If you’re a business professional, it should be a no-brainer that you’re on LinkedIn. If you’re already on it, revamping your profile is step #1 to get serious on the largest professional network in the world. The second step and the more impactful both in the short and long terms is to start creating content for the feed. That’s where people, your target audiences, will see you the most.
One of the common questions people ask about content creation is what they should talk about.
Here are 21 topic ideas for your LinkedIn profile + a few must-read words about value and the tone of voice.
- What you do.
This one is given: share your work, what you do, who you do it with (talk about your team) and how you do it so it helps the people/companies you work with.
- News and analysis of current events.
It’s most certainly interesting if you’re among the first to share news/events happening in your industry but it will be much more impactful if you add your 2 cents – how do you see it affecting the people/companies/industries involved and what should people pay attention to.
- Statistics, numbers and figures.
I’m a big fan of numbers because I believe they tell stories. I also think that LinkedIn users fancy numbers because the environment is very corporate. However, I’m 100% aware that many people just throw numbers at a slide or a post without verifying them and/or putting them in perspective. So while I highly recommend you talk about numbers and figures in your industry, you MUST make sure you’re using reliable sources and you should always put the figures in perspective.
- Wishes/international days.
This is a theme that social media managers like to argue about, especially when it comes to company pages. My take on it is that being human on social media platforms makes sense, but I’d recommend adding a “twist” or your perspective. Don’t keep it to the shallow “Happy New Year” or “Happy Thanksgiving”. Say something about making resolutions or gratitude and how you go about it in your professional life.
- Hacks, tips, did you know.
The habits that you developed with time, hacks that save you time, “tricks” that make you more efficient, interesting facts about your industry, its history and how to succeed in it – all of these can be valuable for your audiences and strengthen your personal brand as an experienced professional.
- Your journey.
You are the professional you are because of everything that you went through. Not only will people learn from your journey, but it will also establish the credibility that will lead to trust. Your audiences should feel they really know you, even if they’ve never met you. Share your failures and successes, your challenges and achievements, your highs and lows, your professional experiences that can offer-value-to and inspire others.
- Recommendations.
Books, podcasts, tools, industry-related movies, people to follow, events… are all examples of recommendations you can make to your audiences. It positions you as a learner and someone-who-knows. Needless to say, don’t recommend things you haven’t tested yourself.
- Questions and polls.
People love to express their opinions, especially when it’s in relatively neutral subjects (i.e not politics). Ask questions, start discussions, have professional debates. You can also do it via the built-in type of post on LinkedIn – polls. Everyone loves a good LinkedIn poll. I do, however, recommend not to dumb it down too much. Your polls should lead to insightful conversations and/or meaningful interactions. A third way to do it, is to create a visual representation of two (or more) options and ask the audience to vote via the reactions.
- Social proof.
If you were featured in the media, reached a milestone, won awards, someone wrote something about you and your work on their website or social media profiles – you should share it. People care more about what others say about you, and not what you have to say about yourself.
- Recruitment.
LinkedIn is one of the top places today where people search for job opportunities. Share that you are recruiting and why people should come and work with you. If you’re consistent enough in your LinkedIn presence, you won’t even need to say why, candidates already follow you and if relevant, they will simply apply for the opportunity of working beside you.
- Your culture.
Talking about your company culture and life in your organization can attract the people you hope to recruit/to be recruited to your team. Furthermore, it shows your values, what you care about and can be insightful to others. Adding a look behind the scenes will make it even more authentic.
- Repurposing from your other assets.
A simple way to not drown in the constantly-demanding process of content creation is to repurpose content from your other platforms. Whether it’s your email communication, your Instagram, TikTok or Facebook account and as long as the subject is relevant to the platform and your audiences – you can and should adapt the content and publish it on LinkedIn.
- Case studies.
People understand better through examples. Case studies are a great way to show your work and how it impacts the people and companies you serve.
- Sharing from other sources (curation).
If you use the platform you create for, read newsletters, scroll other feeds… you must see content worth sharing. When you share, always add your perspective, remember – people follow you because they want to hear from YOU.
- Ideas from the feed and from common questions you’re being asked.
I truly believe that to be successful on a platform, you need to understand it, and for that to happen, you need to spend time on it. While you do that – scroll through the feed, read posts and the comments on them, you’ll gain many ideas as to what your potential audiences are curious about and what keeps them up at night. A similar way to do that is to note down questions that you’re repeatedly asked and/or statements you constantly hear from prospects and clients.
- Lists.
Things you’ve learnt, stuff you wish you had known when you were younger, do’s and don’ts… are examples of lists you can create and will offer your audience new learning.
- Your values.
There’s a saying that money doesn’t smell. I tend to disagree with this as a general approach, but if you do agree, this topic suggestion is not for you. I believe that you should work with people you share the same values with, so talking about your values and what you stand for, will attract like-minded professionals. If you’re a manager, that goes for clients as well. This might reduce the quantity but increase the quality of your professional connections.
- Republishing your successful content.
The more you grow on LinkedIn, the more you can reshare content from the past that was proven to be successful. Two things you can achieve here: one, gain traction from your new connections and two, most people forget the content they see (it’s a noisy world we live in) so re-engaging them with content they might have seen and already responded positively to, makes sense.
- Hands-on knowledge sharing.
How-tos, guides, e-books, cheat sheets, check lists, templates, industry reports, concepts explanation… There’s so much executable knowledge that people are thirsty for and you have. Sharing this type of valuable knowledge makes you someone who people would want to follow.
- Memes and quotes.
Memes are one of the most successful types of content that exist on the internet. If you use the meme in the right context and in a professional-related way, you can get much traction. Same goes for quoting others. It can be famous entrepreneurs, business leaders or anyone you feel is worth quoting. Make sure to give credit to the person quoted, tag her/him if possible and as said above – add your 2 cents to explain why you relate to it. And yes, quoting yourself can be one of your writing styles.
- Promotions and/or activities.
When you have promotions going on in your business, discounts given, clearance sales… your audience, who’s been following you and trust you, would want to hear about it. Another approach would be to run activities dedicated only to LinkedIn audiences where they can benefit from an incentive you offer if they participate.
There you have it!
It goes without saying that at times you will feel there’s something worth sharing that is not on your topics list. That’s totally fine – you should share it. Maybe even make it a theme 🙂
Whatever you do, always think of what’s in it for the reader. Providing value to your target audiences is a key to success with content creation.
@chen_hindi LinkedIn is one of the best places for business professionals to be present on. To get people’s attention on the largest professional network in the world, you need to appear on the feed, and to do that – you should create content. There’s a 5-steps process that I recommend following in order to be seen on the feed, starting with the planning. When you plan the subjects you’re going to talk about, think of your audiences, not yourself and what you want to promote. If you talk about their pains, about what keeps them up at night, offer them value – they will start paying attention. #linkedinprofile #linkedinprofilereview #linkedinprofiletips #linkedinprofileoptimization #linkedinprofiles #linkedintrainer #linkedintraining #chenhindi #linkedincourse #linkedinworkshop @LinkedIn
One last word about authenticity
“Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” Oscar Wilde
One of the ultimate ways to stand out is by having your own unique voice.
Be authentic. Be you. Do you.
