Sharing valuable content with a niche audience on LinkedIn is a tried-and-tested way of standing out from the crowd. However there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to determining when to post.
John Nemo, LinkedIn expert and author of LinkedIn Riches, stresses the importance of creating free content via a recent blog post, describing it as “the price you must pay to get in front of your ideal audience and demonstrate your worth as opposed to those who just claim it”.
However, putting this content together is just the first step — determining an optimal time to publish content will go a long way to ensuring it receives the recognition it deserves, while helping to secure new business.
So when should you post? Nemo recommends entrepreneurs take into account a number of factors.
Nemo recommends using Google Analytics to determine your audience’s location, with his experience being that publishing LinkedIn posts during the middle of the week and in regular business hours works best.
As advised by LinkedIn via a blog post:
“Peak activity windows on LinkedIn is strongly correlated with behavioural routines throughout the day.
“Use Google Analytics to evaluate the time zone locations of your audience. Once you know where they are located, build testing strategies around publishing at times relevant to their location.”
Nemo notes that attention to detail matters when creating a post.
He advises that “content should be hyper-focused on a targeted, niche audience, to the point of including their job title or industry name in the headline of your blog posts and articles”.
He also points to the value in using LinkedIn’s advanced search techniques to best effect to find and connect with your ideal audience, helping to build a network to share content with.
A confusing or uninspiring headline will detract from original and well-considered content.
Nemo recommends using the headline formula: Target Audience Name + Your Service + Benefit They Want.
Entrepreneurs will also do well to take advantage of all their social media channels in building an audience, he says.
“Along with responding as quickly as possible to the likes, shares and comments your articles receive, you can also use other social media channels and your email list to drive traffic to your posts,” Nemo writes.
“Using your content as the context for these conversations, you can begin to earn the trust of your connections and develop the relationships that lead to winning new business on LinkedIn.”
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Martin Kovacs is a journalist with experience covering the IT, consumer electronics, retail, finance and energy sectors.
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