LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 740 million members worldwide. It allows you to connect with other professionals, find jobs, network, and share content. One of the key features of LinkedIn is the ability to share content to your connections and followers. This allows you to establish your professional brand, promote your business, drive traffic to your website, and engage with your network. But how exactly do you share content on LinkedIn? Here is a step-by-step guide on how to share all types of content on LinkedIn along with tips to maximize your impact.
Ways to Share Content on LinkedIn
There are several ways you can share content on LinkedIn:
Share an article
You can share articles from LinkedIn Pulse, external websites, or your own blog. Simply click on the ‘Share’ icon on the article and post it to your LinkedIn feed. You can add a personalized message, choose who you want to share it with, and customize the share card with an image, headline and description.
Share an image or infographic
To share an image, infographic or meme, click on ‘Photo’ in the share box that appears when you make a new post. Upload the image you want to share directly from your computer. Add a caption and description to provide context.
Share a link
Any interesting link can be easily shared on LinkedIn by pasting it in the share box. The link will automatically populate with a preview image, headline and description. You can customize this before sharing.
Share a video
You can upload a video directly to LinkedIn when making a post. Supported video formats include MP4 and MOV. The video can be up to 10 minutes long with a file size limit of 5GB. Add a title, description and thumbnail image to complete the share.
Share a document
PDFs, presentations, spreadsheets, and other documents can also be directly uploaded and shared in LinkedIn posts. This allows you to share guides, reports, whitepapers and other gated content with your connections.
Share a post
You can reshare posts from other people by clicking on the share icon on their post. This allows you to share great content from influencers, companies, and publishers that your network would find interesting.
Go Live
LinkedIn Live allows you to broadcast real-time video to your connections. It’s an easy way to share live events, behind-the-scenes coverage, Q&As and other videos.
Tips for Sharing on LinkedIn
Here are some tips to share content effectively on LinkedIn:
Choose relevant content
Only share content that would genuinely interest your audience. Make sure it’s relevant to them and aligns with your brand.
Add value and commentary
Don’t just share content – add your perspective on why it’s worth reading. Provide unique insights, opinions and observations.
Post consistently
Develop a regular posting schedule to stay top of mind. But don’t just post for the sake of it – focus on quality over quantity.
Vary your content formats
Mix up posts with a combination of long and short form articles, videos, images, links and documents. This adds variety.
Engage with your network
Don’t just broadcast content. Interact with your connections by commenting on their posts and responding to their comments.
Follow industry influencers
Stay up-to-date with trends by following thought leaders. You can reshare their posts with added commentary.
Use multimedia
Posts with images, infographics and video tend to get higher engagement. Use visually appealing multimedia to make content more shareable.
Leverage hashtags
Include relevant hashtags in your posts to extend reach and help the right people discover it.
Tag connections
Tag connections while sharing content to notify them and start meaningful conversations.
Who Can You Share With?
On LinkedIn you can share content with:
Your Connections
Your 1st-degree connections will see posts shared with connections in their feed. This option helps strengthen relationships.
Your Network
Your 1st and 2nd-degree connections will see posts when you share with your entire network. This extends the reach.
Public
Anyone on or off LinkedIn can see posts shared publicly. This is the best for maximizing views.
You can also share content specifically with groups you’ve joined or target individuals by tagging them.
LinkedIn Share Settings
Choose default share visibility
Set your default share preference under ‘Me’ > ‘Settings & Privacy’. Choose to share with connections, network or publicly by default.
Customize individual posts
When making a post you can override the default and choose a custom audience like your network or the public.
Limit profile visibility
You can limit what certain connections see in your profile under ‘Manage my network’. Restrict unwanted connections.
Share Anonymously
When making a post you can click on ‘Anyone’ to share anonymously so your name and photo don’t appear.
LinkedIn Content Recommendations
LinkedIn surfaces relevant content recommendations based on your interests and engagement. Here are some ways to leverage them:
Discover interesting content
Check the LinkedIn feed, newsletters and notifications tabs for content suggestions to consume and share.
Follow influencers and publishers
The ‘Recommended for you’ section suggests people to follow for up-to-date industry news.
Join recommended Groups
Groups you may like are recommended under the ‘Groups’ tab. Join them to share content.
Engage with content you like
By liking, commenting, and sharing recommended posts, the algorithm improves and serves you better suggestions.
Influence recommendations
You can actively shape recommendations by following topics, channels, companies etc. that interest you.
Types of Content to Share on LinkedIn
Consider sharing these types of helpful, engaging and relevant content on LinkedIn:
Industry news and analysis
Commentary on the latest developments in your field helps establish your expertise.
Case studies and success stories
Share examples of how your product or service helps customers.
Data and research
Statistics and surveys that provide actionable insights are very shareable.
How-to guides and tips
Educational content like tutorials help others and positions you as an authority.
Thought leadership content
Share your unique opinions and vision to build your influencer profile.
Behind-the-scenes content
Give exclusive access to your brand with photos, videos and stories.
Relevant articles and links
Share third-party articles that your audience would find interesting.
Humor and entertainment
Funny or inspiring videos and memes make a post more engaging.
Metrics to Track Content Performance
Analyze how your shared content is performing using these LinkedIn metrics:
Impressions
The number of times your post was seen. Aim for high reach.
Reactions
Likes, comments and shares show your post resonated.
Clicks
Click-through rate on links show content is sparking interest.
Audience
Who engages with your posts – connections, niche groups etc.
reshares
Content being shared by others has passed the quality test.
Follows
An increase in followers shows you’re attracting the right audience.
Engagement by time
When your audience is most active and responsive.
Conclusion
Sharing high-quality and relevant content is key to boosting your personal brand and company on LinkedIn. Focus on educating and engaging your professional network by posting industry news, company updates, thought leadership content and helpful how-to guides. Make the most of LinkedIn’s publishing and data tools to analyze what types of content resonate best with your audience. This will allow you to constantly refine and improve your LinkedIn content strategy. The more value you provide, the more opportunities and connections you can build through the world’s largest professional network.