It was a few years ago that I remember learning about the most effective method of posting on LinkedIn. “It’s different to Facebook!”, “LinkedIn is means business”, and “LinkedIn users like facts and juicy spreadsheets” are common lines you hear in various strategy videos. Ok, I made that last one up. The point is, there’s a new way to create effective posts on LinkedIn. And, I’ve got proof.
The Tried and Tested Techniques
Now don’t get me wrong, posting a link to your page along with accompanying text and relevant hashtags are still good. Why? Because, if people are interested in your blog post, they will read it. An interesting, non-generic image? Now we’re talking. Text that includes a relevant Call-To-Action? Someone has been taking notes on Hubspot. This technique works because it’s better than just a simple image or no image at all.
And what is this technique trying to do? Drive engagement.
And it will. That’s why we’ve been taught this in LinkedIn Marketing 101 for years. But, it’s 2020, and times are changing. People are getting lazier by the day. They still want that juicy blog post info, but, might not have the time to read it all on your site. This is where the “slide-pack blog post” comes in.
The Slide Pack Blog Post Technique
Quite a mouthful, I know. It’s 1 am and I can’t really think of a better term for it right now. However, it explains it quite well. You might have even seen this type of post before. If so, you’re following the right people. Why? Because they have tapped into a sneaky way of driving LinkedIn engagement. Let us break this technique down a bit.
What is the Slide Pack Blog Post Technique?
To put it simply, it’s just your blog post condensed into a PDF and then uploaded onto your post. That’s it. You can stop reading now. It does sound simple enough, but, you do have to change the way you think about your blog a bit.
Think of this – your blog post contains all the information you want your reader to know about a certain topic. It helps improve your company’s authoritativeness and trustworthiness. It includes images, CTAs, links, as well as other useful information to keep your reader informed and on your website. Why is this good?
The longer the reader stays on your site, the more that reader will be inclined to return, read another post or even contact you for a sale.
However, this post is different. Yes, it still links the reader to your blog post. But, that PDF will include all that same information that is included in that same blog post. “No, Marco, you need more sleep”. Maybe, but this is where things get interesting.
How does the Slide Pack Blog Post Technique work?
As I mentioned, that PDF includes the same information as your blog post.
But – here’s the kicker – the reader stays on that post and is able to read all they need to know.
Now, smart readers may have picked something very wrong with this technique straight away. You might be preventing your reader from ever visiting the site in the first place. This is because they get all the info they need, then move onto the next post. So then why does your engagement go up? Well, you see, LinkedIn like people clicking on that “Next” button on the slide pack in your post. To them – that means engagement – and – a successful post. Yes, even though you might not have that many visits to your site, you will still have a high engagement due to people clicking on the PDF.
It Needs To Look Good
Unfortunately, there is one major drawback when using this technique. You need to put in some effort into that PDF. You can’t just copy and paste your blog content into a Word document and save it as a PDF. The reason you post an image on your post is to catch someone’s attention. The same goes for this slide pack PDF. If you’ve ever seen a company profile, you’ll have some idea of what to go for. Essentially, it’ll still be your blog post, it just needs to look a bit fancier.
The easiest way of doing this? Paste your blog post into Microsoft Powerpoint and tweak it from there. I’ve created a separate blog post on how to effectively use Powerpoint as a Social Media posting tool, so perhaps go check that out before proceeding.
The Results Are In
Well, the proof is in the pudding. Here are some stats I’ve used from one of my social media accounts. I’ll compare a standard post with a link to an article versus a fancy slide pack PDF.
As you can see, the PDF gains more engagement.
Better engagement means that your post will be more visible to other LinkedIn users.
Yes, it might mean that your page views might take a hit. However, the reward is higher LinkedIn engagement, which can mean more people seeing your content and more people visiting your site regardless. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
