How To Increase Engagement On LinkedIn

Are you finding it difficult to drive engagement on LinkedIn? You’re not alone! According to one study where Forrester analyzed the top 50 global brands’ activities on LinkedIn, the engagement rate was a mere 0.054%. This is lower than the average engagement rates for Facebook, Twitter and Google+. There’s no need to be disheartened however, as although your posts may gain fewer clicks, they can be more valuable! LinkedIn has the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate among all social platforms. Research indicates that on average, almost 3 out of every 100 visitors to a LinkedIn company profile will be converted into leads. So what can you do to encourage your audience to interact with your posts? Well we’ve come up with some proven ways that can help!

Keep Posts Concise & Include Links

When you’re writing copy for a post, it’s best to keep it short and snappy. This is more likely to be engaged with compared to longer copy. Another reason for this is that the copy gets truncated by LinkedIn if it reaches more than three lines (roughly 225 characters). In this case, users must click on “. . . see more” so make sure the first couple of sentences can grab people’s attention and make them want to read more. You could include an insightful quote from an article you’re sharing or highlight the value to the user of the content you’re linking to. Try to include relevant links in the majority of your posts. LinkedIn’s researchers discovered that updates containing links get up to 45% higher follower engagement.

Create Videos to Share

Like many other social media platforms, video content can help resonate with your audience. You could include demonstrations of new products, media clips or interviews. At the moment, only a select number of members can upload directly from their computer. The vast majority need to upload their videos to a platform such as YouTube beforehand. Once you’ve done this, you simply paste the URL into your update box. This will automatically pull through the video’s image and heading. Make sure you also write a description to of what’s featured in the video or why your followers should watch it, ideally with a call to action.

Videos from YouTube and Vimeo automatically play within the LinkedIn newsfeed, unless the user has disabled this function in their settings. The sound is muted until users click to unmute, so try to grab your audience’s attention within the first few seconds. Captions or subtitles can also be good as users can watch it in a work environment without needing to plug in earphones.

Post at Optimal Times

As LinkedIn mostly consists of a B2B audience, they use this platform at different times compared to other social media channels. Generally, LinkedIn users engage mostly on weekdays during business hours. According to Hubspot, the best days of the week to post are Tuesday to Thursday, between 7-8am and 5-6pm. They also found that posts received the most clicks and shares on Tuesdays between 10am-11am.

Your audience won’t necessarily follow the same patterns of engagement, so check your analytics instead. To find this, click on “Analytics” at the top of your Company Profile, then “Updates”. You’ll see a graph that shows the pattern of the engagement your posts have received. You can choose to view various factors including clicks, likes and comments. The impressions graph is the best indicator of when your audience uses LinkedIn.

Add Showcase Pages

Showcase pages are extensions of your Company Profile which can be used to showcase your company’s specialities. LinkedIn members can choose to follow the showcase pages they’re interested in, and don’t need to follow the business to do this. The advantage of this is that it helps segment your audience. Updates on these pages are more likely to reach the right people, and in turn lead to higher engagement rates.

You can create up to 10 Showcase Pages to highlight different aspects of your business. Depending on the type of business, they could be used for specific products/ranges, or to showcase different services your business offer. For example, our company has three showcase pages for the web platforms we work with (Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce) and one for SEO & Digital Marketing. Someone who’s interested in Shopify ecommerce isn’t necessarily going to be interested in other web platforms, so they can choose to only follow the Shopify Showcase Page.

To add a Showcase Page, simply click the “Admin Tools” menu on your Company Page then select “Create a Showcase Page”. For more information, check out LinkedIn’s FAQs about Showcase Pages.

Create Sponsored Content

There are several types of paid advertising available on LinkedIn, from Display Ads to Dynamic Ads. If you’re wanting to increase reach and engagement for your content, the best ad option is Sponsored Content. This allows you to get your message in front of the right people as you can define your audience with criteria such as their location, industry, job role, skills and interests. Most recently, LinkedIn have added even better targeting options based on their email address, employer and web browsing.

There are two pricing models to choose from: CPC (cost-per-click) or CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions). You can set your budget and if you’re unsure, LinkedIn displays a suggested bid range to help reach the top position. Ads on LinkedIn have a higher price per click or per 1000 impressions compared to other social media advertising. Although the cost is higher, LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities can benefit many businesses, particularly B2B companies. It can help boost your Company or Showcase Page following, increase awareness of what your company offers and most importantly, it can generate leads. Learn more about Sponsored Content directly from LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.

Hopefully these suggestions have inspired you to boost your efforts with LinkedIn. If you’re wanting to increase engagement on other social media channels, you can look back at our previous posts in the series for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.