To be successful on LinkedIn is to be adaptable. Every target market is different, and what works for one group may fail miserably with another. A good LinkedIn marketer should always be analyzing what works and what doesn't and tweaking their approach accordingly. In general, though, there are some guidelines for success that are a good place for anyone to start, regardless of level of LinkedIn experience. Understanding the "magic" numbers of LinkedIn is one of those good starting places. Read on for these numbers and why you should leverage them.
500: number of connections
When you get to 500 connections, LinkedIn stops showing the exact number of connections that you have. Instead, it shows 500+. Once you hit this number, the LinkedIn community can see that you take LinkedIn seriously and have spent the necessary time and effort to build your professional network.
10: minutes doing something on LinkedIn every weekday
Consistency is one of the biggest contributors to LinkedIn success. When you are active on LinkedIn - by liking, sharing, commenting on, or following - your network can see your activity and it shows up on your profile. Build a presence simply by being active.
80/20: % of non-promotional/promotional posts
It can be very easy to overdo promotional posts. After all, this is a professional platform, and we all want to meet our business objectives. When you post too many promotional items, though, people begin to scroll right past your posts instead of stopping to read or engage with them. Instead, focus on adding value to the LinkedIn conversation and position yourself as the expert in your industry. This does a couple of things: keeps you top of mind with your network and causes you to be the person that others come to when they need what you are offering. Keep this 80/20 guideline in mind for posts on both your personal profile and on your company page.
5: days a week to be active on LinkedIn
Because LinkedIn is a professional network, activity tends to be low on the weekends. This is good news! Unplug and don't check it (unless you really want to). If you are active every weekday, that is generally enough.
3-5: original posts per week
If you are not comfortable with posting original things right away, that's okay. Just start by being active ten minutes a weekday and work on building your network. Once you're comfortable in those areas, however, it's time to start posting original content. Unlike Twitter or Instagram, you don't need to post more than once per weekday. Once a day is plenty for this network (also good news!). And if once a weekday is too much, just work on posting once a week. Again, consistency is key.
10: time of highest LinkedIn traffic (Tuesday mornings)
If you're looking to get the most bang for your posting buck, try to post on Tuesday mornings at 10:00 a.m. This is the time of highest traffic on LinkedIn. Other high traffic times are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays before work hours (around 7-8), during lunchtime (12) and after work hours (5-6). Mondays and Fridays tend to have lower amounts of traffic.
Note: In my personal experience, posting at certain times is much less important than just posting consistently. Focus less on posting at the "right" time and more on just being consistent.
__ /100: your Social Selling Index score
This is one of the most useful tools I've found to measure LinkedIn success. After you click "get your score free" you will be given a score based on 4 areas: Establishing your professional brand, Finding the right people, Engaging with insights, and Building relationships. This score is updated daily, but I suggest checking it weekly or monthly and making adjustments to your activity accordingly.
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