How to Increase Your LinkedIn Followers

Growing your LinkedIn followers doesn’t require a secret formula, just a smart, repeatable strategy. If you want to build a valuable audience of peers, potential clients, and industry leaders, you need to focus on optimizing your presence, creating resonant content, and engaging with the community. This guide will walk you through the exact, actionable steps to turn your LinkedIn profile or company page into a follower magnet.

Start with a Strong Foundation: Optimize Your Profile and Page

Your LinkedIn profile or company page is your digital handshake. Before you even think about content or engagement, you need to make sure this foundation is solid, professional, and optimized to attract your ideal followers. An incomplete or confusing profile is a missed opportunity.

For Your Personal Profile

Your personal profile is often the primary driver of followers, even if you also have a company page. People connect with people.

• Professional Headshot: Use a clear, high-quality photo where you look approachable and professional. No logos, no group shots, just your face.
• Banner Image: Your banner is valuable real estate. Use it to showcase what you do, who you serve, or include a call-to-action, like "Follow me for insights on SaaS marketing."
• Keyword-Rich Headline: Don't just list your job title. Your headline is a mini-pitch. Instead of "Marketing Manager at ABC Corp," try "SaaS Marketing Leader | Helping B2B Tech Brands Grow with Content Strategy & SEO." It tells people who you are, what you do, and why they should follow you.
• Compelling "About" Section: This is where you tell your story. Write it in the first person. Start with a hook that clearly states your value proposition. Break it up into short paragraphs and use bullet points to highlight your expertise, services, or accomplishments. End with a clear call-to-action (CTA), like inviting people to connect or follow you for more content.

For Your Company Page

Your Company Page is your business’s central hub on the platform. Treat it with the same care as your website homepage.

• Complete Every Section: Don't skip anything. Fill out your location, industry, company size, and tagline. A complete page looks more credible and ranks better in LinkedIn searches.
• Use High-Quality Logos and Banners: Your profile image should be your brand's logo, and the banner image should be visually appealing and reflect your brand identity.
• Write a Strategic "About Us" Section: Use the first few lines to state exactly what your company does and who it helps. Sprinkle in relevant keywords that potential customers or followers might search for.
• Add a CTA Button: LinkedIn allows you to customize a button at the top of your page. Use "Visit website," "Learn more," or "Contact us" to drive traffic where you want it to go.

Create Content That Resonates and Provides Value

You can’t grow a following without giving people a reason to follow you. Your content is that reason. Publishing consistently valuable, relevant, and engaging content is the most powerful growth lever you have.

Know Your Audience & Your Pillars

Before you write a single word, ask yourself: Who am I trying to reach? Are they founders, marketers, engineers, or students? What are their biggest challenges, questions, and aspirations?

Once you know your audience, define 3-5 content pillars. These are the core topics you’ll consistently talk about. For a brand strategist, these pillars could be:

• Brand Positioning
• Messaging Frameworks
• Personal Branding Tips
• Client Case Studies

Having clear pillars makes content creation easier and tells your audience exactly what to expect from following you.

Master Content Formats that Work on LinkedIn

Variety is your friend. Mix up these proven formats to keep your feed interesting:

• Text-Only Posts: Short, insightful posts that share an opinion, a tough lesson, or a quick tip can perform incredibly well. Make them easy to read by using short sentences and plenty of white space.
• Image Posts: Pair a valuable insight with a relevant image. This could be a photo from an event, a behind-the-scenes shot of your workspace, or a simple graphic with a quote.
• Carousels (PDFs): Carousels are one of the best ways to educate your audience. Create a simple PDF (using Canva or PowerPoint) with 5-10 slides that break down a complex topic. They encourage "dwell time," which the LinkedIn algorithm loves.
• Polls: LinkedIn Polls are a fantastic way to quickly generate engagement and gather market research. Ask simple, relevant questions that are easy for your audience to answer.
• Short-Form Video: Video captures attention. Share quick tips, industry news commentary, or short storytelling videos directly on the platform. Keep them under 90 seconds and always include captions, as many users watch with the sound off.
• Articles: For your deepest insights, use LinkedIn's native article feature. This helps establish you as a thought leader on a topic. Once published, promote the article with a shorter post on your feed.

Be Consistent and Show Up Regularly

The single biggest killer of growth on any social platform is inconsistency. Sporadic posting tells the algorithm and your audience that you’re not a reliable source of information. A consistent posting schedule builds momentum and trains your followers to look for your content.

Set a Realistic Schedule

You don't need to post multiple times a day. For most people and businesses, posting 3 to 5 times per week is a great target. The key is to choose a frequency you can maintain over the long run. If that’s twice a week, start there and build up.

Plan Your Content

Don't wake up and wonder what to post. Use a simple content calendar (a spreadsheet or a notes app will do) to plan your posts for the week ahead. Batching your content creation - writing several posts in one sitting - is a huge timesaver that will help you stay consistent.

Engage Like a Human, Not a Broadcaster

LinkedIn is a social network. If all you do is post and run, you’re missing the point. Genuine engagement is what turns passive scrollers into loyal followers. It humanizes your brand and builds real relationships.

Rule of Thumb: Engage More Than You Post

Spend time every day engaging with other people’s content. The easiest way to get noticed by new people is to add value in the comments section of their posts.

• Leave Thoughtful Comments: Find influential people, potential clients, and peers in your niche and engage with their posts. Don’t just write "Great post!" or "I agree." Add your own perspective, ask a follow-up question, or share a related experience. A good comment is a mini-post in itself.
• Respond to Every Comment on Your Posts: When someone takes the time to comment on your content, always reply. This not only makes the commenter feel valued but also doubles your post's comment count, signaling to the algorithm that your content is generating a conversation.
• Tag People and Companies Thoughtfully: If you’re referencing a person or a company in your post, tag them. It notifies them and brings more eyeballs to your content. Only do this when it’s relevant, excessive tagging feels like spam.

Actively Drive Followers to Your Profile and Page

Don’t just hope people find you. Make it easy for them to follow you by promoting your LinkedIn presence across other channels.

Leverage Your Existing Network

• Invite Connections (Company Pages): If you have a Company Page, you have a monthly credit allowance to invite your personal connections to follow it. This is one of the fastest ways to get your first 1,000 followers. Use your invites every month!
• Put Your LinkedIn URL Everywhere: Add your profile or company page URL to your email signature, your website’s "About" page, your other social media bios, and even on your business cards.
• Mention it in Your Content: If you have a newsletter, YouTube channel, or podcast, occasionally mention your LinkedIn profile and tell people what kind of content they can expect if they follow you there.

Turn On Creator Mode (Personal Profiles)

For personal profiles, activating Creator Mode changes the main call-to-action button on your profile from "Connect" to "Follow." This subtly encourages people to follow you for your content rather than just connect for networking purposes. It also allows you to list topics you talk about (your content pillars) right under your headline, making it clearer why someone should follow you.

Final Thoughts

Growing your LinkedIn followers is a marathon, not a sprint. It boils down to a clear, repeatable process: build a strong profile, consistently create valuable content, engage authentically with others, and actively invite people into your world. By following these steps, you’ll build a high-quality audience that values your expertise.

Managing the process of planning and staying consistent with all of these content formats for LinkedIn - not to mention your other social platforms - can be a lot to juggle. At our company, we built Postbase because we needed a simple, modern way to see our entire content strategy in one visual calendar. We believe getting your content ready, scheduled, and published reliably, especially modern formats like short-form video, shouldn't feel like wrestling with your software.