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Month: March 2015

How to best communicate through LinkedIn – using status updates and posts

LinkedIn has had another update and rolled out the use of posts to all users so do you know when to use a status update, what is the difference from a post?  It can be confusing to many users.

LinkedIn was started for business networking but I’ve seen an increasing number of people posting and commenting complaining about people sharing personal updates saying this should be for Facebook or Twitter.  Some examples of this have been word searches/puzzles, motivational images, birth of a child etc.  I would say think about your audience and what you are using each social medium for, if you are trying to promote your business and expertise some of this could be distracting from your main message of what you do and how you can solve your clients problems.

So what different ways can you communicate your message through LinkedIn?

LinkedIn has expanded the use of the posts facility tied into LinkedIn Pulse but not everyone seems to be aware of the difference between content on here and your own or company profile status updates.

Status updates, on your personal profile or your company profile could include things like:

  • Your company news stories or recent press coverage
    • New appointments
    • New contract wins
    • New product/service offer
    • Technical updates/changes in your industry
    • Apprentices
    • Awards wins
    • Event announcement or images post event
    • New accreditation gained eg ISO, IIP etc
    • Internal company news, staff long service awards, promotions
  • Details of your product or services or latest offer
  • Details of where your target market can meet you at an exhibition or trade show
  • Examples of your work/details of a completed project
  • Job vacancy details for your company
  • Share a relevant/interesting news story for your industry sector or target market

Posts are more like a blog rather than a news article.  They are best around 500 to a maximum of 1,000 words.  Include a relevant image where possible to illustrate your point.  A more informal style can be adopted with a blog than a news article.  It can be a discussion round the topic, it could be in a style of ‘Top 10 tips’ or an expert opinion piece.  It should be informative rather than a sales pitch about your latest offer or product launch.  For example, it could be discussion on a latest change in legislation or a trend in how business is done and how it will affect your industry or a thought piece on the best way to approach a certain issue based on your experience.

So why is a news article different to a blog?  It should be news and so always answer the ‘So what?’ factor, why should it grab my attention, what’s changed or new.  It should cover the Who? What? Why? Where? When? How?  It should be in the third person apart from, where possible, a quote from the subject of the story which should add a personal take (even if it tows the company line).

Another thing I’ve noticed a lot of recently if you share a link someone else has posted on LinkedIn remember to add something in the text box to highlight what your link is about or why your readers should be interested or delete the “Share an update or mention someone using @” as this will appear with your post.

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