This Does Not Work on LinkedIn Anymore

5 Things to avoid if you want to crush it on LinkedIn.

Jan 18, 2024

Leaders feel it is about time to start posting on LinkedIn. 2024 and LinkedIn hype is on.

You wonder how to jump on the bandwagon and start building your network. There is enough space for each one of us.

Yet, some strategies used to work in the past but not anymore. Save some time today and money. This is your quick LI training for free.

1. Stock photos

LinkedIn is a classic scroll-stop-scroll platform. Most people go there to browse what their former colleagues do or what is trending in their ‘field bubble’. You know ‘lurkers’.

In the past years, content creators have started using stock photos to make users stop and read their hook.

You can see posts and videos like these:

The problem with them is that they are no longer interesting. You need to put more effort into your visuals to make a person stop.

It is wise to start building your brand using certain designs. With more talented creators on the platform, you see the competition for attention increasing every day.

Others have nice pictures of their office or team. They have professional drone footage. Some content is super professional. If you stick with stock photos, you might miss the train.

2. Drop your post and get a free engagement

Last year, you could drop your post and leave. I am pretty sure you had generous reach and free engagement. But 2024 is calling for attention and effort.

Now even people with a lot of followers have to stick around and comment and be proactive. No more passive approach. LinkedIn is hungry. Feed it with your time.

That is why so many people freak out:

You need a different strategy than just ‘give value’. Look at the platform as a tool. Think about what you can do with it. For instance, find out who your audience is. Pick a niche and stick with it.

Just do not repeat what everyone else is doing. There are way too many templated posts.

“Y lessons I learned from.”
“I quit…”
“My worst experience…”

Explore your horizons and give us your authenticity.

3. This sale “by the way” strategy

Do you know this ‘by the way’ sales strategy? It is so common that I am bored with it. It works like this:

Connect with a person and briefly introduce yourself.
After a while, get in touch with the person again. Flatter them in a message you can alternate, like: “Just wanted to take the time to tell you that I loved your latest post on XX. I am glad to know that you are communicating such a valuable message. Everyone should know XX.”
The person’s ego rises, and he is willing to chat.
You ask a few questions to learn more about the person like: “How long have you been XX?”
You point out similarities to ‘‘build a relationship”.
Then, as a trusted LinkedIn friend, says: “By the way, I’ve checked your profile, XX.”/”By the way, I offer XX for people like you.”/”I could do XX for you.”

Ah, how many times have you experienced similar conversations? I even believe it must have come from some social selling course. Otherwise, I have no idea why people keep doing that.

Decide what game you want to play, and don’t bother people with ‘be the way’. You have two options:

The short game: If you want to sell on LinkedIn, then choose to sell to the right people. 80% of them will never buy from you anyway. So, target and pitch well.
The long game: Focus on building trust and relationships. Let them come to you without sleazy sales tactics.

But please don’t use ‘by the way’, you repel your network.

4. Irrelevant selfies

Selfies have become popular in the past two years. Again, some LinkedIn coaches told their people who paid 250+ dollars for their 30-day courses to post selfies.

Selfies boost engagement.

Right. Why not? Posting a selfie every day feels rather narcissistic. Honestly, I can’t see pictures from the holidays or selfies taken at the office desk, in the elevator, or on the toilet anymore.

Would you show a selfie of yourself taken in the toilet mirror to your colleagues at work? If you do not, then please do not post such stuff on LinkedIn.

Selfies and professional Instagram-like pictures might be a show-stopper, but there are loads of them now. So, unless people know you or you are attractive, you will be skipped.

Game over.

5. Having loads of followers is social proof

Do thousands of followers mean you are a successful and trustworthy professional?

Last year, a LinkedIn influencer with 220,000+ followers posted that a student with 30,000 followers stole her course content. Ups.

He even dared to publish part of it in his post! Do not trust the number of followers. It is deceiving. It does not mean you are successful and pleasant to work with. There are more cases like that. I have seen people copy big creators and steal their posts word by word.

Simply put, LinkedIn is a social network with all it takes:

Copyright issues
Creeps and personal attacks
Social judgment and negativity

Choose your connections wisely before you commit to any collaboration. You can’t trust social proof anymore.

6. Bonus note — Diversify

My suggestion is to have at least two platforms where you can build your audience. If one goes bad, you have a backup. Do not rely on algorithms. They change!

Be ahead of the game if you want to try to crush it in the online space.