What is a LinkedIn influencer and how can you become one?

A LinkedIn influencer is a thought leader in a particular industry who shares content regularly with a large group of an engaged audience.

Like on Twitter and Instagram, influencers are highly respected on LinkedIn – both by brands and users. Because they’re believed to be some of the biggest voices on the platform.

When a LinkedIn influencer pushes a campaign out or makes a suggestion, such an opinion gets seen and reacted to quicker than when an ordinary individual or brand does the same.

In short, the LinkedIn influencer space is everything you have on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Except for this time, your targets are brands and professionals, rather than regular individuals.

This post wants to explore the world of LinkedIn influencers. There’s also a special mention about why you should buy LinkedIn likes.

Why are influencers so popular on LinkedIn?

If a brand wants to sell a new fashion product, Instagram influencers are who they’ll call upon because they know that’s where a large chunk of their audiences are.

In a similar vein, when a brand needs to launch a recruitment process, needs a new office space, or wants to partner with other B2B brands, LinkedIn influencers represent a great channel to follow.

Having built authority through impactful content creation strategies, LinkedIn influencers have the trust of the brands and individuals within the scope of their industry. As such, when they recommend a product, break a news, introduce a campaign, or chaperone an ad, such a cause gets all the needed attention and action.

For example, if a new startup was looking for a group of well-trained IT specialists to hire, they could hire a LinkedIn influencer in their niche to help them get the word out.

Here’s another one. Imagine a brand wanting to move space and searching for a reputable realtor to work with. By partnering with a LinkedIn influencer, their desire could be realized in the shortest time possible. Obviously, a LinkedIn influencer in that niche will already have a group of engaged realtors at their fingertips.

How to become a LinkedIn influencer

Expand your connection:

On Instagram, you need plenty of followers to become an influencer. Here, you need plenty of connections.

The best way to get that is by sending requests to people. However, you want to avoid sending requests to people outside your niche. You should target those within your niche. Finally, to ensure these people accept your request every time, add a custom message with your request.

Use an impressive header photo:

Some of the kinds of photos to use include:

A photo of you speaking at an event
A photo of you being with a professional team
Social proof – e.g., testimonials

Get plenty of likes on your posts:

You need plenty of likes flowing in after you publish a post. Otherwise, LinkedIn will not share it with a bigger audience. Buying Linkedin likes helps you achieve that. The more likes you get, the greater your chances of being exposed to a larger audience. And ultimately, the greater your chances of going viral.

Also, having plenty of likes on your LinkedIn posts shows first-time discoverers that your content are loved and that you’re a force to be reckoned with.

So you see, it’s very important to buy LinkedIn likes.

Definitive headline:

The headline is the first thing readers see on a LinkedIn profile. Make sure it captures your biggest professional role. Saying you’re the Director of Conversion Rate Optimization carries more weight than calling yourself a Digital Marketing Expert. Expert in what area?

Have an amazing About section:

It’s important to have an attention-grabbing About section. Because that’s what explains who you are to users.

Leave your life story out of here. Instead, talk about your successes, milestones, and the reasons someone would want to connect with you.

Consistently share norm-distorting and thought-provoking content:

Content is king on LinkedIn. The more you can share, the greater your influence grows. However, we don’t want you sharing those generic blah blah content.

Look, everybody has read ‘7 ways to land your dream job,” “how to beat interview questions,” “how to attract the best brains into your workforce.”

We grow up reading these things. You should go for norm-distorting opinions if you want to be quickly noticed. In other words, the kind of content that will challenge what people know and believe in.

Go find interesting articles on Google News, Yahoo News, Buzzsumo, Moz, or any top industry-relevant blogs. Now, reverse engineer this article by spinning it into something controversial or something that challenges what people believe in.

These are the kinds of content that fascinate people on LinkedIn.

Imagine seeing these two article titles on LinkedIn:

7 reasons to dress well for your next job interview & 7 reasons your type of pants/shoes can make you fail a job interview

Which one are you clicking first? I bet it’s the latter.