts suggest opting for a 1:1 aspect ratio (the classic widescreen view is 16:9).
It’s also crucial to add subtitles to all videos. Not only does this increase accessibility, but it’s also yet another way to maintain attention—an especially valuable tool given that 85% of social media videos are played on mute. LinkedIn auto-plays videos in silent mode by default, meaning captions are also necessary to capture passive audiences.
- Gather data and contacts with built-in lead gen forms: For paid video ads, LinkedIn offers a feature to secure long-term connections with your audience. Rather than a static text CTA prompting viewers to head to your website, you can attach lead gen forms to videos that capture viewers’ profile information and email directly.
Reimagine decks with carousel posts
Love ’em or hate ’em, slide decks endure. But that doesn’t mean they have to stay under wraps in boardrooms. Once dubbed the “quiet giant” of content marketing, there’s still serious value in a well-crafted deck—and PowerPoint lovers can now experiment with updated formats to bring them into the future.
Enter LinkedIn’s carousel posts. Carousels integrate documents into a modern, sliding interface embedded directly into users’ feeds. They’re an increasingly popular way to share the granular information from a slide deck without requiring readers to download a PDF or even enter a new tab.
While some marketers see success importing PowerPoints directly into carousel posts, you shouldn’t simply import a 50-slide behemoth and call it a day. Specialists recommend starting with a quick visual story—between 3 and 7 slides—to make key points stick. Carousels are also a good match for sharing customer testimonials, showcasing multiple products side by side, or illustrating case studies.
Finally, double-check to ensure your uploads meet the right specs, and remember that LinkedIn will scale images to 312 x 312px.
Keep your target audiences fresh
Sometimes, great content speaks for itself; other times, it needs a nudge in the right direction to have a lasting impact. And when it comes to paid advertising, LinkedIn has a not-so-secret weapon: its audience targeting infrastructure.
Audience targeting uses profile-based professional attributes—job experience, education, demographics, interests, and more—to put your campaign in front of the most relevant profiles possible. That’s a lot to work with. And though it may be tempting to cast the widest net possible, building a truly optimized target audience takes careful consideration.
From the Campaign Manager page, match your content up with two to three attributes that align most closely with your messaging. That could be Millennials with data analysis chops or recent grads whose second language is Photoshop. After running the first campaign, LinkedIn then recommends a/b testing by conducting a similar campaign and slightly altering the parameters.
This incremental, stratified approach might seem strange at first glance; after all, selecting the widest possible parameters could put you in front of millions right out of the gate. With long-form articles or industry-specific content, however, tapping into a niche is likely to drive more meaningful engagement.
Even as the world of work continues to transform, LinkedIn is poised to remain the epicenter of all things professional in the digital age. Whether it’s forging connections with C-Suite execs or simply putting your brand in front of a new generation of talent, there’s plenty of space to get creative.
