Like most other social media networks, LinkedIn lets users publish posts that are visible to other users. In the past, there used to be an actual limit regarding how long the posts could be in length, which impacted how users ultimately shared their content. Most of them would just copy and paste certain links into their content and post it on their profile.
LinkedIn has now incorporated a long-form post format in an effort to make sharing ideas, content, expertise, and thoughts much easier. This new feature lets users create significantly longer content including opinion pieces and blog articles and post it directly on LinkedIn. And so, LinkedIn can now be used as a blog platform in order to share valuable content with your other connections.
If you’re a user who likes to create content in long-form, this could be a great way to reach a wider audience than just through your blog, especially in larger LinkedIn groups such as OnStartups, eMarketing Association, or Recruiter. This is primarily because once you post on LinkedIn, it automatically becomes part of your profile, with your post visible in the ‘Posts” section. Recent long-form posts will be published and also automatically shared with all your LinkedIn contacts.
Technically, this means a substantial increase in the general reach of your content, particularly if the content you generate is helpful to your LinkedIn connections.
Generating Long-Form Content
If you want to start submitting long-form content with your LinkedIn profile, simply do the following:
- Log into your profile on LinkedIn
- Press the pencil in the box saying ‘Share an update’
Take note that this new update is still getting underway. Therefore, if you don’t see the pencil on your account that states ‘Share an update’, you may have to wait a bit longer to generate long-form content. It may take a few more weeks, or until LinkedIn sends you an email informing you that the feature is now ready for use.
However, if you do see the icon, click it to launch the long-form post screen. It should look similar to other Internet-based writing and publishing platforms with the standard text field and formatting buttons.
Use this page to directly write your article, or some users choose to use another program they’re familiar with (Word) and then copy and paste the content in. If you wish to add images along with your post, simply click the area where you want to add the image while selecting the camera icon in the menu bar over the text field. Choose the image and click ‘Submit’. You are then allowed to resize the image by easily clicking and dragging on it.
Editing and Saving Your Content
Once you’re done writing your content, it’s recommended that you hit ‘Save” at the bottom. Although this saves your content, it does not actually post it. You can easily edit your content before you publish it. In order to do it, click on ‘Preview’ to open your post in a new window, letting you view how the post will appear on your LinkedIn profile.
While you’re in ‘Preview’ mode, make sure all your content is free from any grammatical or spelling errors as well as checking your general formatting. If you see something that needs modified, just switch back to the editing tab and make any necessary changes. Once you’re done writing, editing, and formatting you can finally click ‘Publish’.
If you believe any of your colleagues or connections may find your content beneficial, then this new feature on LinkedIn can be a great tool to use and should be considered as another key part in your overall content approach to connect to your target LinkedIn groups and other connections as well.
