A lot of business owners delegate LinkedIn to others. But this is a big mistake. It’s easy to spot when other people are posting on your behalf and social posts tend to get ignored.
Business owners who take social seriously can drive massive awareness for their company. This is why more and more business owners are investing time in building their personal brand on LinkedIn.
But this isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
Coming up with ideas for great LinkedIn posts is hard and as any content marketer will tell you, consistency and a content plan is important. It’s no good posting something every now and again when you feel inspired, posting content needs to be consistent.
If you want to grow your network and build relationships, you need to keep your content fresh.
We’ve pulled together a list of 44 questions that will help your creativity and give you unique and original ideas. Some of these are looking at industry trends and some are just a bit out there.
But before we get into that...
What works on LinkedIn?
One of the mistakes that people sometimes make is to only use LinkedIn to announce company news, talk about your achievements or post links to your website. They also think that posts need to be a certain length for people to get value from.
But the best performing content tends to be...
- Shortform (ie. 25 - 200 words)
- Relatable
- Focus on helping others
- Pose interesting questions or challenge assumptions
- Use personal stories to illustrate ideas or opinions
- Not feel like ‘marketing’ (ie. a link to your latest landing page)
Everyone’s personal brand is different and you need to post what you feel comfortable with. But these questions should give you plenty of food for thought.
Here we go...
Your story
What was your first job and what did it teach you about what you do today?
What was the most exciting moment in your career and why?
Think of a moment in your career when you took a big risk that paid off. What were the stakes, what did you do and how do you feel about it now?
What are your core values and why are they important to you?
What are the three most important moments in your career?
What aspect of your work are you working on improving or developing at the moment and why?
What’s the most nerve-wracking experience in your professional life and how do you feel about it now?
When did you know that you had found the right career?
What are the ten biggest things you’ve learned over the last 10 years of your career?
What’s the most successful piece of work you’ve done recently? Share a behind the scenes account of what you did, why it worked and what you learned.
What was your biggest challenge of the last year and what did you learn from it?
Your network
Think of a colleague who you are working with right now who you value and respect. Who are they and why did you pick them? And don’t forget to @mention them so they see it!
Who’s the best boss you have ever worked with, why were they so good and what did you learn from them?
Who are some of the people that make your working life brighter and better? Publicly @mention them and say thanks.
Do you have any funny office or team rituals that you can share?
What’s the most interesting conversation you’ve had with a colleague, customer or someone else recently? @Mention the other person if possible.
What’s a small thing you do every now and again to raise the spirits of your team?
If you could give your younger self one piece of career advice, what would it be?
What are the traits you most value in colleagues?
What’s a genuine problem or issue you have right now? Post and ask if anyone can help.
Your opinions
What’s the most interesting question a client has asked you this month and how did you answer?
Was there a moment in or outside of work that made you smile this week?
When was the last time you were bowled over by a company’s customer experience / marketing / sales process?
What’s the number one thing your clients are struggling with right now and what’s your advice for them?
What’s a common misconception either about or within your industry?
Who do you look up to most in your field and why? This can be someone you know or not.
What is a book that you would recommend to everyone in your industry and why?
What is a thing you think people should start doing that they’re not?
What is a thing you think people should stop doing that they are?
What is a major change in customer behaviour that you’ve noticed in the last year?
What’s a key trend or shift that you think all of your customers need to be aware of?
What’s a common challenge your customers have? Share a simple step-by-step plan for overcoming it.
What stat have you seen recently that blew your mind?
How do you think your industry will have changed in five years’ time?
What is a controversial opinion you hold about your industry? Ask your followers to share their thoughts.
What is the biggest news story in your industry right now and what’s your take on it?
What is a common problem or contradiction in your industry that you think needs to be talked about?
Something a bit different
Have you taken a fun or interesting picture of your team recently? Share it and @mention the people in it.
Do you have an unlikely source of inspiration or motivation? For instance, what did David Bowie teach you about branding?
What is the thing you most enjoy about your work and why?
Have you had a funny experience on Zoom or Teams recently?
What are your daily working rituals and how do they help you?
What’s a productivity hack that works wonders for you?
What’s a simple piece of advice that you think almost anyone would benefit from hearing?
That should have given you plenty of ideas for LinkedIn posts. But if you’re looking for a bit of extra advice, here are a few general guidelines that will improve performance:
- Text posts perform better than links
- Try to finish your post by asking a question to generate conversation
- Avoid long sentences and paragraphs
- Use line breaks to improve readability
- Use emojis if you feel comfortable with them
Best of luck. See you on LinkedIn!
