What I’ve Learned from Top-Performing LinkedIn Posts

Marketers always preach the gospel of learning from past content and optimizing based on audience reactions to it. To wit, I thought I’d see what we can learn from my three top-performing LinkedIn posts over the last four weeks:

3 marketing phrases I’d like to eliminate

An essential attribute in excellent writers and editors

Interviewing SMEs is mostly about one skill

I’ve been posting on LinkedIn almost daily since early May, and my audience has doubled in size over that time to nearly 1,800 followers. I’ve also landed a few clients off LinkedIn (meaning they reached out to me based on my LinkedIn content). Those clients collectively account for $20k in MRR (a substantial percentage of Sharp Pen’s overall revenue). 

Here are a few takeaways based on the positive audience reaction to these LinkedIn posts.

1. You need a captivating hook, especially on social

All of these posts follow the same hook formula. They present information and nudge the reader to scroll down to discover that information. The reader is supposed to wonder (and apparently hundreds of people did) what the marketing phrases I’d like to eliminate are, what the essential attribute in excellent writers and editors is, and what the one skill is that defines impressive SME interviewers.

2. Emotion works

The post that received by far the most reactions (in my top 3 LinkedIn posts ever by that metric) was one I wrote on the spot: the “essential attribute in editors” post. Why? Probably because it struck an emotional chord with the many writers and editors in my audience. I emphasized the importance of grace in great editors. This likely motivated many people to click “like” or comment because we’ve all had editors who made us feel bad and editors who lifted us up. 

3. Go narrow and broad at the same time 

The posts are all narrow in that they focus on marketers and content marketers or writers specifically within the broader marketing audience. (Of course, Sharp Pen is a content marketing agency that sells to marketers at agencies and tech companies.) But they’re also reasonably broad. They don’t discriminate by vertical. Anyone who’s gotten feedback on an assignment or who has opinions about good writing could feasibly find the posts interesting enough to react or comment. There’s a time for going super niche in content. I post about adtech sometimes. But if you go super niche all the time, you’ll limit your audience.

I’ll keep experimenting on LinkedIn and reporting back when I learn a thing or two that might be useful. By the way, LinkedIn hasn’t just gained me clients; it’s turned into a service I offer to four clients. So, for marketing agencies, getting active on LinkedIn can serve dual purposes.