How to Increase Followers on LinkedIn – 7 Effective Tips

With over a billion active users, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the internet. It helps to connect with people in your industry, find the ideal internship or job, and get real-world experience and skills that apply to your field of work. It is also a helpful tool for personal branding. 

On the platform, your connections become your followers by default, but what will you do after reaching your connections limit, i.e., 30,000 connections only?

Yes, there’s a limit on the number of connections you can make, but users can still follow your feeds without being on your connection list. So, the question arises – How to make people follow your LinkedIn profile without connecting?

Trust me! It’s not as easy as the question sounds. Unless you’re a well-known and famous person in your niche, the road to building genuine and engaging followership on LinkedIn can be challenging – it takes constant effort, focus, and dedication.

However, with proper strategy, we can ensure that you can increase your followers and build thought leadership on the platform. In this article, I will show you some of the effective strategies you can use to grow your followers on LinkedIn.

Ready? Let’s get started.

1. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

First things first, go to your profile and check whether the data in your profile describes your current profession and position or not. If not, then it’s time for you to take some time to optimize your LinkedIn profile.

A well-designed LinkedIn profile makes it clear what you do, why you do it, and who you are. An optimized profile even helps to have a high acceptance rate for connection requests and high viewer-to-follower conversion rates.

Optimized LinkedIn Profile Photo and Background to gain followers

Here are some strategies to optimize your profile –

  • Professional Profile Picture:  Your LinkedIn profile picture shapes the first impression for potential connections and employers. Maintain adequate lighting, dress appropriately for your position, and make sure your face is visible.
  • Captivating Background Image –  Choose a professional and visually appealing background photo to make a positive impression on employers and connections. Choose a minimalistic and clean image in a professional environment reflecting your interests, and industry-specific visuals, and align it with your personal brand. 
  • Compelling Headline: Craft a concise and impactful LinkedIn headline by keeping it under 120 characters. Use keywords relevant to your job and industry for clarity. Be specific, showcase achievements with metrics, and avoid generic language. 
  • Engaging Profile Summary:  Create an engaging summary that highlights your skills, successes, and career goals. Don’t forget to add industry-relevant keywords. Use storytelling techniques to engage readers, offering insights into your experiences and triumphs.
Update LinkedIn About Section to increase your followers
  • Comprehensive Work Experience: Represent your past work roles and responsibilities in bullet points, quantify impact, and use relevant keywords. Additionally, showcase your work with multimedia links to your portfolio, articles, or presentations. Craft a cohesive story of your professional journey and achievements. Use the feature section to highlight skills or projects, awards, or certifications.
Add Work Experience to get more LinkedIn followers
  • Skills and Endorsements – Make a list of your most valuable skills and get recommendations from colleagues and friends. This enhances credibility and improves the visibility of your profile in applicable search results.
  • Keep your profile updated – Keep your profile active and dynamic. Update your profile frequently with fresh knowledge, abilities, and pertinent information. You will get more followers if your profile is active.

By implementing these tips, you can give a fresh look to your profile which enhances its visibility among your target audience. You should also check our guides on updating your LinkedIn profile for more tips.

2. Craft Top-notch Content

Unlike other social sites, LinkedIn is not a place to share your selfies or weekend photographs ( although nowadays people are doing so). It is home to professionals in almost every industry from 200+ countries worldwide.

They seek industry-relevant information, data, and the opinions of top professionals and decision-makers in the industry on various aspects. So, creating high-quality and thought-provoking content related to your field of expertise can help you build your professional brand and increase followers on LinkedIn.

Here are my tips for you to craft engaging content that can attract more followers – 

  • Know your audience –  Any successful content strategy starts with a thorough understanding of your target audience. What are their aims, issues, and areas of interest? What topics are you able to discuss on LinkedIn? You can use this information to help you create content that appeals to them.
  • Craft Your Headline – The headline of your content should attract readers’ interest and encourage them to continue reading. Write attention-grabbing headlines that offer insightful information.
  • Be consistent – LinkedIn requires consistency. Post frequently and interact with other creators and your followers. You can use a scheduling tool on LinkedIn to publish regularly.
  • Use various content types – LinkedIn offers several content formats, each with advantages of its own. These consist of articles, newsletters, native videos, PDF carousels, text-only posts, single-image posts, and multi-image posts. Try out a few of these forms to discover which ones your audience responds to best. 
  • Post Valuable Content – Your followers should get something valuable from your content. These could be thought leadership articles, industry insights, professional accomplishments, or learning resources. 
  • Include Visuals – Visual content performs somewhat better than any other format on Linkedin. Incorporate visual aids such as charts, infographics, and videos to enhance and personalize your written content.
  • Use Hashtags – Make smart use of hashtags to help your target audience find your content more easily. Hashtags can help you classify your content within the niche of your choice. Every post should have three to five relevant hashtags at the very bottom, not in the content itself.
  • Utilize analytics – LinkedIn offers analytics that can assist you in determining the effectiveness of your content. Over time, use this data to make adjustments to your content strategy.

If you want to stand out from the crowd of selfie posters to build thought leadership in your industry, you should focus on sharing informative and helpful content that adds value to your target audience.

3. Boost Network Engagement 

One of the effective ways to boost your visibility on LinkedIn is by engaging with your connections regularly. You can comment on their posts or interact via messages to stay in touch.

By doing so, you can be sure that others will also interact with your posts, resulting in to increase in your post reach among their followers who might follow you as well.

Here are a few strategies for interacting with your LinkedIn network that work –

  • Regular Post Interaction – Try to like, comment on, and share posts from your relationships. Interacting with their content raises your visibility within their network while also demonstrating your support.
  • Share Thought-Provoking Content – Share content within your network that provokes conversations and arguments. Invite your contacts to offer their thoughts and perspectives on relevant topics.
  • Utilize Polls – Create polls to interact with your followers and acquire information. Using polls to gauge your followers’ preferences and opinions can be an excellent way to initiate conversations.
  • Mention and Tag Others – Use the @mention tool to tag other people in articles or content that you share. This alerts them and may encourage more interaction.
  • React to Comments on Your Posts – Interact with those who take the time to leave you a comment. React to their feedback, address their inquiries, and convey your appreciation for their participation. 
  • Celebrate and Congratulate – Give your contacts a little extra love and support on significant occasions such as work anniversaries or new job opportunities. A small effort like this can strengthen your professional relationships.
  • Endorsements and Recommendations – Give recommendations and endorsements to colleagues and contacts who value them. They will probably return the favor, which will increase your reputation and visibility.
  • Share Your LinkedIn Profile on Other Platforms  – Add a follow button to your email signature, other social networking sites, and personal website for your LinkedIn page. Add a request to follow you on LinkedIn in your call to action.

4. Connect With Industry Influencers

The more people you reach & connect with on LinkedIn, the more visibility and reach you’ve on the platform. It increases the appearance of your profile in suggestions and LinkedIn search results.

Connecting with influential people in your field may be an excellent way to grow your professional network and gain more followers on LinkedIn. 

To find the right people in your industry to connect with, you can take advantage of the powerful LinkedIn search engine. You can follow these steps to find and establish connections with industry influencers – 

  • Determine Relevant Influencers – Find out who the influencers in your industry or area of expertise are. Choose professionals who are active on LinkedIn, have a sizable following, and often post insightful content. These people might be thought leaders, writers, instructors, or authorities in your industry.
  • Personalized Connection Requests: Include specifics and personalization in your connection requests to influencers. Mention a quality of their work that you find admirable or a recent post that you felt most appealing. Describe your interest in connecting and how you might benefit their network.
  • Communicate Meaningfully:  After an influencer accepts your connection request, talk thoughtfully with them. Leave a valuable and perceptive comment on their posts. These conversations might make you stand out and initiate contact with others.
  • Offer Value – Search methods to enhance the influencer’s experience. This may include introducing them to other experts in your network, working together on projects, or sharing important resources.
  • Take Part in Their Initiatives – Participate in the influencer hosting webinars, podcasts, or other events. Attending these events and sharing your knowledge can help you connect to a larger audience.

You should know that LinkedIn’s advanced search algorithm prefers the 1st and 2nd-degree connections of the searcher over their 3rd-degree connections. So the more people you’re connected to, the probability of your appearance in search results increases.

5. Join Industry-relevant LinkedIn Groups

The LinkedIn group provides a platform to connect with like-minded people from your industry. It is a hub of professionals with similar interests and skills to establish business connections and assist each other with their problems.

LinkedIn Groups provide you the opportunity to broaden your professional network and gain more followers on LinkedIn. Here’s how you can use LinkedIn groups to increase your LinkedIn followers –

  • Find Related Groups: Search for and join LinkedIn groups related to your industry, area of expertise, and professional interests. Seek out vibrant groups that have a large and active membership.
Join LinkedIn Groups to grow followers
  • Understand the group guidelines: Become familiar with the principles and norms of the group. You should follow any posting and interaction guidelines of each group.
  • Engage Thoughtfully: When you’re ready to join in, add insightful and relevant comments to group discussions. Provide value to other members, answer questions, and share your experience.
  • Connect with Group Members: Establish a connection with group members outside of the group after starting meaningful conversations with them. Make your connection requests unique and make note of your mutual involvement in the group.
  • Assess Your Impact: Keep an eye on how your involvement in the group influences the number of followers, the views on your profile, and the connection requests you receive. LinkedIn offers group engagement data. This data helps you get LinkedIn followers even more.

Remember, the best way to leverage the power of LinkedIn Groups, is by providing value to the members by sharing insightful content instead of just promoting your business. If done strategically, you’ll gradually establish yourself as an industry expert and attract new followers and connections to your LinkedIn profile.

There are already many LinkedIn groups you can join, but if you still want to create a group, you can follow these best practices to create a thriving LinkedIn group.

6. Utilize Hashtags

LinkedIn Hashtags can be a powerful tool for you to grow your followers on LinkedIn. In the previous post, I mentioned how you can use the right hashtags to boost your post visibility, attract more attention, and eventually help you increase followers on LinkedIn.

But, it goes beyond that. Here are my effective ways to make the best use of hashtags –

  • Find Relevant Hashtags: Discover hashtags that are relevant to your post’s topic, industry expertise, or both. Search for popular and trending hashtags that your target audience could follow.
Use LinkedIn Hashtags to increase followers
  • Use Industry-Specific Hashtags: Select hashtags related to your industry to connect with professionals who are interested in your sector. It helps to establish connections with potential followers and like-minded people.
  • Utilize Trending hashtags: Stay up-to-date on LinkedIn’s top trending hashtags and join in relevant discussions. Trending topics might increase the visibility of your content.
  • Network and Collaborate: Join and interact with people who use relevant hashtags. This may provide opportunities for networking and potential collaborations with like-minded people.

7. Leverage LinkedIn Analytics

You can’t grow on any platform if you don’t leverage its analytics tool to analyze your performance and understand your target audience. LinkedIn provides you with robust analytics reporting that you can use to determine the type of people who engage on your posts, view profiles, etc.

LinkedIn Analytics to get more followers

Using this data you can make informed decisions to optimize your LinkedIn strategy. Here’s how to use LinkedIn statistics to your benefit –

  • A/B Test Content: Experiment with different headlines, images, and publishing times to determine what works best for your audience. Utilize data from your analytics, and test out various content kinds and posting techniques.
  • Make Well-Informed Decisions: Make well-informed decisions on your LinkedIn strategy using the data gained from your analytics. Based on the data, make adjustments to your publishing schedule, connection outreach, and content.
  • Establish KPIs and Goals: If you want to improve your LinkedIn presence, establish some KPIs and clear goals. Clear objectives will make it easier to monitor your progress, whether it’s raising profile views, connection requests, or post engagement.
  • Always Enhance: Constant improvement is the secret to a successful LinkedIn interaction. Use your analytics as a reference to improve your profile, content, and networking efforts.

Wrapping Up 

Building 500+ connections and millions of followers is not an overnight task, it takes consistency with your posts and optimization of your profile periodically.

I hope that these tips are helpful for you to gain more followers on LinkedIn. Whether you adhere to any of them, keep in mind that it takes time and constant effort to establish a good LinkedIn presence and grow your follower base.

So, now it’s your turn to take time from your busy schedule, sit on your couch, and put these tips into action on your LinkedIn profile. Remain genuine, add value to your network, and modify your plan in light of the information your analytics offer you. Your influence on the platform will increase together with the growth of your professional network.

But don’t stop here, you’ll need to regularly evaluate your profile thoroughly and make the changes as per the requirement. Always make sure your profile describes you perfectly and matches the reality too.

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