How to Market on LinkedIn

Marketing on LinkedIn is no longer a “nice to have” - it’s a powerful engine for building your brand, generating leads, and connecting with industry leaders. But showing up isn't enough, you need a strategy that turns your profile and posts into genuine business opportunities. This guide skips the fluff and gives you the exact blueprint to optimize your presence, create content that connects, and build a community that drives results.

Start with a Strong Foundation: Optimize Your Profiles

Before you post anything, you need to make sure your professional storefront - your personal profile and Company Page - is ready for visitors. Think of it as setting up your booth at a trade show, you want it to be polished, clear, and inviting.

Your Personal Profile isn't a Resume - It's a Resource

Your personal LinkedIn profile is arguably your most powerful marketing tool on the platform. People connect with people, not logos. Turn your profile into a go-to resource for anyone in your field.

• Craft a Killer Headline: Don't just list your job title. Your headline should explain who you help and how you help them. For example, instead of "Marketing Manager at ABC Inc," try "Marketing Manager | Helping B2B SaaS Companies Grow with Content Strategy." It instantly tells visitors your value.
• Use a Professional Headshot &, Banner: Your photo is the first thing people see. Use a clear, high-quality headshot where you look approachable and professional. Use your background banner to display your company logo, a tagline, or a call-to-action (like subscribing to your newsletter).
• Write an "About" Section with Purpose: This is your chance to tell your story. Write in the first person. Start with a hook that describes the problem you solve for your ideal client. Use keywords related to your industry and sprinkle in your personality. End with a clear call-to-action.
• Detail Your Experience: Under each job role, don't just list your duties. Describe your accomplishments with tangible results. Use bullet points and action words to make it easy to read. For instance, "Increased organic web traffic by 30% through targeted LinkedIn content campaigns."

Build a Company Page That Generates Credibility

Your Company Page is the central hub for your business on LinkedIn. It legitimizes your brand, houses your content, and gives employees a place to connect back to.

• Complete Every Section: Don’t skip anything. Fill out your location, industry, company size, and website URL. A complete page signals professionalism and makes you easier to find in searches.
• Create a Tagline: Your tagline appears right under your company name. Make it a short, punchy summary of what you do. This is your brand's elevator pitch.
• Add a Custom CTA Button: LinkedIn allows you to add a custom button to your page. Use it to direct visitors to your website, a landing page, or a contact form. Common choices are "Visit website" or "Learn more."
• Showcase Your Culture: Use your Company Page to highlight what makes your company a great place to work. Share employee spotlights, team events, and behind-the-scenes content that humanizes your brand.

Define Your Content Strategy

Randomly posting on LinkedIn won't get you very far. You need a deliberate plan based on who you're trying to reach and what you want to achieve. A solid content strategy is what separates passive profile-holders from active industry leaders.

1. Identify Your Target Audience

You can't create valuable content if you don't know who you're creating it for. Get specific. Don't just say "marketers." Think about:

• Job Titles: Are you targeting VPs of Sales, or junior developers?
• Industries: Is your focus on healthcare, technology, or finance?
• Company Size: Do you serve startups, mid-market companies, or enterprise-level corporations?
• Pain Points: What are their biggest professional challenges? What problems keep them up at night?

Once you have a clear picture of this person, every piece of content you create should be aimed at helping them or starting a conversation with them.

2. Establish Your Content Pillars

Content pillars are 3–5 core topics you consistently talk about that are relevant to your audience and aligned with your expertise. This keeps your content focused and builds your reputation in a specific niche. Examples of content pillars could be:

• For a financial advisor: Retirement planning, investment strategies, and market analysis.
• For a software company: Product updates, customer success stories, industry trends, and user tutorials.
• For a solo consultant: Productivity tips, client management advice, and lessons from their own business journey.

3. Choose the Right Content Formats

LinkedIn offers a variety of content formats. The key is to mix them up to keep your audience engaged. Not every idea works for every format.

• Text-Only Posts: Great for storytelling, quick insights, and asking questions. Keep paragraphs short (1–2 sentences) for readability and use formatting like bullet points or numbered lists.
• Image/Carousel Posts: Visuals grab attention. A single powerful image with a short caption can be effective. Carousels (uploaded as a PDF) are even better for step-by-step guides, lists, or repurposing slide decks.
• Native Video: Short, in-feed videos (1–2 minutes) perform well. You don't need a high-end production studio, a simple video shot on your phone can feel authentic and relatable. Add captions, as many users watch with the sound off.
• Documents (PDFs): This is how you create engaging carousels. Design a multi-page PDF in a tool like Canva showcasing tips, a tutorial, or a case study, then upload it as a "Document." Viewers can click through the slides directly in their feed.
• Polls: A simple way to boost engagement and gather market research. Keep the options straightforward (2–4 choices) and use a question relevant to your audience's challenges.

Create Content That People Actually Want to Read

With your strategy in place, it’s time to create. The goal on LinkedIn isn't to go viral, it's to build trust and authority by consistently providing value.

Hook Them in the First Two Lines

LinkedIn's feed shows only the first couple of lines of a post before the "see more..." link. If those lines are boring, no one will click to read the rest. Start with something that sparks curiosity:

• A bold statement or unpopular opinion.
• A relatable problem or struggle.
• A question directed at your audience.

Sell by Not Selling

The golden rule of LinkedIn marketing is simple: give before you ask. Your content should be 90% educational and helpful, and only 10% promotional. Instead of posting "Buy our product!", share a post that solves a smaller version of the problem your product solves. Teach your audience something, show them how to do a task more effectively, or share a perspective they hadn't considered. This builds trust, so when you eventually do have something to promote, your audience will be far more receptive.

Tell Relatable Stories

Facts tell, but stories sell. People connect with personal anecdotes. Share stories about a challenge you overcame, a lesson you learned from a client, or a mistake you made in your career. Authenticity resonates deeply on a platform built for professional connections. Frame your experiences as lessons that can benefit your audience.

Build Your Network &, Community

Content is just one half of the equation. Marketing on LinkedIn is about relationships. You need to actively engage with your community to see real growth.

Connect with Intention

Don’t just click "Connect" on every profile you see. Send personalized connection requests to people you genuinely want to know. Mention something you have in common, a post of theirs you enjoyed, or why you want to connect. A short, customized note increases your acceptance rate and starts the relationship off on the right foot.

Your goal is a network of quality, not quantity. A highly engaged network of 500 relevant connections is far more valuable than 10,000 random ones.

Be a Generous Commenter

One of the most effective, yet underutilized, growth strategies on LinkedIn is leaving thoughtful comments on other people’s posts within your industry. Don’t just write "Great post!" or "I agree."

Instead, add to the conversation. Ask a follow-up question. Share your own perspective on the topic. Provide an additional resource. A good comment provides value and can get you more profile views and followers than your own posts sometimes.

Measure, Analyze, and Refine

You can't improve what you don't measure. LinkedIn provides built-in analytics that help you understand what's working so you can double down on what resonates and stop wasting time on what doesn't.

Track the Right Metrics

• Impressions: How many times your post was seen.
• Engagement Rate: The percentage of impressions that resulted in a like, comment, or share. This is a top indicator of content quality. To calculate it: (Total Likes + Comments + Shares) / Impressions * 100.
• Follower Demographics: On your Company Page, check the analytics to see if you’re reaching the right job titles and industries.
• Post Analytics: Look at your individual posts to see which topics and formats are generating the most engagement. Is it your carousels? Your text-only stories? Let the data guide your future content.

Adjust your strategy based on these insights. If you see that your short video tutorials are getting a ton of interaction, make more of them! If your long-form text posts aren't performing, try breaking the content into a carousel instead.

Final Thoughts

Effective LinkedIn marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. It's about consistently showing up with valuable insights, engaging in genuine conversation, and building relationships based on trust and expertise. By optimizing your profile, creating a content strategy, and actively participating in your community, you can turn LinkedIn into a powerful driver for your career and business.

Putting all this into action requires consistency, and that's often the hardest part. At Postbase, we built our visual calendar and simple scheduling tools to help marketers stay organized across all channels, including LinkedIn, without the overwhelm. It lets you plan your content visually, customize posts for each platform, and trust that everything will go live on time, so you can focus more on creating great content and less on managing it.