We're all familiar with image and video posts, the staples of Linkedin (and most other platforms) content formats. They're the bones of any good Linkedin content strategy, allowing a regular stream of messages to be shared with your audience, peppering them with updates several times a week.
But unlike other platforms, Linkedin has a unique card up its sleeve in long-form written content in the form of articles and newsletters (and arguably documents, but that's a grey area). Today we're focusing on newsletters as one of the most powerful tools at our disposal.
What's so special about newsletters on Linkedin?
With Newsletters, we're able to build a community around a brand and capitalise on a highly engaged audience to boost both our profiles and our content across Linkedin. But how?
Unlike articles, newsletters allow your audience to subscribe to a newsletter and they'll receive a notification every time you share a newsletter (either by email or on the platform, depending on their preferences). Not only does ensure that you stay front of mind with your most engaged audience, it has a secondary benefit.
High engagement means a boost in the algorithm. Every time your newsletter goes out and your engaged audience gives it a read, Linkedin recognises that the content you create has value. This has a halo effect on all your content. High engagement means Linkedin puts all your content in front of more people, so even your posts will benefit.
Like all innovative social media formats, newsletters are being heavily promoted right now. Any social media platform wants to drive the use of its newest formats to try to get an edge over competitors and drive up overall time spent on the platform. Right now, that means Linkedin is pushing Newsletters hard right now, including featuring your newsletter on your company page to maximise new signups.
Newsletters, just like articles, are ranked by Google. So even if you don’t have a huge following on Linkedin, your newsletter is till easily discoverable to the right audience and the right search terms.
How to publish your first newsletter on Linkedin
Before you begin, the newsletter feature is only activated if you have content creator mode turned on. Creator mode has a few consequences, e.g. people viewing your personal profile will see 'Follow' rather than 'Connect' as the default CTA, but it gives you access to better analytics and features like newsletters.
To turn content creator mode on, check out this quick guide from Linkedin themselves.
Once that's done it’s pretty easy to create a newsletter. Just click “write article,” either on your personal page or your company page, and select “Create a Newsletter”.
This uses the same editor as an article so you can intuitively create your newsletter with all the embedded images, video, quotes, links etc that you would expect. As with articles and post be sure to use relevant hashtags and tag the right people to help with reach and engagement.
If you're looking for tips on what to cover in your weekly or monthly newsletters, subscribe to our own newsletter for an upcoming article on that topic.
One final tip
Make your first newsletter an absolute banger.
Whereas subsequent newsletters will only go to existing subscribers, your first post goes to all of your followers. This is a huge opportunity to drive sign ups so don’t let it go to waste.
Our recommendation would be to grow your following first, before starting a newsletter, to make the most of this single-use trick.