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.  

Influencer marketing has earned a lot of interest over the last few years. In the last three years, the number of Google searches for “influencer marketing” has increased by 1500%. This shows that the future of influencer marketing is available for future opportunities. As more companies realize the advantages of influencer marketing, they will invest more money into it.

This research revealed that 63% of marketers plan to increase their budget this year and they set the budget of influencer marketing to become a $10 million market by 2020. Obviously influencer marketing is here to stay. But what does the future of influencer marketing hold? 

It’s bound to change with new technologies and trends, like all other marketing strategies. Let’s take a look at a few changes in the industry that we can expect in the future.

Focusing on Micro-Influencers

Influencer marketing grew out of celebrity marketing. To the average person in the street, influencer marketing involves brands working with famous people. Brands have realized that sometimes less is more. The success of any campaign doesn’t completely ride on the number of followers.

We have extensively written about the different types of influencers over the past few years. In particular, we have signposted the increase in the popularity of micro-influencers. One prediction for the future of Influencer Marketing is that micro-influencers will have more influence than celebrities would.

However, definitions for the micro-influencers have remained elastic over the years. The globally accepted definition is that Micro-influencers are someone who has between 1,000 and 100,000 followers. While their following may be small, their authenticity is high. 

Many influencers buy fake followers, so their engagement rate is low. On the contrary, micro-influencers have fewer followers but they work to maintain personal bonds with their audience. Therefore, their posts get higher engagement.

Unlike popular influencers who have a huge following on social media, micro-influencers are more reasonably priced. Micro-influencers will rule the future of influencer marketing.

The rise of Influencer Networks

The future of influencer marketing is all about the networks. Instead of individuals, marketers may start to group influencers based on whom they are associated with. After all, influencer marketing is about connecting with the right people.

If your brand is related to an influencer, its reputation grows based on how much authority they have. Moreover, an influencer’s reputation depends on which brands they promote. 

Each of the influence centers is linked to each other because many niches overlap. Take, for example, a brand that sells sunscreen lotion. For such a brand, the obvious choice would be to reach out to influencers in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle niches. However, they could also reach out to influencers in the travel and sports industry.

The future of influencer marketing emphasizes connecting or “the interconnectedness” of different niches. The influencers who have the power to transfer ideas between different groups will be the most influential ones.

Brands Will Cultivate Long-Terms Relationships with Influencers

As more brands realize the importance of collaborating with influencers, they are seeking new ways to work with them. At the same time, they realize that building long-term associations with influencers is essential for better marketing. It has been common until now for brands to think short term with their influencer campaigns. They have an idea for a campaign. They search for influencers. 

Either the brand or the influencers create the campaign, depending on the amount of control the brand requires. The brand then analyses the results of their campaign and then moves onto the next campaign which repeats the whole influencer identification process.

However, as influencer marketing becomes more popular, there is a danger that influencers will pick the brands with whom they wish to work. Good influencers are likely to “fill up” their calendar with paid promotions. If a brand isn’t careful, they will lose their best influencers because of short-term thinking. There are signs in early 2019, however, that this trend is changing. When brands find suitable influencers, they now focus on building longer-term relationships.

Brands and celebrities have built long-term relationships for years. This is predicted that Influencer Marketing will more closely follow this trend for a few years.  

Computer-Generated Imagery Influencers

These influencers aren’t real or human. As the name “CGI influencers” suggests, they are generated by computers. But they have already started to revolutionize influencer marketing. They’re the next big thing in the world of influencer marketing.

The entry of CGI influencers into the influencer marketing industry has changed the way brands view collaborations. For the uninitiated, CGI influencers are influencers who are created with the help of computer-generated imagery.

Manufactured in the virtual world, programmers and designers work for hours to create each scene from a CGI influencer’s life. On their social media channels, CGI influencers can be seen posing at exotic locations.

Riding in on the curiosity that CGI influencers evoke, many luxury brands have started collaborating with them. Lil Miquela, one of the most popular CGI influencers, has already partnered with Calvin Klein, Diesel, and Prada. 

CGI influencers are becoming increasingly popular for brands because they allow brands to completely control how their products are advertised. The unpredictability that comes with real-life influencers can be avoided.