Among all the social media platforms out there that are popular in the mainstream, LinkedIn is the one that is least like the others. In fact, calling LinkedIn a social media platform won’t be entirely accurate. LinkedIn is more of a professional networking platform that businesses and professionals use to connect with each other, unlike Facebook or Instagram which are designed to enable friendly, social interactions. This makes it the most ideal platform for running B2B campaigns, while others are more B2C-friendly in terms of marketing.
Since it is so different from the other social media platforms, it stands to reason that the kind of content posted on LinkedIn should also be different. While there are limitless ideas as to what you can post on LinkedIn, there are certain kinds of content that you should steer clear of to make a good professional impression through your business page. Thus, if you’re a B2B company like a social media marketing agency or an accounting firm, pay attention. Following are three types of posts that should never make it to your LinkedIn business page:
1. Political or religious content
Unless you are vying for a position with a political party or attempting to curry favour with a religious group (which, nowadays, can both go hand in hand), keep these posts away from your LinkedIn business page. That’s what Twitter and, well, every other social media platform are there for. LinkedIn is where people come in after leaving all their personal preferences, biases, and ideologies at the log-in page. It is a place for professional interactions, and putting your political and religious biases on display can signal unprofessionalism. This will turn most business opportunities — at least the ones that matter — away from you. So, before you type out that long post praising your favourite deity or the one criticizing your most hated political leader, know that LinkedIn is not the place.
2. Sales pitches
Are you one of those tryhard entrepreneurs who religiously adhere to the popular sales mantra, “Always Be Closing”? Don’t do that on LinkedIn. If all of your posts, or even a majority of them harp on about how awesome your product or service is, people will stop listening to you. While that may be the case almost everywhere, the tolerance for aggressive promotion is even lower on LinkedIn. Unless you have something of value to post, don’t do it on LinkedIn. It’s as simple as that. View LinkedIn as more of a professional relationship building platform where you should attempt to build your image as an authority or an expert in your domain. At the very least, you should establish your business as a team of true professionals through your content.
3. Personal posts
Personal Posts
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You know what I mean by personal posts — the cute cat pictures, the not-so-cute selfie with your dinner platter, the random picture with your cousin, the rant about the neverending Avengers: Endgame spoilers, and yeah, the dimly-lit pictures of Friday night’s office party. While it’s okay to have a little fun and humour on LinkedIn, it would behoove you to not go overboard with it. In fact, conveying the right amount of the “fun” element (whatever that may be) through your LinkedIn posts may even help your brand image and humanize your organization.
There is little doubt regarding the fact that LinkedIn is among the top social media platforms for business. However, there are a few major differences and many subtle nuances that you must keep in mind when going about strategizing for LinkedIn, as an error in understanding these can prove to be severely counterproductive. It would be equally wrong on your part if you ignore LinkedIn as a promotional platform on account of its nuanced rules and requirements. Hence, to help you navigate the strange world of LinkedIn with the right type of content, you should take the help of a professional social media marketing agency, who can ensure that your LinkedIn strategy delivers the results you desire.