How to become a LinkedIn Influencer in 2021?

LinkedIn is a social networking site for the business community to foster connections with former, current and potential colleagues. It’s a great place to exchange business ideas, build relationships with prospects, search for jobs or talents. 

In 2015, it gave access to all users of the English speaking countries to its publishing platform in an attempt to increase page views and time that the users spent. As a result 320 mln LinkedIn users granted access to the publishing platform allowing them to become an influencer in their respective niches. 

Each day, over 2 mln posts, videos, and articles flow the LinkedIn feed, generating tens of thousands of comments every hour – and tens of millions more shares and likes. So how to stand out in this business-focused social media platform? In this post, we will answer this question.

How to Become an Influencer on LinkedIn? 

To be a LinkedIn influencer is quite different from being an influencer in any other platform like Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. The platform brings out its annual “Top Voices” list of most engaged creators and influencers. To appear in this list you don’t necessarily have to be the CEO of a global company or professional expert with years of experience in a particular field. Each year, LinkedIn’s editors only choose the most active and engaged users independent of their industry. 

So, it just takes a reasonable period of time to do research and dedication, to get noticed by the team. 

#1 Publish Fresh and Curated Content

As stated by Bill Gates “the content is king”. However, creating fresh and eye-catching content requires to invest your time and effort. Engaging content is what makes people scroll on your newsfeed. And people engage in your content if they find it useful and informational. 

The key point here is to post daily and post right. Start posting content that is related to your and your connections’ industry. Showing your expertise in a particular industry you need to create and publish long-form posts which are over 600-1000 words. Just publishing content will not alone do the whole job, you will need to engage with the audience through comments and reply to the posts that have shared by your connections.

The latest news and developments perform really good on the platform. You can also share curated content and short videos. In this way, you are not attracting just random people, but people who are really engaged with your industry. 

#2 Build Your Audience

By sharing industry-relevant content you already attracted followers, but if you want them to engage, you need to add value by providing insightful and informational content.  Focus on what matters most to your followers. 

LinkedIn’s publishing platform gives you an opportunity to grow your audience. Here you can interact with others who might be interested in your industry.  Always keep in mind that here the type of connections is more important than the number. You need to focus on forming strategic connections. 

#3 Optimize Your Profile

As your LinkedIn profile is like a resume or business card, it’s essentially a marketing tool. Optimizing your profile will have a great impact on your personal brand. So, consider creating a well-written and resume-like profile that potential partners can notice the benefits of collaborating with you.  First of all, make sure all important areas are in order. Let’s start with profile and background images. It is recommended to make the profile photo visible to everyone. This move will develop trust and make your profile easily found by the search engines. 

Add the professional profile of skills, experience, interests on your headline. Try to express what you do in 120 characters in a creative and informative way. Keep your summary short but don’t forget to add as many relevant keywords as you can. It makes your profile easier to find when looking for experts in your field of specialization on LinkedIn. 

#4 Stand out in your industry

LinkedIn is your chance to get your name and face in front of hundreds (or even thousands) of professionals in your industry. But to build an influence you need to stand out among those professionals by being a reliable source of good information and to address your audience’s pain points. You need to constantly publish creative and innovative solutions through fresh and curated content. 

Differentiate yourself. Don’t just recount the day’s news. Instead, put a spin on the mundane by writing short articles with catchy headlines like “Why your pain medication may be killing you!” This will make your audience sit up and take notice.

#5 Promote Your Content  

Of course, your content will not get around by itself. Sponsored Content is native advertising on LinkedIn. It allows you to promote your content directly in the LinkedIn feeds of the professionals you want to reach on LinkedIn and increase your content’s reach as a LinkedIn Influencer. 

But there are some tactics, some of which work far better than others. To help you out, here are the tactics of LinkedIn content promotion so you can start getting more attention for your content. 

• Go after your ideal readers,
• Use groups, 
• Use LinkedIn’s publishing platform – The Pulse,
• Buy some Sponsored Update Advertising.  

AboutGulnar Ismayil

Gulnar is a content manager and copywriter at Keepface helping with website copy, blog posts, and product descriptions. A millennial, usually seen with a coffee cup in hand. Find her on Twitter here: @ismayil_gulnar