Having a strong LinkedIn presence is crucial for building a personal brand and expanding your professional network. Two important metrics on LinkedIn are your number of connections and followers. But what exactly is the relationship between connections and followers on LinkedIn?
What are LinkedIn Connections?
LinkedIn connections are other LinkedIn members that you connect with on the platform. When you send someone a connection request and they accept, they become a 1st degree connection in your network. You can view all your connections on the “My Network” page in LinkedIn.
Having more connections expands your reach and presence on LinkedIn. It shows you have an active professional network. The number of connections displays on your profile so other members can see your network size. LinkedIn limits free accounts to 300 connections to encourage users to upgrade to premium paid memberships for unlimited connections.
What are LinkedIn Followers?
LinkedIn followers are members who follow your profile and content. They receive notifications when you publish new posts and articles. Followers are different from connections. You can have followers without being directly connected to them.
Having more followers means your content reaches a wider audience on LinkedIn. Followers signify your influence and thought leadership. Follower count displays on your profile so other members can see your reach. Anyone can follow you on LinkedIn without needing to connect first.
How Connections and Followers Relate
While connections and followers are distinct concepts, they often overlap. Here are some key ways connections and followers interact on LinkedIn:
- Your 1st degree connections automatically follow you. Staying updated on your connections’ activities is a main benefit of connecting.
- You can follow any profile on LinkedIn, even if you are not connected. Followers include both connections and non-connections.
- Connections and followers both expand your LinkedIn audience and visibility. But connections indicate a deeper professional relationship.
- Having more connections tends to lead to more followers. A larger network equals greater reach for your posts.
- You can selectively share posts with only connections or only followers. But connections see your activity more prominently.
Tips to Gain More Connections and Followers
Here are some proven tips to boost both your LinkedIn connections and followers:
Complete your profile
A fully optimized profile attracts more engagements. Include a professional headshot, detailed work experience, customized public profile URL, and media samples of your work.
Engage with other members
Like and comment on others’ posts, join Groups, and message connections. This increases your visibility and prompts reciprocal engagement.
Publish useful updates frequently
Posting valuable and relevant articles, insights, and resources consistently over time grows an engaged following.
Follow influencers in your industry
Staying up-to-date on thought leaders’ content leads to more discovery of your own profile and posts.
Utilize LinkedIn’s connection suggestions
LinkedIn recommends connections based on profile similarities. Leverage these suggestions to connect with relevant professionals.
Import contacts from your email
Connecting on LinkedIn with existing professional contacts expands your network with minimal effort.
Join targeted LinkedIn Groups
Participating in niche interest Groups related to your industry helps attract connections and followers.
Follow up after in-person meetings
Connecting on LinkedIn after meeting potential clients, partners, and collaborators off-line maximizes the relationship.
Pay to sponsor content and expand reach
LinkedIn’s advertising options let you boost the visibility of posts and profile. Paid reach leads to more organic followers long-term.
Typical Ratio of Connections to Followers
There is no one-size-fits-all connection to follower ratio on LinkedIn. The ratio depends on factors like your industry, company size, profile age, and posting frequency. However, there are some typical benchmark ranges:
LinkedIn Profile | Typical Connection:Follower Ratio |
---|---|
Inactive user with minimal engagement | 1:1 to 2:1 |
Average user with sporadic engagement | 2:1 to 5:1 |
Moderately active user who posts weekly | 5:1 to 10:1 |
Power user who posts daily or more | 10:1 to 20:1 |
Influencer/thought leader | 20:1+ |
As you become more active on LinkedIn, aim for your follower base to represent 10-20% or more of your total connections. This signifies you are engaging followers beyond just direct connections.
How to See Who Follows You on LinkedIn
Wondering who exactly is following you on LinkedIn? You can view a list of your followers and see how you are connected (if at all) in a few simple steps:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile page
- Click on the number below your profile photo and name that states “X followers”
- This will open a modal displaying all your current followers
- You can filter the list by 1st connections, 2nd & 3rd connections, no connection, or all followers
- Clicking on any follower’s name goes to their profile to view mutual connections, activity history, and options to connect or follow back
Analyzing your follower list provides valuable insights. You can identify influencers in your industry to follow back or connect with new potential partners and clients. Referencing mutual connections helps prioritize building deeper relationships.
Tools to Manage LinkedIn Connections and Followers
Manually managing a growing professional network on LinkedIn can become time-consuming. Thankfully, third-party social media management tools exist to help maximize LinkedIn connections and followers more efficiently. Here are some top tools with LinkedIn capabilities:
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is one of the most widely used social media management platforms. Useful LinkedIn features include:
- Monitoring new follower notifications
- Posting updates to LinkedIn profiles and pages
- Engaging with content and managing LinkedIn Groups
- Tracking LinkedIn analytics and follower demographics
- Collaborating with team members to coordinate LinkedIn activities
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is another robust management platform with deep LinkedIn integration:
- Publish and schedule posts to LinkedIn
- Respond to mentions, comments, messages
- Analyze follower demographics and engagement
- Monitor keywords and joins Groups
- Track profile visitors and connection requests
Sendible
Sendible focuses solely on social media management with some notable LinkedIn features:
- Content calendars to plan and schedule LinkedIn posts
- Browse Groups and interact with fellow members
- Send InMail messages to engage connections
- Follower management tools to target key audiences
- Consolidated inbox to manage notifications and messages
BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo provides social media content insights and monitoring:
- Identify trending topics and influencers on LinkedIn
- Research relevant Groups and hashtags to join
- Discover competitors’ top performing updates
- Get content ideas based on viral LinkedIn posts
- Track keywords and profile mentions
Conclusion
LinkedIn connections and followers have distinct meanings but work together to expand your professional reach and amplify content. Connections represent direct relationships while followers indicate broader influence. Actively engaging on LinkedIn, optimizing your profile, publishing valuable posts, and leveraging management tools will grow both metrics over time. Focus on quality connections and followers that genuinely interact with your brand.