How to write a perfect short post on LinkedIn

If you are an entrepreneur or a digital marketer, you already know that LinkedIn is the ideal platform for networking. It is the perfect site where you can share your expertise and establish yourself in your field of expertise. But it can be difficult to stand out from the rest of the membership, as more than hundreds of millions of posts are posted on LinkedIn each year. Here are 4 tips for writing an effective short post that will help you achieve your networking goals.

1. Choose the right content for your LinkedIn audience

Over time, content marketing has established itself as one of the most effective methods of building a successful business network. But to get the most out of this platform, you have to involve your audience. And the best way to do that is to post short content that is appropriate for your followers.

You have several options available to customize the content.

A smart move is to repurpose the most visited or most commented on articles in the form of short posts. Even if your audience is not looking for specific content about your brand, you can use these types of posts as a starting point to attract people and make them become part of your network.

The experts at Quuu.com have written a post with great tips on recycling content:

Search topics of interest to you using hashtags on one or more social networks. Add the words "problem," "mistake" (also in English) to the keyword corresponding to the main topic to display content that your audience is concerned about.

Take a look at the posts most shared and commented on by your contacts. Mark those that are in line with your business strategy. Then create similar content, but in your own words, adapting it to your personal experience.

Talk to your audience. Contact your current or potential customers and ask them to give you 10 minutes of their time to talk about their business. Answer the questions they ask. Create new content based on their questions.

The results you will get with this simple tactic will surprise you. Often the questions asked by your audience are recurring and fall into the category of "general questions." If you are very involved and focused on producing new content, you may overlook the most basic problems and questions of potential customers. For example, people are usually looking for information on costs, rates, delivery times, guarantees. Or they want to learn more about the range of products or services you offer. Sometimes, even current customers do not know your full range of services: without realizing it you are missing easy opportunities!

2. Make your posts clear and specific on LinkedIn... be yourself!

Content that is too long and generic does not capture attention. Be specific. Use storytelling techniques. Share a story by telling a personal challenge you overcame. Showcase the people behind the company. If you want to be a leader in your industry, you need to educate yourself about the market you want to target in order to tell a story that is both authentic and engaging.

Choose an issue related to your industry for which you have a useful answer for your target audience.

It can be difficult to think of an interesting and exciting story to share. One creative way to find one is to tell the story of your business, starting with yourself. Tell your story. Share your climb to success-or to where you are. Maybe you started as a clerk in a fast food chain and worked your way up. Or you started your business while still working as a product manager in the technology sector. Think about the path your company has taken to get where it is now. The difficulties, efforts, positive results and lessons learned along this path. By engaging your audience through personal storytelling, you make them part of your experience and gain credibility. Get your audience to empathize with your story.

Ask your audience to contact you if they need to overcome a particular challenge or, more generally, if they need help in their field. These types of posts show your followers that you are a thought leader in your field, stimulate questions, and open up broader discussions in the comments section. Everyone likes to work with people they respect and with whom they share opinions and experiences.

Share your passions. When your enthusiasm about a topic of interest emerges, the reader is stimulated to learn from you and will seek you out for advice. The more posts you make about your passions, the better. It is easier to do this if we limit our area of expertise and create multiple posts on the same topic.

Show your readers that you are a leader in your field. Everyone appreciates the authority. People willingly rely on people who are not afraid to expose themselves and end up asking these people for advice or information.

3. Be creative when writing titles and texts

Content is essential, but form and style are also essential. Master the basics of copywriting or, even better, write a draft and let a professional write the content for you.

Creating titles is an art. Time-consuming. And study. Take a cue from newspapers and magazines, which over the years have exploited every possible tactic to capture readers' attention. Make a habit of marking down in a notebook or digital file the headlines that catch your eye. Do it as soon as you read them or when you surf the Internet. It mimics the puns and mechanisms behind those titles.

Remember that LinkedIn shows those who follow you only part of the entire post. Place more attention on the visible part to arouse the reader’s curiosity and entice them to click to read the rest. Do not abuse this technique unless you are certain that you can maintain a high level of interest throughout the post. Otherwise you risk disappointing the reader who will no longer click on your future posts.

4. Ask questions

To be of a good standard, a LinkedIn post needs an excellent conclusion. There are few more engaging ways to do this than to ask a question or raise an issue that sparks debate.

The problem with a typical Q&A is that you are simply asking questions to get answers. On LinkedIn this does not work. LinkedIn is increasingly focused on empathy between you and your followers. A simple question without any nuance or involvement of the reader will not receive many answers. On the other hand, those who follow you answer questions that conceal a deeper meaning, they become involved with the stories that touch them personally.

If you want to stand out, write a post that people can identify with and that includes a question that touches on feelings. Next, answer the question and explain why you chose that answer. Try to create a story that takes its cue from your question. It could also be an anecdote that has some connection to your niche. The goal is to connect with people and build a lasting relationship.

So, to sum up:

1. Choose the right content for your LinkedIn audience
2. Make your posts clear and specific on LinkedIn... be yourself!
3. Be creative when choosing titles and texts
4. Ask questions

More than 3 billion people are on LinkedIn every day. Try not to write meaningless or aimless empty words, and you will see that this process will pay off in the long run.