5 Easy Steps To Grow Your LinkedIn Audience
Your success will largely depend on your attitude toward others and the way you interact with people around you.
This has never been more relevant than ever before in particular on social media platforms!
One of them I’ve been using heavily for a couple of years now is Linkedin. The potential you can get out of this platform is huge and can be life-changing!
But you need to understand its fundamental purpose and the direction the product took since Ryan Roslansky became the company’s new CEO in Feb 2020, almost around the same time as the pandemic started.
It’s in fact not about finding jobs anymore and the opportunities go beyond such transactional interactions which have no specific value apart from the experience of applying online.
Indeed.
For many, it’s now become their favorite social network where they can access and learn from the best minds, leaders, and mentors around the world and grow their personal or professional skills.
To me, LinkedIn (as well as my X/Twitter) is like school but with better teachers if only you know how to use it!
One of my connections, Mo McKibbin - Head of Post Production at Apple (she was Head of CS at Moxion at that time), even mentioned in her comment that she feels like she has an “unofficial MBA” which I couldn’t agree with more!
Others are teaming up to work on specific projects, create communities, gather locally to discuss and bring the Customer Success practice to the next level, raise funds for their startups, and so much more!
And yet, most people still don’t get it.
They think it’s just about serving their own interests whenever they need it. Others use the platform just to sell something.
But the truth is: no one cares about you unless you care about them first!
One thing I always say is: you have to put in the wood before asking for heat.
And yet most people still expect others to help without giving anything first themselves.
We, as human beings, are primarily wired to take action to survive.
The best way to do so is to build strong relationships with people who have similar interests to us to support each other, encourage, celebrate, help overcome failures, and navigate through tough times as necessary.
And without a powerful community supporting you on this journey, chances are you might be left alone in the long run.
So, based on these fundamentals, here’s how you can grow your audience in 5 easy steps:
STEP #1/5: Respond to incoming requests
First things first.
I’ve found that one of the most effective ways to engage on the platform was to respond to incoming messages.
Since when I started engaging regularly on the platform, I kept receiving daily requests from people all around the world to discuss all things Customer Success. In particular, how to:
transition into CS,
land a job,
build and scale CS teams, best practices,
write online,
connect with others,
and the list goes on and on…
Yet one thing I am very proud of is responding to all of these requests, whether it be such as InMails or any other specific questions.
It can take some time for me to respond to everyone—and by the way, sorry if I didn’t get back to you quickly given the growing number of interactions I have nowadays…
But soon or late, I respond in any case with the only exception of people who just want to sell me something at the very first contact.
You know who I am talking about, right? :))
I also enjoy getting on a quick after-work Zoom call when needed.
And yet, I know some people will not even bother taking the time to respond as they believe it has no value for their own personal interests.
I’ve been there.
I know the frustration and the negative emotions it creates.
It’s the same feeling of disappointment when you get for example ghosted by recruiters when looking for a job…
What else can be worse than the feeling you’ve had when you wanted to genuinely reach out to someone but didn’t receive any single feedback?!
“People will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
This is why I take pride in responding to any inquiries, even if it is just to say “No thanks, I’m not interested”.
I feel like I owe a response to anyone who took the time to craft a genuinely interesting message with great value!
Moreover, answering incoming messages creates a personal connection with the people you respond to, which is of high importance for the next steps of growing your audience!
Simply said, any response is always better than no feedback at all!
So don’t be that selfish person, or it will only damage your reputation.
No one cares about such an egocentric “professional”!
I’d then encourage you to always be supportive of others to the very best of your capacity.
Some people will say they don’t have time to respond to inquiries. And that’s perfectly OK. But in this case, don’t expect to grow your network at scale.
Finally, responding to people will also help build your credibility.
This is the ultimate door opener for anyone willing to put in the effort for longer-term outcomes.
Sow, so shall you reap!
Consistent Engagement
Like any other social platform, LinkedIn has its own algorithm and favors people who are engaging and posting interesting topics that will generate more views.
This means more revenue for the company by selling more advertising, recruitment services, and membership benefits.
Simply said, the more you engage with others, the more visibility you’ll get on the platform.
I applied the exact same approach when I decided to engage actively on Linkedin.
I was around 1k followers with around the same number of connections last year and now almost 12.000.
Today, I have more followers than connections, which means people value what I have to say and decide to get the news from me as soon as I post.
And you can do the same and even beyond if you take note and follow my recommendations.
All you need is some level of self-confidence to write in public and a willingness to post often.
However, there are a few tactics you need to nail before starting.
And the key here is consistency.
But what does that mean in practice?
Let’s dive in!
STEP #2/5: Identify your topic
Now that you decided to write on Linkedin, you must first answer these 2 fundamental questions:
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