How do you get more reach on LinkedIn? Not just by clear, helpful posts. Your profile is at least as important. Read tips here on how to reach more on LinkedIn with less effort.
What is the Definition of More Reach on LinkedIn?
The definition of ‘more reach on LinkedIn’ is different for each person. Common definitions include:
- More reach on LinkedIn means more views or impressions of your message
- More reach on LinkedIn means more people saw your post in their feed or notifications
- More reach on LinkedIn means more people viewing your message
Before you read on, think about what you mean by ‘more reach on LinkedIn’?
- Want more followers?
- More connections?
- More views or impressions of your posts?
- More profile visitors?
You will succeed with all of this with the tips from this blog. But don’t do this as occupational therapy! You have a business to run.
So choose a marketing strategy that suits you and that will convert ‘more reach on LinkedIn‘ into more results for your company. More about that at the end.
In this blog, I will give you tips for great posts that will help you achieve more.
Make Every Post a Concise Blog
If you like writing and enjoy sharing your tips, posting is a great marketing tool. If you also want to be more visible in search engines, publish your pieces on your website first.
Each post is a blog in itself. About one of your favourite subjects, in which you are an expert, you know all about it. Even from different angles and perspectives. Each of those angles, is its own post, a self-contained mini-blog.
Just like the piece of text that is in this blog between 2 subheadings, deals with a subject. This makes it a concise blog that you can place as a post.
With a number of these mini-blogs together, you can easily create a regular blog on your website. That is why it is a smart tactic to write a blog on your website and create various posts for LinkedIn from there. This also makes it easier to find in the search engines.
Moreover, you will then also be considered the author of your writings. Huh? Why? I am too, you think now. Yes, yet technically it works that if your brainchildren are first on LinkedIn, LinkedIn is considered the author. Not fair, right?
So: put your post as a blog on your website and then on LinkedIn.
That is possible because every good post is just as ingeniously constructed as a blog. A blog is often more extensive than a post. A post is therefore a mini-blog.
Smart Structure of a LinkedIn Post
A clear post that is nicely structured, gets more reach and interaction. There are all kinds of ways to structure a post. In this blog, I discuss a simple one, that every entrepreneur can do.
- Catchy first line
- Blank line
- Returning to the first line
- Explanation
- Inspiration
- Positive encouragement to (inter)action
The form you choose for this can vary. Whichever you choose, this is what you want to achieve in your post in sequence:
- Getting attention with something relevant, valuable, and recognizable (use the 6 stimuli for the unconscious brain)
- Maintaining attention
- Convince/explain/elucidate
- Inspire
- Take action with simple, concrete steps you can take now
Grab Attention With the First Line
The first line of your post is like the title of your blog: it has to be catchy, otherwise you won’t even get attention.
If the first line doesn’t make your readers stop scrolling, you won’t get readers, you won’t get comments, you won’t get customers. Then you’ve written your post for nothing. It feels like a bit of a waste of time.
Bastiaan’s tips for a catchy blog title can also be used as inspiration for your first line.
Put the Message at the Top
Your message is placed at the top of your post. In the first line. That may feel like you are giving everything away right away.
- As if people will not read the rest.
- The opposite is true.
- Clarity actually ensures greater reach.
The subconscious mind of your potential reader will only pay attention to your post if he gets the idea that it is relevant to him. This should be apparent from the first line.
Narrative Form Also Captures
Storytelling is also a powerful way to convey something. You activate many more regions in the brain of your reader.
Even when you write narratively, your first line can convey the essence. For example, like this:
- How the Prince Freed the Princess with a Magic Rope Ladder
- How to become a sailing instructor by sailing backwards
- After being sent into the woods, she found a growth hack that made €120K
The first line summarizes the story. Play with it.
More White = More Views
Then you leave a blank line.
Once you’ve captured your prospect’s attention, they’ll now have to tap “Show More” to read the rest of your post. And if you then write a killer second sentence, they’ll likely read the entire piece.
The Second Sentence Moves Your Reader From Attention to Retention
Now that you have your reader’s attention, you want to keep it. The second line is the key to that. Jasmin Alic calls this sentence the ‘ re hook ‘because he calls the first sentence the ‘hook’: the baited hook that makes your reader bite.
The hook’ is hooked into the first line, your title. Name an objection that immediately comes to the mind of your reader and refute it. Or create contrast: say something that is diametrically opposed to what you said first.
Outline Your Customer’s Problem
Now that you have their attention, all that remains is to deliver on the promise of your first sentence. Now you are delivering your message.
Describe your reader’s problem. Do this in a narrative, as visually imaginable as possible, using concrete words. Avoid abstract language or jargon.
Choose your words accurately, so that your reader gets the idea that he is watching a film: he can see the problem and its consequences vividly before him.
Let your follower experience that you understand him and acknowledge his problem or desire. Then your reader feels connected to you. And that connection will make the sale easier later.
Get Your Message Across Concisely
Then you convey your message, in bite-sized chunks. Explain clearly, simply, concretely and concisely what you mean. Provide examples that your customers will recognize. You do this by using elements from daily life.
Look. Which of these two is clearer?
- 3 terabytes of memory on 1 chip
- 1 million photos the size of a postage stamp
With ‘photo’ and ‘stamp’ an image of them immediately appears before their mind’s eye. This does not happen with abstract concepts such as ‘memory’, ‘category’ or ‘reasoning’.
The second variant is something more people can see. And then you can explain that that amount is possible because of those 3 terabytes on the chip.
Write as if You Were on Stage
Write as if you are presenting to a room with hundreds or even thousands of listeners (because that’s how many people are reading your post). While the way you write is super personal as if you were talking to your best friend or your coolest client.
By treating your post as a presentation, you choose very carefully which elements you need to convey your story. No more and no less. You also always explain why you tell what you tell. In this way, you logically build up your message.
If you use sources, tag that organization or person. Most people like it so much that they reward it with a comment, like or repost. Which gives you more views.
Talk as Personally as You Would to Your Friend
Write as personally as if you were talking to one person. In fact, you are, because each of your readers is sitting alone staring at their screen.
You want to inspire that person and help them take action. Then they get the result they want and solve their problem.
By always visualizing the person to whom you are writing, you make your language very accessible and understandable for everyone. And you prevent yourself from writing a mass of words.
So before you start writing, choose a person you feel comfortable with. Someone you love or who values you. Your child. A good friend. Or a cool client who is close to you. When you feel comfortable, you write sincerely and clearly.
Clear is More Than Dizzying
Some people feel like they have to write very cleverly and complicatedly on LinkedIn. To demonstrate their knowledge of a topic.
That’s not smart.
Choose clear language. It makes it easy for your reader to follow you and take action. Then he will get more out of your story. And then you will get more results from your post.
Being verbose won’t help you. Write concisely and to the point. Then you’ll ideally have conveyed your message within 1200 characters. Do you need more text? Then create multiple posts for your story.
White Space Gives Space to Think
Clear and distinct also applies to the layout of your message. Divide your information into bite-sized chunks. Use white space to visually separate all elements. Such white space provides space for thinking.
Write in short paragraphs. That scans and reads better. It looks easier to read and therefore the action you will give feels easier to do. And then you sell more (if that was the goal of your message).
Plus, you’ll keep more attention until the end.
If you want to use emoji, use it sparingly. Max 10 per post or so. And put the emoji at the end of the sentence. That way braille readers and people who use screen readers won’t be bothered by it. Because those things read emoji as a series of weird characters.
‘<3’ We recognize it as a heart. But when a screen reader reads it out, it sounds like ‘less than sign 3’. That sounds very strange and distracts from your message.
What Are You Doing Now?
End your post with simple, imaginable steps the reader can take to implement your tips or inspiration.
The more specific the better.
The simpler the action, the smoother the execution. Your reader can imagine doing it so well that he has already done it in his mind. That way, the brain will remind him to do it in real life.
This way you get more (inter)action on your post. The algorithm rewards this with more reach on your LinkedIn post.
Use Hashtag
Put 2 to 6 hashtags at the very bottom of your post. Preferably choose hashtags that already have a lot of followers. In my book, I explain how you can see the number of followers.
The idea with hashtags is that people who also find that topic interesting will also get your post on their timeline sooner. Even if they don’t follow you yet. Even if they don’t follow that hashtag yet. This way you increase the reach of your message with hashtags.
Don’t go overboard and pick a few. Only the first 3 will also appear in the URL of your post, so they will have the most effect. This also makes your post easier to find in the search results if someone searches for that topic.
How the Linkedin Algorithm Works for More Views
The more interaction your post generates, the more valuable it is to the LinkedIn community. The algorithm encourages that by putting it on more people’s timelines. That’s why the comment strategy works so well on LinkedIn.
An entrepreneur experimented extensively with his messages and discovered these effects of interaction:
- 1 like gets 1 extra view
- 1 click on ‘read more’ gives 4 extra views
- 1 share leads to 7 additional views
- 1 comment gives 12 more views
Oh yeah, commenting on your own post doesn’t help. Especially if you’re the first to comment. Before 2021, it was common to put a link in the first comment. That hasn’t worked for a long time. And now it’s even working against you.
How to Edit a Post on LinkedIn
Did you stay patient? Here’s how to edit your post, for example, if you forgot to tag the photographer. Or if you see another typo. Or if something didn’t quite turn out right.
- Go to your post
- Tap the 3 dots at the top right
- Select ‘Edit Post’
Then you save your post again and everyone will see the updated post. They won’t be notified of your action, they’ll just see the word ‘Edited’ under your header (I think I’ve edited all my posts. I’m dyslexic when typing, I always say).
