Building a LinkedIn Strategy –Part 3 Three Tips for Good Content

February 28th,2012

How to build a LInkedIn Strategy - 3 Tips for Good Content

photo credit:zoetnet via flickr

So far we’ve covered your presence,your fan strategy,next is the content you share.

Close Connections

Sharing content on LinkedIn is important because it’s how you stay in front of your connections on a regular basis. According to British anthropologist Robin Dunbar in Malcom Gladwell’s The Tipping Point (affiliate link):

The figure of 150 seems to represent the maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship.

If you can only manage 150 genuine,close relationships,why connect to more than that?

The 150 are going to be people you stay in close contact with. They are your family,friends,current customers,business associates. When you look at it that way 150 doesn’t seem to be that many people.

150 Isn’t Your Limit Any More

By connecting with others via LinkedIn,and having a solid content strategy,you have the ability to provide useful content to your connections staying top of mind. When you’re products or services are needed,they will think of you because you’ve helped them virtually solve their problems.

There are three keys to providing great content. They are:

Be Relevant
Be Consistent
Be Current

Be Relevant

To be relevant you need to know who you’re connected to and why. We covered this in Part 2. It’s the first thing you must do and the most important.

When you understand who you’re connecting with and why,you can start to determine what information is relevant to them. The more relevant,the more they will see you as a resource and an expert.

What happens more often than not,is the company wants to talk about what’s important to them. If they have a Facebook page,they may be sharing information important to their customers,but also to their vendors,etc. This dilutes the messages for each group. Pick one target customer group. The provide content they want to know about.

If you aren’t well versed in your target market,do some research. Read books they read. Watch television shows they do. Pick up magazines that are popular with them. Notice the subjects. Notice what is covered on the subjects. Then start to move in that direction with your content.

Be Consistent

To be consistent,you need to have a plan. Why? Because you get busy. What seems easy to do now,will seem impossible as soon as you pick up a few new customers.

By building a plan of what you want to post,the job is easier.

It doesn’t have to be a fancy plan,but some place for you to capture what you want to post on what days. You are in the publishing business. Large magazines and newspapers live by their editorial calendar. To be effective on LinkedIn you need to do the same.

Be Current

There will be times,however,where something will be in the news that you want to share,but it’s not planned. This is being current.

You need to share important information with your customers that is timely. There’s nothing worse then being the company that’s posting about something that happened a month a go. You’re fans have already read about it. If you have a different slant on the subject,go for it. If you’re just sharing,find something newer.

Beware Automation

There are tools out there to help automate your posts. They can be super helpful,especially during busy times or vacation. But they can work against you if you’re not careful. Here’s an example (sorry it’s a little blurry):

Because this is automated from Twitter to LinkedIn,it’s hard for LinkedIn users to understand. Also you can’t share it,like it or comment on it in LinkedIn. This stops the social cycle. It stops the conversation.