Building an Audience Through Engagement

We grew 100K subscribers with this ONE WEIRD TRICK.  

C’mon. You know us better than that.

Clickbait is fleeting, and using these tactics erodes audience trust – which is why publishing quality content and interacting with your audience is vital to your impact on LinkedIn.

Engaging content will not only help you build your audience, it’ll help maintain it, and grow your network around it. That’s why this month we’re turning our attention to ‘engagement’. 

Finding out what will resonate with your audience can take some trial and error – you might need to try various different formats and approaches. So in this edition we’ve got some techniques to experiment with in your next posts, a challenge to get you reflecting on what makes you follow people on LinkedIn, and a couple of featured posts to inspire you.

As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback—let us know how we can support you in future editions by commenting below! 👇

Engagement tips

Maybe you want to refine a technique you currently use, or try something new?

Audiences can differ, there are no hard and fast rules for what content ‘works’. Here are some things to consider trying out in your next post, to see what captures your audience’s attention, and keeps them coming back.

🤳 Include Video: Recently, we’ve been seeing about 1.4x more engagement on video over other formats. So consider putting yourself in front of the camera. Making a video allows you to communicate authentically and directly to your audience. Videos don’t have to be complex to be effective, but they are a great way to get creative. 

🖼️ Add visuals: Other visuals are good too. Think about pulling people in with an original and captivating image or illustrating your data points with an insightful chart, for example.

✒️ Craft compelling CTAs: If you’re asking a question, think about what would make answers interesting. Yes or no questions, for example, won’t yield much. Asking for thoughts or insights however, will generate much richer responses. Similarly, asking a question about a specific issue in your industry can encourage people to voice a range of different opinions, which leads to productive conversation.

☑️ Use polls: They’re a great way to involve your audience and start a conversation. They’re also a fantastic tool to get feedback about some aspect of your content. Not sure what to do next? Ask your audience! 

📚 Share stories: Stories are a great way to hold people’s attention and add context to your insights. The best stories can both inspire and provoke thoughtful conversation. Here are some handy Dos and Don’ts when it comes to telling good stories on LinkedIn.

And remember, this isn’t where the work ends. An important part of the process is to engage yourself. Make sure you respond to comments, and that you read and interact thoughtfully with other people’s content.

 Ready, Set…Content Challenge!

What’s one thing that makes you follow someone on LinkedIn?

A great way to think about the content you’d like to make, is to reflect on the content you yourself enjoy consuming. What makes you want to engage with someone? Is it the way they talk on camera, or is it the value of their unique insights? Do they ask questions that provoke thought or do you look forward to their up-to-date takes on an industry? And is this something you could try and achieve with your own content?

To participate in the challenge, craft a post answering this question. Be sure to include the #OneThingToKnow hashtag and drop the link to your post in the comments below so our community can learn from your experiences and strategies.

What’s New?

⏰ You can now edit your scheduled posts!

When it comes to your content calendar, we know things can change — that’s why we have launched the ability to edit your scheduled posts. You now have the flexibility and control to adjust the timing and edit your scheduled posts whenever you want. 

Here’s how:

1. Click ‘Start a post’ at the top of your LinkedIn homepage

2. Click the clock icon and then click ‘View all scheduled posts’

3. Click the three dots and then choose from:

• ‘Post now’ to immediately post instead of the scheduled time

• ‘Modify schedule’ to change the time for your scheduled post

• ‘Edit post’ to make any changes to your scheduled post

If you’re looking for more details, you can find the 'schedule posts' help article HERE. 

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Featured Posts

Here are some standout posts to draw inspiration from.

What makes Jim Gonzales’ post stand out:

⚡ Right from the top Jim grabs our attention with a line that’s the beginning of a story. In phrasing it this way, he encourages his audience to read on to find out what made him change his mind about the event.

⚡ He uses simple, easy-to-capture pictures and videos of his day to make the video. As he tells his story, he speaks in his own voice, casually and conversationally, as if talking to a friend. He continues this tone into the comments, where he responds to other people thoughtfully.

⚡ His content is specific and actionable. His tips about navigating a networking event as an introvert are things that other people can easily try and put into practice. They are clearly part of his own experience, so feel authentic and valuable.

What makes Cassie Moreno’s post stand out:

⚡ Cassie uses a simple setup for her video. With just her phone, a small mic and headphones, she’s able to record a video which is off the cuff and can respond to events in real time.  

⚡ In her video, she explains her strategy and execution in depth. Drawing on her extensive insight, her thorough walk-through is providing valuable content for others in her field.

 ⚡ She encourages engagement by asking her audience what they’d like to hear next. Not only does this open up discussion, their responses will inform her content going forwards.

Know someone who’d be interested in this newsletter? We’d love it if you shared it with them. 

Tell us which tips you found most useful. Are there any specific topics you’d like to see us touch on in upcoming issues? Let us know by replying in the comments ⬇️