LinkedIn is one of our favorite social media channels. Over the last few years they were purchased by Microsoft and have started adding in really valuable tools and features. Most people know LinkedIn as a way to build a network and connect with other professionals - the platform has over 675 million members, boasting over 300 million active monthly members. There’s no denying that people from all over the world use LinkedIn to establish themselves professionally, stay up-to-date with previous coworkers, and discover potential opportunities.
But there is so much more you can do on LinkedIn to establish yourself and/or your business as a thought leader. The most underutilized feature is LinkedIn’s “Pulse” feature. What is Pulse?
Pulse is essentially a built-in blogging platform. It allows individuals to share self-published content to their networks. Based on an person’s area of expertise, the post has potential to be shared by others in the industry and reach new audiences that wouldn’t otherwise have seen their name, their business’ name, or made aware of the content within the post. LinkedIn members have the ability to search for Pulse articles based on category, popularity, author, or their area of interest or expertise.
Pulse can be used in a positive way for your business, not just the individuals within the business. Most companies are already using social media in some capacity. Think of Pulse as an additional avenue on social media to build a positive reputation and brand experience. It’s a unique way to reach new audiences and continue building a community online. Encourage established leaders within your company to share their knowledge in a Pulse article - and then share to the network of professionals who are already interested in your brand. The Pulse article will also generate a unique URL that can be shared on the company’s social media channels. Over time, credibility and reputation will grow as LinkedIn users look to your brand and its thought leaders to share insightful and intuitive information about their areas of interest.
One recommended way to use LinkedIn Pulse articles is around company announcements. If you are going to share a post and/or press release on your social media channels, this is a good opportunity to consider Pulse. Engage someone on the leadership team to write about the announcement and why it matters to the company and people. This gives a human touch and relatable voice to an announcement that otherwise may not have had an emotional appeal to audiences. Share the Pulse link on your social media channels to show audience members the why to your company’s announcement.
To get started with Pulse, log into LinkedIn and click “Write an article.” You’ll want to include a cover image, headline and at least 300 characters of copy. Consider also including:
Relevant hyperlinks
SEO keywords
Bullets/lists to break up copy
Images within article
Bold headers
Here's a "How-To Guide" for getting started with Pulse.
*Please note, company LinkedIn pages cannot write Pulse articles. This is a feature only available to personal pages.
Still have questions? Let us know and we’ll help you get started!