LinkedIn is the redheaded stepchild of social media. It's not quite as fancy-pants as Instagram and TikTok, leaving people assuming that it can't do as much. False! LinkedIn is incredibly powerful, if you use it the right way. And like any other platform, the more engagement you accumulate, the better. So, let's talk about how to generate more LinkedIn engagement so that you can use it to connect with likeminded professionals, source leads, land new clients, and position yourself as an authority in your field.

How to Improve Your LinkedIn Engagement

1. Set a goal to post once a day.

LinkedIn wants members who are going to be active — and they reward those people accordingly, with better engagement and visibility.

So, set a goal for yourself to post once a day.

"What the heck am I going to post?" you're wondering. We're so glad you asked!

Do you have your own content that you've created, like blog posts or YouTube videos? Post those! Another idea? Share other people's work. Did you happen to read an article or listen to a podcast episode that you found valuable? Your audience might love it too. Share it.

And guess what? You don't even need to post a resource, because unlike on some other platforms, on LinkedIn, text-based posts perform extraordinarily well. And when we say "text-based," we mean it. According to research, posts in the neighborhood of 2,000 words reign supreme.

If this commitment is already stressing you out, consider "bulking" your work. In other words, schedule out a week's worth of content in one sitting. You can use a tool like Buffer or Hootsuite (for free!) to schedule out content in advance. Then, over the coming days, it'll post all on its own, without your involvement. #win

Remember that more often than not, people aren't going to magically stumble upon your page. You have to get in front of them. This is why posting regularly and consistently is so important.

And if you can post more than once a day, even better! Maybe you do one in the morning and one in the middle of the afternoon. Test out different times and frequencies and see what gives you the best results.

2. Create native content.

LinkedIn has at least one thing in common with other platforms: It wants to keep people on its own platform.

In other words, LinkedIn wants people to stay on LinkedIn. In fact, when you share a link within a post that directs people to another site, LinkedIn will limit the engagement that it allows you to have.

So, here's the trick when it comes to posting: Make it so that people don't have to navigate away from the platform in order to view your content.

With text-based posts, this is pretty straightforward, since they're going to read it right on LinkedIn anyway. But what about blogs and video content? Here are a couple of pointers.

Whenever you link to another source, don't actually put the link in the body of the post. Rather, write the post, and include a call-to-action like, "The link to the full article/video is in the comments!" And then, leave a comment with the link.

As of right now, the platform's algorithm reads this differently from a link within the post itself, and it won't hurt your LinkedIn engagement.

For video content specifically, upload it natively directly to LinkedIn. For example, instead of linking to your YouTube video, create a teaser of that video, and upload the teaser straight to LinkedIn. (Bonus! People love video content.) Then — you guessed it — post the link to the full video in the comments.

Yes, it's an extra step you'll have to take. However, monitor your engagement and insights and once you see the improvement in your LinkedIn engagement, you won't mind.

Also, don't forget that LinkedIn gives us the option to write articles, and you can and should take advantage of this awesome feature. This is also native content, as opposed to linking out to a blog.

Now, to be clear, linking out to a blog is still A-OK. But here's something you can do in addition to that. Write a summary, blurb, or outline of your blog as a LinkedIn article, and include a call-to-action telling people that they can read more on your website. That way, you get the best of both worlds.

(Reminder: If you're posting on a business page, don't forget that you can choose to notify all of your employees of new content, so that they can share it with their audiences, too.)

3. Connect with new people and actually engage with them.

If you want to improve your LinkedIn engagement, then you have to — gasp! — engage with people. They don't call it social *networking* for nothin'.

First up, start sending connection requests. But don't just do it willy nilly. Look into people before you reach out. Do you have a concrete reason to connect with them? Do you have something in common? If so, great!

Once you connect with people, send them a message to say hello. Yes, LinkedIn is a platform for professionals, but it's still partly a social networking site. So, we have the room to be a little more casual. This can be as simple as, "Hi Mary! Thanks for connecting with me here. Hope you're having a great day," or, "Hey John! I noticed we're both graphic designers. Nice to connect with you here."

To make things even easier on your personal profile, you can change the call-to-action to “follow” and immediately get followers that don't require approval. Simple!

For business pages on LinkedIn, you are given 100 free credits per month to invite your personal connections to follow a page. Invite relevant connections. If they accept, you are given a credit back. Be sure to choose people who have a reason to care about your brand. It needs to make sense.

If you want to improve your LinkedIn engagement, then you need to go at this with the genuine mindset of, "I want to connect with people, share my knowledge, and listen to them." Connecting with the right people and sending direct messages help with this. These serve as more clues for LinkedIn about who you are and what you do, making it easier for the platform to boost your engagement in the way you want.

There's no magic trick to growing your LinkedIn engagement. It's about working hard and working smart. If you post regularly and consistently, create native content, and connect and engage with other individuals, then you'll reap the benefits. It's that simple.

Need help managing your LinkedIn page and other social media platforms? We've got your back. Contact LSM today and let's talk about your brand.