Guest Blog from David Elgut, Security Product Specialist and Advisor
As a cybersecurity influencer, your role in bridging the gap between quality cybersecurity companies and their target audience is crucial, and your ability to craft engaging LinkedIn posts can significantly impact your success and earnings. In this article, I want to break down a recent high-performing post of mine and explore strategies to maximize your engagement and click-through rates.
After some recent successes on LinkedIn, I’ve analyzed my posts to identify any consistencies that could help replicate this format to boost engagements on future posts. It's important to note that LinkedIn's algorithm frequently and randomly changes, so the following suggestions aren’t guaranteed solutions, but should be helpful in explaining why certain posts perform better than others.
Anatomy of a Successful Influencer Post
Let’s break down the statistics for how the above post performed (these are the current stats at the time this article was written):
● 181,000 impressions
● 113,000 unique views
● 1,065 reactions
● 212 comments
● 65 reposts
● Over 200 click-throughs on the linked article
The post’s content focused on the cybersecurity skills gap, a topic highly relevant to both industry professionals and newcomers. The reason these types of posts do better than more technical ones is that it speaks to the larger community of folks on LinkedIn, from those new to the industry to those experienced professionals who are looking to help.
Highly technical posts tend to target a specific audience rather than a broader one. There’s certainly nothing wrong with those kinds of posts, but if your goal is engagement, they aren’t casting your net wide enough. They can still net you an audience of value, however.
Now, let’s look at some of the key elements from this post and how they break down into a successful one.
Key Elements for Engaging Posts on LinkedIn
1. Attention-Grabbing Opening
Start with a powerful statement or question. In this case: "We need to talk about the cybersecurity skills gap dilemma..."
2. Relatable Pain Points
List common problems your audience faces. This resonates with readers and keeps them engaged.
3. Solution-Oriented Approach
Pivot from problems to solutions, offering hope and value to your audience.
4. Actionable Insights
Provide clear, bulleted points that readers can implement.
5. Compelling Call-to-Action (CTA)
End with a strong CTA that encourages clicks on your link. This is where the reader goes from engaged and hooked to the next portion of the funnel—in this case, clicking on the link, boosting engagement and clicks on the article.
Here is how I implemented all those above in my post:
Targeting Beyond the C-Suite: Your Secret Weapon for B2B Content
As I mentioned earlier, focusing on content that appeals to all levels of cybersecurity professionals can significantly boost your engagement due to the nature of the audience you’re dealing with—both the size and the individuals looking to break in, who are constantly searching for tips to give themselves a leg up. These are some key points on why targeting this sort of content tends to do well:
1. Larger Audience: More potential readers and clickers.
2. Higher Engagement: More likely to interact with posts that focus on a universal pain point.
3. Increased Sharing: This content often gets shared within professional networks, getting eyes from not JUST the entry level, but also the mentors, who may well be your buyer.
Note, while your post should be able to appeal to entry-level professionals, it should also provide value to more experienced readers who might be hiring or mentoring as well.
Maximizing engagement and click-throughs: The B2B Influencer's Primary Goal
Here are some additional strategies to help increase clicks to the articles you link in your posts:
1. Tease Value: Hint at the valuable information in the linked article without giving everything away.
2. Create Urgency: Use phrases like "crucial information" to encourage immediate action.
3. Clear CTA: Make it obvious where and why readers should click.
4. Engage in Comments: Respond to comments and direct people to the link for more information. It’s always fine to repost the link in the comments to help folks find it more easily.
5. Post Timing: Share when your audience is most active on LinkedIn—typically between 8 and 9 a.m. EST. You can always do one post at a good time for the East Coast and another that hits the morning for West Coast time zones as well. Just pick a time and be consistent; your readers should know when to expect your content when they open LinkedIn.
Consistency and Refinement: The Path to Influencer Success
Success on LinkedIn requires persistence and continuous improvement. You can't just post once and expect your posts to pop off—you have to be consistent. You also have to keep in mind that even if a post or two does well, not all of your posts will. It’s all about consistently tweaking your posts to see what works and what doesn’t. When something does do well, analyze that post and see how you can replicate it in additional posts you do in the future. Here are some things to consider:
1. Post Regularly: Maintain a consistent posting schedule.
2. Analyze Performance: Use LinkedIn analytics to understand what works best for your audience.
3. Refine Your Approach: Continuously tweak your post format, timing, and content based on performance data.
4. Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest cybersecurity trends to ensure your content remains relevant.
Wrapping Up What it Takes To Be A Successful Cyber Security Influencer on LinkedIn
In conclusion, becoming a successful cybersecurity influencer on LinkedIn requires a combination of consistency, engagement, and adaptability. By focusing on broad-reaching topics that appeal to a wide range of industry professionals, you can increase both impressions and interactions. Crafting posts with attention-grabbing openings, relatable pain points, and clear calls-to-action is key to maximizing click-through rates. However, success doesn't come from a single post; it’s about refining your strategy over time, analyzing what works, and continuing to engage meaningfully with your audience. With these strategies, you can enhance your influence and drive more targeted results in the competitive world of B2B content.
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