LinkedIn stories are finally here, and you’re wondering “how can I leverage this new feature to grow my business?”
Stories are a powerful way to engage with your audience, with 500 million daily users. They have the power to transform your business if you know how to use them.
In this guide, you’ll learn how you can implement stories into your LinkedIn content strategy. By the end, you'll be able to leverage the power of this tool to grow your business and brand!
What are stories?
If you’ve ever used Facebook or Instagram, you know what stories are. They’re up to 20-second updates that allow you to show your network and connections what you’re up to.
Think of them as a peek behind the scenes, and a more informal way of connecting with your audience.
One of the cornerstones of a strong personal brand on LinkedIn is authenticity. Stories give you the ideal tool to show that.
Why should businesses care about stories?
You may think that these kinds of updates are not relevant to your business. That they’re more geared towards individuals. Maybe you even think that this kind of surface-level interaction is unprofessional. This could not be further from the truth. Stories hold incredible potential for businesses as well as individuals.
Adding a face to a name
Stories offer your prospects the opportunity to see what goes on behind closed doors. If people can see that your business is more than just a faceless brand and that there are real people behind that brand, you build trust. Trust is essential in all relationships, especially business ones.
Use stories to show your process, and highlight how and why you are different from the competition.
Highs and lows
Building a business isn’t easy. It’s a process that’s fraught with stress, and it takes a special kind of person to make it happen. Use stories to show your network that you are that person.
By sharing your journey with your network, they’ll begin to understand you on a more personal level. Share your hard work and dedication to your craft and that will resonate. Your prospects will be able to see your passion and will know that you’ll be working as hard for them.
Don’t share only your successes either. Everybody knows that the road to success is not a straight line, so share your failures too. This will feed back into that authentic self that you will be showcasing. Again, it will show that there’s a real person behind it all.
Another channel for engagement
Stories on LinkedIn provide a huge opportunity for engagement. LinkedIn already allows you to engage with key decision-makers. With stories, you can now do that even more effectively.
Imagine someone in your network shares a story about their content strategy. This happens to be your area of expertise. You could then share some tips directly with them, and provide some real value very quickly.
Although this may result in the same generic responses you sometimes get with direct messaging, it’s still another channel for engagement.
What should you share?
There are some basic best practices to follow when sharing stories on LinkedIn. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Go for the attention grab
Stories on LinkedIn are a little different from Instagram. There’s no preview for one, so you need to give your prospects a reason to click that little story icon. A complete profile, with a professional profile photo, is essential here, so don’t skip out on the basics.
Hold that attention
Attention is the most valuable commodity of 2020. With stories on LinkedIn, that’s no different. Engagement will only come if you’re sharing something that is going to hold the attention of the viewer. This could be part of your process, as outlined above, or something on a more human interest level. Make it interesting and you’ll be part of the way there.
Provide value
As with all things on LinkedIn, providing value needs to be at the core of your story strategy. If you’re sharing stories that are ego-driven on your part, your network has no reason to engage with them. If you’re providing value, in the forms of tips or professional observations, then they will have something to engage with.
Conclusion
LinkedIn finally has stories, and they have the potential to transform your business. Stories give you a new way to engage with key decision-makers. Share what’s going on behind the scenes with your business, and let your network share in your journey. In return, provide them with engaging content that adds value. Do this, and you’ll be well on your way to more business, more revenue, and even greater success.
