Liz Sheffield Copywriting

Insider Insights for Raising ROI

content marketing

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5 Types of Content to Post on LinkedIn

There are 30 million company pages on LinkedIn. Hopefully your company’s page is one of them!

If you’re struggling with ideas about what to post, here are five types of content to post on LinkedIn that will help you engage with your HR buyer audience:

Branded visuals.

I recently started posting a #FridayThankful each week. It’s a way for me to stay connected, highlight my brand, and hopefully create a sense of community with my connections. Every week I use the same format–my brand colors, my logo, the “thank you” image, and a quote about gratitude. I invite people to share their own #FridayThankful in the comments.

Employee updates.

One way to connect with your customers and prospects is to introduce members of your team. Share employee milestones (e.g., anniversaries, awards). Talk about company celebrations or volunteer community events. In the content you post on LinkedIn, showcase the people you make your organization run like a finely tuned machine. This example from Idea Grove, a marketing agency based in Dallas, Texas offers a great illustration of how to showcase the people in your organization.

Industry content

Not long ago, I read that to keep conversations engaging, we should aim to talk for 40 seconds, and then pause to let other people jump in. The theory applies online, too. Make your page more engaging by using it as a place to share and interact with relevant content. Share relevant content from other websites, organizations, and industry leaders.

Video

Don’t have any videos? Don’t worry. That’s when you can look to YouTube, TedTalks and other sources for concise and relevant video clips. Share the video with your audience as a post on your company page. I shared this funny/not-funny video from comedian Kristen Bell–engaging and evocative content that I didn’t have to create but which I knew might resonate with my LinkedIn connections.

Your content

Yes, you want to share content from other sources…but you must also share your own. LinkedIn is where you should regularly post links to your blog articles, white papers, checklists, and any other content available via your website. As this post demonstrates, don’t be afraid to post from your archives–your page followers may be new, may have missed the previous post, or may welcome an opportunity for a refresher.

Don’t get overwhelmed by the idea of posting to LinkedIn. A daily post is a simple marketing technique. It’s a way to say hello and stay in front of your audience. To keep it simple, I chose five tips you can use Monday through Friday. Let me know how it goes when you use these types of content to post on LinkedIn.

 

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How will I know this is the best solution?

After a nearly 20-year hiatus, I’ve started playing tennis again.

It’s fun. It’s fast-paced. And, it’s frightening. (Yes, that’s an odd combination of adjectives.)

Fun? I love whacking that ball. There’s nothing quite as satisfying…especially if it’s a good hit.

Fast-paced? My coach knows just how to keep us moving around the court.

Frightening? I’m returning to something I played when I was younger. I was faster. And I had all the time in the world to practice. Now I have some internal fears about the game:

  • Will I hit the ball out of the park? (Great in baseball, not so great in tennis.)
  • Can my feet get me to the net in time for that volley?
  • If I move up to the next level of play, will I be laughed off the court?

You may not be meeting prospects on tennis courts, but chances are they have some fears about your offering.

Questions that might be on their mind:

  • How will I know this is the best solution?
  • Can I convince the leadership team this is what we need to move the business forward?
  • What happens if this product or service fails us like the last one did?

There’s a lot riding on prospects’ decisions—feelings of success, fiscal responsibility, their professional reputation.

To be effective, your content marketing has to address the fears that come up:

  • How does someone know your solution is the best choice?
  • How can they convince leaders this is what they need?
  • What type of support do you provide when things go wrong?

Get clear about your answers to these questions. Then find a way to weave those answers into your content marketing. Communicate your commitment to their success.

Understand your prospect’s fear. Then, show them how to keep the ball in the park.

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What are you saying?

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to California with my younger son and my mother. As we sat in the Sacramento airport waiting to board our flight home, an airline gate agent’s voice kept interrupting my thoughts and conversations.

Within the span of about 15 minutes, she made the following update, not once or twice, but at least five times: “If you’re in possession of a boarding pass…please proceed to the gate.”

After I’d heard this phrase for the fifth time, not only was I annoyed, I realized there were a few issues:

  • The words the gate agent used were not simple enough for everyone to understand.
  • The plane which was boarding was not only a different airline, it was nowhere near our gate.

This experience brought to mind two important points: 

We must choose our words with care.

When you try to make your product or service sound complex, you risk losing your audience. Which sentence would make you take action?

Option 1: “If you’re in possession of a boarding pass…please proceed to the gate.”

Option 2:  “If you have a boarding pass, please come to the gate.”

Don’t use words like “possession” and “proceed” when you can communicate with much simpler language.

We must broadcast our message to those who need to hear it.

Based on your buyer personals, craft content marketing (a blog post, case study, tweet or other content) that will reach them. Regardless of the formant, make sure you’re directing your message to the right audience.

Regardless of whether your message is about boarding an airplane or purchasing HR products or services, make sure it’s clear. If it’s not, you may end up with an empty plane.

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HR Marketers: Got Bandwidth?

I remember well my days working under the corporate HR umbrella—especially those frantic summer months when directors and vice presidents realized it was time to get cracking on the projects they committed to complete by the end of the year.

What does this mean for you as an HR marketer?

This is the time when your prospects may be in panic mode.

Their strategies are set. Their list of deliverables is only growing. And, their employees are…on vacation.

(The phrase I remember most from those summer days was :We don’t have the bandwidth.)

This is the time when you need to share the services, resources, and tips you have that will make their life easier.

The only problem? You may find yourself in the same situation—with team members on summer vacation. Staring at the list of projects on your plate, you have no idea how you’re going to create the articles, white papers, case studies or blog posts that will intrigue your prospects. Your team may not have the bandwidth.

Regardless of the content marketing issue you’re facing: I’m here to help.

I’m currently booking my schedule for June – August. Contact me to schedule a time to about how I can support your content marketing needs this summer.

Let’s put a plan in place for how I can help you make timely, meaningful connections with your prospects so you can meet those goals you set at the beginning of YOUR fiscal year.