The Secret to Getting Attention on LinkedIn
How do you actually get the *right* attention on LinkedIn? It's not about becoming prolific, the best wordsmith, or the one with the most followers.
Why do some people "have it" and others don't?
Behind all of the LinkedIn tactics and algorithmic gaming many claim to do, there's a secret to getting noticed by the right people at the right time.
Yes, knowing how LinkedIn works will get you part of the way there.
But, cultivating a deeper understanding of your audience -- the way they talk, the problems you can help them solve, and knowing what to say and when -- that all comes with a lot of experimentation!
In this episode of Mondays with Mindi, we talk about how to run your next LinkedIn experiment, so that you start attracting the right people on LinkedIn -- all without sending bazillions of connection invitations or posting every day!
When You Get Attention the Wrong Way
We all know what it feels like to get the wrong type of attention. It may be attention, but it leads absolutely nowhere, can turn people away or gives the wrong impression.
A lot of experts on LinkedIn will attempt various tactics that “game the LinkedIn algorithm” for the sake of getting attention.
The problem is the type of attention they get is not actually leading to credibility, building brand equity or reinforcing their areas of expertise.
For example, have you ever seen one of those adorable puppy pictures that makes you stop the scroll and go “awww… that’s such a cute puppy!” You find yourself not thinking and hitting a reaction on the post - maybe throwing in a comment about your own pet.
But, what did you actually THINK about the person posting that piece of content?
Did that piece of content reinforce their areas of expertise? Nope, unless their business is working with pets -- in which case, you should be posting a ton of puppy pics!
You might have subconsciously thought that they were just trying to get attention and engagement to boost their numbers, and you’d likely be correct in your assumption.
Short-term - they’re getting engagement, but at the expense of harming their personal brand.
Long-term - you’re going to associate them with the person who is willing to cheapen their personal brand simply for the sake of getting attention.
Not a clever strategy if you’re an expert! If you’re not an expert interested in creating a highly-valued personal brand around your areas of expertise, then by all means… post whatever you like!
Getting the attention of the RIGHT people with the RIGHT message is the key to unlocking the power of LinkedIn for your business, but you’ve got to play the long game here.
To do that effectively, you’re going to need to start thinking about how you test your messaging on LinkedIn - what resonates? What doesn’t? How do you get people to engage with the content that leads to sales or new business relationships?
Why Engagement is Actually Hurting Your Brand
If you’re posting content with the intention to get engagement at any cost, you’re going to destroy your personal brand faster than you can say “thing-a-ma-jig” on LinkedIn.
As social creatures, we are all wired to see right through marketing crap that is created with the sole purpose of getting us to engage and boost someone’s numbers.
Will we engage the first time? Probably, if it catches us at the right moment.
Will we continue to engage or pay attention the next time we see a similar type of post from that individual? Nope, not unless we are just wanting to be entertained and are not a serious buyer or potential client.
A really good way to look at this is going back to middle school. Does anyone really want to go back there? Probably not.
But remember there was always this “class clown” type who got everyone in the class to laugh? He was really good at getting attention on themselves and pulling attention away from Mr. Smith teaching a fascinating geology class.
But being classed as the “funny guy” probably did not earn him much respect outside the fact that if you wanted a disruptor to take over the class, he was your guy!
When it came time to vote for class president that year, was it Mr. Funny Man you voted for? Probably not. He didn’t have the respect of someone who may not have gotten as much attention, but who always seemed to get the RIGHT attention and exactly how he wanted to be perceived.
So it wasn’t about who got the MOST attention in the class, it was about who had the right type of attention (even if it was a LOT less) when it actually mattered.
I know, it’s a silly example. But we can all relate to this type of behavior.
Too many influencers or wannabe thought leaders are using the class clown approach to get attention because it works, BUT they may not be realizing that when it actually comes to driving new business and getting people to trust you enough to buy from you… that entertainment factor is often not enough.
So what can we do instead? How can we attract people and get enough attention from the right people to grow our business?
Why Does Your Messaging Matter?
Okay, so we know we don’t want to be “the funny person” on LinkedIn, and we need a better approach.
This is where LinkedIn becomes a bit more of a game when it comes to messaging.
You’re going to run messaging experiments where you test a concept, an idea, a format, a graphic, a methodology -- or something that you think is going to resonate with your ideal audience.
This messaging should directly align with your areas of expertise, what you want to be known for, and how you want to be credibility.
For example, when people think of you, they automatically categorize you into a bucket. Here are some examples. When you think of…
Seth Godin -- the marketing guy who wrote Purple Cow
Brene Brown -- the expert on vulnerability
Tim Ferriss -- the 4-hour work week
Vishen Lakhiani -- Mindvalley and A-Fest
Simon Sinek -- what’s your why
All of these experts have done an excellent job hammering home their messaging and associating a certain topic with their personal brand.
Yes, it may get boring because you’re saying the same thing over and over and over, but it reinforces the concepts that you are the best, only, one right way to do this specific thing EXPERT.
How do you start testing messaging on LinkedIn to figure out what you could or should be known for? If you want attention, you need to stand for something that your audience cares about and wants!
How to Figure Out Your Messaging Strategy
If you haven’t sat down to think deeply about your messaging, it’s high time that you do so as an expert. Too many experts just “start talking” about concepts and ideas that seem to be all over the place for their audience. There’s not a common thread that ties them all together.
As an expert, your job is to make whatever you teach your audience as simple, straightforward and streamlined as possible. That means people should be able to consume ANY piece of your content without wondering what type of expert you are, what your content themes are, and how you can help them.
If there’s anything unclear about your messaging and you make people think too hard about categorizing you, you’ve already lost them. It’s got to be crystal clear, even when you think it should be more complex or you want to be seen as this multi-passionate person.
As an expert on LinkedIn, you represent the ONE thing you want to be known for. Until you develop irrefutable expertise in that ONE thing, you don’t add a bunch of other seemingly unrelated themes to your content. Got it?
#1 - What type of expert are you?
You may have a resume filled with all sorts of experiences, but you have got to get clear on what type of expert you consider yourself to be. Otherwise, you will confuse the heck out of people on LinkedIn.
Yes, I’m telling you to put most of your eggs in one basket when it comes to messaging if you want to get the most return on your investment from your content.
We are all multi-faceted human beings, so you don’t have to prove that you are on LinkedIn. What you DO need to prove is why you are the go-to expert in your niche for whatever it is that you do best.
That is what your messaging should do. If your messaging does not continue to reinforce the type of expert that you are, you will not be able to grow your business on LinkedIn.
For example, if you sell a SaaS product but your content actually sounds like that of a high-level consultant, there’s going to be a mismatch between the type of expert you are and why people should come to you.
Can your content still be insightful? Yes, but it still needs to be crystal clear what type of expert you are and how that matches what you sell, which leads us to the question…
#2 - What do you sell?
What you sell makes a world of difference on LinkedIn because people need to know this from the get-go before they start to trust you.
Are you an intrapreneur who’s simply a subject matter expert and works for a reputable company? Are you a sought-after consultant who specializes in a very niche market? Do you sell a product? Are you a sales person? Are you a marketing agency owner?
All of this contextual information is important for your audience to know about you because they will then understand that your underlying motivation should be leading them towards your services, your product, or your training.
If it looks like you sell multiple things or service all types of people, they are not going to feel as strong of an attraction to you. As customers, we all want to feel special and like we have the one right only best product, service or expert to help us solve our problems.
Make it clear on your LinkedIn profile exactly what you sell, and your content should match that vibe and reinforce your brand.
#3 - Who do you sell to?
You’ve got to know your audience. If you’re new to your niche or testing a different market, you will definitely need to be patient as you test your messaging on them.
I recommend coming up with three or four different themes that all lead back to your areas of expertise and your offerings. Your content should revolve around those themes.
Pay attention to the themes your audience resonates with most. You can test this messaging on LinkedIn, or you can even use your tests on other social channels to inform which themes tend to perform best.
For example, I talk about LinkedIn profiles, growing your network, doing social selling and marketing on LinkedIn. All of my content touches on those themes from different angles. My products and services also align with solving those types of problems, which leads us to our final question.
#4 - Which problems do you help them solve?
This may seem obvious, but as experts it’s easy to get sidetracked and start providing commentary or solutions to problems that are “trendy” in the industry, but if someone actually asked to SOLVE that problem for them, we’d have a hard time doing it.
It’s key that you stick to the problems you solve best, and then refer out to other experts in your industry or niche who may be a better resource for your audience on those topics.
All of your messaging should reinforce that you solve THIS problem with a SPECIFIC methodology or approach, and here are examples or scenarios and results that you can point to that verify you’re the expert.
Does this take time to get your messaging to this level? Yes, but it will make it very clear to your audience they can and should trust you when they need this problem solved.
So there you have it!
Let’s recap what you need to get clear on to determine your messaging strategy:
What type of expert are you?
What do you sell?
Who do you sell to?
Which problems do you solve?
If you’re ready to get started with LinkedIn and take the next step to optimize your profile once and for all, so you can start growing your network on the regular or land your next opportunity in 2022, join me inside The LinkedIn Accelerator program which is opening in early April!
What additional questions do you have about getting the right type of attention on LinkedIn? Leave them below in the comments or shoot me a private message. I’m happy to answer them👇!
