Top-Performing Posts on LinkedIn Have 3 Things In Common
Steal my strategy to grow a stellar personal brand on LinkedIn.
As a freelancer or online entrepreneur trying to reach a wider audience, LinkedIn could be one of the most powerful platforms to start posting content on.
But with several thousands of users consistently sharing their stories on LinkedIn, it gets hard to make your content stand out and have a real impact.
In this post, I’ve dissected my three highest-performing posts of recent months and laid out what they had in common. You can study the takeaways and implement them in your own content strategy to get more views, build powerful connections, and attract high-paying gigs your way.
Please note: The following tips are applicable only after you’ve optimized your profile. If you haven’t done it yet, here’s a guide on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile for lead generation.
1. Start with a contrarian opinion
LinkedIn plays a clever trick on its users.
When people scroll through their feeds, they only see the first two lines of your post.
Your goal as a creator is to make users click on the “See more” button.
To do that, work extra hard on the first two lines of your post. Offer an opinion not many others talk about. Add a healthy curiosity gap that makes the reader want to know what lies next in the coming lines.
Case study
I’ve seen hundreds of posts on LinkedIn about how people who hated their jobs quit and started building their own businesses.
I chose to go against the tide this time and present a contrarian opinion not shared by many on the platform.
In this post, I talked about how hating a job is not a good enough reason to jump onto the entrepreneurship bandwagon. I shared the potential pitfalls of blindly starting an entrepreneurial venture and listed the alternatives someone can resort to if they hate their jobs.
I was worried about posting something like this on LinkedIn. But the post resonated with the viewers, as you can see by the 14k+ impressions, 90 likes, and 55 comments.
2. Start with the negatives and end on a positive note
Social media runs on FOMO or the fear of missing out.
If you look at most posts online, they are based on the concept of carefully curating a person’s life’s highlights and showcasing a seemingly “perfect” existence.
Break away from this norm and dare to do something different.
Show your weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Narrate the story of your failures and how they shaped you. Curate a real story and pepper it with all the struggles you faced to reach where you are now.
I understand it can be intimidating to talk about your biggest failures in front of an audience of millions but trust me, being vulnerable will only make your content more relatable.
Case study
One of my highest-viewed posts in the past four months starts with a listing of all the ways I failed to live up to my goals in 2022.
I could have removed them and painted a highly curated, polished version of my life. But I chose to bare it all and show what truly goes on behind the scenes.
The viewers resonated with this post, as you can see it has 455 likes from 15k+ views. Vulnerability as a content creator might be terrifying, but it pays off in the long run.
3. Show the reader where they can be if they take a leap of faith
As a creator, your goal is to paint a picture of what might happen if the readers can think beyond their limiting beliefs and dare to dream the impossible.
It might be tempting to only share your wins and not the behind-the-scenes story. But if you share the hard points of your journey, this resonates with the readers as they can connect their hardships with your insecurities.
Authentic posts like this get the most love from your readers and make your brand memorable in their hearts.
Case study
In this post, I shared a story of how the people around me advised me never to quit the comfort and stability of my job to venture into something as unpredictable as writing online.
I could have taken the easy way out and listed my achievements since becoming a full-time writer. But I chose to present the whole picture and give my readers a glimpse of how tough decisions often come at a price, but if you’re brave enough to follow your heart, magical things can happen.
The post clearly struck a chord with my readers, as is evident by the 12k+ views, 387 likes, 49 comments, and 1 repost.
Standing out on LinkedIn: Final words
With 900 million members, LinkedIn remains one of the most powerful platforms to build a personal brand and grow an online business in 2023.
As discussed in this article, here are some tips to make your content stand out and strike a chord with the platform users:
- Start with an attention-grabbing hook.
- Don’t shy away from presenting contrarian opinions.
- Be authentic, vulnerable, and show both your struggles and wins.
These tips will help you get more views on LinkedIn.
But posting blindly just for the sake of impressions, likes, or followers won’t really help you in the long run. If you want to build a business on the platform and attract high-paying clients, build a content strategy that aligns with your goals and stick to it.