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The Solo Creator Playbook
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The Solo Creator Playbook
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LinkedIn

Summary

LinkedIn is a social networking site that has grown to be one of the largest professional networks in the world. It provides a lot of features for its users, but it can be difficult to know how to use these features.
LinkedIn is not just a place for people to find jobs or offer their services. It can also be used as a marketing tool by businesses and individuals alike.
The most common way that LinkedIn is used as a marketing tool is through business profiles and company pages. These profiles are public, which means that they are viewable by anyone on the internet, not just those who are members of LinkedIn. Businesses may also use LinkedIn's advertising platform in order to promote their products or services with targeted ads and sponsored content on people's feeds.

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Types of LinkedIn Content

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LinkedIn Articles

Less than 1% of LinkedIn users have published an article on LinkedIn, yet it's one of the easiest ways to share your thoughts and expertise on a topic. Articles are essentially blog posts that are hosted on LinkedIn itself, and can be easily shared via your LinkedIn profile.
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LinkedIn Article.PNG
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Top tips for LinkedIn articles

Be a thought leader - write about what you know best. Blog posts are longer pieces of content and they should shine your knowledge and experience in the topics you discuss.
Short or long - no in between. The data shows the people love short, snappy, impactful articles, or long, in-depth pieces of analysis that really go deep into a particular topic. The middle ground - 400-600 word articles - rarely satisfy either, so try and keep your content to either end of the scale.
Stay personal. Yes, readers on LinkedIn want practical, actionable advice, but they also want something more than that, something less tangible than just tips and strategies. They want to connect with people, so sharing a little context and personality alongside your expertise will help that.
Trigger a conversation. You want to reflect on your own views, but you also want to encourage others to engage with what you’ve said. That’s the best way to start and build relationships. LinkedIn is a social networking platform, not a social broadcast platform after all.
Use headers, bullet points and pull quotes as a way to break up the piece. This will make it more digestible!
Include images were possible. Articles with 8 images receive more than 160% views than others.
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Video Post

Native videos are those that are uploaded directly to LinkedIn or created on the platform itself. Unlike embedded videos via a service such as YouTube, LinkedIn native video autoplays in-feed, which is more likely to grab attention and will increase the reach of your content by keeping a user in the LinkedIn feed.
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LinkedIn Video.PNG
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Best format for:

Explaining slightly more complicated points in a clearer, easy to digest fashion. Explainer videos, testimonials, case studies and trade show or event videos can be used to introduce and educate your audience with ease, as well as communicating your company culture and values.

Top tips for Video Posts:

Include a strong Call to Action. CTAs will vary depending on the goal of the campaign, whether it’s building awareness, qualifying leads, or driving demand generation. Your CTA should be clearly labeled, and speak directly to the needs of the audience you’re targeting.
Mix up the type of videos you share and adapt format depending on the purpose. For example, explainer videos may be best shared via experts within your company as a way to demonstrate thought leadership, whereas a case study may be best pushed through your company’s page as a way to gain the trust of your target audience.
Include subtitles if possible. Remember, many people scroll their LinkedIn feed with the sound off.
Optimize format for best user experience by adhering to the perfect dimensions.
Don’t make your videos too long, unless the subject really demands it and you feel you have the audience for it.
While good videos perform very well on LinkedIn, don’t just make videos for the sake of it.

Since its addition to the LinkedIn feed, video has quickly become one of the best engaged with content formats and the one publishers turn to when they want to boost their reach. However, producing good video at scale can be difficult. evolved to become a highly versatile format with its own requirements depending on the intention and visuals of the video. I’ll follow up this overview article with a separate piece just on video, but if you have any questions in the meantime, please let me know.
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Text-Only Posts

Text-only LinkedIn posts can include hashtags and emojis, but nothing else. This is the most basic post type and as with other social media platforms, it won’t get the best reach organically. Text Only Post Character Limits: Up to 1300 characters and no imagery (except for emojis).
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LinkedIn Text Post.JPG
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Best format for:

These posts work best when talking about one specific topic that can be covered in short or slightly longer form, using up the full character limit. If you use over X characters, the ‘see more' button will be included in your post, meaning only text prior to the see more will be visible unless the user specifically clicks to see more.

Top Tips for Text Only Posts

- Use a top line header followed by the use of bullet points or numbered lists, as this will grab attention and break up the text, meaning viewers can engage with what you have to say without losing much time.
Try to use emojis such as ✅, ⚠️ and ➡️ instead of bullet points to make your posts more visually appealing
If you want to include external links but want to keep focus on your content and ensure the algorithm favors your simple ways, submit your post without a link first. You can then click ‘edit post’ (on the three dots on the top right side of your post) and add in your link. Adding the link after means your post will still classify as a ‘text only post’ and the post won’t display an image preview of the linked website. You can alternatively click the ‘x’ in the top right of your thumbnail preview to remove it, or simply add your link in the first comment of your post once live
Linking to external content is definitely worthwhile if it’s going to add value to your network, but don’t do it too much. LinkedIn’s goal is to keep users engaged in the feed for as long as possible, so too many posts that recommend you visit an external site could impact the reach of your future posts. Definitely use external links as part of your content mix, but do so sparingly.
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LinkedIn Polls

If you’re a LinkedIn OG, you will know these existed ‘back in the day’, and thankfully they’ve now returned. To use them, select the 'Create a Poll' option within the post composer, type in your question, and enter up to four answer options. You then choose the poll’s duration (between 24 hours and up to two weeks), add a note to your post, then publish.
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LinkedIn Poll.PNG
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Best format for:

They are a good way to gather relevant insights, quickly and easily, while also helping to facilitate more interaction and discussion.

Top tips for LinkedIn Polls

Write a poll that encourages people to vote and to like or comment on your poll post. LinkedIn will not count a vote as a form of engagement, meaning that you want people to like and comment as a way to increase your organic reach.
Use them within groups, as your pool of respondents will be more targeted than your wider network.
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Carousel Posts


Carousel posts are traditionally found as a format in LinkedIn’s advertising product, however not many people know you can create your own carousel style post by uploading your a PDF or PPT file directly into a post. When you upload a multi-page or slide file to a LinkedIn post, the user will be given left and right buttons to move through your content in a carousel style.
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Carousel Post LinkedIn.PNG
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Best format for:

Sharing tips, insights, a short visual and branded presentation or case study. Whatever you share, make sure you own the assets.

Top tips:

Include a clear Call to Action at the end of your presentation. Do you want to redirect them to another landing page to share more insightful information or do you want to encourage them to share their thoughts on the content presented? Whatever it is, make sure there is a CTA when using these!
Briefly mentioned on formatting but make sure you keep this format consistent throughout your page. This means the design elements (branded assets, font, typography and what not) should be consistent across the slides, as well as matching the rest of your branded visuals on your page.
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Single Image post

Whether you want a picture to say a thousand words, or need to show a graph or an image in support of a few snappy lines of text, the image post format is the one for you.
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Image Post LinkedIn.JPG
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Best format for:

Short and snappy statistics, educational infographics and content, event promotions or relevant announcements.

Top Tips:

An image is worth a thousand words, so make sure your images add value to your message and brand, not detract from it. Bring value to your network.
Image posts tend to be the lowest-ranked on LinkedIn, but only because they are mostly not executed well enough. Yes, you should celebrate your wins, but you should post content that shows how this win is good for your client. For example, let’s say your team is growing. That’s fantastic news for your revenue (probably), but the messaging should focus on that you have another expert in X, Y and Z that can offer A, B and C for them.
Use these posts as an opportunity to drive your audience to your site. Something like an educational infographic accompanied with a link to a larger version.
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Multi-Image Posts

LinkedIn was a late bloomer to multi image posts, which allows users to share a gallery of images (up to nine) within one post.
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MultiImage LinkedIn Post.JPG
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Best format for:

Multi image posts were originally intended to enable users to share more than one image from conferences and networking events, making the platform one geared more towards relationship building that sole recruitment.
These posts are still popular, but they are also an opportunity to showcase a project or tell a story with visuals without it strictly being an event or conference. Whether it’s sharing a photoshoot as proof of quality, share images that add value to the story or snap images of adverts you’ve seen in the past month, multi image posts are ideal for any story that can be enriched with visuals.

Top Tips for Multi-Image Posts:

Create sequences of multiple graphs from presentations as a way to recycle existing content but ensuring you are adapting the format to improve the user experience of your audience.
Share the images in the order you wish them to be displayed - the first two images will be larger and therefore more visible to the viewer.
If you share more than five images, bare in mind that it won’t be seen unless the user clicks through the post.
Pay attention to how LinkedIn breakpoints your images depending on their dimensions.
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Document Posts

This format allows you to share PowerPoint files, Word documents or PDFs directly in a post on your feed, allowing the viewer to preview it there and then, open it in a new window and download it. You can post them directly on your feed, or on a private group.
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LinkedIn Doc Post.JPG
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Best format for:

Building authority, sharing press releases or longer forms of content that require visual elements to add value. Sometimes you have information that is too long or complex for a simple 1300-character text-only and a LinkedIn article is not suitable. Or, your document might already be formatted for another use but you decide it would be ideal for LinkedIn. Sharing it as a document post is a good way to recycle the content and build credibility among your audience.

Top Tips for Document Posts

As with image and video posts, introduce your documents with a caption.
Make these documents visually appealing and engaging. If you are going to make someone open a document and potentially download it, you have to add elements that are not accessible via a text only post or article (which are easier and cleaner to engage with).
Make your document’s title very clear. You want people to know exactly what they are opening. It’s also good practice to add a summary at the very beginning, before going into detail, similar to the first paragraph of a press release.
Keep them brand consistent where possible! (i.e. if it’s not just a recycled PDF that needs to go out on your LinkedIn immediately).
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Celebrations

Often when you have something short and simple to announce, all that is required is LinkedIn’s celebration format. This feature can be found alongside all the other posting options when you Start a Post.
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LinkedIn Celebration.png
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Best format for:

Marking milestones is an important and often overlooked reason to post. Whether it be marking an anniversary of a company, welcoming a new staff member, or congratulating someone on their achievements, the Celebration option allows you to succinctly announce in contexts where a full length post may be a bit too much.

Celebration Options:

Welcome to the Team
Give Kudos
Project Launch
Work Anniversary
New Position
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LinkedIn Livestreaming

On most social media platforms, Live Video has been a possibility for a while. LinkedIn has caught up with the times, and now facilitates the broadcasting of Live Video content directly from your account.
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Livestream LinkedIn.JPG
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Best format for:

Live video can be an extremely versatile tool, both for individuals and businesses alike. Conferences, live events, and more can now be made the most of, expanding your audience into the infinite reaches of LinkedIn in an increasingly remote working world.
However, you must be an approved LinkedIn Member in order to stream, and you can get your account confirmed by filling in a request form.
Once verified, LinkedIn provides these four steps to follow.
Select a Streaming Tool: Depending on your level of expertise with streaming, you can choose to go live using a
third-party broadcast tool
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or a
custom stream (RTMP)
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. With either option, you can consider scheduling your
live stream in advance
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to promote it on or off LinkedIn.
Leverage Broadcaster Features: Once you have set up your live stream, explore
broadcaster features
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to optimize your live videos and achieve your goals.
Stream Quality, Professional Content: To produce professional content, be sure to follow these
guidelines
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and
best practices
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. For best streaming results, use these
encoder settings
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.
Troubleshoot Issues: If you’re running into errors during the set up or streaming process, try these troubleshooting
recommendations
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.


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Resources & Tools

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LinkedIn Resources

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Resources for Businesses
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Resources for Professionals
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LinkedIn Learning Resource Center
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Courses
Resources
Support

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Buffer
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With no built in features for batch scheduling LinkedIn posts you will want to use the 3rd party service Buffer, which offers a free plan, or an alternative like Hootsuite.
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Back to Home
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Next Section
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Summary
Types of LinkedIn Content
LinkedIn Articles
Top tips for LinkedIn articles
Video Post
Best format for:
Top tips for Video Posts:
Text-Only Posts
Best format for:
Top Tips for Text Only Posts
LinkedIn Polls
Best format for:
Top tips for LinkedIn Polls
Carousel Posts
Best format for:
Top tips:
Single Image post
Best format for:
Top Tips:
Multi-Image Posts
Best format for:
Top Tips for Multi-Image Posts:
Document Posts
Best format for:
Top Tips for Document Posts
Celebrations
Best format for:
Celebration Options:
LinkedIn Livestreaming
Best format for:
Resources & Tools
LinkedIn Resources
LinkedIn Learning Resource Center
Buffer
Gallery
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