If you could place a monitoring device on your LinkedIn profile, would the EKG report a nice and steady growth or a possible flatline? I’m going to safely assume that you’re not growing on LinkedIn like how you used to or what you’ve imagined.
You make your post, occasionally comment, and reach out to others — yet still nothing. A flatline.
What’s happening? And how can you boost the visibility of your LinkedIn profile to help you achieve your goals of being on the platform?
I share 5 common mistakes on why you’re not growing on LinkedIn with solutions to make the wrongs right again.
5 Mistakes For Why You’re Not Growing on LinkedIn
- Focusing on the wrong metrics
- Not being clear about your niche
- Your audience isn’t a priority
- Not Commenting
- Not testing new content
Mistake #1- Focusing on the Wrong Metrics
It’s easy to only focus on top-level metrics that only make up one piece of your entire LinkedIn goals. You may be paying too much attention and wasting time and energy on a data point that’s not at the center of your key initiatives for being on LinkedIn.
As an example, let’s say your goal is to have people sign-up for your resume writing boot camp for early careers in tech, the key goal is converting a follower into a customer. The main goal in this scenario is the conversion of followers to customers or customer sign-up. But for most people, the common mistake would be focusing on the follower count, not the true metric of conversion which is the actual payoff on your time spent. Remember, followers ≠ Clients.
Everyone’s goals for being on LinkedIn are different but don’t get fixated on the wrong (vanity) metrics that could be only one piece to the entire puzzle, dig a little deeper and be more specific on what that metric(s) could be.
Solution #1 – Remembering Your LinkedIn Goals
When something isn’t working, you have to go back to square one or back to the basics. Take a moment to re-write your goals for being on LinkedIn and revisit the metrics that matter or write new ones that can be measured, tracked, and is a direct line to achieving your goal.
[In] Sider Tip: For my clients, I suggest focusing on 3 out of 6 Metrics: 1. No. of Profile Views Growth 2. No. of Inbound DMs 3. No. Comments (a.k.a. conversation) on your posts.
Mistake #2- Not Being Clear on Your Niche
There are two ways of not being clear with your personal brand on LinkedIn, either you’re not sharing enough by being too general with your information or you haven’t truly defined who you want your profile to attract.
An example of being too general is referring to yourself as a career coach on LinkedIn. That’s like saying “I’m a doctor who works at a hospital”, a statement that’s instantly followed by questions like, “What kind of doctor?” and “ Who do you help?”
See my point?
A career coach on LinkedIn doesn’t say much or enough, you need to highlight who you help and how you can help them.
The best place to share your personal brand message is your headline on LinkedIn. It’s the first few lines people read when they scan your post or comment. A critical first impression that needs to have clear messaging to encourage people to click on your profile to learn more.
Solution #2 – Rework Your Headline
Your LinkedIn headline is your personalized greeting and handshake to your audience and ideal prospects. It’s also used for searches by people looking for someone exactly like you. So, your headline needs to tell a dynamic short intro about you and who you help, in just a few lines.
Here is a checklist of the key points that should be included in your headline:
- Who do you help
- Keywords of your job title, services, or industry
- The unique value proposition of how you help
- Notable facts about you or recognition as an expert or thought leader
The first 3 points are a must for your headline, while the last point is good to have, but not a must if you’re early on in your career, new to the industry or space.
Want to read more about optimizing your headline? Check out the article I wrote here.
Mistake #3- Your Audience isn’t the Priority
When you’re creating content, who do you think of first? Is it all about what you have to say or want you want to highlight your services and offerings? Or do you have your audience in mind, sharing a story or an experience that could be helpful or valuable to them?
If you’re creating content for yourself, then there’s probably a good chance you’re making “echo content”, posts that only you think are good and valuable. A common content creation mistake is because people assume what’s important to them is exactly what’s important to others. This is not necessarily true and could be the reason why your content is not resonating with your audience or providing you with that growth on LinkedIn.
Solution #3 – Change Your Perspective
The next time you brainstorm ideas for content, ask yourself WHO are you making this for? And WHY is this important to them? This is what I call value-added content, creating content that achieves 4 points:
- Inspirational and motivating
- Educational
- Sparks emotions
- Making a connection
You won’t be able to hit all 4 points at the same time for every piece of content, but three out of four is the right amount for your content to resonate with your audience or potential prospects.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with trying to do everything you think could work for your profile on LinkedIn, then let’s stop all the guesswork on a proven LinkedIn strategy. Knowing and understanding all the ins & outs of LinkedIn is my jam.
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Mistake #4- Not Testing New Content Formats or Ideas
Your content isn’t hitting the mark. You’re trying but it’s not landing on people or getting the reaction you are hoping for, yet you continue to post the same type of format or style of writing.
I hate to break this to you, but continuing to do the same thing and hoping for different results is the definition of insanity which can lead to you not wanting to post at all. The ultimate flatline.
It’s not you, it’s the content style or format that is not performing.
Solution #4 – Discover your “Content Speciality”
It’s time to try new types of content. I call it the “Goldilocks” approach, just like how the fable goes, finding something that feels good to you and fits just right.
Start off by making note of the content you like and engage with. Is it the style of writing? Does it have pictures? Does it tell a story? Is it a video? Use your favorite pieces of content as your template to follow. You’re not going to copy it word for word or exactly like it, but use it as an inspiration in your voice or style.
Next, you’ll want to discover your “Content Specialty” and there are 3 categories to help you decide which specialty you connect with based on your natural gifts and talents:
You’re a Writer: You enjoy writing and feel comfortable expressing yourself through texts. Consider text posts, writing articles, or sending a newsletter.
You’re a Designer: You enjoy putting graphics together and are creative by trade. Consider creating carousel posts (images and text in slides) with an online graphic design tool like Canva.
You’re a Public Speaker: You thrive when expressing yourself and are not shy in front of a camera. Consider creating videos, and hosting live shows, or webinars.
Choose the “specialty that aligns with you to kickstart your content creation journey.
You and your business aren’t a one-trick pony, there are different angles, features, and benefits that you can point out for a variety of content creation. Think outside of the box and get creative and have fun!
Mistake #5- Not Commenting, Not Growing on LinkedIn
You can’t post and ghost on LinkedIn, meaning you can’t publish a post and move on with your day. Staying on the platform to comment and engage on other people’s posts or when someone comments on yours is vital to your visibility on LinkedIn. When you comment it’s not just seen by the person who made the post but by all of the people in their audience/network.
This is a good example of the “Magical Powers” of LinkedIn- your comments will be seen on other people’s newsfeeds and pushed to the 2nd and 3rd-degree audience. But if you post and ghost, this could be why you’re not growing on LinkedIn.
Imagine being in a very busy and crowded convention hall, with people walking up and down the aisle and you leave a stack of business cards on the table and then walk away, hoping someone will take a card. You return hours later and the stack you left behind is untouched. Why? It’s because you weren’t there to greet, talk and engage with the people, encouraging them to get to know you better. That’s what it is like to post and ghost. You’re making the post but not putting in the time to engage with others to help your visibility and growth on LinkedIn.
Solution #5 – Comment on Posts
A simple solution to this mistake is incorporating “commenting time” into your posting process. When you plan to make a post, add 10 minutes prior to posting to your process, giving you time to comment on posts, and letting people (and the platform) know that you’re here and active on the app.
After publishing a post, make sure to stick around for 20-30 minutes and continue to make comments on other posts. When someone comments on yours – quickly comment back. More engagement on your posts signals activity to the algorithm that can help push the post to more feeds, and the more feeds equal more eyeballs on your posts, leading to growth.
Final Takeaway- Why You’re Not Growing on LinkedIn
So there you have it! The 5 mistakes that you’re making on LinkedIn that could be causing your growth to plummet or go into a straight line. The way to boost your growth is to remember your audience and how you can make the content entertaining and valuable to them. And focus on things that really matter the most, a highly optimized headline and metrics that truly represent the reasons why you’re on LinkedIn.
Tired of supergluing strategies that didn’t get you the results you always wanted?
The truth is, these miscellaneous tactics from different experts are NOT developed to work together.
📍 Join me [in]side Personal Brand Boss™ – create a follow-worthy personal brand that attracts your ideal clients + Transform your (yawn!) LinkedIn Profile into a highly converting sales page and so much more…
