LinkedIn Strategies for Genuine Audience Growth

When we started HireSweet, I had zero LinkedIn presence. 8 years later and after a lot of testing and iterating, LinkedIn drives ~30-50% of our leads & revenue. Lately, I've been getting a ton of questions about our learnings. So, here it is - the founder-led LinkedIn playbook I've been giving to anyone who asks 👇 1. Start with the lowest hanging fruit: invitations to connect. They work (30-50% conversion rate) and they allow you to control the direction in which your network grows. Start with 2nd degree connections in your target audience, based in your area. Surprisingly no personalized notes will yield +80% more connections! Free users can send ~50 per week. Paid users ~150 per week. Hit that quota every single week, or lose it forever. 2. Optimize your profile. Clear headline, nice picture (I would avoid AI-generated), and a detailed company description. Use the "featured" section, include a nice call to action and illustrations. 3. Enjoy the process, listen to your audience, build relationships. Play the long game. Build a real sense of community. Don't be pushy, nurture people over time with posts, so they come to you when they're ready. 4. When reaching out to cold prospects, add value. Send a guide, white paper, or video that helps your prospects succeed in their job. Personalize. 5. Post 3-5 times per week, high-quality posts. Turn on Creator Mode, get a paid LinkedIn account, and add a "Visit my website" button to your profile. 6. Best times to post: mornings on Monday to Friday, as people are getting to work (8-9AM) or heading to lunch (12PM). 7. Create a process to help you generate posts. Examples: What have you learned recently? What unique industry beliefs do you hold? What do you often find yourself explaining to clients or new hires? 8. Don't come up with 5 new ideas per week. Find 1-2 good ideas and repurpose them as text, images, videos, and polls. 9. Posts perform better in that order: - Polls (+100% vs text) - do one per week - Text + relevant picture (ideally a selfie - I don't really do this myself but it works) (+50% vs text) - Text with no picture - Videos (about the same as text but more time-consuming) - External links --> Avoid them 10. For text posts, open with a strong hook, focus on readability, keep it simple (one key idea per post), and end with a question to make it simple to engage. 11. LinkedIn Live is the most underrated LinkedIn feature. Each attendee can invite up to 1,000 people per week (!!) - as long as they're 1st degree connections. Do more LinkedIn Lives! 12. It's rather easy to get a "Top Industry Voice" badge. Go to the Collaborative Article page, pick a relevant topic, and leave 3 valuable comments per day. This is how I got my badge within a week. Now it's your turn - do you agree/disagree with this recipe? What are your top LinkedIn tips for founders? 👇 (If you made it this far, feel free to bookmark this post to revisit it later!)

I grew from 2,400 to over 10,000 followers in just six months, and I’m sharing exactly how I did it. Growing on LinkedIn isn’t about luck or gaming the system. It is about showing up with purpose every single day, being consistent, and intentionally engaging with my audience. I'm sharing my exact playbook because I believe in transparency, and I know how overwhelming it can feel when you're trying to grow your presence on here. No vague tips or generic advice – just the precise strategy that worked for me. From my: -Weekly content plan -Exact tools and Chrome extensions I use (and how) -Examples of my most viral posts -Mistakes I made along the way ...and a lot more! In my Monday Marketing Tip, I mentioned how busy people are on LinkedIn—no one has time for overly long content. That’s why keeping your content concise is key. But when it comes to everything I’ve learned about growing on this platform, there’s just too much to fit into a single post. This blog is the most detailed, in-depth piece I’ve ever written on here, and honestly, I’ve seen others sell less information than what I’m sharing here—for free. Why? Because I'm not a "guru". I'm just a marketing data nerd who loves the community I'm building here. I recommend reading the entire blog. But if you’re short on time, here’s a quick summary: ↳ Niche Down: Focused on three content pillars: Mine are- actionable marketing tips, career advice, and relatable humor. ↳ Ideal Audience Persona (IAP): I crafted "Alex," my target audience, to ensure all content resonates. Alex is a marketing manager at a mid-sized company who is focused on career growth, staying ahead of industry trends, and finding efficient ways to engage their audience. ↳ Engagement First: I spend time daily commenting, responding to messages, and starting meaningful conversations. I treat comments as "mini-posts" and add value to every one. ↳ Real-Time Posting: I never schedule posts and publish manually to align with LinkedIn's algorithm for maximum engagement. ↳ Consistent Schedule: I stick to a weekly content cadence while staying flexible for trending topics. ↳ Learned from "Quiet Posts": I use underperforming posts as data points to refine strategy. ↳ Tools I Love: Taplio, Favikon, AuthoredUp, and ChatGPT help streamline and optimize my process. ↳ Mistakes I Fixed: I stopped trying to please everyone, embraced humor, and included calls to action. ↳ Patience Pays Off: Growth doesn’t happen overnight—stay consistent and keep learning. I’ve also included a detailed action plan as an infographic (FREE) to help you get started and grow your LinkedIn presence. You can save it and reference it throughout the year to stay on track! Share your biggest takeaway or your own growth tips in the comments—let's learn from each other! 👇 --------------- 1. Follow me Nicole (Nikki) Ramirez to grow on LinkedIn. 2. Hit the bell icon 🔔 and never miss a post. 3. ♻️ Repost to help others succeed

TLDR: The secret isn't a secret at all - it's about doing the unsexy work of creating value while everyone else chases quick wins. Most people don't understand that growth on LinkedIn isn't about hacks or tactics. It's about understanding human nature. Here's the truth about real growth on this platform: • Fake engagement pods will get you vanity metrics, but they won't build real influence • Copying viral formats might work short-term, but it kills your authenticity • Gaming algorithms are a losing game - they always evolve faster than your tactics The reality is simpler (and harder) than most want to admit: 1. Share real experiences that taught you something valuable 2. Write content you'd actually want to read 3. Help people solve real problems 4. Build genuine relationships through thoughtful engagement 5. Focus on depth over frequency Take me for example. I only have 43k followers (not a lot compared to the other gurus), but I always have more work coming in than I can handle. And that isn't just a recent phenomenon. It started the moment I stopped trying to game the algorithm and started making real connections. Most "LinkedIn experts" won't tell you this because it's not sexy enough to sell. But here's what happens when you play the long game: 🎉 Your content naturally reaches the right people 🎉 Your network grows with quality over quantity 🎉Your influence comes from actual value, not manipulation 🎉Your growth becomes sustainable and authentic Start viewing LinkedIn as a tool for meaningful connection rather than a game to be hacked. The algorithm is here to serve humans, not the other way around. 👍 like | ♻️ share | 📝 comment