Mamta Singh, a wall mural artist, was struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic. This is when she started experimenting on LinkedIn by posting about her journey – right from her artwork samples to deep insights into her creative process and more. It was not long before her posts reached the right audiences and attracted interest from companies, who then hired her to infuse creative expression in their workspaces. Now, she is engaging over 30K followers on the platform by consistently posting content about her world of work.
Today, like Mamta, many professionals in India are harnessing the power of their unique voice on LinkedIn. We have seen a 2x increase in more knowledge-based content that comes from learned experiences on topics such as ‘how to build a business plan’, ‘scaling a startup’, ‘building culture in a hybrid environment’, and ‘developing hard and soft skills’. This tells us that members on the platform value content that is rooted in knowledge and insights as it helps them become better professionals. The platform is slowly becoming the place where people can access knowledge, help each other get smarter, get inspired, and take the next step in their careers.
Pooja Chhabria, APAC Head of Creator Management, LinkedIn shares five tips to help budding creators embrace their purpose, identify their voice, and drive value through their content:
Start with your “Why”
Professionals who have been able to build a strong community through their content are the ones who have a clear purpose and have defined their niche. For example, as a successful entrepreneur, your ‘why’ can help other entrepreneurs build their businesses. Or, as a full-time working professional, you want to provide guidance to students on how to kick start their careers. Starting with a purpose will give you clarity on what you want to talk about and how to communicate your thoughts. By staying true to your purpose, you can find your own voice that is authentic, unique, and consistent.
One way is by activating the creator mode and adding topics as part of your profile. For example, Kamalika Poddar talks about #fintech, #business, #strategy, #analytics, and #cryptocurrency and shares her experience as a fintech professional in India.
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Use your expertise
Always ask what value the content adds to your community. Is it helping others be informed of what is happening in the world of work, build skills or gain new perspectives? Leveraging your own professional experience and core competencies for your content is central to being a knowledge creator as that brings in credibility and authenticity. A prime example is Pushkar Singh, who works in the investments space and has been creating content about the world of startups.
Drive conversation
Keep your community engaged through a two-way conversation. How can your content drive productive, meaningful professional conversations that encourage diversity of thought, instead of just broadcasting information?
Encourage your community to share their perspectives and interact with them through the comments on your post. Rashi Goel draws on her own professional experience and shares best marketing practices to follow. She also shares candid takes on her learning journey, inviting young professionals to engage in meaningful conversations with her so they can together unravel the world of marketing in these dynamic times.
Be consistent
When we talk to professionals who have successfully built communities, they share that consistency overtakes perfection. Decide what consistency means to you – you can start with once a week and increase the cadence as you develop your comfort level.
With consistency, you grow your muscle on content creation, engage your community, and learn what works and does not work. LinkedIn has a diverse set of content formats such as text posts, video, audio events, live video events, and newsletters that you can experiment with. Also, you can use the new analytics feature to derive performance insights.
Focus on discoverability and accessibility
Adding relevant hashtags helps surface your content to members and hence expands discoverability for your content. Hashtags also act as keywords to provide clarity into the type of article you’ve written. Mentioning professionals from your network will also encourage them to join the conversation.
Accessibility is another facet to keep in mind to make sure your content is inclusive for professionals with disabilities. Alternative text describes your visual media – providing context to people who have vision challenges, while closed captioning your videos enables them to reach people who may have hearing difficulties.
To sum it up, being a successful next-gen creator is not just about ‘creating to grab attention’; it is about creating opportunities for yourself and your community by democratizing access to knowledge.
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