On LinkedIn, as on all social networks, engagement is the holy grail that everyone chases. And everyone is ready to do anything to get the maximum involvement, even at the cost of publishing poor content.
This may seem paradoxical: how can bad content lead to maximum engagement? Wouldn’t that be good content then?
My answer on this point is very clear: good content is content that transforms, that is, that allows me to bring a user into my conversion tunnel. If the only goal of a content is engagement, i.e. the race for likes, of course, this content will be visible, but, in most cases, it doesn’t allow me to achieve my commercial goals, all simply because they don’t match the expectations of my target. His only purpose is to distract her.
In this article, I am therefore going to list 5 types of particularly viral content on LinkedIn, but which, if they allow you to obtain commitment, will not allow you, or with great difficulty, to start a commercial relationship.
And hater
The hater is the one who constantly stands in opposition to the rest of the community. By definition, he doesn’t like anything and he criticizes everything: the latest successful advertising campaign, the experts on LinkedIn, a trade show he attended, etc. Everything is for him an occasion to criticize and question.
Sure, criticism is always a constructive element, but haters have made a posture out of it. And on a social network on LinkedIn where the corporate takes precedence, the hater fascinates because he is an exception.
He is, in a sense, the chatterbox of the company which, of course, annoys, but fascinates with his freedom of speech and tone. And so, on LinkedIn, haters get a lot of engagement.
Using criticism on a social network, and on LinkedIn in particular, is always interesting, if the criticism leads to proposed solutions. But if it doesn’t lead to anything, put yourself in your prospect’s shoes: Would you like to work with someone who is constantly in negative critiques and questions?
The rants
The invectives are legion on LinkedIn: normal, they are a bit of a hater drift. Suddenly, the one who said nothing and who we thought was polite and corporate speaks and says, frankly, what he thinks.
Whether IRL or on the web, rants have always been popular – the verbal outburst is fascinating and brings us, those of us who will enjoy this publication, back to our own frustrations with our own speeches. Because everyone, without exception, would like to be able to say exactly what we think.
The problem is that the rant, and a fortiori if it is repeated, is not reassuring for a decision maker who seeks, in a service, to solve his problem in the best possible conditions.
And the quality of the imagined relationship between the decision maker and the service provider is an important decision factor. That doesn’t mean you have to have a glowing LinkedIn presence—it means avoiding the impression that you’re a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
Anecdotes about job interviews
And I could have told the anecdotes about job seekers in general. LinkedIn is full of anecdotes: most often catastrophic, dramatic, sometimes mind-blowing… Of course, I don’t question their veracity, but this multiplication of anecdotes, especially when they are put online by recruiting companies or people looking for work, poses a problem.
In fact, these anecdotes more often than not have the result of antagonizing recruitment companies and candidates, putting them in a Manichaean position: the good (the candidate) and the bad (the recruiting company).
Why is this type of content problematic? Simply because these contents, beyond the commitment, mostly do not provide any solution. It is much more interesting to focus on advice to recruiters or advice to candidates.
entrepreneurial ideas
Inspirational content is particularly engaging content on LinkedIn, because we all carry within us this need to project ourselves into an improved version of ourselves. We all carry, within us, this ideal image towards which we do everything to strive, and the inspiring content, whatever it is, helps us, for a moment, to project ourselves into it. And this, entrepreneurs have realized, hence the proliferation of inspiring content on LinkedIn.
The really annoying thing about this type of content is that it’s often very standardized – there’s really no creativity in terms of storytelling. Furthermore, while they may inspire, they do not allow the potential prospect to project themselves into what is truly important to HIMs, namely: how to solve my operational problem?
The same
Memes are content that never ceases to amaze me: shared millions of times for years for some, just posting them on social media and then on LinkedIn to generate hundreds of likes. Also demonstrating that what works on LinkedIn is not what is corporate but what is fun and playful, like on Facebook.
Some profiles have made it their specialty, bundling hundreds, even thousands of engagements for each publication.
The problem with memes is not posting one once in a while. The problem is when someone’s entire editorial line relies on this type of content. Because the only purpose of the Meme is to entertain. The risk is that you will no longer be perceived as someone who really has something to sell.
Looking for engagement on social networks is not negative, on the contrary! What is problematic, however, is to look only for that. An effective editorial line knows how to combine different contents to work, over time, on the perceived value of the company: a fun but professional company at the service of its customers.
Would you like to collaborate with us on your editorial line on LinkedIn? Contact us!
Does this article inspire you? Share it on social media!
