“I’m often included in other people’s LinkedIn posts and assume it’s because they want me to engage with their content and share it with my network. What are your thoughts on that?”
This question posed by one of our in:side members during a group coaching call generated some excellent conversations and follow-up emails. When you mention (@their name) several people on a post with the intention they engage with your post and share it with their network, you assume that they will find your content valuable enough for their network.
Should we:
Expect that everything we share gets liked/commented/shared by even your best connections?
Assume that if we include others in our posts, they should always engage with our posts?
Does it make sense to create a pod or add people to the post when not included in the event or content?
Consider that not everything you share appeals to the other person’s network. Remember that if people are trying to be active sharers/commenters/likers and have an extensive network, it becomes challenging to engage with other people’s content and have your own content plan.
This becomes even more challenging if you have a lot of original content that you’ve spent a lot of time developing. If your network posts a lot of promotional content continually promoting webinars, products, and services, it may feel less authentic to share and promote to your connections.
As a best practice, I include people in the post who would know why they were included (they were there, they were mentioned in the article, etc.) and let it go. If others are interested, they will naturally do something with the post. It’s the icing on the cake.
What I’ve just shared is more informal; however, I believe there is an inferred expectation. Another version, more formal, is a LinkedIn pod.
A pod is a group of people willing to participate in liking and commenting on each other’s LinkedIn posts. If you want to create a LinkedIn pod, consider some best practices. Be sure everyone is clear on the expectations and has the time to commit. I don’t, so while I am in a couple of pods, I NEVER ask anyone to promote my content because I can’t manage to push everyone else’s content. I barely comment on the pod conversation because I contribute so little. It’s not that I don’t want to.
At some point, it’s a matter of time and the value associated with the time commitment. Every activity is a time commitment, and we all need to determine where our time is best spent. Right now, I am focused on having 1/1 conversations with my LinkedIn network through phone calls, Zoom sessions and even the ever-relevant direct message. Here is an in-depth article on LinkedIn pods by Matthew Dooley.
