LinkedIn organic growth derives three major ingredients – visibility, engagement, and thought leadership – essential to grow on the platform.

However, achieving unpaid growth without much of ups and downs isn’t an easy trek. 🧗

Apart from posting original content, there's a list of things that goes into nurturing LinkedIn organic growth over time.

In this article, we'll break down the Linkedin algorithm and help you understand how to grow on LinkedIn organically.

Importance of Organic Growth on LinkedIn

Organic growth ensures a high-quality, engaged professional network that recognizes and values your content across LinkedIn.

The more of your content LinkedIn shares, the more chances you've of growing on the platform without paying $$.

Important: Organic growth is not just about increasing the number of connections. 

Growing with the flow (organically) means adding three core elements to your LinkedIn presence:

• Meaningful relationships that lead to opportunities
• Loyal partnerships from customers and communities
• Lovely engagements on content, thus creating brand advocates 

When you feel all these things are happening, your content is to the point will bring in conversions soon.

Here's why:

Organic growth is the by-product of organic content; content that stimulates the algorithms into putting your brand forward. The more people you're visible to, the better chances you've to establish your credibility and influence in your industry. 

Furthermore, organic growth facilitates authentic interactions, mutual learning, and information exchange, leading to valuable insights and innovative ideas. 

Maintaining genuine relationships and seeking organic growth is paramount in a space like LinkedIn, where professional reputability is key.

How Algorithms Impact LinkedIn Organic Growth

LinkedIn's algorithm is a set of rules that determine what content gets shown to whom and in what order. 

It prioritizes posts based on:

• Content quality and relevance
• Users interests
• Engagement Rate

And various other factors. 

Here's how it works: 

Initially, when you post a share, LinkedIn will sort your content into three categories: spam, low or high quality.

Spam: if you use bad grammar or include multiple links or post too frequently in your post.

Low-quality: These posts aren't spam. But they aren't following LinkedIn's best practices for content, either.

High-quality: These posts follow all LinkedIn content recommendations, that are:

• The post is easy to read
• Encourages responses with a question
• Uses three or fewer hashtags
• Incorporates strong keywords
• Only tag people who are likely to respond. (That means no spamming)

Hence, high-quality content always befriends the algorithm.

Next, LinkedIn puts your post to a test. For that, it pushes it to a handful of existing followers.

If there are lots of engagement (likes/comments/shares) right away, LinkedIn will promote it to more people. 

But if no one bites at this stage, LinkedIn won't bother sharing it further. 

Important: The testing process takes an hour after you share a post, which means it's make-or-break time!

Once LinkedIn algorithms assess your content value, they keep testing it with factors or conditions to grow it further on the platform.

Not to forget, posts that align well with the algorithm's preferences have the potential for broader reach, greater visibility, and increased engagement. Here're a few things the LinkedIn algorithm positively considers when amplifying your post:

• Engaging Content: Since the algorithm prioritizes engagement, creating content that gets clicked can help you reach more people organically. This can include asking questions, sharing insights, or creating discussions around trending topics in your industry.
• Strong Connections: Building a strong, active network is another key factor. The algorithm favors content from close connections, so the more engaged your network is, the wider your organic reach.
• Consistent Activity: Regularly posting and engaging with others' content can help increase your visibility on LinkedIn. The algorithm tends to reward active users, so consistent, meaningful interactions can boost your organic growth.

How to Grow Your Audience by Posting on LinkedIn

#1. Understand Your Audience

Knowing your customers, their interests, and their profession is the key to attracting the masses. It's proven that profiles or pages that put content targeted to a certain audience segment see mind-boggling organic growth over time.

And here's why:

Targeted content resonates well with your audience and encourages engagement. 

Understanding who your customers are, what they do, and their needs allows you to tailor content and spark dialogue. 

For instance, if you're in the tech sector, your audience would majorly have software engineers, IT specialists, or tech entrepreneurs. 

They're likely the ones interested in industry trends, technical insights, or tech-business strategies.

To understand your audience, pay attention to the content they interact with. Observe the discussions they participate in and the topics they post about. 

Best of all, use LinkedIn Analytics to determine who's interested and who interacted with your content in real-time. This will help you tune your content strategy to match their interests, maximizing engagement and enhancing your audience growth.

#2. Utilize Engaging Content Formats

LinkedIn provides a variety of content formats for users to communicate their messages:

Text Posts: Simple text updates/insights/one-liners that ask for prompt reaction from the audience. They can be short or up to the 1,300-character limit.

Source

Images: Visual content that can supplement or stand alone as the primary content. Or, just like Sara Blakely's LinkedIn feed is full of image posts with short detailed captions.

Videos: LinkedIn videos earn an average of three times the engagement of text posts. They can be up to 10 minutes long and are an ideal way to educate or entertain an audience. Slack uses this format to educate its followership.

Articles: Long-form content written directly on LinkedIn's publishing platform. Ben R., a freelance content writer, leverages LinkedIn articles to attract readers and convert them into hot leads.

Documents: Presentations, PDFs, or other document formats that provide in-depth information. Like this post by Gary Vaynerchuk 👇

Polls: Interactive content with elements and features allowing the audience to share their opinion via votes. 

Source

Using a mix of these content formats keeps your audience intrigued. 

For instance, some members of your audience might prefer quick, insightful text posts, while others engage more with visual content like videos or images. Also, different types of content may be more suited to convey different messages or topics. 

Therefore, by varying your content format, you can appeal to a broader audience and drive higher engagement, subsequently growing your audience on LinkedIn.

#3. Write Captivating Headlines

For any form of content, headlines act as a hook that lets users read and engage with the post.

It makes all the difference between someone scrolling past your post and someone stopping to engage with it.

On average, 8 out of 10 people read headlines, whereas only 2 out of 10 people read the rest of the copy.

Meaning that you can’t depend just on stellar content to pull in readers. It would help if you spent some time perfecting your headline to grab the most eyeballs.

A well-crafted headline is like a good conversation starter – it grabs attention, arouses curiosity, and sets the tone for the talk that follows. Here're a few things you can try to make headlines more effective:

• Place the main keyword in the headline (for algorithms)
• Show the benefit upfront
• Use power words to entice emotions
• Keep it short and engaging (one-liners)

🤯Interesting fact: Headlines with odd numbers have 20% higher click-through rates than headlines with even numbers). While those with the number 7 get the most clicks.

#4. Share Valuable Insights and Expertise

Sharing valuable insights and expertise is pivotal to growing your audience on LinkedIn. This platform thrives on knowledge exchange, and users continually seek valuable content – it's a win-win for all.

Additionally, by sharing quality insights and expert tips, you position yourself as a thought leader and a reliable source of information in your field.

For instance, if you work in digital marketing, sharing your insights on the latest SEO strategies or social media trends can draw the attention of other marketers looking to stay ahead of the curve. 

This not only facilitates engagement with your posts but also encourages users to follow your profile for more valuable content in the future.

#5. Actively Participate in LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn groups host industry-specific discussions, allowing you to connect with like-minded professionals or potential clients in your field. The best part is, LinkedIn groups can get you tens and thousands of potential customers under one roof.

Although it’s tough to grow organically on Linkedin groups, entertaining and engaging in fruitful discussions helps people notice you. This makes more of the audience interested in connecting and interacting with you via your posts.

Besides, LinkedIn groups offer powerful community management features.

For example, every group has a feature to send a daily or weekly digest of all activities in the group to every member, keeping them updated and engaged. Chances are, you get to become the headline of the digest!

Our point:

LinkedIn groups are pre-segmented user groups. Meaning if you find the right group, you find your audience in it. They are an amazing way to build these deeper relationships with your audience. 

#6. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

Optimizing your LinkedIn profile is key to driving organic growth on the platform. A well-crafted, comprehensive profile builds credibility and significantly enhances your discoverability. 

Here's why:

When your profile is fully optimized, it's rewarded by the algorithms with a place in users' feeds and external search engine results. 

Here are some tips on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile:

• Profile Picture and Banner: Use a professional headshot and banner representing your industry or personal brand. Visuals create the first impression, so make sure they are high-quality and professional.
• Headline: Your headline should be catchy and descriptive. It should clearly state your role, industry, and area of expertise.
• About Section: Write a compelling summary that showcases your skills, experience, and unique value proposition. Use keywords relevant to your industry to improve searchability.
• Experience and Education: Ensure these sections contain relevant details about your past roles, responsibilities, achievements, and education.
• Skills and Endorsements: Highlight your key skills and seek endorsements from colleagues and connections. This adds credibility and shows your expertise in these areas.
• Recommendations: Request recommendations from colleagues, employers, or clients to enhance credibility and demonstrate the value you've brought in previous roles or projects.

Remember, your LinkedIn profile is like a professional portfolio. Keeping it up-to-date and optimized can significantly enhance your organic growth, expanding your professional network and opening doors to new opportunities.

#7. Leverage the Power of Hashtags

LinkedIn hashtags serve as content markers, allowing users interested in specific topics to discover your posts. 

By using relevant hashtags, you push your organic growth and content visibility beyond your immediate network.

The best hashtag strategy to grow organically right now on LinkedIn:

• Use 3 hashtags per post, but there isn't a limit
• It's clean to place hashtags at the end of content
• Place keywords to signpost your content themes
• Use LinkedIn hashtag analytics to monitor and tweak your strategies

For instance, a post about an SEO strategy might include hashtags like, #SEO, #organicgrowth, or #ContentStrategy. Users following these hashtags would then have a chance to see and engage with your post, even if they aren't in your immediate network.

#8. Engage with Your Audience

Frequent interactions make your brand foster two-way communication. Plus, it makes your audience feel valued.

Activities like active participation in discussions, responding to comments on your posts, and engaging with others' content build stronger relationships with your network.

That goes around answering some harsh comments as well. (with ease, of course)

For instance, responding to your post's comments could spark a meaningful conversation, bringing more visibility and encouraging others to join the discussion.

Also, engaging with others' content can increase your visibility to their networks, expanding your reach. Just like how you would network in a physical setting, digital interactions require reciprocity.

Wrapping Up

It’s true that organic growth ain’t everyone’s cup of tea.

But it’s also proven that by following the steps and strategies mentioned in the article, you’re going to rock the platform. So without much adieu, let’s dwell into creating content that matters.

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