LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 740 million members worldwide. Having a strong LinkedIn presence and large network of connections can be invaluable for advancing your career, growing your business, and establishing yourself as an industry thought leader. One of the key metrics of success on LinkedIn is the number of followers you have. Followers allow you to extend your reach and amplify your personal brand. But how exactly can you go about increasing your followers in an organic and sustainable way? Here we will explore some of the top strategies and best practices for gaining more LinkedIn followers.
Optimize Your Profile
The first step is making sure your LinkedIn profile is complete, professional, and optimized to attract followers. A well-optimized profile serves as your resume, portfolio and calling card on LinkedIn. Make sure to include a professional headshot, headline, summary section, work experience, education, skills, recommendations, and any other relevant sections. Use keywords strategically but naturally to help ensure you come up in searches. Craft an interesting headline and summary that quickly communicates who you are, what you do, and why people should connect with you. Profiles with all sections completed get up to 40X more profile views.
Engage With Content
Active engagement with content on LinkedIn, through liking, commenting, and sharing, is key to increasing your visibility and attracting followers. Comment thoughtfully on posts in your feed, especially from influencers or leaders in your industry. Share content from influencers or companies you admire. Post your own content including articles, images, videos, and slide decks. Ask questions and participate in LinkedIn Groups related to your field. LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards engagement so consistent activity will get you in front of more users.
Connect With Others
Proactively connect with other professionals on LinkedIn, especially those you have an existing relationship with. Message them to say hello or mention a shared connection. Strengthen relationships with colleagues, clients, partners, and prospects by connecting. Interact and engage with their content. Not everyone will follow back right away but building authentic relationships leads to long-term follower growth. Avoid sending generic connection requests and instead personalize each one.
Follow Companies And Influencers
Follow relevant companies in your industry, local community, or alma maters. Company pages often share great content. Follow key influencers, thought leaders, founders, executives, and other prominent professionals in your field. You can draw inspiration from how they use LinkedIn. By engaging with their content, some may follow you back. Consider brands you currently use for products/services and subscribe to their LinkedIn page to stay up to date.
Join LinkedIn Groups
Join LinkedIn Groups centered around topics you’re interested in and check in regularly. Groups allow you to connect directly with like-minded professionals. Engage in discussions, ask and answer questions, and establish yourself as an expert. You can also post content in Groups to raise awareness. Participate in a genuine way that adds value vs self-promoting. LinkedIn limits how many unsolicited messages you can send so Groups are a great way to connect.
Use Hashtags And Location Tags
LinkedIn added the ability to use Hashtags and location tags just like other social networks. Strategically include relevant hashtags and location tags in your posts and content when appropriate. This helps more people find and engage with your content in searches. When you use certain hashtags, your post may be featured on the hashtag page and gain more visibility. Location tags are useful for events or talking about local companies.
Cross-Promote Content
Leverage your other social media accounts like Twitter and Facebook to cross-promote new LinkedIn content. Share a link to your freshly published LinkedIn articles, posts, videos or presentations and encourage people to engage. Doing this grows the reach of your content and can lead new people to your LinkedIn profile to follow you. Just make sure to share relevant content your audience on the other platforms would find interesting.
Give Back To The Community
Find ways to provide value to the LinkedIn community through your participation. Answer questions and give advice where you have expertise. Make connections and introductions that help others. Share resources, job openings, events and other opportunities. LinkedIn is built on reciprocity so being generous with your time and knowledge can inspire others to follow you and return the favor.
Run LinkedIn Ads
For those looking to gain followers rapidly, investing in LinkedIn advertising can be very effective. LinkedIn ads allow you to target specific demographics and promote your profile and content directly in the feed of your ideal audience. You can run Sponsored Content and Sponsored InMail campaigns to connect with professionals that are more likely to follow you based on their interests and intent signals. Budgets can range from $100/month into the thousands depending on goals and targeting.
Request Recommendations
Ask current or former colleagues, employers, clients or vendors to write Recommendations for your LinkedIn profile. Genuine and thoughtful recommendations help boost your credibility and give people more confidence to connect. Make sure to reciprocate by writing Recommendations in return and endorsing others for their skills. The more fully fleshed out your profile, the more approachable you become.
Share Company Updates
If you are a founder, executive, or work for a company in any capacity, share regular updates about new products, services, team members, achievements, events, culture and news related to the company. Company updates showcase what you are working on and give followers a window into your professional life. It shows you are proud of where you work. Engage with any comments or reactions to your updates.
Stay On Top Of LinkedIn Algorithm Changes
LinkedIn’s algorithm that determines what content users see is constantly evolving much like Facebook or Google. Stay on top of the latest LinkedIn algorithm changes and best practices by reading their blog for creators. Then adapt your approach to ensure your profile and posts get visibility in the feed. For example, video content tends to be favored and promoted more frequently by today’s algorithm.
Post Consistently And At Optimal Times
Post and share content on LinkedIn consistently to stay top of mind. Avoid posting rarely or inconsistently. Depending on your audience and goals, optimal posting frequency can range from daily to a few times per week. Using social media scheduling tools can help manage this. When it comes to timing, before 9-10 am or after 5-6 pm on weekdays tends to see highest engagement. Avoid posting on weekends or late at nights.
Automate With Bots
Bots can help automate certain LinkedIn actions to save time and increase followers at scale. For example, bots can automatically connect with people based on advanced search filters. They can also auto-like, share or comment on posts. Use this tactfully as spammy overuse gets accounts banned. Focus on quality connections and engagement vs quantity. Most important is creating authentic relationships, something bots can’t replicate.
Keep An Eye On Your Analytics
Monitor your LinkedIn Page analytics regularly to see which type of posts and content is resonating most and driving follows or engagement. These insights allow you to refine your content approach. You can also see how many new followers you received in a given time period to track growth milestones. Gauge the optimal post frequency and experiment with posting at different times of day.
Conclusion
Growing your followers on LinkedIn takes time, consistency and an authentic approach focused on value-add. There are no shortcuts to building an engaged audience that trusts you and finds your content compelling. Some key best practices include optimizing your profile, engaging thoughtfully with content, connecting with your network, participating in Groups, cross-promoting posts, giving back to the community, running ads, sharing company updates, and posting consistently. Focus on building relationships vs making superficial connections. Provide value for others through your participation. Track your progress and adapt your strategy based on data insights. With a disciplined approach, your followers on LinkedIn will gradually but sustainably grow.
Summary Table of Key Follower Growth Tactics
Tactic | How It Helps |
---|---|
Optimize LinkedIn profile | Presents your best image and helps you appear in searches |
Engage with relevant content | Increases visibility and positions you as an expert |
Make authentic connections | Builds relationships and your professional network organically |
Follow companies & influencers | Keeps you in the know and connects you with leaders |
Join Groups | Allows you to connect directly with professionals in your industry |
Use hashtags & location tags | Helps people find your content in searches |
Cross-promote posts | Extends your reach to new audiences |
Provide community value | Giving back inspires reciprocity & trust |
Run LinkedIn ads | Promotes your profile and content to targeted demographics |
Request recommendations | Adds credibility to your profile and trust |
Share company updates | Shows you are an authority on your business |
Stay on top of algorithm changes | Ensures your posts are being seen |
Post consistently | Keeps you top of mind |
Leverage automation strategically | Increases efficiency but focus on quality connections |
Monitor analytics | Provides data to refine your approach |
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I pay for LinkedIn Premium to increase followers?
LinkedIn Premium provides some additional features that *may* help you gain followers faster, but is not essential. The free version of LinkedIn still gives you access to the core tools and functionality needed to grow your audience. Focus first on quality content, engagement and relationship building before investing in Premium.
What is the best number of followers to aim for?
There is no magic number for the “right” amount of LinkedIn followers. It depends completely on your goals and industry. Most important is not the raw follower count, but having an engaged audience that cares about your content. Whether your goal is 100, 500, 1000+ or more followers, focus on the quality of your network not just quantity.
Should I buy LinkedIn followers from third-party sites?
Buying fake followers from third-party sites is never a good idea. It violates LinkedIn’s terms of service and can get your account banned. LinkedIn employs sophisticated technology to detect fake accounts and purge them. The best approach is growing real, authentic followers organically through valuable engagement.
How often should I post on LinkedIn to gain followers?
The ideal posting frequency on LinkedIn ranges from daily for power users to once every few days or weekly for casual users. 1-2 times per weekday is a good baseline but also avoid overwhelming your audience. Monitor how your followers respond to different frequencies and adjust accordingly. Consistency is key so set a schedule that works for your bandwidth.
How quickly can I gain LinkedIn followers?
Gaining quality LinkedIn followers takes time and consistency. Expect it to take weeks or months to build momentum, not days. How fast you attract followers depends on your industry, content quality, engagement level and audience. Set realistic growth goals and focus on providing long-term value vs quick wins. Slower organic growth is more sustainable. Be patient and persistent.