How To Increase LinkedIn Engagement Rate
If you’re curious how to increase engagement on LinkedIn, this post can get you there in two simple steps...
With more than 830M members across 200 countries, LinkedIn is the largest professional social network in the world. Establishing itself as the go-to platform for job postings, industry news, and B2B (business to business) interactions, LinkedIn is a place to network, find potential customers, further careers, as well as increase one’s influence in the business sphere.
One way to successfully leverage the platform’s potential is by increasing your LinkedIn engagement rate. Unfortunately, simply being a LinkedIn member can’t do this alone – you’ll need to become active. Fortunately, LinkedIn offers many free options and features to help you increase your engagement on the network. Here's how to increase LinkedIn engagement rate:
Why Increase Your LinkedIn Engagement Rate?
Whether you're looking for a job, trying to meet like-minded professionals, or selling a product or service, increasing your engagement rate on LinkedIn can help you reach your goals. Even if you’re not looking to do any of those things right now, you may be someday, and getting your LinkedIn engagement rate up on the platform can pay dividends down the road.
Who Might Want to Increase Their LinkedIn Engagement Rate?
- Jobseekers
- Founders, CEOs, and organizational leaders
- Sales and business development professionals
- Thought leaders and influencers
How to Increase Your LinkedIn Engagement Rate
Increasing your engagement rate on LinkedIn can be done through two simple content mediums:
- Commenting
- Posting
You could even simplify things further by thinking of this as one easy step: Be active on the platform.
1. Commenting
“Reacting’ to content is a quick way to show someone support on LinkedIn, but you’ll often be lost in a sea of other ‘likes.’ On the other hand, commenting is less crowded, more personal, and can create engagement with the original poster.
When you comment on someone’s post, the following people (depending on how their notifications are set) can be alerted on the platform:
- The person you’re commenting on
- People within their network
- People within your network
This can open up even more opportunities to dialog and network because LinkedIn allows people to reply directly to your comment.
Whose Posts Should You Comment On?
This will differ for different people but, in short, you should comment on others’ posts whom you want to know and network with. For example, when you make a new connection on LinkedIn, peruse their recent posts and reply when and where relevant. This will help build your relationship with them.
Commenting tip for how to increase engagement on LinkedIn: Rather than offering one-word or vague comments, reply with thoughts that further the conversation.
2. Posting
Posting is the best way to build a reputation for yourself on LinkedIn. The content that you share turns your profile into a destination for those looking to gain your thoughts, opinions, and insights.
If you’d like to establish yourself as a thought leader, influencer, or subject matter expert, you can enable LinkedIn’s Creator Mode, giving you access to features and tools that will help you to amplify your voice on the platform even further.
What Should You Post on LinkedIn?
This is a question only you can answer, but sharing information that you have some expertise or interest in is a good starting point. Here are some ideas:
- Business news
- Industry trends
- Tips, tricks, and tutorials
- Your personal or company blog posts
- Case studies
- White papers
Post content that’s intriguing, relevant, and informative to the kind of audience you want to attract. As far as formats are concerned, text, links, images, and video are all welcome. You can get more sophisticated as you become more adept – the key is to begin and be consistent.
Posting tip for how to increase engagement on LinkedIn: Your audience is busy, so try to post content that’s both interesting and bite-size. Brevity and digestibility are key!
Additional Considerations for Increasing Your LinkedIn Engagement Rate
- Try to avoid overly salesy or self-congratulatory posts and comments. Instead, focus on things that will deliver your audience value.
- If you’re intimidated by posting your own ideas, you can start by sharing others’ content to see what resonates with your audience.
Great LinkedIn Post Examples
1.
Complicated information distilled down to simple, actionable steps can be a godsend for busy professionals. Here, Cleverly & CleverTask CEO, Nick Verity, has written a post that cuts through the clutter of SEO (search engine optimization) advice and offers some easy-to-understand topline insights. Notice that the first sentence includes the word “simple.” This tells Verity’s audience that neither reading this post, nor what it prescribes, will take too much time or effort on their part.
Verity then lays out some SEO fundamentals and ends with a link in the comments to “the only SEO guide you’ll ever need.” Not only is Verity offering value here by sharing a helpful resource, he’s contextualizing that value – again signaling to his audience the kinds of benefits his knowledge brings.
2.
In this post by Cleverly’s Chief Strategy Officer, Cam Harati, a trending topic is invoked at the very beginning. For those with the economic downturn on their mind, they’re likely to read on. Harati describes what many companies do in response to this calamity and then immediately launches into his contrarian approach. His counter is followed by an example, steps one can take, and is summarized with Harati’s philosophy on the topic. At the end of the post, Harati asks his audience what they think about his approach, inviting discussion and an exchange of more ideas.
3.
This post by Cleverly & CleverTask’s CEO, Nick Verity, details the steps of his own recent buyer’s journey. Note, Verity isn’t trying to sell his own products or services here. Rather, he’s sharing a personal anecdote that his followers – namely, marketers and salespeople – might find as a useful conversion example.
Verity lists out the steps of his buyer’s journey, tagging marketer and podcaster, Josh Braun, for both credit and additional reach. Verity caps the post with a tagline, “Speed to lead,” to summarize the takeaway.
Great LinkedIn Comment Examples
1.
Commenting on a blog post around strategy, Cleverly’s Chief Strategy Officer, Cam Harati, offers support for the original content and follows it with his own “cheat sheet.” This comment is both supportive and additive, moving the conversation forward.
2.
This comment by VP of Marketing for Cleverly & CleverTask, Jeremy Shih, shares his thoughts about the moving target of SEO best practices. While offering technical insights, Shih keeps the comment light and conversational, ending with an emoji.
3.
In response to a post about ads, Cleverly & CleverTask’s CEO, Nick Verity, mentions exactly what he does for his company and why. He then invites further discussion as a means to learn others’ perspectives and network around shared interest in a topic.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, it doesn’t take a huge amount of effort to become active on LinkedIn. However, the more thoughtful and helpful your content is, the better your content will be received, and the higher your LinkedIn engagement rate is likely to be. Still, strategy doesn’t have to be so “strategic.” The best posts and comments are going to flow from organic and authentic ideas and interactions.
If you’re still feeling a little unsure about how to increase engagement on LinkedIn, think of the kind of information you’d share at a business conference or during your next team meeting. Start with 2-3 comments per day, and a single post once every week or two. You’ll find that being active on LinkedIn isn’t that big of a task…and you might even start to enjoy it!
For more insights on posting, commenting, and LinkedIn engagement, follow Nick Verity, Cam Harati, Jeremy Shih on LinkedIn.
