To become a LinkedIn influencer, you must have many followers. However, this doesn’t mean all LinkedIn users with a vast following are influencers. On the other hand, LinkedIn influencing requires you to organically build your following on the platform.

Some users like Richard Branson have a massive following on LinkedIn but are not influencers. People like Richard join the platform and bring their established audience with them. Unfortunately, they didn’t build their following directly from the platform. 

Before we delve deeper into the must-do things as a LinkedIn influencer, you must understand that you don’t become a top influencer overnight. It takes a lot of work, time, and consistency. You must post valuable content regularly and maintain good relationships with your audience.

Who is a LinkedIn Influencer?

A LinkedIn influencer is a thought leader who creates content that attracts a significant following on the platform. She provides valuable content to maintain meaningful relationships with their audience. 

There are three main ways you can become a LinkedIn influencer. Firstly, create content that inspires your audience to succeed in their career or business. Two, create and share educative and informative content. And thirdly, entertain your audience through trending or viral content. 

Things to Do As a LinkedIn Influencer

After studying some of the top LinkedIn influencers, we observe what they are doing right to get such influence. If you want to become an influencer on LinkedIn, below are the six essential steps you should take.

  • Build your brand and online reputation.
  • Create and share content that provides value to your audience
  • Be unique
  • Don’t share what you have little or no knowledge about or believe in
  • Interact with your audience to build meaningful relationships. 
  • Expand your reach by promoting your content consistently.

1. Build Your Brand and Online Reputation

When you browse through the LinkedIn platform, you’ll realize that thousands of people do the same thing as you, regardless of your industry. It would be best to differentiate yourself from the crowd to get the proper engagement.

To become an influencer, people must see you as an authority. Define your brand and build your online reputation. How you position yourself and the content you create is how people perceive your brand.

Your personal brand makes you stand out from the crowd. But be careful not to choose a niche that’s too broad. If you do, be ready to face intense competition, as there will be many experts in such a niche.

I advise you to settle for an industry where you’ll face less competition and have more room to showcase your knowledge.

2. Create Engaging and Valuable Content

Regular posting of engaging and valuable content is one sure way to gain followers on LinkedIn. Provided your content is valuable, people will share it with others without you asking. It will attract an increase in organic traffic to your page. 

Increasing engagement helps build influence faster. The more people engage with your content, the more traction you generate.

The important thing about building influence with content is demonstrating your expertise level. Show your connections you can analyze industry trends correctly. 

Also, allow other industry leaders’ thoughts to permeate your content. It’ll show your followers that you have adequate knowledge and you’re capable of giving quality analysis.

There’s nothing wrong if you occasionally post other people’s content on your page. Just give them credit for their work. You can also post your reactions and comment on things from other creators. It’ll help people who follow the original creator to connect with you.

3. Be Unique

What are you doing differently? What are you offering your audience that will make them want to follow your page?

The truth is there are too many LinkedIn influencers out there. And the competition is so fierce that you can hardly get noticed, especially if you belong to a broad industry. 

The only thing that can help you beat the competition is to stand out from the crowd. If you want your voice to be heard, you need to be unique and do things differently. 

Here’s what you can do to stand out.

  • Ensure to optimize your LinkedIn profile with a quality profile image and custom banner
  • Create content on issues no one has discussed in your industry
  • When creating content, use humor to entertain and educate your audience
  • Make use of effective content promotion strategies and influencer tools 

4. Build Your LinkedIn Connections

As mentioned earlier, you need many connections to become a LinkedIn influencer. If you don’t have many connections, start working on your network. Visit and connect with industry-specific LinkedIn pages.

Spread your network and expand your reach by following other industry leaders. Connect with people that are relevant to your niche. And hang out on industry-specific LinkedIn pages. 

In addition, you can comment on posts, host live events, and join conversations that involve industry-related issues. With time, these networking tactics will help you build your LinkedIn connections.

5. Invite Your Followers to LinkedIn

If you have a considerable number of followers on other social media platforms, you can invite them to your LinkedIn page. 

Some of your socials might be looking forward to connecting with you professionally. Inviting them to communicate with you on LinkedIn can help cement your status as a LinkedIn influencer.

Similarly, don’t limit posting your content on LinkedIn alone. You can share your content on other social platforms too. Just as you share, include a link to your LinkedIn page.  

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Shalom is an experienced freelancer and author who writes about her experiences and offers practical advice on the Busy Earner blog.

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