Both LinkedIn posts and articles have their advantages and disadvantages. The best option for you depends on your specific goals, target audience, and type of content. Here is a quick overview of the key differences:
LinkedIn Posts
– Shorter format, typically just text, image or short video
– Appear in followers’ feeds
– Good for quick thoughts, updates, commentary
– Maximize visibility and engagement
LinkedIn Articles
– Longer format allows in-depth analysis
– Don’t appear directly in feeds, need people to visit your profile
– Better for thought leadership, industry analysis, how-to guides
– Maximize brand building and lead generation
Now let’s dive deeper into the pros and cons of each option.
LinkedIn Post Benefits
Here are some of the main advantages of sharing content in a LinkedIn post:
Reach a Broad Audience
When you post content directly to your LinkedIn feed, it has a chance of being seen by all of your connections. This gives you a great opportunity to get your message in front of a large target audience. Posts appear prominently in followers’ feeds, so they are more likely to catch people’s attention than company page updates or published articles.
Spark Engagement
LinkedIn algorithm favors posts that spark comments and reactions. So posting can be a great way to boost engagement. Asking questions, sharing opinions, posting news relevant to your industry, and using interactive content like polls and quizzes are all ways to prompt your connections to like, comment, and share your posts.
Share Content Frequently
While articles allow more in-depth content, posts make it easy to share brief thoughts, commentary, and links more frequently. You aren’t limited by length or need for extensive formatting. So posting works well for sharing the latest developments and commentary about your industry.
Promote Your Company Page
Your posts appear with your name and profile pic but can still direct traffic to your Company Page. Include useful company updates, news, and links to drive followers to learn more about your business.
LinkedIn Article Benefits
Here are some of the main advantages of publishing longer-form content as LinkedIn articles:
Show Thought Leadership
Articles allow you to really demonstrate your expertise on a topic through in-depth analysis, how-to advice, case studies, and more. This thought leadership helps establish your personal brand as an industry leader.
Improve SEO
Articles follow search engine optimization best practices like keyword optimization in titles/subheadings, alt text for images, and integration of targeted keywords in the content. This makes it easier for your content to be found in search.
Generate Leads
Articles allow readers to opt-in to receive future content from you. This gives you a way to collect email addresses and build a subscriber list. Offering downloads like whitepapers or templates can incentivize readers to exchange their contact info for exclusive content.
Establish Brand Awareness
Articles appear on your LinkedIn profile, so they help strengthen your professional brand. They demonstrate your expertise and thought leadership. Your profile acts as a portfolio showcasing your capabilities as a writer, leader, and industry expert.
Use Case Examples
To better understand when each format makes sense, here are some examples of effective use cases:
LinkedIn Posts
– Sharing a news announcement relevant to your audience
– Commentary and reactions to current industry news/trends
– Highlights, quotes, or key facts from your latest content
– Recognition of employees, partners, or clients
– Links to your latest blog posts or company news
– Inspiring quotes or thoughts to engage your audience
– Job openings at your company
– Promotion of upcoming webinars, events, etc
– Polls to crowdsource opinions from your audience
– Behind the scenes photos/videos from events
– User-generated content showing your product in action
LinkedIn Articles
– How-to guides and tutorials
– Case studies demonstrating client success stories
– Ebooks, whitepapers, and long-form guides
– Industry trend reports and future outlooks
– Competitive analysis or comparison of software platforms
– Interviews/profile stories with industry influencers
– Roundup posts with curated advice from top experts
– Presenting data from surveys and original research
– Recaps and highlights from conferences/events
– List posts like “10 Tips for X” or “7 Common Mistakes to Avoid”
– Thought-leadership on your area of expertise
Posting vs Publishing Frequency
One other key difference is optimal frequency. Here are some high-level guidelines:
LinkedIn Post Frequency
– 1-2x daily for individuals
– 1-3x daily for company pages
You can post fairly frequently to stay top of mind and continue driving engagement. But too much volume can overwhelm followers. Focus on quality over quantity.
LinkedIn Article Frequency
– 1-2x weekly for individuals
– 1-2x monthly for companies
Since articles require more time and effort, the optimal rate is less than posting. You want enough frequency to steadily build your content portfolio and demonstrate expertise. But make sure you have the bandwidth to maintain quality at higher volumes.
Formatting Differences
The formats also have structural differences like length and multimedia options:
| Feature | LinkedIn Post | LinkedIn Article |
| Length | 700 characters max | 10,000 characters max |
| Images | Single image | Multiple images |
| Videos | Single video up to 10 min | Multiple videos |
| Links | Single URL | Multiple URLs |
| Media Position | Top, middle, bottom | Inline with text |
| Hashtags | Up to 3 | Unlimited |
| Location Tagging | Yes | No |
As you can see, articles provide more flexibility for multimedia, links, length, and keywords. But the structured simplicity of posts also has benefits.
Tips for Optimizing Each Format
To maximize the impact of your LinkedIn content, follow these tips for each format:
Optimizing LinkedIn Posts
– Write catchy headlines to grab attention
– Use hashtags strategically but sparingly
– Ask questions to spark engagement
– Use @mentions to broaden reach
– Include high-quality images/video
– Link to external sites to drive traffic
– Post consistently at optimal times
– Monitor analytics for engagement insights
– Promote top-performing posts with LinkedIn advertising
Optimizing LinkedIn Articles
– Choose SEO-friendly headlines and subheadings
– Write meta descriptions that summarize and captivate
– Include keyword optimized image descriptions
– Insert relevant internal/external links
– Format text clearly with lists and subheadings
– Publish consistently to build your content portfolio
– Promote new articles on social media
– Repurpose articles into different formats
– Analyze traffic sources and conversion rates
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn posts are better for spurring engagement, sharing quick updates, and driving traffic to your page. LinkedIn articles allow you to showcase thought leadership through long-form content.
The optimal approach is utilizing both formats to achieve different goals:
– Use posts to engage your existing audience and promote your best articles
– Use articles to establish yourself as an industry expert and generate new leads
Focus your posts on being timely, conversational, and interactive. Use articles to truly showcase your expertise and perspectives.
Consistency and high-quality content are key to success on LinkedIn. Measure results and continue tailoring your strategy based on what drives the most value for your brand.
