How to Come Up with LinkedIn Post Ideas

Staring at a blank screen wondering what to post on LinkedIn today? That feeling of content anxiety is real, but it doesn't have to dictate your strategy. This guide will walk you through dozens of actionable strategies and evergreen formulas to help you generate a recurring supply of LinkedIn post ideas so you can build your brand and connect with your audience consistently.

Tap Into Your Own Experience and Expertise

The most authentic and compelling content comes from you. Your unique experiences, failures, successes, and opinions are your greatest assets on a platform that thrives on personality and authority. Don't underestimate the value of what you already know.

1. Share a Personal Story with a Business Lesson

People connect with stories, not just abstract advice. Think about a meaningful experience in your career. When did you face a major challenge? When did you make a big mistake and what did you learn? When did you take a risk that paid off (or didn't)?

Structure your post with a simple three-part formula:

• The Hook: Start with an engaging first line that drops the reader right into the action (e.g., "I got fired from my dream job six years ago today...").
• The Story: Briefly recount the situation, the conflict, and what happened next. Be vulnerable and honest.
• The Takeaway: Connect the story back to a universal business lesson your audience can use. What did you learn about leadership, resilience, communication, or marketing?

This format builds authority and relatability at the same time.

2. Break Down a Complex Topic in Simple Terms

What's something you know inside and out that might mystify others in your industry? It could be a technical concept, a new industry trend, or a complicated process. Your job is to act as the expert translator.

For example, if you're a finance expert, you could explain the implications of a new tax law in plain English. If you're a software developer, you could explain a coding concept using a simple analogy. This kind of content positions you as a knowledgeable and generous resource, which is exactly how you build trust.

3. Offer a Counterintuitive or Bold Opinion

Don't be afraid to take a stand. Do you disagree with a popular piece of advice in your industry? Do you think a classic strategy is now outdated? Do you have an unpopular opinion about a new technology?

A post that starts with "Unpopular opinion: Most networking events are a waste of time" will immediately grab more attention than "Tips for networking." As long as you can back up your opinion with logical reasoning and personal experience, this is a powerful way to start a conversation and attract followers who appreciate your unique perspective. Just remember to be constructive, not just contrarian.

4. Give a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Your Work

Pull back the curtain and show people what you're actually working on. This humanizes your brand and makes your work feel less abstract. You could show:

• A picture of your "messy desk" while working on a big project.
• A short video tour of your workspace or office.
• The process of how a product gets made or a service gets delivered.
• Celebrating a small win with your team.

Involve Your Community and Network

LinkedIn is a professional network, so the best content strategies make use of that community. Shifting the spotlight onto others is a great way to provide value, spark conversation, and strengthen your professional relationships.

1. Post a Shout-Out to a Colleague or Mentor

Public recognition is a powerful thing. Think about someone who has helped you, inspired you, or just did an awesome job on a recent project. Write a post about what they did and why it mattered. Be specific! Tag them and their company.

This act of generosity fosters goodwill, makes the other person feel valued, and often encourages them (and their network) to engage with your content.

2. Ask Your Network a Thought-Provoking Question

The easiest way to start a conversation is simply to ask a question. Skip the simple "yes/no" questions and ask something that requires some thought. For example:

• Instead of "Do you like remote work?" ask "What's one thing you wish your company would change about its hybrid work policy?"
• Instead of "Is marketing important?" ask "What's the most underrated marketing channel you've seen success with this year?"

Make sure to reply to the comments you get. This tells the LinkedIn algorithm that your post is popular, and it shows your audience that you're genuinely interested in their responses.

3. Summarize or Curate Valuable Content from Others

Not every post has to be a brand-new idea. You can provide immense value by acting as a filter for your audience. Find a brilliant article, an insightful podcast, or a data-packed industry report and summarize the key takeaways. This saves your audience time while still positioning you as someone who is on top of new trends.

Always give clear credit to the original source by tagging the author or publication and linking to the full piece. Your audience will thank you for helping them find the good stuff.

Work Smarter: Repurpose Your Long-Form Content

You don't need a constant stream of brand-new ideas to be effective on LinkedIn. The best marketers create foundational pieces of content (like blog posts, webinars, case studies, or podcast episodes) and then "atomize" them into dozens of smaller social media posts.

1. Transform Data Points and a List Into a Carousel Post

Carousel posts (PDF documents) are one of the highest-engaging formats on LinkedIn because they encourage users to swipe through. Grab a listicle-style blog post like "7 Tips for Better Sales Calls" or an article with several interesting data points.

Then, create a simple slide deck where each slide represents one tip or one stat. Keep the design clean and the text minimal. Use a tool like Canva to create professional-looking slides in minutes. Upload the PDF and watch the engagement roll in.

2. Pull Quotes and Soundbites

Scan through a blog post you wrote or listen back to a podcast interview you did. Are there any powerful, punchy sentences that stand on their own? Pull them out!

• For text posts: A single, well-formatted quote can be a powerful post on its own.
• For audio/video: Tools like Opus Clip or Descript can help you easily find and clip the best soundbites from a podcast or video and add animated captions, making them perfect for the LinkedIn feed.

3. Turn a Framework or Process into a Simple Graphic

Did you outline a specific framework or step-by-step process in an article or webinar? Visualize it as a simple flywheel, flowchart, or numbered list. This turns an abstract idea into something concrete and easy to remember. These visuals perform exceptionally well because they are highly shareable and easy to consume at a glance.

Build a System for Consistent Idea Generation

Inspiration is fleeting, but a good system will never let you down. To avoid the content "well" running dry, create a process for capturing, organizing, and planning your ideas.

1. Create Content Buckets

Don't treat every post as a standalone idea. Group your ideas into 3-5 recurring themes, or "content buckets." This provides structure for your content and helps your audience know what to expect from you. Your buckets might be:

• Bucket 1: Industry Insights &, News (Your analysis of current events).
• Bucket 2: "How-To" &, Tactical Advice (Step-by-step guides related to your expertise).
• Bucket 3: Behind the Business (Stories about your company culture, team, and values).
• Bucket 4: Personal Reflections &, Learnings (Stories aligning with your brand).

By creating these themes, you just need an idea for each bucket every week, which feels much more manageable than trying to reinvent the wheel every single day.

2. Answer Your Customers' Most Common Questions

Your customers and audience are a goldmine of content ideas. What questions do they ask you all the time? What do sales reps hear on calls? What are people asking in online forums related to your industry?

Make a list of every single one of these questions. Each question can be a LinkedIn post. For example, if you sell project management software and people always ask how to handle scope creep, an excellent post title would be "3 ways to shut down scope creep (without ruining your client relationship)." This "They Ask, You Answer" approach is endlessly effective because it directly addresses real pain points.

3. Create an "Idea Bank"

Ideas can strike at any time - in the shower, on a walk, or right after a meeting. Your job is to capture them before they disappear. Create a simple system to house all of your fledgling ideas.

This could be:

• A simple spreadsheet with columns for "Idea/Topic," "Content Bucket," and "Status."
• A project board in a tool like Trello or Asana.
• A dedicated notebook in your note-taking app like Notion or Evernote.

Whenever you finish consuming a book, article, or piece of content, take 2 minutes and add at least one idea from it into your bank. In no time, you'll have a backlog of dozens of post ideas to pull from on days when you're feeling uninspired.

Final Thoughts

Coming up with great LinkedIn post ideas isn't a magical process - it's about having a repeatable set of frameworks and systems. By tapping into your own expertise, leveraging your network, repurposing content, and building a structured ideation process, you can transform content creation from a daily chore into a consistent, rewarding practice.

Once you've built your idea bank, a great planning tool can help turn those random thoughts into a cohesive content calendar. We built Postbase with a visual calendar that allows you to map out your content weeks in advance, see where your content buckets fit in, and reschedule posts with a simple drag-and-drop. It brings your strategy to life and handles the scheduling so you can focus on creating.