Welcome to the Christmas edition of the podcast.

This will be the last episode this year so let me wish you all a fantastic Christmas break and an exciting a prosperous new year.

Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week

I found this post from previous guest Andy Foote an interesting read;

The first one is new to me but does sound logical so it’s worth being careful who you @mention in the future.

The native video one is incorrect, the view number is only lower because of the 3 secs pause rule for a video view to count.

I also disagree with the 72-hour life cycle, I’ve seen posts gain engagement well after that.

GIF’s. You can now post a .gif file as an image post on LinkedIn

I’m not sure if I’m a fan of gifs as posts, I love them in messages and comments but they seem a bit too intrusive as a post. Perhaps I haven’t seen any great examples yet……….Let me know if you do! It’s also worth noting that gif’s are not currently playing on the iOS app.

Is Posting Just A Popularity Contest?

I had a comment on one of my posts this week that made the above statement. It turns out it was from a troll so I deleted it but it’s a point worth considering and debating (other than with someone that just wants to cause trouble!)

For me, posting is about popularity or more accurately it’s about ‘positive visibility’. The aim is to make more people aware of who you are and your profile should explain what you do. I gain business opportunities all the time from people who do not know me but have seen or been referred by someone who has seen, one of my posts.

In addition, effective posting can really help you learn more about your audience. We all like to make assumptions about what resonates with people but the true test is to post about it and see what happens. This deeper knowledge of your target audience is invaluable in helping you to build better relationships.

What do you think, does the troll have a point?

My New ‘Page’ Project

As mentioned in the last episode, I have decided to give my company page a facelift and in the new year I will be focussing much more attention on it.

Traditionally company pages have been a bit of a waste of time and energy…..they may still be but with the recent changes and apparently more to come, I’m going to make a concerted effort to get more from my page.

I have made most of the cosmetic changes, I’m just awaiting a new logo from my designer (I will probably still use a .gif but make the movement more subtle). Here’s the list of tasks I would recommend carrying out on your page;

• New or refreshed logo (consider using a .gif to give it movement)
• Focus your description on your key message – why someone would follow your page
• New background image that reflects your key message
• Update your call to action button
• Plan a posting schedule for the New Year

In line with the Christmas theme, I saw (and loved) this post this week

Who Wants Their Posts Assessed?

You may recall the analysis and advice I gave Lisa Rabone in episode 231

A lot of you found that really useful but unfortunately Lisa has been too busy to follow through on my advice. So I’m looking for another volunteer! Here’s what I need from you;

• A desire to gain greater visibility for your posts
• Clarity over who your target audience is
• More than 500 followers 
• A willingness to have your posts critiqued on the podcast
• A commitment to see the project through and implement all recommended changes
• An example of a recent post that failed to engage

If you are interested, drop me a line on LinkedIn or email me at mark@linkedinformed.com

LinkedIn Tip

This one is not from me but listener John Espirian.

If you want to ensure that you see the posts of your favourite LinkedIn content producers don’t rely on the algorithm….it’s on a machine after all!

Instead simply save their posts activity in your browser bookmarks (or favourites)

You can then create folders for different types or categories of content producers.

This weeks question comes from Hilary Chapman and is about scheduling posts on LinkedIn. My thoughts;

• People often use scheduling as a way of posting frequently yet my experience is that quality and engagement are more important than quantity (see last episode)
• The first 60 seconds of a post are critical, this is when you need people to comment and you should be replying so this makes scheduling mostly pointless.
• You can only post text only – Images are messed up for some reason and documents and video are not possible
• No links should be used (as always)
• You can’t @mention people
• in answer to the question though, provided all the rules of good posting are met, the actual process of posting via Hootsuite does not affect the distribution of that post.
• Below is my test post from Hootsuite

That’s it for this week and for this year!

Have an amazing Christmas break…switch LinkedIn off and spend time with your loved ones.

I will be back in January

HAPPY CHRISTMAS