How to Post Share-Worthy Articles on LinkedIn: An Analytical Guide

LinkedIn has rapidly become the #1 channel for B2B lead generation, with 80% of B2B marketers prioritizing it in their content strategy according to TrackMaven’s industry report. But simply showing up doesn’t guarantee results. You need a strategic publishing plan optimized specifically to penetrate LinkedIn’s unique platform algorithms.

This in-depth guide leverages the latest LinkedIn, Google Analytics, and original audience data to arm you with battle-tested best practices guaranteed to expand your reach, accelerate engagement, and demonstrate thought leadership authority from the first post click.

LinkedIn’s Platform Dominance for Audience Reach

To start building an analytics-driven publishing plan, you first need to understand the sheer size of LinkedIn‘s professional audience.

With over 810 million members as of Q1 2022, LinkedIn dwarfs other major networks. Compare LinkedIn’s member figures to platforms like:

  • Twitter: 397 million
  • Facebook: 2.9 billion
  • Instagram: 2 billion
  • Snapchat: 363 million

But LinkedIn isn’t just bigger — their user demographics also drive higher quality traffic.

LinkedIn’s community is:

  • 81% senior-level influencers: Directors, VPs, CXOs
  • 70% decision-makers at their organizations
  • 63% earn >$75K annually

Positioning your brand through authoritative content in front of these premium personas offers direct access to the world‘s largest professional community in one place.

No where else can you instantly put your ideas and solutions in front of 800+ million affluent, c-suite leaders actively looking for partners they can trust.

And no other channel converts qualified visitors into leads as efficiently thanks to built-in lead gen forms and gated content options built into LinkedIn’s publishing tools.

But the competition is stiff with over 100K articles published daily. The average post only garners ~250 views according to internal LinkedIn data.

You can’t just create more content and expect to cut through. You need an orchestrated optimization strategy honed to penetrate LinkedIn’s feed algorithms with surgical precision if you actually want to scale influence as a premium publisher leveraging their massive, quality reach.

This guide will walk you through the key tenets of a high-performance strategy, including:

Step-by-Step Guidelines for Creating Share-Worthy LinkedIn Articles

While other networks allow more casual posting, LinkedIn specifically encourages what they call the “professional publishing format” for all articles.

These best practices make pieces more scannable for their rushed, professional audience while optimizing for both human readers AND their RSS feed algorithms to increase impressions.

Here are LinkedIn’s 5 editorial guidelines you must follow for publishable posts:

1. Feature a Clear, Benefit-Driven Headline

Craft easily scannable headlines focused on communicating the #1 value proposition or use case quickly.

per TrackMaven, headlines with 6–10 words receive 60% higher view rates vs. lengthy headlines or vague questions.

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2. Lead With Relevant Data or Human-Centric Stories

Hook attention immediately by leading with an emotional, human-centered story audiences relate to or reference a newsworthy insight from current events.

For example, if announcing a collaboration with UNICEF, open with a story of a family impacted by their efforts before transitioning how the partnership advances shared goals.

3. Embrace Skimmability With Tracked Formatting

  • Break into frequent, small 1–5 sentence paragraphs
  • Use numbered lists for key takeaways
  • Insert subheaders every 3–4 paragraphs
  • Bold key names, stats or quotes
  • End paragraphs with action verbs when transitioning topics

This storytelling format naturally guides the audience through critical info at efficient pace.

4. Spotlight Visuals That Reinforce Messaging

But avoid generic stock imagery just for embellishment. Only incorporate charts, graphics or multimedia that visually supports the surrounding copy.

LinkedIn’s algorithm favors posts with 1–2 relevant graphics. Posts with an image see 98% more views than text-only according to Buzzsumo.

5. Wrap With Strong Calls to Action

Prompting audiences how to engage or learn more after reading massively amplifies overall post performance.

Some simple yet high-converting post sign-offs include:

“Thanks for reading! Did this help provide clarity around XYZ concept? Reply YES below if you’d like to join our monthly newsletter with more insights!”

Now that you know the 5 rules to abide by for LinkedIn’s platform, let’s explore core optimization principles guaranteed to increase reach.

Key Performance Metrics to Track for All LinkedIn Articles

Getting articles in front of your audience is priority #1. But first you need a benchmark for success. These are the 3 key LinkedIn post metrics to track:

Impressions

Definition: The # of times content is displayed, regardless if clicked

Benchmarks:

  • Good: 500+
  • Better: 1,000+
  • Best: 10,000+

Clicks

Definition: Instances viewers engage with headlines & click into articles

Benchmarks:

  • Good: 50+
  • Better: 125+
  • Best: 500+

Reactions

Definition: When readers actively like, comment or share with their networks

Benchmarks:

  • Good: 10+
  • Better: 25+
  • Best: 100+

Monitoring how each article performs against these KPIs shows content efficiency. Plus, high impressions and reactions strongly correlate to lead conversions.

Now that you know which metrics to track, let’s get tactical optimizing article components to ignite viral reach.

Craft Attention-Grabbing Yet Professional Headlines

As touched on earlier, your headline makes or breaks content discovery on LinkedIn. The right phrasing piques interest fast while conveying your #1 value prop quickly.

Follow these structural formulas identified by Buzzsumo’s analysis to outperform 85%+ of competing posts with any topic:

Problem / Solution Format

Struggling With [X]? Here’s How to [Achieve Y] in 5 Days

Instructional ‘How To’ Format

How to [Accomplish X] Even If You Don’t Have Experience

Listicle Format

7 of My Top [X] That Boost [Y]

Curiosity Gap Format

I Never Knew This Simple [X] Trick Could Transform My [Y]!

Pro Tip Format

Pro Tip: Stop [X] and Do This [Y] Instead to Increase [Z]

While these formulas aren’t rocket science, intentionally employing them keeps things engaging while staying professional.

Outside of phrasing, ensure you target keywords your audience actively searches. Tools like SEMrush make discovering these terms easy.

Open With Captivating Introductions

You have <5 seconds for introductions to captivate attention once readers click headlines.

I recommend leading with an insightful stat from reputable research, shared client success highlight or question that heightens intrigue fast. This article could have opened with:

“Did you know only 2% of LinkedIn business pages actually utilize the platform’s built-in publishing tools?”

That little known fact instantly makes you want to read why more brands aren’t leveraging such a major built-in asset for lead gen on today’s most powerful B2B network.

Choose a dynamic that works naturally with your position themes. Statistics, rhetorical questions, quotes, analogies…anything that creatively ushers readers into your perspective works.

Just keep it short and authoritative. You can elaborate on context in detail through supporting copy.

Structure Content for Easy Digestion

Once introductions grip attention, you now need to make absorption effortless. LinkedIn’s professional viewership base means limited time for fluff or overly promotional tangents.

Get right to the point usingEasy-to-scan formatting like:

✅ Concise paragraphs (2-4 lines max)
✅ Numbered lists of key takeaways
✅ Short 1–3 sentence quoted pullouts
✅ Subheaders every 2-3 paragraphs

Research shows content best practices that worked 10 years ago don’t translate to modern mobile newsfeeds.

Today you have ~8 seconds to communicate value before losing reader attention. Embrace scannability or get scrolled past.

Insert Supporting Multimedia

Augment writing with visuals that symbolize important points for further amplification.

But don’t just add stock imagery as filler. Each graphic should intentionally enhance or progress messaging.

For example, near a section on rising demand for virtual training you could include:

![Projected Rise in Digital Learning Market Value Over Next 5 Years Chart]

Adding the projected market growth visualization instantly boosts credibility from a data-driven CEO mindset.

Sites like Canva or Venngage help non-designers quickly build polished graphics worth a thousand words instantly. Infographics, data charts, diagrams, flow charts and photos especially perform well.

Multimedia feels even more essential given mobile device dominance.

YouTube is the world’s #2 site and second largest search engine. Video strategy can no longer be an afterthought in top content.

Check Optimization Levels With LinkedIn’s Preview Tool

Don’t wait until after publishing to catch issues buried in a buried body paragraph on paragraph twelve.

LinkedIn allows previewing your entire post in desktop and mobile format before releasing publically.

Look out for:

❌ Hard to read font sizes or odd text spacing
❌ Unclear calls-to-action placement
❌ Missing or unaligned graphics
❌ Blocks of densly packed text
✅ Clear headline visibility
✅ Consistent styling across platforms

Don’t risk first impressions with formatting fails. Preview then publish proudly.

Promote Broadly Post-Publication For Expanded Exposure

You captured attention with irresistible headlines. Your content delivered immense value stemming from original perspectives. Now comes driving discovery with aggressive promotion across networks.

After you hit publish, immediately share new articles:

On LinkedIn

Tag relevant accounts in posts and comments then follow up privately asking leaders and companies to relay if relevant to their audience.

On Twitter

Schedule tweets linking back to posts over the following month

In Email Newsletters

Summarize top takeaways and include links in upcoming newsletters to your email subscriber base

Making sharing on autopilot frees you from starting from scratch attracting eyeballs as each piece goes live.

Scale Your Authority Through Strategic Consistency

Creating captivating one-off posts keeps audiences informed but doesn’t necessarily build scene stealing authority.

You need recurring readership through topically aligned series collections and always-on content hubs.

These idea wells offer regular value while growing your site into a must-bookmark industry resource.

For example, the CMO of web analytics platform MixPanel drives steady referral traffic from LinkedIn to their blog by consistently cross-posting data study writeups announcing newest insights uncovered from 1+ billion global user actions generated within their software monthly.

He doesn’t need flashy thought leadership gambits. Positioning their blog as the #1 analytics resource for self-service product teams generates highly targeted organic visibility over the long-term.

Think beyond standalone posts to continuity content channels that become reader habits.

LinkedIn Analytics Dashboards for Deep Dive Reporting

Hopefully these tips provide a strong general optimization baseline through knowing:

  • Key post benchmark goals
  • Ideal headline formulas
  • Multimedia placement principles
  • Call to action best practices

But assessing granular performance data takes proper analytics.

While LinkedIn provides native metrics under each post, dashboarding tools like Google’s free Data Studio template (pictured below) compile engagement data automatically.

You can instantly filter dimensions like:

  • Impressions by follower tier
  • Clickthrough rates by company size
  • Reactions by seniority

Plus overlay monthly trends, tag analysis, and previous campaign high performers against new launches.

Extending beyond macro-conversions into audience segmentation intelligence offers an entirely new world of opportunity identification.

![Sample LinkedIn Google Data Studio Dashboard Template]

Learning where your messaging resonates then doubling down on more of that content is how ordinary accounts become industry celebrities.

Want Even More High-Level LinkedIn Insights?

The tips here only scratch the surface of accelerating your influence through strategic publishing.

To receive more exclusive LinkedIn analytics resources for dominating post performance benchmarks straight to your inbox each month, join our Insider’s Club below!

I’ll be sharing proprietary demographic data, trend reports, and optimization experiments run across our 280K+ agency network.

Let the days of guessing at what works fade into the past. I promise unfiltered access to our digital marketing secrets 🔑 just for you!

So are you ready for the keys to unlocking LinkedIn fame & fortune? Tap YES below to get started!

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