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Everything You Need to Know About LinkedIn Engagement

What is LinkedIn engagement, and why does it matter? What are the staple ways to get reasonable engagement rates? And a few tricks to apply this calendar year.

Linkedin Tutorials
11
min read
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King Content is dead; long live King Engagement!

Seriously though, posting the wittiest ideas won't do much for you if they don't reach many eyes. That's why you should focus on winning people's interaction, not just their viewing attention. And just to be clear, this is the same for all social media platforms.

In this guide, we'll take a look at what LinkedIn engagement is and why it matters, the staple ways to get reasonable engagement rates, and a few tricks to apply this calendar year.

The meaning of engagement

Engagement is simply a measure of how much your audience interacts with your content on social media. People can engage with your posts through likes, other reactions, comments, and shares.

Why is LinkedIn engagement important?

It enables you to start conversations with real people. Audiences prefer to do business with providers who can relate. If you can position yourself as a relatable authority in a field, you'll get better conversion and more business success. If you do a breakdown of other creators, you can see how their engagement rates improve.

A good, sustainable engagement strategy means you get more attention to your profile (personal, company's page, or both). It's the best way to improve your relationships with other business people worldwide. You can develop a network of like-minded experts worldwide and discover unique growth opportunities that way.

Moreover, a steady stream of engagement has two practical benefits. One, it will help tide you over when you can't keep up with your posting schedule for whatever reason. And two, it tends to trigger a chain reaction. That way, you get exponentially more reach than from content that gets views but no interaction.

What is a good engagement rate on Linkedin?

"Good engagement" means different numbers for different pages. It mostly depends on your average traction. For example, let's say you track your rate for a year and see that the average engagement for most of your posts is around 3%. Okay, that would be your personal baseline.

If you make a new post and people engage with it at less than 3%, you under-delivered. Something about the post isn't working, and you need to review that strategy. The issue could be the content, style, formatting, or the time of day you posted it.

On the other hand, if you post something new and it gets 4% engagement or more, you've done something right. You delivered more than your average value with that one. What did you do differently? Try to isolate that key element and replicate it in future posts.

And finally, if you maintain a 3% overall, you're on the right track but could do with some refreshment. Consistent engagement rates are good, but you want to try to step them up a notch at some point.

These are my engagement rates in the past month for the top 3 posts:

linkedin-engagement

How does LinkedIn measure your engagement rate?

It does a little mathematical gymnastics. First, it counts the total number of engagements. This number is achieved by adding likes and comments to a post. Then that total is divided by the total number of views the post got in people's feeds. That division result is multiplied by 100 to get a percentage, which is your engagement rate for one particular post.

So, let's say, for example, you posted an article viewed 20,745 times. It got 203 comments and 350 likes or other reactions. Add the reactions and comments and you get 203 + 350 = 553. Divide that by the number of views: 553 / 20,745 = 0.0266, then multiply by 100, and you get an engagement rate of 2.66%.

The higher the percentage, the more your audience liked the content. This can give you insight into what topics matter to your viewers, what resonates with them the most, what they're generally interested in, and what kind of content will get them to keep coming back to your profile for more.

Two little things to keep in mind, though. First, your own replies in the comment section don't count. Second, the "See More" has a much more significant impact on your reach than the "Like" button.

Getting good engagement rates

Now that you understand LinkedIn's idea of engagement, let's see how to achieve that. There are several factors in play. You need to consider your posting time, posting frequency, type of content, etc.

What's the best time to post on LinkedIn?

With 2022 still underway, the trends for this year might turn out different. For now, though, you can still rely on data from the previous year. According to the Algorithm report from LinkedIn for 2021, the best days for posting new stuff were Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Content published during the hours between 8 am and 10 am had the best results.

Saturdays were the best opportunity for grabbing attention last year. About 60% of the platform's users came online to check their feeds on a Saturday, but only around 20% posted on the day. In other words, you could get the most reach with the least competition in this time window.

There is something important to note here, however. Trying to trump the algorithm isn't a viable strategy in the long term. Your best bet in promoting your posts is to keep them consistent. If Saturdays don't work for you, don't publish things on Saturdays. The key is to commit to a posting schedule that you can maintain over a longer period.

How much should you post?

Unfortunately, there is no straight-up magic number. The amount and frequency of content will differ wildly between niches, individuals, and demographics. Someone's golden strategy could turn out to be arsenic to your own business.

Rather than getting fixated on a specific number, fix your attention to sustainability. Don't post just for the sake of posting; make each piece a quality one. If you post just once a week or monthly, that's fine as long as you offer genuine value.

The important thing is to maintain a consistent rate. Make yourself a posting schedule and stick to it. Maintaining a constant presence in people's feeds will build awareness of your brand and increase your chances of getting interaction.

As you see what works and what people resonate with, you can polish your skills and increase the overall quantity of your posts. Review your schedule and the results you got every month or two to adapt in time and stay on your target audience's radar.

What kind of content should you post?

LinkedIn has six essential content formats: text posts, articles, images (single and multiple), native videos, documents, and polls. There are also stories, events, celebrations, and live videos. Each of these achieves maximum effect in different contexts, and each should be formatted and stylized accordingly.

You're likely already familiar with the pros and cons of these formats. But what about the contexts? In other words, choose the content type based on the kind of conversation you want to have. Here are the four types of posts you should be able to share when you get the opportunity.

Stories: basically, posts that showcase you as a fellow human. They're warmer and more relatable than fact lists or tips & tricks. Telling a story will help the audience understand your perspective better and make them more inclined to share it. Some good examples of stories include success tales, expanded answers to readers' questions, and personal before-and-afters or moments of overcoming adversity.

Debate prompts: asking people for their opinions. People love to share opinions, and if there's room for argument, all the better. Your goal is to facilitate a civil debate that will add value to the topic. There are two ways of going about this. One, you can post an outright question and gather opinions. Two, you can make a statement and ask whether people agree or disagree. This will let you know how your perspective measures up to the majority. It will also allow you to gather people's arguments. That's a valuable insight into why they think what they do, which you can use to improve your appeal in future posts.

Encouragement: good vibes tend to be universally successful. This is a great option to fall back on if you're having problems filling out your posting calendar. See what your audience is struggling with lately and post some positive perspectives on it. Empathize with people. Offer reassurance. A nice morale boost makes you more enjoyable to follow every now and then. It's also a great way to prevent monotony if you usually focus on educational and how-to content.

Mythbusting: burst some bubbles! If there are common misconceptions about your industry, niche, or area of expertise, bust them down. You get bonus points for providing credible sources. People will appreciate you offering truthful insight, improving knowledge, and possibly saving them some time and trouble. This way, you not only deliver genuine value but also establish yourself as a trustworthy expert.

Your LinkedIn engagement in 2022

For a final round of insight, let's take a look at some ways you can boost your content on LinkedIn this year. You might already be familiar with some of these strategies, and some might be new to you. Take a look and see what could work for your business.

Leverage your personal profile

Company pages are increasing in number, but most profiles on the platform are still personal. A business page has some notable benefits: it can link to your company's official website, provide important details about your service, and serve as a central anchor for your employee network. However, it remains relatively lifeless compared to a personal profile.

Pages cannot message people nor initiate connection requests. They also don't have access to LinkedIn Publisher. They represent entities, not persons. Since people prefer to engage with others, a brand page will always have fewer followers than an individual.

Use your personal profile to bridge this gap. Link to your company's page. Share posts and updates between them. Tag your company whenever it fits the context.

Polish your photo content

A professional appearance will go a long way on LinkedIn. Take a moment to review your profile picture and update it if necessary. Also, evaluate every face that appears in your feed posts, carousels, etc. Of course, you can't expect professional pics from spontaneous scenarios, but you should ensure they're all appropriate to your industry and generally appealing. For example, let's say your team is celebrating a win. Skip the group posing and catch clusters of happy people instead. LinkedIn's algorithm gives more exposure to genuine smiles than forced ones.

Don't forget your mobile version

Walk through your profile and business page and check their mobile optimization. Ensure all the images, videos, and text function properly and look appealing in the app. Keep the character limits in mind.

Remember that any articles you post on LinkedIn and your profile can and do rank on SERPs. Since Google actively encourages web admins to make their content mobile-friendly, you want to do the same to your professional presence.

In fact, LinkedIn Mobile uses a different algorithm (or rather, sub-algorithm) than LinkedIn Desktop. A person's app activity will affect only their LI Mobile feed. Don't neglect that separation. Like most people today browse primarily from their phones, you want to make your posts attractive and shareable to the app users. That is why you should always preview post on Linkedin before publishing.

A parting tip

Let's leave with a little secret to making LinkedIn's algorithm like yours. The platform will reward you with greater reach when you achieve regular posting and personal engagement. We already covered consistent posting schedules, so you're all set for that.

Personal engagement means the frequency and quality of your own engagement with other people's content. How often do you click the reaction button on the posts you view? How often do you click "See More"? Do you comment? Do you respond to other people's comments?

LinkedIn wants to see you contributing to the conversation. If you're present in whatever debate is going on, the algorithm will boost your visibility. That, in turn, gets you more views on your posts and more chances for others to interact with you.

Want to learn more about how Linkedin works? Check these articles:

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