Wondering how to use LinkedIn to promote your blog and grow your brand?
Great, because it’s actually not that hard!
LinkedIn may be one of the best social media platforms for you if your ideal client is in business in any way.
Although I’m less active on LinkedIn than I am on Facebook or Instagram, LinkedIn has still been my greatest source for getting clients.
This is likely because people on other social media platforms are simply browsing for fun. Many times, they’re not expecting (or even wanting) an interruption from you talking about your blog or services. But when people are on LinkedIn, they’re already thinking with a business mindset. This gives your business blog a huge advantage on that platform.
As of this writing, around half my clients have found me because of my activity on LinkedIn. And the best part is … this is all the result of inbound marketing. I haven’t had to sell to a single person! As a 9 on the Enneagram, I can’t even explain to you how happy it makes me to not aggressively sell. Seriously.
LinkedIn has also been a great place for me to grow my email list and increase my blog traffic. So… you’ll have to excuse my enthusiasm because I’m just a little bit obsessed with LinkedIn right now.
But the real question here is: Is LinkedIn the right fit for you? Let’s find out.
How to Know LinkedIn Is the Right Fit for Your Blog
Before you commit to learning how to use LinkedIn to promote your blog, you need to find out if your audience is even on there.
LinkedIn is likely a good fit for you if your primary audience includes:
- Businessmen and businesswomen
- Entrepreneurs and small-business owners
- People looking for a job
- People wanting to quit their job and start their own money-making venture
Keep in mind that your offer should be—in most cases—something that helps them in their professional goals.
How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Your Articles and Grow Your Brand
Now that you’ve determined that LinkedIn is a great fit for your business, let’s dive into how to use LinkedIn to grow your brand and your blog.
1. Grow Your LinkedIn Connections
The first step to promoting your blog is actually growing your following. This doesn’t mean you can’t post your blogs on LinkedIn until you have a certain number of followers. But if you have fewer than 500 connections, I would recommend focusing your energy on building genuine connections.
Focus on connecting with people who are your ideal client or who are in the same/similar field as you.
Start by reaching out to connect with 5 people every other day. (I’ve heard people say you should do it every day, but hey, we have lives, right?)
Huge tip for how to use LinkedIn to make connections: Make sure to send a personalized message with each connection request.
This doesn’t have to be long and fancy. Just be sure to use their first name, indicate the connecting link that caused you to reach out to them (friend, school, or former job you have in common), and be friendly.
Here’s an example:
Hi, Tracy. I’m Jenny Rose, a Christian content marketing coach and fellow Stetson grad. (Go Hatters!) I saw you’re connected with my good friend [Insert Friend Here]. I’d love to connect on LinkedIn. Have a great day!
Practical ways to find connections:
- Go to your alma mater’s page and look for fellow alumni.
Some colleges’ LinkedIn pages have settings for you to search based on geographical location, study major, or current job title. Take advantage of these to find your ideal client.
- Look at your friends’ connections.
- When a new person says yes to your connection request, look at their connections.
- Use LinkedIn’s search tool to find your ideal client or fellow business owners in your field.
If you have a free account on LinkedIn, you have a limited amount of monthly searches. You can only find results for 1,000 profiles or 100 pages. So make them count!
If you upgrade to a premium LinkedIn account, you get access to unlimited search results.
2. Post Several Times a Week
Like all social media platforms, you can’t just post once in a blue moon and expect a great return. A huge part of how to use LinkedIn is simply being active on the platform. (That includes posting and liking/commenting on other people’s posts.)
The more active you are on LinkedIn, the more your connections see you and your content.
Not all these posts have to be links to your blog. Be sure to also post content that builds relationships or offers free value without having to click away to get it.
In fact, some claim that LinkedIn’s algorithm disfavors posts with links in them.
The other alternative is putting the link in the comments instead of the post itself. Agorapulse ran a test to see how posts with links in the comments compared to posts with links in the post itself. They found that views (or impressions) were higher for posts with links in comments, indicating that LinkedIn’s algorithm shared those posts more liberally. But those same posts also had fewer comments and likes.
The fewer comments and likes could be from the fact that when you share a link in the post itself, a picture pops up that’s clickable. Like this:
When the link is in the comments, though, there’s no compelling photo or headline to attract attention.
However you choose to post your blog links on LinkedIn, just make sure to do it regularly! I recommend at least 2 to 3 posts per week, with at least 1 of them being a link to your blog.
But blog links aren’t the only aspect of knowing how to use LinkedIn.
3. Publish LinkedIn Articles
I’ve seen many people who have had great success republishing their blogs as LinkedIn articles. (I haven’t had as much success with LinkedIn articles as I have with simply promoting my blog, but this could be because I’m still growing my following on the platform.)
To do this, just click “Write Article” in the lower right-hand corner. Then simply copy-paste your blog into the appropriate fields.
A few recommendations if you choose to do this:
- Wait at least 2 weeks before republishing your articles.
You want to make sure your blog on your own website has a chance to rise in the ranks on Google before adding the same copy on another platform.
- Rewrite the headline.
It doesn’t have to be vastly different, but it should be different enough that people scrolling through Google’s search results won’t be confused by identical headlines.
- When you publish your post, tag a connection you think would get a lot out of it or who you interviewed for the piece.
4. Tag People and Add Hashtags to Your LinkedIn Posts
If you want to know how to use LinkedIn to promote your blog, tagging and hashtags are a great place to start. This way, it’s easier to get your content in front of more eyes.
But don’t tag just anyone. Make sure it’s someone who would get a lot of out of the content, someone you wrote about in the article, or someone you interviewed for the piece.
When adding hashtags, don’t pull an Instagram and add 30. Just don’t. LinkedIn, like Facebook, does just fine with simply 1 or 2 general hashtags that people follow.
To get a feel for how I use LinkedIn to promote my blog, feel free to connect with me. Just click here and send me a connection request!
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Jenny Rose is a freelance copywriter and content marketer specializing in B2B marketing, real estate, and accounting. She's written for clients like AAA, Edward Jones, Flyhomes, Guild Education, and more. Her writing has also appeared in publications like Business Insider and GOBankingRates.
this is helpful, thank you.
I’m so glad to hear that, Annette! Thank you for your kind comment. 🙂