LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 722 million users worldwide. Given its huge user base and high engagement levels, LinkedIn is an extremely attractive platform for B2B content marketers looking to generate leads and build brand awareness. However, succeeding with content on LinkedIn requires having a solid content strategy tailored specifically to how users consume and interact with content on the platform.
Some key things that need to be kept in mind when developing a content strategy for LinkedIn are:
- LinkedIn is highly professional and career-focused, so content needs to be tuned to interests of its member base which comprises largely of business executives, managers, skilled professionals, etc.
- Content needs to be insightful, useful and relevant to roles, industries, or business functions
- Thought leadership content performs exceptionally well
- LinkedIn’s algorithm prioritizes content that generates comments and shares
In this 5000+ word guide, we will do a deep dive into what kind of content works best on LinkedIn and provide a framework and tips for developing an effective content marketing strategy for LinkedIn.
Types of Content That Work Well on LinkedIn
When developing content for LinkedIn, it is important to leverage content formats that align both with user behavior on the platform as well as with LinkedIn’s algorithm which determines reach and engagement. Here are some of the best performing content formats to focus on for LinkedIn:
Long-form Articles
In-depth, insightful articles and posts work exceptionally well on LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s algorithm favors longer-form content, so publishing posts that are over 1000 words will help increase their visibility and engagement. Longer content also allows you to take a comprehensive look at topics, tackle multiple aspects, and establish thought leadership.
However, simply writing long posts is not enough. The content still needs to provide value to your target audience. Useful frameworks, actionable tips, best practice guides, listicles, and how-to articles are some formats that lend themselves well to long-form content.
Case Studies
Case studies make for great content on LinkedIn because they allow you to demonstrate thought leadership while telling compelling stories about how you solved concrete business challenges for clients.
To maximize impact, case studies should focus on tangible outcomes and ROI rather than just outlining what you did for the client. Creative formats like video case studies can also help capture user attention on LinkedIn.
Expert Interviews & Panel Discussions
Interview and panel discussion formats perform well on LinkedIn because they allow you to tap into the knowledge of thought leaders, CEOs, founders and other influential professionals on the platform. This lends credibility and authority to your content.
Video interviews and panel discussions are especially engaging on LinkedIn. These let users hear expert perspectives directly from the source. Transcripts and key takeaways from interviews and panels can also be published as standalone posts.
Stats & Data-Based Content
Content that cites relevant stats and data resonates very well with the LinkedIn audience given the platform’s highly professional demographics. This includes research reports, surveys, infographics, projections, industry benchmarking data, and economic and jobs data.
Data-intensive content demonstrates thought leadership while also catering to the information needs of audiences like business executives, HR managers, marketers, and other professionals.
News & Updates
Timely news updates and analysis are highly engaging on LinkedIn. This includes coverage of new product launches, partnerships, funding news, executive hires, acquisitions, awards, and other developments that professionals in your industry would care about.
News should be accompanied by analysis and commentary from your brand’s perspective rather than just syndicated news clips. News content allows you to demonstrate domain expertise and industry thought leadership.
Opinion & Commentary
Strongly argued, well-articulated opinion pieces and commentary on industry trends, debates, and developments generate significant engagement on LinkedIn. This is because professionals turn to LinkedIn to hear from trusted experts and thought leaders on issues impacting their industry.
Thoughtful commentary differentiates your brand as an authority rather than just a news aggregator. Focus on providing unique perspectives on issues your audience cares about.
List Posts
List-based articles like “10 Tips for…” , “7 Things You Should Know About…” , “Top 5 Strategies for…” etc. are highly clickable and engaging formats on LinkedIn. Lists allow you to succinctly package information on popular topics.
Lists should focus on actionable advice rather than just commentary. Areas like leadership, productivity, remote work, management, marketing, hiring, etc. lend themselves well to LinkedIn list posts.
Types of Content to Avoid
While the above formats work very well, there are certain types of content that should generally be avoided on LinkedIn:
Self-Promotional Content
Overtly self-promotional content doesn’t resonate well with LinkedIn audiences. The platform’s algorithm also downranks content that seems too “salesy” or promotional. Focus on useful insights, best practices and thought leadership rather than direct product pitches.
Syndicated Content
Syndicated content like news clips, guest posts and content published elsewhere typically underperforms on LinkedIn. Audiences expect fresh, original analysis and thinking tailored specifically to LinkedIn.
Quick Takes & Short Posts
As mentioned above, short posts don’t take advantage of LinkedIn’s preference for long-form, meaty content. Put additional effort into developing comprehensive posts exceeding 1000 words.
User-Generated Content
While user-generated content works well on some social platforms, it tends to underperform on LinkedIn. Audiences expect authoritative, expert perspectives on LinkedIn rather than informal user opinions.
Too Casual Tone
The language, style and tone used on LinkedIn needs to align with its professional demographics. Content that seems too informal or peppered with internet slang/memes will not resonate well here.
Optimizing Content for LinkedIn’s Algorithm
LinkedIn uses an algorithm called the LinkedIn Ranking Formula to surface relevant content to users and determine its reach and visibility. Here are some tips for optimizing content to rank better in LinkedIn’s feed:
- Include keywords in title and description for discovery – This helps LinkedIn understand what the post is about
- Publish regularly – Consistency and higher volume of posts signals authority
- Longer content – LinkedIn favors posts above 1000 words
- Engagement – Comments and shares signal value and boost rankings
- Complete profile – Fill out profile completely to establish authority as a creator
- Quality over quantity – Well-researched, useful content drives more engagement
Additionally, native video published directly to LinkedIn seems to receive a visibility boost from the algorithm vs. other formats.
Driving Engagement with Content on LinkedIn
Driving genuine engagement on LinkedIn posts through likes, shares and comments is crucial for reaching wider audiences. Here are some tips:
- Ask questions related to the post topic to prompt comments
- Respond to all comments to continue driving engagement
- Promote widely within your network by sharing natively
- Mention influencers and thought leaders within the post to increase visibility
- Use LinkedIn Groups related to the post topic to share with relevant audiences
- Send post links individually to high-value prospects and connections
- Publish at optimal times when target audiences are active on LinkedIn
The more reactions and comments a post gets, the more LinkedIn’s algorithm will amplify it in follower feeds.
Leveraging LinkedIn’s Built-In Tools
Beyond basic posting, take advantage of some of LinkedIn’s unique built-in tools to maximize content reach and engagement:
LinkedIn Articles
The LinkedIn Articles feature allows publishing long-form posts natively. Articles have a more immersive reading experience. Enable on your Company Page to publish Articles.
LinkedIn Live
Go Live on LinkedIn to engage followers in real-time with interviews, Q&As, conference coverage, and product demos. Live videos see high viewership and reach.
Polls
The Poll option for posts lets you interactively ask a question related to your content and promps audience engagement. Make sure to analyze poll results.
Lead Gen Forms
Attach lead gen forms to your posts to gather contact info from interested prospects straight within LinkedIn. This helps content directly generate inbound leads.
Sponsored Content
Sponsoring posts is a fast way to extend reach beyond your current followers and serve content to targeted audiences. Start small to validate performance before scaling up budget.
LinkedIn Newsletters
Curate top-performing posts into newsletters and send to opt-in email subscribers for additional amplification beyond LinkedIn.
Tracking Content Performance
To refine your LinkedIn content strategy, diligently track performance of all published posts using LinkedIn’s built-in Analytics:
- Impressions – Number of times content was shown to users
- Clicks – How many clicked on the post to read
- Engagement Rate – % of impressions that engaged through likes, comments, shares, clicks
- Followers Acquired – New followers driven by the post
- Content Shares – How many times the post was shared organically
Analyze metrics to understand follower response, dial-in topics and formats that resonate, and optimize content for higher engagement and reach.
Integrating With a Broader Strategy
To maximize impact, the LinkedIn content strategy should be integrated with the broader inbound methodology:
- Blog Content – Extended versions of popular LinkedIn posts can be published on your blog for SEO.
- Gated Content – Posts can be used to attract prospects to download gated assets like ebooks, kits etc.
- Email Nurturing – Published posts form the foundation of nurture streams for different buyer stages and interests.
- Sales Enablement – Productive posts provide sales teams with helpful resources to share with prospects.
- Events – Promote events, share highlights, and feature speakers by leveraging LinkedIn.
This amplifies the value derived from all the thought leadership being developed for LinkedIn.
Key Takeaways
Here are the key recommendations for developing an effective content marketing strategy for LinkedIn:
- Create long-form, insightful posts with actionable advice
- Leverage formats like case studies, interviews, lists, and data-backed research
- Avoid overly promotional or salesy content
- Write in a professional tone aligned to LinkedIn’s audience
- Publish consistently to drive organic reach
- Prompt engagement through comments, questions, and mentions
- Track performance data and optimize accordingly
- Utilize LinkedIn’s built-in tools to boost content distribution
- Integrate LinkedIn content into broader inbound strategy
Executing on these recommendations will allow B2B companies to build credibility, establish thought leadership, reach key decision makers, and ultimately drive more leads and pipeline through content marketing on LinkedIn.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about creating content for LinkedIn:
What topics should I cover in my LinkedIn content?
Focus on topics your target B2B audiences care about based on their job roles, industries, business priorities and challenges. Thought leadership, career tips, workplace culture, leadership, management, HR issues, and industry news make for engaging content themes.
How frequently should I post content on LinkedIn?
1-2 times per week is ideal, as it provides a steady stream of content while not overwhelming follower feeds. Maintain consistency over posting daily some weeks and going silent on other weeks.
Should I reuse content from our blog/other sites?
Avoid repurposing too much content, as LinkedIn audiences expect tailored original content. However, you can occasionally rework and expand on some evergreen blog posts specifically for LinkedIn.
What’s the best day and time to post on LinkedIn?
Tuesday – Thursday tend to see highest engagement. Earlier morning or mid-day slots align well with browsing habits of most working professionals. Analyze your follower stats to identify optimal times.
How can I promote our content and extend reach?
Share posts in relevant LinkedIn Groups, individually message connections, mention influencers, use employee accounts to share, sponsor high-performing content, and republish top posts periodically.
How do I measure the performance of my content?
Track analytics for every post – impressions, engagement rate, clicks, reactions, comments, shares, followers generated, and leads/sales sourced. Compare metrics to identify winning formats.
Should I invest in paid promotion of our content?
Yes, sponsoring posts can be highly effective for expanding reach beyond your current followers. Start small while testing different target audiences, formats and objectives before scaling up budget.
What tools can I use to manage LinkedIn content?
Social media management platforms like Hootsuite and Sprout Social make it easy to schedule and publish content while tracking performance. Specific LinkedIn tools like Drift and Oktopost are also worth exploring.
Conclusion
Developing a thoughtful content strategy tailored to LinkedIn can yield outstanding results for B2B brands looking to drive more inbound leads and pipeline. But success requires understanding the platform’s unique audience, algorithm, capabilities and best practices for engaging professionals.
Brands that invest in regularly creating valuable long-form content, building relationships with followers, responding to engagement, and tracking analytics will be able to demonstrate credible thought leadership and see significant lead generation from LinkedIn.