Eliza McElhaney

5 ways to level up your LinkedIn presence

LinkedIn can be a great way to connect B2B, but it's also a wonderful way to establish yourself as a though leader or expert in your industry.

But since its inception in 2002, it's continued to confound people when it comes to how it works or what content will generate the best response.

Here are five ways you can help boost your presence on LinkedIn:

1. Slow and steady wins the race. Just like every other platform, consistency is key; but posting TOO much on this platform can do your presence a big disservice. Try posting at least 2-3 times per week, but no more than 30 times a month for optimal engagement. 

{pro tip} Timing matters. Try posting in the morning (before work), then revisit those posts later in the day to respond to comments to help boost engagement.

2. Cut out the automation. There are plenty of apps and automation tools that seem like timesavers, but don't give in. Automatically feeding in blog posts is inauthentic and can often dilute your content, in turn decreasing your engagement. 

3. Be down with 4-1-1. Coined by TippingPoint Labs and Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute, the 4-1-1 rule encourages us to share other people's relevant posts over our self-serving ones. The rule of thumb is: for every post/article written by you, repost one relevant post and share 4 pieces of content written by others. 

LinkedIn Content Ratio

4. Take advantage of LinkedIn's hashtags. Yes, hashtags actually work in regard to getting you discovered on this platform; but don't make the mistake of copying and pasting what you use for Instagram onto your LinkedIn posts. They are different platforms.

Not sure where to find relevant hashtags for LinkedIn? When you draft your post, LinkedIn will automatically give you a few options to choose from based on your caption. You can also find relevant hashtags on your homepage by clicking on "Discover more" located at the bottom of the far left menu. Once clicked, scroll down and you'll see "Recommended hashtags for you."

{pro tip} Unlike Instagram, don't use niche hashtags that have a very minimal following and always use relevant hashtags over popular ones.

5. Create LinkedIn-specific content. While posting the exact same content on each platform seems tempting, don't do it. Make sure your content is drafted for LinkedIn. Active users on this platform are drastically different than those on Instagram or Snapchat, even Facebook. They are seeking out something different than the content on those platforms. Long story short: make sure you are creating original posts for LinkedIn or sharing content from LinkedIn.