5 Good Reasons Business Owners MUST Publish on LinkedIn
May 11, 2015
You probably know by now that LinkedIn added a “publish” feature. If you have not published an article on LinkedIn yet, you may be missing out on one of the most powerful recent changes to that platform.
At first, I was hesitant because when you publish something on a social platform you do not own the material published there. In this case, LinkedIn does. For awhile I sat back and studied this feature, followed people who did publish regularly, and then had a total change of heart on this subject.
If you have ever thought about publishing but are hesitant for whatever reason, here are 5 things you should seriously consider:
1. LinkedIn Notifications
When you publish an article on LinkedIn, your connections get a notification. This is powerful! When you consider that when you post something to LinkedIn (or other platforms) it goes into the news feed and people only see it if they happen to be online or request notifications (on some platforms), so only a very small portion of your friends, fans or followers even know you posted an article. Notifications ensure your contacts are notified.
A LinkedIn published post provides your contacts with a notification and the title of your article, so they can decide for themselves if they want to read it, instead of an algorithm deciding if they even see it in the news feed. While a notification is no guarantee your contacts will read your article, they will at least know you published it, which increases the likelihood of them viewing it and keeps your name in front of them. Instead of shouting out to the masses and hoping you reach someone with a regular post, you already know you are reaching people. It is up to you to make the title good enough for them to click through to the article! This a much more efficient way of making sure your connections see your article.
2. Reach a Different Audience
While most people have at least a little overlap of contacts between social platforms, LinkedIn tends to be a slightly different audience for most business owners. Publishing here means you will reach a different audience than you do on other social platforms. It is smart to take advantage of this!
3. Your Published Post May Be Picked Up and/or Highlighted in Pulse
Pulse is basically a long form post or blog posted directly into the LinkedIn platform. Pulse updates are sent out to LinkedIn users in a newsletter format based on interests and groups they joined on LinkedIn. This is the powerful part because this allows your published post to reach people who are interested in your subject matter through periodic emails sent out by LinkedIn Pulse to LinkedIn users. This means that people who are in groups whose subject matter you tag and people who are interested in your subject matter may receive your post in their inbox through their LinkedIn Pulse email. It is basically a targeted notice based on interests. Sweet!
You are allowed 3 tags on LinkedIn published posts, so choose them wisely! This is how your article will be categorized. If you properly tag your article, you can reach a high number of readers for your posts, which leads to my next reason to love published posts.
4. Higher Engagement
If you choose the correct tags, your article is picked up by Pulse, and you have an engaging headline, you will also have a much higher engagement than most other forms of social media article posts. This allows you to interact with new people and show off your expertise. You will expand your circle of influence and become known as an expert in your field.
5. More Followers and Contacts for Your LinkedIn Network
When someone reads your published post on LinkedIn, they have the option to follow you. This allows you to expand your connections to people you would not otherwise be connected to. You will also see an increase in connection requests and profile views, which helps your LinkedIn ranking. These are people who are choosing to be connected to you. The more good connections you have, the more powerful LinkedIn will be for your business.
If you have not considered LinkedIn publishing, it is time to evaluate this powerful resource.
"If you have thought about publishing on LinkedIn, but have not done so yet, what are you waiting for? Do it now!"
This is a powerful way to reach a new audience, so take advantage of it!
If you don’t see results immediately, do not despair. Make a publishing schedule and stick to it. Be consistent, tweak tags and headline formulas until you find what works. You will surely see positive results after a few published posts. Before long, you will be won over by the power of making new connections to those you would otherwise miss out on meeting. Happy blogging!
If you need help getting started, need someone to manage your social platforms or just want a social media platform audit, CONTACT ME HERE. Let’s see how we can work together!
