A Perfect LinkedIn Post – does it really exist?
Yes and No
Perfection on Social Media is something encourages people to be better and at the same time holds others back from posting
The post I’m going to breakdown isn’t the post with the biggest reach, largest number of comments, most likes (I’ll detail that one at the end of this blog and show you why that worked as well), but it’s the post that I feel features every single element of a perfect LinkedIn post and explains in an easy step by step system how you can learn from it
Will every post you put out on LinkedIn hit the mark?
No – and that’s absolutely fine
Last night I did a post that I thought raised an important point and got a measly 1 like and reached a handful of people
To my eyes. To your eyes. That is a massive failure. It’s way below my usual form.
And that’s the thing
Sometimes you won’t hit the mark. Sometimes you will have a social media posts that fails.
One post on Social Media will not change your life – it’s about consistency
As long as your overall quality is high and you hit the mark most of the time and get results that is fine
Look at Ronaldo – Ronaldo is widely recognised as the GOAT, but sometimes he misses the back of the net
Focus on the overall picture and don’t worry about tiny mistakes
MY PERFECT LINKEDIN POST
To the outside eye a post with 5136 views, 13 likes and 13 comments is nothing extraordinary
I regularly have posts which outperform this in terms of the metrics – in fact at the time of writing this 75% of my posts in the last week have outperformed it in terms of likes and comments
And my most popular post in terms of reach has reached over 100,000 people on LinkedIn
So why is this post perfect?
Because it’s a post which features all of the following 5 elements
– Intrigue
– Reveal
– Education
– Inclusivity
– Question
I’ll break that down for you now
INTRIGUE
“I swiped right on a guy and something amazing happened
Amazing opportunities happen when you are open to something new”
Just imagine for a second that you are scrolling through your LinkedIn newsfeed and you’ve scrolled through an accountants update on the budget, dry legal advice, a used car salesman selling you LinkedIn Automation Services (OK I might have been harsh on the 1st 2, but the LinkedIn automation salesman can do one)
And then you see those lines above
It’s different. It stands out. It makes you stop on the scroll. It makes you think about what is coming next so you click the “show more” and LinkedIn loves that because your post has had interaction
REVEAL
“If you clicked see more, you probably assumed I was talking about Tinder”
The reveal moves people along the journey
It can confirm people’s expectations or surprise them
In many ways this is the part of the LinkedIn status that takes people to the “meat” or “body” of the LinkedIn post
EDUCATION
“In fact I’m talking about Shapr – the networking app that brings you a personalised daily dose of inspiring people to meet”
The body of the posts should let the reader know something they didn’t know
In this case it’s an App called Shapr that is like Tinder, but for business networking
You are a specialist in your field. What nuggets and insights do you have that could help educate your audience?
I joked before about accountants and legal specialists, but those fields have really been important during lockdown in terms of educating people
Every sector has their time in the sunshine, but the wise ones educate and offer value all year round
INCLUSIVITY
“Both myself and Macloud Moyo swiped right and we’ve just recorded a fantastic podcast together
Can’t wait to you hear it in about 3 weeks”
LinkedIn can be about shining a light on others, especially when they’re integral to the story
You’ll notice how on this part of the post I’ve only tagged the one person who is relevant to the story. I’ve not spam tagged 20 names to get a response
Many of my best performing posts on LinkedIn are the ones that are inspired by others and where possible I like to include them
QUESTION
“How many of you use Shapr and what interesting stories have come out of it?”
Statements generate nods and likes
Questions generate comments
And comments mean more than likes, so questions = success
If you ask someone a question face 2 face you get a reply, so do the same on LinkedIn. Give an opportunity for others to talk and respond. Social Media is a 2 way conversation
A RECAP
Intrigue – make them stop on the scroll
Reveal – reveal what the post is about
Education – tell your audience something new or unexpected
Inclusivity – include others if they’re part of the post (but don’t spam tag)
Question – give your audience a chance to respond
OK – WHAT IS YOUR MOST POPULAR LINKEDIN POST EVER?
This post here reached 109,000 people
One of the sectors I work in is the education sector – in the marketing department, heads of department (employee advocacy) and students (personal branding)
It was a post that got me in front of that sector and further down the line led to more work in that sector
And it worked because of this
Intrigue
“Just saw this on Twitter – what are your thoughts?”
Already you’re thinking what did he see so you stop on the scroll
Reveal / Education
“Why have I done 4 years at Uni for a 25k a year job when there’s people who barely have GCSEs earning absolute wads. CBA”
It reveals what a genuine person’s insights were to university and their career journey
Question
“If you were 18 in 2018 – would you go to University?”
A question that people have a very strong opinion on either way
REPEAT WHAT WORKS
Come back to what you know (OK, Embrace, I did just sing that song) … works
The most popular post example I’ve just shown you
I recently did a similar post when Cambridge University announced all lectures would be online only until Summer 2021. I ended with the question “If you were 18 in 2020 – would you go to University in September or defer for a year”
ANY MORE EXAMPLES OF GREAT LINKEDIN POSTS
I’ll update these on a regular basis so bookmark this, keep coming back to this post and seeing different examples
How photos can grab attention here …
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amccann_change-positivity-mindset-activity-6671310391043203072-_qtf
That Cambridge University Post
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amccann_education-onlinelearning-experiencemanagement-activity-6668765718953127936-pWfo
LinkedIn SSI scores and honest
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amccann_linkedin-socialselling-sales-activity-6668043030999662592-kXXQ
The truth about Blogging and SEO
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amccann_blogging-contentmarketing-manchester-activity-6666229143077703680–Lbo
Gary Vaynerchuk and the truth behind his strategy
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amccann_engagement-socialmedia-relationships-activity-6658259546223456256-gf6T
LET US KNOW YOUR OWN GREAT LINKEDIN POSTS
I regularly showcase great Twitter, Facebook and Instagram posts on our weekly social media roundups
But less so LinkedIn
Tell us about your Perfect LinkedIn Post (or just one your proud of) on email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk or obviously on LinkedIn if we’re connected here
A few rules
– You can’t be part of a LinkedIn Pod designed to falsely create engagement
– You can’t spam tag people in so that it creates false engagement
– Your posts must be somehow related to what you do or business in general (rather than engagement fodder like is this a Barm or a Bap)
– Your daily posts shouldn’t be a rant on “F**king this” or “I’m going to call out this BS”
NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
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Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
