LinkedIn Content Strategy for Personal Branding - A Practical Guide + Strategy Example

Step 1: Laser-Focus Your Goals for LinkedIn Success

The first step is understanding what you want to achieve.

Are you a consultant seeking to promote your service? Or are you a sales professional wishing to support your social selling strategy?

Defining your objectives is the cornerstone of a successful LinkedIn content strategy.

How to set your goals:

• Write down what you want to achieve on LinkedIn: get leads, job opportunities, networking, etc.
• If you have more than one goal, rank them from the most to least important
• Quantify goals (and be realistic - don't expect 100% month-over-month growth)

Once you have your goals, you need to consider how you want people to perceive you. A clear and consistent persona is vital. After all, if content ranges widely across different fields, it's harder for followers to grasp your expertise and engage.

Only after you figured out your goals, move to the next step:

Step 2: Identify the Target audience

You have goals and your offer (e.g. selling consultancy, landing a new job, filling your pipeline with leads), and now is the time to understand who is the ideal consumer of your LinkedIn content. Who is the right audience?

Why is that important? Becouse the best content is the one that reflects the interests, uncertainties, fears, misunderstandings and needs of the audience.

Ask yourself:

Who do you wish to attract? What topics resonate with them? What problems they care about (that I can solve)? What motivates them when making a decision?

The more you know about your target audience, the easier it will be to create a content strategy to attract them.

How to Identify the target audience for LinkedIn Content

Actionable Steps:

• Role and Professional Background: Age group, profession, industry, country/region.
• Pain Points and Challenges (relevant to your area/expertise): Identify the problems they face professionally. What challenges do they need to overcome to be successful in their roles?
• Fears and Concerns: What keeps them up at night? What risks do they perceive if the job (solution you provide) is not done correctly?
• Needs and desires: Determine what they're looking to achieve. What are their professional aspirations? What solutions are they seeking?
• Buying Decisions: If you're offering a service or product, understand their buying behaviour. What motivates them to choose one service provider over another?

Step 3: Set Content Pillars for LinkedIn

Once you have a detailed audience persona, use it to guide the creation of your content pillars and generate content ideas.

Content Pillars are the key themes or topics you consistently discuss in your content. They should align with your audience's needs, interests, and challenges.

They should not be too broad because of the competition. But they cannot be too narrow because you need to be able to write 10s of posts for each of them.

Your followers should associate specific topics with you and expect content around them. So when they see your face in the feed, "Oh, that is the person talking about omnichannel marketing for Saas" or "This is the financial expert".

Actionable Steps:

• Identify 3-5 core themes you know and can write extensively about.
• For each pillar, list specific topics you can explore.
• Make sure these topics align with your audience's interests and your expertise.

Step 4: Identifying Topics that Amplify Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn

Once you have content pillars, you need to identify specific topics within these pillars that you can write about. These topics should align with your audience's interests and expertise.

Remember, the goal here is to position yourself as an expert. Ensure your topics are precise and in-depth, showcasing your unique perspective and insights.

What type of content should you create on LinkedIn?

• Specific and contextual
• Offers unique insights
• Shares a unique opinion
• Resonates with your audience

LinkedIn Content You Should Avoid:

• Broad and unspecific
• Too simple or common knowledge
• Something that anyone else can write
• Hastily-written content

Your content should be so distinctive that even without your name or face attached, your followers should recognize it as yours.

Step 5: Content Plan 101

A content plan acts as a roadmap for your LinkedIn journey. Regular posting keeps you in the limelight, and planning ensures you deliver consistent value.

A well-planned content calendar allows you to manage your posts better and align your content with relevant events, trends, or discussions in your industry.

When planning and scheduling content, consistency is key on LinkedIn.

But managing a content calendar can be time-consuming. That's where AuthoredUp comes in – a cutting-edge platform that effortlessly streamlines your content planning, allowing you to focus on what truly matters: building a powerful personal brand on LinkedIn.

Step 6: Tracking Your LinkedIn Performance

Metrics play a crucial role in assessing the effectiveness of your content strategy. Here's what you should track:

1. LinkedIn profile and content performance: Look at the number of profile views, direct messages, and leads generated.
2. Audience insights: Understand their roles, industries, and the audience size you're reaching (impressions).
3. Engagement: Monitor social proof and additional context for posts like comments and messages.
4. Content impact: Track what posts lead to profile growth or direct messages and the number of people attending your webinar due to the content.

Remember, an active presence on the feed is also necessary - responding to comments, sending requests, engaging in direct messages, and more. The goal is to ensure that your content strategy results in steady profile growth and increased lead generation.

Actionable Steps:

• Set a time (weekly, monthly) to review these metrics.
• Analyze these insights to tweak content strategy accordingly.

7. Additional tip: Tailoring Your LinkedIn Profile for Maximum Personal Brand Impact

Think of your LinkedIn profile as a billboard advertising your brand. The profile picture should be professional and welcoming, while the summary should intrigue viewers and encourage them to stick around. Your profile should reflect your content pillars, hinting at the value you provide through your posts.

Real-World Applications: Copywriter Specializing in Newsletters for SaaS Companies

Goal: Seen as an expert in creating high-converting newsletters for SaaS companies. Attract more SaaS clients who need help with their newsletters. In 6 months, get 5 new clients from LinkedIn. Aim for a 15% monthly increase in profile views and impressions.

Target Audience:

Role and Professional Background: SaaS founders, marketing managers, and content managers who want to increase user engagement and retention through effective newsletters. Industry: SaaS, company revenue $500k-$5m ARR.

Pain Points and Challenges: Not having a channel that they fully control (Ads work while they pay, SEO depends on Google, and Social media depends on the algorithm). The recession is brutal, and they see longer sales cycles and high churn (churn increased in the past 6 months).

Fears and Concerns: Concerned that they won't be able to stabilize the churn and that they will lose the growth. They are also concerned about their future round of investing and the metrics they need to meet. The risk is that they will have to lay off some employees.

Needs and Desires: to have a stable channel that will help them build a better relationship with their existing and new users, they will get a faster activation and more stickiness.

Buying Decisions: They want to implement a proven system; they are looking for someone who knows what she is doing and has results in their space. Someone willing to set metrics and KPIs.

Content Pillars:

1. The art of writing engaging newsletters
2. Strategies for a high-conversion newsletter copy
3. Understanding and implementing SaaS metrics in newsletters
4. Successful case studies

LinkedIn Profile: The summary should reflect a unique selling proposition - the magic you bring to SaaS newsletters, and your experience should showcase the SaaS companies you've worked with. Summary example: Transforming SaaS newsletters into high-conversion tools.

Topics You Will Write About:

• "How to write engaging newsletters for SaaS."
• "Utilizing SaaS metrics effectively in newsletters."
• "How to increase conversion rates through your SaaS newsletter."
• "Why newsletters are the secret weapon of successful SaaS companies."
• "Case Study: Driving user activation for a SaaS startup through newsletters."
• "5 SaaS newsletter strategies you might not know about"
• "Increasing engagement rates for XYZ SaaS company: a success story"
• "How to avoid common pitfalls in SaaS newsletter writing."

Content Plan: A mix of educational posts (how-to guides, tips), thought leadership articles (strategies for high-conversion newsletters), and promotional posts (case studies, client testimonials).

Metrics/KPIs: Track profile views (especially from the SaaS industry), engagement on posts (likes, comments, shares), direct messages from potential clients, and leads generated.

Real-World Applications: Fractional CFO LinkedIn Content Strategy

Goals: Become the go-to expert for companies that need a part-time CFO. Generate a steady growth of leads for fractional CFO services by 20% each quarter. Get 3 invitations per quarter for podcasts.

Target Audience: Small to mid-sized companies and startups who cannot afford a full-time CFO but need financial expertise.

Content Pillars:

1. The role of a CFO in a growing business
2. Financial management tips for startups and SMBs
3. Case studies showing the impact of your fractional CFO services
4. The benefits of hiring a fractional CFO vs a full-time CFO

Optimize LinkedIn Profile: Your profile picture should exude professionalism and trust; the summary should clarify that you offer fractional CFO services and the value you bring; experience should showcase your expertise as a CFO across different industries. For example:

Driving 30% operational cost reduction as a fractional CFO.

Identify Topics You Will Write About:

• "The impact of a CFO on a growing business"
• "How a fractional CFO can help you scale your business."
• "3 financial management practices every startup should adopt"
• "Why your business should consider a fractional CFO over a full-time one."
• "Case study: How I helped a tech startup optimize their financial strategy."
• "5 reasons to consider a fractional CFO for your SMB"
• "Managing financial health during business expansion: a guide."
• "Avoiding common financial pitfalls in small to mid-sized businesses."

Content Plan: Maintain a balance of educational posts (financial management tips), thought leadership articles (role of CFO, benefits of fractional CFO), and promotional posts (case studies, client testimonials).

Here is an example of the Content plan with the person publishing three posts per week:

Metrics/KPIs: Track profile views (especially from founders and CEOs), engagement on posts (likes, comments, shares), direct messages from potential clients, and leads generated.

Conclusion

In conclusion, building a formidable personal brand on LinkedIn is an art that requires a well-thought-out strategy. It's about setting clear and measurable goals, deeply understanding your audience, creating compelling and valuable content, and consistently analyzing your performance.

But what if there was a tool that could streamline this process?

Enter AuthoredUp – a thoughtfully designed platform that supports your LinkedIn content creation journey. From planning content pillars to monitoring your metrics, AuthoredUp is your ally in ensuring that your focus remains on delivering high-quality content that fortifies your personal brand.

Are you ready to take your LinkedIn content strategy to the next level? With AuthoredUp, you have the resources and support to do just that.

Begin today, and witness the transformation of your LinkedIn presence.