Now that the star of the microblogging service Twitter is on the decline, Twitterati [aka Twitter fans] are looking for a worthy replacement. So what could be more obvious than to take a closer look at Mastodon. Surprisingly, however, some people are suggesting LinkedIn as the “new” replacement for Twitter. And the idea doesn’t seem so far-fetched. After all, LinkedIn offers a few key differences to Twitter, Mastodon, Facebook and co. and could therefore kill several birds with one stone – or become the new all-round talent.
Important: LinkedIn posts vs. LinkedIn articles
There are two main forms of content on LinkedIn: Posts/contributions and articles. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. But which one should you use to achieve your strategic goals on this platform? Spoiler: both! 🎯
📌 LinkedIn-posts
📝 LinkedIn-Posts are short, quickly consumable posts that appear on your homepage – aka feed – or the feed of your followers and can be shared by LinkedIn users. They are ideal for spreading news, opinions or interesting information. According to an article by Ute Blindert posts are particularly effective in increasing your visibility and reach. They can also help to stimulate discussion and interaction within your target group.
📌 LinkedIn posts in a nutshell:
– Short and crisp (max. 3,000 characters; at least up-to-date)
– Quicker to create and consume
– Greater reach as they appear directly in the feed of contacts and users
– Ideal for short updates, opinions and discussions
– No advanced formatting options
– However, tools such as polls, slides, graphics, etc.
📌 LinkedIn-article
📝 LinkedIn-Article on the other hand, are longer, detailed texts that are saved on your profile and can be read and shared by your contacts. At first glance, these are not dissimilar to blog articles. Their depth makes them ideal for specialist knowledge and comprehensive analysis, and they offer a real opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and credibility in a particular field. According to Andreas Wieser articles can strengthen your online presence and help you to be perceived as an opinion leader in your specialist field and thus decisively increase your personal brand.
📌 LinkedIn article in a nutshell:
– Longer and more detailed (no character limit)
– Suitable for in-depth analyses, expert knowledge and specialist articles
– Remain permanently visible in the profile
– Advanced formatting options (headlines, images, links, etc.)
– Reach may be lower, but higher quality readership
The last point in particular is crucial. As in every social network, the golden rule on LinkedIn is that the battle for visibility is fought in the feed. Interested parties who want to read the articles in the profile must manually and therefore deliberately click on the author’s profile and the “Articles” section. In addition to knowing that this section even exists, 2-3 additional clicks are necessary. A hurdle that can make all the difference in social media.
Tip:
Share the deep links to the articles by post – or several posts – and add the respective topic to your contacts’ feeds.
And this is where the (relatively) new LinkedIn newsletter comes into play
LinkedIn “recently” (spring 2022) presented an exciting new feature – the LinkedIn newsletter. This allows you to create, share and send your own newsletter directly on the platform. LinkedIn newsletters give companies and individuals another tool to share their expertise and strengthen their brand on the platform. They are great for sharing informative content, breaking news (agenda surfing) and updates that are relevant to your audience. They also help to increase visibility and reach on LinkedIn.
Compared to traditional email newsletters, LinkedIn newsletters offer several advantages. One major advantage is the ability to create and share them directly via the LinkedIn platform. This greatly simplifies the creation and distribution process and allows you to distribute your content quickly and efficiently without having to use a third-party newsletter tool.
LinkedIn newsletters also allow you to build and expand your subscriber base. Since the newsletters are published directly on the platform, it is easier for other LinkedIn users to discover and subscribe to them. This boosts reach and engagement, which can ultimately lead to more followers and potential customers.
📌 LinkedIn newsletter in a nutshell:
– New and expanded audience (subscription function)
– Generate engagement
– Increase brand perception
– More authority and reputation (expert status)
– Generate leads
– Notify subscribers of new newsletters
– Greater reach (depending on the number of subscribers) & independence from the algorithm
– Lower hurdle with just one click
– Depending on the target group/audience, this point is debatable. Subscribers become visible with their LinkedIn profile and might be afraid of sales messages].
– Partly still first-mover effect
– ALL contacts are automatically invited to subscribe to the first newsletter
[The first newsletter should therefore be appealing and well thought out]
In summary, a LinkedIn newsletter offers an interesting opportunity for companies and individuals to distribute their content and expertise directly on the platform – and thus very easily – while becoming less dependent on the algorithm. They offer an effective way to increase visibility and reach on LinkedIn and can ultimately help to increase the online presence and success of companies and individuals.
Conclusion
🚀 So which option is better? As always, it depends and depends on your personal and strategic goal! If you want to share a quick message or spark a discussion, a LinkedIn post is the way to go. However, if you want to demonstrate your expertise and make a lasting impression, a LinkedIn article is the better choice. If, on the other hand, you want to build up a loyal readership that may later be converted into customers, it is definitely worth taking a look at LinkedIn newsletters. T3N recommends integrating both posts and articles into your LinkedIn strategy to get the best out of both formats.
Regardless of whether you use posts, articles or newsletters, it’s important to create high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience and actively engage in discussions to increase your visibility, influence and personal brand on LinkedIn. Secondly, the synergy effects of all three formats should be utilized. Articles can be teased via posts or newsletters or partial aspects of them can be taken up in individual posts (content recycling). Good luck! 🚀
