Did you hear the fun news?!

LinkedIn is following suit of Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook by bringing our favorite short-form content (Stories) to the professional networking channel!

LinkedIn is not a channel I talk about nearly as often as the powerhouses (in my opinion): Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. However, that’s a shame on me because it can be a gamechanger for sharing your expertise, building relationships, and staying connected with your industry!

When social media channels roll out new updates, they usually test them internally before they roll them out to all users. Pete Davies, who is the Senior Director of Product Management at LinkedIn, shared an update regarding LinkedIn Stories:

You can read his full article HERE.

There’s a reason why Instagram, Facebook, and now LinkedIn hopped on Snapchat’s idea of Stories: it’s short, sweet, and casual content that only appears on your profile for 24 hours. After 24 hours, it disappears! People are consuming Stories on a regular basis, and typically, it’s the first “section” of social media they consume, before moving on to the rest of their feed. Why? Because it’s usually very relatable, less polished, and gives users a “behind-the-scenes” look into someone’s life and business.

With the current trends of social media favoring less polished, more transparent, and often less “staged” content, it’s no secret why we all love the casual format of Stories. And sometimes, we just want a little “normalcy” which can include humor, entertainment, or quick tips that are easy to digest through short-form content like Stories.

Before you jump into utilizing Stories on any social platform, it’s important to ask yourself: Who am I trying to reach? And why am I trying to reach them?

Once you truly understand the answers to those questions, it should be much easier to create a content strategy!

So, how can you use LinkedIn Stories, once this feature is available to you?

• • Introduce yourself! Share your name, your background, and your current role
  • Highlight a personal achievement or certification
  • Share “mini trainings” that your ideal customer would find helpful
  • Share quick tips and tricks to help other professionals with productivity, technology hacks, business tools you love, etc.
  • Share some behind-the-scenes of your work environment: whether it’s a cubicle, a home office, or a fun boutique! People love this type of content.
  • Share job openings and exact details of the ideal candidate you’re looking for
  • Share updates in your industry
  • Share something “fun” you and your coworkers do at work
  • Share real-time updates from your networking event, work luncheon, open house, etc.!
  • Host a Q & A about your brand, product, or service
  • …the options are endless!

LinkedIn has a 25% year-over-year increase in engagement… so, if your LinkedIn channel has taken the back burner, I encourage you to fire it up again! Don’t look at this as “one more thing on the to-do list”. Look at it as a new, FREE opportunity to build your expertise and create new connections! When you’re getting started with LinkedIn, don’t be afraid to repurpose some of your content from other channels and start simply engaging with other thought leaders in your industry! I have a blog post on repurposing content HERE.

Good luck, and as always, shoot me a comment or DM with any questions you have!