5 things that have become overused on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has shown who is the boss in the past few weeks.
Views and engagement are down. What a disaster!
People who were used to receiving thousands of free views began to wonder. What was happening? My friends with 40,000+ followers were discussing vividly why they had only 500 views now. Panic!
We might be entering a new LinkedIn era. These cheap strategies won’t work anymore.
1. Stock photos
LinkedIn is a classic scroll-stop-scroll platform. Most people go there to browse what their former colleagues do or what is trending in their ‘field bubble’. In the past years, content creators have started using stock photos to make users stop and read their hook.
You can see posts and videos like these:
The problem with them is that they are no longer interesting. You need to put more effort into your visuals to make a person stop.
It is wise to start building your brand using certain designs. With more talented creators on the platform, you see the competition for attention increasing every day.
Others have nice pictures of their office or team. They have professional drone footage. Some content is super professional. If you stick with stock photos, you might miss the train.
2. Drop your post and get a free engagement
Last year, you could drop your post and leave. I am pretty sure you got generous reach and free engagement. But 2023 has changed the game.
Now even people with a lot of followers have to stick around and comment and be active. No more passive approach. LinkedIn is hungry, and feed it with your time.
That is why so many people freak out:
You need a different strategy than just ‘give value’. Look at the platform as a tool. Think about what you can do with it. For instance, find out who your audience is. Pick a niche and stick with it.
Just do not repeat what everyone else is doing. There were enough templated posts from aces like Justin Welsh or Tim Denning.
Explore new horizons!
3. This sale “by the way” strategy
Do you know this ‘by the way’ sales strategy? It is so common that I am really bored with it. It works like this:
Connect with a person and briefly introduce yourself.
After a while, get in touch with the person again. Flatter them in a message you can alternate, like: “Just wanted to take the time to tell you that I loved your latest post on XX. I am glad to know that you are communicating such a valuable message. Everyone should know XX.”
The person’s ego rises, and he is willing to chat.
You ask a few questions to learn more about the person like: “How long have you been XX?”
You point out similarities to ‘‘build a relationship”.
Then, as a trusted LinkedIn friend, says: “By the way, I’ve checked your profile, XX.”/”By the way, I offer XX for people like you.”/”I could do XX for you.”
Ah, how many times have you experienced similar conversations? I even believe it must have come from some social selling course. Otherwise, I have no idea why people keep doing that.
Decide what game you want to play, and don’t bother people with ‘be the way’. You have two options:
Short game: If you want to sell on LinkedIn, then choose to sell to the right people. 80% of them will never buy from you anyway. So, target and pitch well.
Long game: Focus on building trust and relationships. Let them come to you without leazy sales tactics.
But please don’t use ‘by the way’ I am giving you a value strategy.
4. Irrelevant selfies
Selfies have become popular in the past two years. Again, some LinkedIn coaches told their people who paid 250+ dollars for their 30-day courses to post selfies.
Selfies boost engagement. Be the face of your business!
Right. Why not? Posting a selfie every day feels rather narcissistic. Honestly, I can’t see pictures from the holidays or selfies taken at the office desk, in the elevator, or on the toilet anymore.
Would you show a selfie of yourself taken in the toilet mirror to your colleagues at work? If you do not, then please do not post such stuff on LinkedIn.
Selfies and professional Instagram-like pictures might be a show-stopper, but there are loads of them now. So, unless people know you or you are attractive, you will be skipped. Game over.
5. Having loads of followers is social proof
Do thousands of followers mean you are a successful and trustworthy professional? This week a LinkedIn influencer with 223,000+ followers posted that a student with 30,000 followers stole her course content. Ups.
He even dared to publish part of it in his post!
Do not trust the number of followers. It is deceiving. It does not mean you are successful and pleasant to work with. There are more cases like that. I have seen people copy big creators and steal their posts word by word.
Simply put, LinkedIn is a social network with all it takes:
Copyright issues
Creeps and personal attacks
Social judgment and negativity
Choose your connections wisely before you commit to any collaboration. You can’t trust social proof anymore.
6. Bonus note — Diversify
My suggestion is to have at least two platforms where you can build your audience. If one goes bad, you have a backup. Do not rely on algorithms. They change! Be ahead of the game.
TL;DR
Use stock photos/videos creatively.
Stick around if you want to get engagement.
Stop being a slimy seller and either sell or play the long game.
Less can be more when it comes to selfies.
Choose who you want to support.
Diversity of your audience.