For many companies, creating engagement on LinkedIn is a real quest. With over 600 million users and people connecting daily, the professional social network is a real playground for build your reputation and become visible.
That’s not to mention the reputation of LinkedIn itself, which is known for its professionalism and strong results in recruitment. Of course, you still need to be visible and attract the attention of the right people.
Fortunately, we have compiled 5 techniques to boost your engagement on LinkedIn for you.
However, before presenting the 5 techniques, it is essential to understand what engagement on LinkedIn is and you also need to know how to measure it to get the best result.
What is engagement on social networks?
The goal of posts on social networks, and especially on LinkedIn, is likely to gain awareness as well as visibility. These can appear through reactions, comments and shares, and it is these interactions that form engagement!
Whether on LinkedIn or any other social network, engagement can be defined as the tendency of customers or consumers to interact with a company's posts about its products or services.
To track reactions on posts, engagement can be measured using a performance indicator called engagement rate and there are major advantages to knowing this result.
However, it's not just about measuring the engagement rate to obtain a result; you will also have the opportunity to influence it by publishing appropriate content to generate interactions. You can then respond to those interactions, which is the point of engagement. A study reveals that replying to comments and studying visitors' interests can encourage them to spend 20 to 40% more.
Why measure engagement on LinkedIn?
The engagement rate it allows you to know the level of customer satisfaction and appreciation regarding your activity! You should therefore pay attention to the results, because it is through them that you can assess the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.
Indeed, the level of interaction from your audience with your posts helps you understand what your leads and customers are looking for, and you can respond to their needs.
Furthermore, studying engagement allows you to gain visibility on social networks, which can increase your traffic or number of leads.
Regarding posts, you can plan them well by grouping them by period, for example. You will in particular learn which posts are most successful, and a correct interpretation of the results will be a powerful tool to reach your targets with your next content.
In summary on this point, the engagement rate is a tool that helps grow your activity through social networks.
However, you need to know how to measure this engagement rate.
Techniques to measure the engagement rate on LinkedIn
Whereas in the past the rate was calculated solely from interaction results like likes and comments, it has evolved alongside social networks. Other factors can now be taken into account, and the goal is to give you a result that is as close to reality as possible regarding the behavior of your leads, customers, or casual visitors.
The two main methods considered most effective are the following:
Calculating interactions vs. subscribers
This first option is the classic method which simply consists of dividing the total number of comments and reactions by the number of connections you have on LinkedIn. You then multiply the result by 100 to obtain the true engagement rate. It is useful to remember that the types of reactions to include can appear as like, love, support, congrats, insightful, etc.
In summary: the engagement rate = [(reactions + comments) / number of followers] x 100.
The method is fairly simplistic, but it allows you to quickly obtain the trend result. You can also base your market research on this result by analyzing and calculating competitors' engagement rates.
Calculating actual reach vs. interactions
This is the more recent method, which consists of calculating the actual reach of your posts to obtain the engagement rate result.
The formula is as follows: the engagement rate = [(reactions + comments) / actual reach] x 100
The result of this method is relevant because the calculation only takes into account the subset of your connections who actually came into contact with the post in question.
Indeed, it’s not the total number of your followers who will have the chance to see your post. Some will not become aware of it, because the content feed on LinkedIn doesn’t keep posts on the timeline for long. Therefore, one can conclude that this method is both the most accurate and the most effective.
What is a good engagement rate?
After doing the calculation, you may wonder whether the result is a good rate or not! An engagement rate of 2 to 5% is already excellent on some sites, and for others 1% is already sufficient. In reality, the assessment of the result should be made in relation to achieving your objectives, so you should set your own percentages and make comparisons.
First, analyze the number of views on the posts! If increasing that number was the goal, make sure to continually improve it based on posting times, for example.
If, on the other hand, the goal was to generate customers, analyze according to the number of new clients and seek to improve your post content to get a better result.
The 5 techniques to boost your LinkedIn engagement
1. Use attractive images
As with any social network, LinkedIn is no exception to the rule. Images are essential for capturing the attention of users who are ready to scroll faster than lightning.
Unsurprisingly, posts containing images receive more comments.
If you’re wondering what to post, lean toward simplicity. Use attractive visuals that follow your brand guidelines and LinkedIn’s publishing standards. And if the technical side scares you, know that it’s not an excuse!
For your photos, don’t hesitate to use royalty-free image libraries such as:
And if Photoshop is not your friend, rely on Canva, a free tool that will let you create very attractive visuals in a few clicks with the colors of your brand.
Also read: The 2020 guide to social media image sizes
2. Post regularly
On LinkedIn, you can publish articles regularly. This will help you establish your expertise and position yourself as a leader.
To optimize this effective but time-consuming action, keep an eye on your statistics. That way you can better determine:
- What is your audience on LinkedIn?
- What positions do your readers hold?
- How did they discover your article?
To boost engagement on your articles, mention your brand each time and insert calls to action to encourage your readers to comment and share. As always, the most effective way to get what you want is to ask.
3. Make your message clear
LinkedIn is a network apart. Your audience on this platform is probably not the same as on your other social media. That means you need to adapt your tone to your LinkedIn audience.
There’s no mystery to it: you need to go through a testing phase. To find the approach that resonates most with your audience, you can test different ways of delivering your message.
Regarding tone:
- Humorous
- Informative
- Serious
- Cynical
Format:
- Long article
- Short article
- Infographic
Also make sure your visuals enhance your posts and add value. You can use LinkedIn’s A/B testing tool.
Also read: LinkedIn: 5 ways to make a post go viral
4. Use videos
While other social networks integrated video long ago, LinkedIn is behind on that front. And that’s actually good news for you. It means there’s still room to gain visibility.
How can you use video on this professional social network? Here are some ideas:
- Film your premises and show them to your subscribers
- Introduce a new product
- Share your expertise
- Introduce your teams
This medium is rapidly expanding. A survey conducted by Wyzowl Research has shown that 38% of marketers have published video content on LinkedIn. Three quarters consider it an effective strategy.
What’s more, video is promoted by LinkedIn’s algorithm, so why not take advantage of it?
Also read: Why is video essential for engagement?
5. Choose the right time to post
Finally, common-sense but always useful advice: your engagement may be low simply because your audience doesn't see your posts.
If Facebook, Instagram and other platforms like Twitter are often blocked at work, LinkedIn is usually allowed. That means your audience is active during the day and on weekdays, with an optimal period from Tuesday to Thursday.
According to an Oberlo study, here is what was observed:
- Highest shares and clicks: Tuesday, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- Lowest engagement: 10 p.m.–6 a.m.
- Best time to post: 10 a.m.–12 p.m. and 5–6 p.m.
- Peak usage times: 12 p.m. and 5–6 p.m.
Also read: LinkedIn Analytics: the guide to analyzing and optimizing your B2B marketing
Our tip
You're now ready to be in the spotlight! And to support you in your social media strategy, don't forget that you can hire a community manager by posting your project for free on Codeur.com
