As nice as it would be if the firm shared all of the content that you create, such as when you write a blog post, record a video, or appear on a podcast, and you think, “Oh, great, the firm will share it for me, and that’s all I have to worry about,” it’s not that easy.
What you need to do is take the bull by the horns and help promote your activity.
Let me explain why.
It’s Time to Take Charge
When you take your valuable time to create a piece of content—whether written, spoken, or visual—it is important that it gets the attention it deserves. You’re not creating content as a hobby; you’re creating it for a reason. You want to make sure your clients, potential clients, referral sources, and even members of the trade media—those who are important to your practice and career growth—see that piece of content.
Why You Shouldn’t Just Repost What The Firm Posts
If the firm is the only one sharing the content you worked so hard to create, the reach will be far smaller than if you also share it yourself.
Your temptation might be to rely on the firm’s post and simply reshare it—what LinkedIn currently calls “reposting.” However, I recommend against relying solely on that approach.
LinkedIn’s algorithm loves new, original content, so sharing someone else’s post is nice, but it isn’t going to cause the algorithm to stand up and cheer because that is repurposed content.
What I’d like to see you do instead is to take your content and share it natively on your feed.
Here’s A Quick Example
Let’s say it’s a video.
- Download the file and upload it as a post on your personal profile.
- Create a thoughtful post to accompany it that will help your community understand why they should take the time to consume that content. Like you, everyone is busy, so give them a reason to watch.
- Don’t just upload and go away. Stick around and be ready to engage with anyone and everyone who takes their precious time to interact with your video.
Additional Tips for Native Content Sharing
Here’s how you can effectively share content natively:
Write a Strong Post: As mentioned above, write a friendly, authoritative, and concise post that explains your topic and why it is important for your audience to know what it is you are talking about.
Help People Connect the Dots: If you are posting a carousel (LinkedIn calls them document posts), single graphic, video, or audio, include a sentence or two to highlight what they will learn and why it is worth their time. People are busy, and unless you make the connection clear, they’ll likely keep scrolling. Waste their time once, and they won’t forget.
Experiment with Timing: If you’re curious about the difference in reach between reposting and posting natively, try sharing the content both ways. Space them a few days apart at similar times of day to see how your community reacts…or doesn’t. This isn’t a perfect scientific study, but I know from experience and lots of experimentation (that’s my job) that you will begin to notice a trend.
Collaboration Multiplies Reach
Encourage your colleagues to share their content natively as well, and when the content is relevant to your audience, share each others’ posts. Think about the potential reach when everyone in the firm amplifies one another’s content. Combining your connections will result in far better exposure than relying on the firm alone. Also, and this reason cannot be minimized, this is cross-selling in its easiest form.
Wouldn’t you rather have your clients know about the full capabilities and intelligence of your firm instead of going somewhere else because they didn’t know, or they forgot, that you have those skills in-house?
Content Sharing Is Not Self-Promotion
Some professionals I know feel hesitant about sharing their own content because it seems self-promotional.
But remember: why did you create that content in the first place? You created it because you believed it would be valuable to your audience. Sharing it is simply ensuring your efforts reach the people who need it most. You aren’t forcing anyone to consume what you create. When they find it on social and digital media, they have chosen to do so, so let’s give it to them.
Addressing External Links on LinkedIn
If you’re sharing a blog post or any other external link, be mindful of how LinkedIn handles those links. The platform, aka its algorithm, tends to deprioritize posts with links because they want to keep users on-site. You will hear and read differing schools of thought about this, but I’ve seen it happen too many times to discount the impact links have on posts.
To overcome this:
- You can share a compelling snippet or key insight from your blog post directly on the platform. Make that your post. This will deliver the valuable advice you originally shared in your blog post but won’t push them away to another site by adding an external link.
- Engaging visuals, documents (think carousels), and brief videos can be scroll-stopping, which we want as we want your connections to stop and consume what you have to say.
- Consider using an audiogram or a short clip to highlight key moments of a podcast or video.
- Try to think of ways to encourage thought and discussion, as posts with higher engagement are often rewarded with greater visibility on LinkedIn. This draws more attention to your expertise without appearing self-promotional. Remember, it’s about sharing value, not just content. Make sure you are genuine when encouraging discussion, as it is obvious and often frowned upon when it appears you are just looking for clicks and reactions.
- Add a call-to-action to enhance your post’s impact. Is there another resource that would be helpful for your readers? Is there someone else you could tag who your followers should also follow or who you would like to credit for inspiring your post? As with my suggestion above, be genuine about this as people can smell promotion a mile away. If they already love you, that won’t matter. If they are just getting to know you, that could be a turn-off. Learn when and how this is appropriate for your situation and community.
- Test placing your external link in a comment rather than the original post. I don’t like that I even have to suggest that as I think it is gamey and incongruent with delivering content, but we are playing by LinkedIn’s rules, so testing this is important for your exposure.
Don’t Leave Your Content to Chance
Your time is too valuable to leave your content to chance. Don’t rely solely on the firm to promote it. When you share your content personally, you will not only increase its reach but also have the opportunity to be present and interact with those who engage with it.
Interaction on LinkedIn is part of effectively building your reputation and your relationships, which are two of the main purposes I teach when it comes to effectively building your practice.
