In recent years, influencer marketing has emerged as a big force in the world of social media, as most of us are aware.
Instagram and YouTube are two of the first platforms that spring to mind when we think of influencer marketing. What about LinkedIn?
Who are these LinkedIn influencers? What does it take to become a LinkedIn influencer and why should you even want to be one?
Keep reading to find out!
What Is An Influencer On LinkedIn?
A thought leader in a certain area of business who publishes organic, high-quality material and has a significant LinkedIn following is referred to as a LinkedIn influencer.
LinkedIn influencers are a group of around 500 prominent people from all over the world who are the best at what they do.
Why Become A LinkedIn Influencer?
Why would people even want to get in this line of business? Well, there are a few reasons, for example:
- A more trustworthy audience
LinkedIn is the largest social media site for business professionals.
The majority of users on LinkedIn connect with business professionals they’ve met off-platform. As a result, establishing authority on the platform correlates to real-world credibility with individuals you already know and their extended networks.
Every LinkedIn link has a little more weight than a Twitter connection, and people are aware of this.
- Reach is a gameable concept
LinkedIn postings have an organic reach of less than 10% of your total follower count by default. By garnering involvement on your post, such as comments, likes, and shares, you can expand your reach.
If your post receives enough engagement, LinkedIn can choose to highlight it in its Trending Topics area. This spreads your message far beyond your personal network, resulting in a large number of new followers.
How To Become A LinkedIn Influencer
Becoming an influencer on any social media site can’t be done overnight. You have to put in a lot of time and effort, and you also have to:
Optimize your profile
To begin, 501 is the minimum number of connections you should aim for because having more than 500 connections hides the total number of connections you have. On LinkedIn, “500+” is all that is displayed.
This gives the appearance that you’re well-connected and that a lot of people follow you.
When adding folks at random, be cautious.
They can press a button that says “Reject connection request – I don’t know this person” when you add individuals outside your field who think your profile is boring spam.
If a large number of individuals do this, LinkedIn may be forced to limit your account.
Remember to connect with those who are interested in connecting with you.
Next, make sure your profile piques people’s interest. This entails the perfect header image, About page, and Headline.
Keep your About page short and sweet. Instead of writing an essay on your life, make a list of the reasons why someone might want to work with you.
Your headline is equally important as it is the first thing people see about you. LinkedIn will write one for you by default, but don’t leave it at that. Write something that grabs attention.
Perhaps a certification that would be recognized by others, such as Forbes 30 under 30. Or a remark like “previous monk, present business coach” that captures your job path.
What distinguishes you from others?
Post engaging, original content
The majority of social media posts are utter nonsense. They’re spammy self-promotional messages. That is not something you should do. At the very least, don’t give the impression that you’re doing so.
Stand out by publishing thought-provoking articles about your topic that questions what everyone else thinks is true. This sort of content is really popular.
How do you think up new talking points? Finding topics that others are discussing and twisting them around is one method.
Share those trendy articles with your own personal touch. This is how you become a thought leader in your field.
Share experiences with others that they can relate to. Just make sure the stories you share are acceptable for a corporate setting.
Make sure to write entries that are at least 500 words long. Long-form, high-quality material that delves deeper into a topic has a better chance of going popular on LinkedIn. Furthermore, it attracts more clicks than shorter material.
Define your niche
Define the tightest niche for your own brand to maximize your chances of being a successful LinkedIn influencer. Just don’t make it so specialized that no one will be interested.
The more specific the specialty, the more likely your content will stick out. People are clamoring for non-generic material.
If you concentrate on one industry, you’ll have more opportunities to demonstrate your expertise.
Don’t be afraid of rejection
Many people want to keep quiet because they are terrified of being rejected. You must express your thoughts, take sides, cheer for a cause, and make a statement if you want to be a LinkedIn influencer.
People connect with genuine LinkedIn posts and authors who put their souls into them. So don’t be concerned about the haters who may object to what you’ve written.
You will increase your engagement and thrive in personal branding and as a thought leader if you remain honest and real to yourself.
Bring value
Bringing value to people is one of the most effective techniques in any sector.
Don’t just publish anything for the sake of getting leads, clicks, or likes. You should only post something if you truly feel it will benefit your target audience.
This includes writing LinkedIn posts that make people smile, educate them about something, provide them useful information, or share your experience.
An all-time LinkedIn favorite is sharing useful advice and tools for getting the job done.
Make frequent use of it.
Connect people together
One of my favorite types of viral posts is when someone asks their whole network to leave a comment about what they do or what they want to accomplish. People will feel included and they will begin to comment and click to see what others have said.
It’s not only fascinating, but it also has the effect of uniting people, and you can always find a LinkedIn member to assist, which takes me to my next argument.
Most businesses utilize LinkedIn to find new employees. You may have heard that LinkedIn is working on a marketplace that would bring corporations and freelancers together in one location. This will expand the possibilities for bringing people together.
Top LinkedIn Influencers
Let’s go right into the list of some of the best LinkedIn influencers. I’ll focus mostly on those in digital marketing.
- Neil Patel – Digital Marketing Specialist and Co-Founder at Neil Patel Digital
Neil Patel is one of the top marketing influencers. According to Forbes Magazine, he is one of the world’s most powerful people. If you’re beginning your own digital content production journey or want to learn more about Internet marketing, Neil Patel is the person to follow.
- Gary Vaynerchuk – Author, Communications Expert, Chairman of VaynerX, CEO of VaynerMedia
Over 4 million people want to follow and learn from Gary Vaynerchuk, who runs a media company. He’s a specialist in the field of content marketing education.
- Pam Moore – Social Media Marketing Specialist
Pam Moore is one of the leading digital marketing influencers. Marketing Nutz, her firm, teaches people all they need to know about social media marketing and branding.
- Jeff Weiner – Management Expert, Executive Chairman at LinkedIn
Jeff is a management specialist who served as the CEO of LinkedIn for 11 years. He is presently the company’s Executive Chairman. During his time as LinkedIn’s CEO, the firm grew from a little over 30 million users to over 600 million.
- Bill Gates – Business magnate, Software Developer, Philanthropist, Investor
The co-founder of Microsoft Corporation needs no introduction. Almost 30 million people follow Bill Gates just to get a peek into his genius business mind.
- Marsha Collier – eCommerce and SMM Specialist
Marsha Collier is the perfect example that you don’t need to have millions of followers to be influential. Marsha is the author of more than 40 “For Dummies” books. She’s a specialist in everything eCommerce, social media marketing, customer service, and eBay.
Do LinkedIn Influencers Get Paid?
The answer to this question largely depends on which influencers you have in mind.
People like Bill Gates don’t get compensated for sharing content on LinkedIn, mostly because the incentive they would get wouldn’t even matter to them.
On the other hand, micro-influencers and other non-billionaire folks can make a profit working as LinkedIn influencers, and a pretty decent one at that.
Final Word
Although becoming a LinkedIn influencer is not a piece of cake, it is not impossible either.
If you’re searching for a technique to boost your B2B brand’s online visibility, LinkedIn influencer marketing is a great place to start.
It allows you to expand your reach without having to filter out irrelevant audiences – once you’ve chosen the correct partners, you’ll have access to a large network of professionals that meet your target demographic.
While LinkedIn has a special, invite-only influencer program for exclusive influencers, there’s nothing stopping you to earn LinkedIn influencer status in your niche first.