(did this story need all those extra animals on the right? photo courtesy Mark Johnston)
There are three forces I see coming together that, to me, suggest that shorter content on LinkedIn is an idea to consider and perhaps experiment with.
More Content Options
Two years ago we had posts, articles and company posts. Now we have posts, articles, polls, events, newsletters, and various video and audio options, and in many cases both individual and company versions of these features. There is just a lot more you can do.
…Especially Newsletters
LinkedIn has taken a long time to roll them out, but courtesy of the notification option it is rare that a day goes by where I do not have an invitation to subscribe to a newsletter waiting for me on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Is Pushing Content
Especially via Creator Mode, but also through personal Services Pages and other new opetions on our profiles. LinkedIn is providing better options for that content to be seen.
So given that the breadth of content options and that LinkedIn is promoting them, how do you stand out?
I think you can do so by being shorter. Length does not necessarily mean strength. Don’t freak out that your content isn’t long enough. Figure out what you want to say, and take the minimal amount of time and space necessary to say it.
Of course there are places this doesn’t apply like an event, or if you were to publish a “Complete Guide To…”, but in most cases I think there is something to be said for making your point quickly. It respects your readers (or viewers or listeners) time.
I’ve been experimenting with shorter content and I am seeing two trends: the first is that my open rate is not going down, which in itself is impressive with more and more people publishing content on LinkedIn every day, and second is that no one is complaining that my content isn’t long enough.
The goal of my newsletters is to give you ideas on how you can use LinkedIn more effectively. This one took around three hundred and fifty words. I don’t think it needed to be longer.
Obligatory boilerplate: I do not work for or have any association with LinkedIn, other than being a user who pays them for his Sales Navigator subscription every month.
Want more like this? (the newsletter I mean, not the disclaimer) I publish a weekly email newsletter on using LinkedIn effectively for Sales and Marketing. Each newsletter typically contains two to four articles, it’s free, and you can unsubscribe anytime. Here’s a link to the sign up page: https://practicalsmm.com/contact/
