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LinkedIn has become the #1 platform for professionals, with over a billion users worldwide. It’s not only about portfolios and networking for career perspectives anymore:
B2B and B2C brands use LinkedIn for marketing and lead generation. More than that, 96% say this social media platform is their most effective channel for content distribution!
How do you keep up with such competition? How do you make users see your LinkedIn posts in their bottomless feeds?
Write and format them accordingly.
In this article, you’ll find 15 writing tricks to format LinkedIn post text for better engagement and skyrocket impressions. I practice most of them, and I can say from firsthand experience that all these formatting tricks do work.
But first, the basics:
Post Content Types That Trigger Emotions
Most consider LinkedIn a network for business rather than leisure. But there’s a catch:
The human brain works so that users scan social media content for something personal or emotional that reflects their inner world. Ads don’t impress them; brand stories and valuable content do.
Authenticity matters. It builds trust and triggers emotions from your targets, encouraging them to follow you. With that in mind, add these five content types to your LinkedIn content strategy:
- Your experience
- Step-by-step-guides, lists, tutorials
- Your work (blog posts, case studies)
- Your news, updates, and other announcements
- Practical tips for those in your industry
Let’s describe each one, in short.
1. Your experience
Write LinkedIn posts that will help the audience know and understand you better. Whether you’re a personal brand or a company, storytelling is the only way to make people want to listen to you.
As you can see from the above example, I don’t hesitate to share my pains as a content writer. Through honesty and openness, I introduce the audience to my expertise while explaining the peculiarities behind my profession.
It’s about psychology:
The human brain retains 70% of the information through stories and only 10% – from data and statistics. A story activates brain areas that are responsible for experiences. What does it mean?
When we read a story, we feel as if it indeed happens. It gives us an emotional response and makes us emphasize and remember a storyteller.
More than that:
Sincere stories sharing real-life details, whether about wins or lessons learned from failures, signal authenticity. (A must in the age of AI content.)
Why it works:
- It proves your understanding of the niche.
- It encourages the audience with the same experience or background to connect, comment, and share posts from your LinkedIn account.
2. Step-by-step-guides, lists, tutorials
Readers appreciate a valuable tutorial or step-by-step guide.
Look:
You’re reading a guide right now. Formatting it like a list and sharing it on LinkedIn would positively influence impressions. Why?
- It breaks down massive information into affordable steps people can learn and follow.
- It solves the problem.
- It’s actionable: You can try it and see the results soon.
3. Your work (blog posts, case studies)
This one is among my LinkedIn posts that got many impressions from the audience. I see the reasons for such success in the format (slides are easy to digest), added value (I’ve mentioned the bonus), and the benefits I listed in the post. The latter two answer the “What’s in there for me?” question users ask when deciding whether they want to interact with your content.
Below is a typical template you can try:
“It’s my new blog post/guest article/project/you name it. Please read and share your thoughts.”
Spice it up with an added value, your unique feature/offer, or any other information your audience might want to learn.
Why it works:
- It shows proof of your expertise.
- It helps the audience of your LinkedIn profile determine if you’re the best fit for them.
4. Your news, updates, and other announcements
Announcements are action triggers that prompt a response. Write about what happens inside your business that helps customers succeed. This can include content creation about your availability, open spots, events, and releases.
Post this type of content after you’ve built your brand in the niche or connected with like-minded people. It will increase exposure, impressions, and potential leads.
Why it works:
- It’s an open communication with your audience.
- It brings value.
- It encourages responses and action.
5. Practical tips for those in your industry
Such LinkedIn content sparks conversations and shows you care. They might not convert leads (given you’re speaking to colleagues), but they forge impressions and build networks.
It’s about talking to your leads indirectly:
Impressions from other users in your industry allow their connections to see your post. Thus, you get a broader audience of potential followers and customers. Such content is great to use for LinkedIn articles, too.
Why it works:
- It shows others how to work for better results.
- It serves as social proof, reflecting your experience and knowledge.
- It helps the audience understand their needs.
And now, to LinkedIn text formatting for breakthrough impressions.
How to Format LinkedIn Post Text for Better Results
- Start with a hook
- Cut the fluff
- Use short sentences and paragraphs
- Remember about the white space between paragraphs
- Incorporate relevant emojis
- Avoid passive voice and weak adverbs
- Keep your posts simple
- Add sensory details
- Use bullet points
- Try content triggers
- Remember about SEO
- Add visuals that bring value
- @Mention connections
- Always conclude with a question or a CTA
- Add a few relevant hashtags at the end
Want to see how they work right now?
Let’s get to the details and examples on each point.
1. Start with a hook
What is a hook in LinkedIn posts?
It’s the first line you write to grab readers’ attention, awaken their curiosity, and motivate them to click “See more.”
Yes, LinkedIn allows you 3,000 characters per post, enough to craft fruitful and high-quality content. The only catch:
When scrolling their feeds, users will see only the first three lines. Your task is to make those lines catchy or even eyebrow-rasing so they want to check the rest.
What can you try as a hook?
- Short dialogues (Storytelling works. Always! I often practice this writing trick when crafting texts for personal blogs. It does wonders on social media, too.)
- Intriguing questions
- Weird words
- Statistics
- Inspirational quotes
- Surprising (or extraordinary) insights related to your niche
- Unusual or little-known facts
- How-to offerings
- A compelling LinkedIn headline. Try the “benefit+curiosity” formula: Make a headline intriguing yet communicating some benefits a user will get after reading it. A reputable LinkedIn headline generator will help. For example:
Tip: Avoid long blocks of text. Make your hook easy to scan for users scrolling their LinkedIn newsfeeds.
2. Cut the fluff
Write your LinkedIn post text. Reread it. Reread it once again and cut everything unrelated to its primary purpose:
- Filler words
- Fancy words
- Repetitions
If you cut it, and your message still makes sense – delete it. (A free tool like LinkedIn text formatter may assist you here.)
Show your audience that you value their time. Keep your posts up-to-point, share practical information, and you’ll encourage users to return for more.
The leaner your posts, the more reach you’ll get. The lengthier and more meaningless your sentences, the fewer chances people will read.
The below example comes from Henneke, a savvy copywriter and my writing guru. Reading her posts and learning from her helped me polish my writing and become an ambassador of clarity and brevity in online content.
Tip: Try AI content detectors to check your texts before publishing. If your content looks and sounds artificial, rewrite it.
3. Use short sentences and paragraphs
Let’s face it:
Online reading is challenging. (It’s 25% slower than reading from print. Do you know that visitors read only 20-28% of the words on your website?)
Users scan content. When scrolling through their feeds on social media, they scan it even faster.
Why make it challenging for them to scan your LinkedIn posts? Nobody wants to read walls of text.
Try these formatting options instead:
- Write concise sentences. (They are visually pleasing and easy to digest)
- Use two sentences per paragraph max. (Single-sentence paragraphs are also fine!)
I had been working with Oleksandr for years. He’s a guru of digital PR and link building; I’ve decided to include his LinkedIn post as the example because it demonstrates even more formatting tricks: content triggers, white space, sensory details, emojis, and bullet points! There is more on each below.
4. Remember about the white space between paragraphs
It’s another formatting trick to prevent walls of text in your LinkedIn posts. Add white space between paragraphs to structure your message and make it easier to digest:
5. Incorporate relevant emojis
Some specialists believe adding emojis to a LinkedIn post text is not professional.
They are wrong!
When used wisely, emojis help emphasize your ideas and make your content more accessible and pleasant to read. That’s how they work:
- Break up text
- Add personality to your message
- Strengthen your branding and identity, infusing some color into your post
Numbers speak volumes:
According to the research, LinkedIn posts with one emoji have 4% more chances to get 100 likes. Using 15-16 emojis in your LinkedIn post, you multiply the probability of getting 100 reactions by 2.5. (Sure thing, mind your text’s length and context.)
If you check my LinkedIn posts, you’ll notice that I’m a big fan of emojis in social media content! They help me format my texts for better readability and visibility in user feeds.
As far as I work with a personal brand on LinkedIn, emojis are an element of my writing style and voice, and they look organic with the messages I communicate.
6. Avoid passive voice and weak adverbs
“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
This phrase by Stephen King has become the motto for web content creators who praise clear, concise, and straightforward writing. (I must confess, I’ve also started to avoid weak adverbs in my web texts.) While adverbs aren’t that evil, some can do more harm than good.
What are weak adverbs?
They are redundant, bringing no sense but length to your LinkedIn post. Examples include words like “very,” “quite,” or “just.” Often, these are -ly adverbs like “simply,” “usually,” “truly,” “nearly,” “probably,” and “actually.”
If you remove them from the post, its sense will not change or suffer. (Remember the “cut the fluff” trick?)
As for passive voice, this grammar construction makes your writing sound weak and unprofessional.
The more active verbs (with a person in the subject position) in your message, the better. They’ll make your post more compelling and allow the audience to relate to it.
7. Keep your posts simple
While videos and other interactive content work well, your plain text with a “wow!” or “aha!” moment can also do wonders. Try short, plain-text posts with straightforward headings from time to time:
- They’ll diversify your content types on LinkedIn.
- They’ll “save” you when you have nothing pre-prepared in your content plan.
- They are fast and easy to create.
But:
Simple doesn’t mean meaningless. Think of the purpose of your text: How will it benefit your connections?
8. Add sensory details
It’s words and expressions to add to your LinkedIn post text to trigger an emotional response from the audience and compel them to take action.
What can be a sensory detail in your post?
- Power words. Persuasive and descriptive, they make us feel scared, encouraged, aroused, angry, greedy, safe, or curious. Use them to spice up your text.
- Beneficial adjectives. They explain the “What’s in there for me?” objection to readers and give them a reason to continue investigating your content. Examples of such adjectives are “useful,” “free,” “exclusive,” etc.
- Sensory words. These are language items appealing to our five physical senses. By activating a particular part of our brain, such words make us process the message faster and remember it.
Humor can also be a sensory detail that draws more attention to your LinkedIn posts. Ensure it’s relevant to your niche and that the audience will understand the context.
Making the readers smile is a surefire way to win them over and earn their favor.
My audience knows my “love” for AI writing tools, which is why that Barbie meme blew up with impressions. (It’s all about relevancy. Plus, the movie was in trend then, helping the post engage a broader audience.)
P.S. And yeah, I see the typo in the “Hemingway.” Typical me, doing my best proofreading after I hit “Send.” 🙂
9. Use bullet points
People love lists!
Okay, it’s the human brain that likes lists because they serve as a cheat sheet for it:
- Lists provide order to chaos.
- They help us remember things.
- They are easier to scan. (You know the brain is lazy, so the less it struggles to consume info, the better.)
- Lists are visually appealing.
- When reading the list, we always know how much is left.
No wonder that lists are among the best-performing post types on LinkedIn.
Use bullet points to create lists and make your text easier to digest. Try italics, underline, strikethrough, and bold text for stellar LinkedIn formatting. Consider this formatting trick when the temptation comes to list your stuff with commas:
Bullet points will make your posts look more compelling and boost their accessibility.
10. Try content triggers
Content triggers are words or numbers that grab the reader’s attention and help them understand what’s in there for them. Copywriters often use such words in headlines to evoke emotions of urgency, fear, surprise, or anticipation.
The goal is to make readers respond to your content.
Examples of content triggers: “fast,” “easy,” “available,” “2024,” “only,” “free,” “attention,” and so on.
Like this:
- Attention, please! I have only three slots available for June.
- Here’s our free list of top websites that accept guest posts in 2024.
- Case study: 2 easy steps to content automation LinkedIn
11. Remember about SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) is not a core aspect of content promotion on LinkedIn.
But:
Knowing the SEO basics, you can boost your LinkedIn posts’ visibility (read: impressions).
Here’s how:
- Use keywords in posts to increase their chances of appearing in LinkedIn search results. Try underlined text, italic text, or other text styles for better visibility.
- Format content to be up-to-point and fluff-free. (An online tool like LinkedIn post formatter can help with that.)
- Keep your profile updated. The content will be more viral if it comes from the page and demonstrates current experiences, features, and wins.
- Remember about content distribution. Share your LinkedIn posts across other platforms to increase the views and get more engagement.
12. Add visuals that bring value
You know that most people are visual creatures, right? Images grab our attention fast because that’s how the human brain works:
A large percentage of it dedicates itself to visual processing.
Yeah, visual content rules. And it also works with LinkedIn posts. The only catch: Choose custom visuals that bring value to the audience. What does it mean?
Say no to generic and stock photos. Focus on informative visuals like infographics, charts, or diagrams. A LinkedIn carousel is worth trying, too. They hook LinkedIn users craving case studies, industry updates, and trends as they serve for better readability and perception.
Another tip:
Whenever relevant, choose visuals with human faces in them. It’s about psychology again:
We instinctively pay attention to eyes and faces, and that’s why such visuals will work well.
Important! Use photos of real people, not those always-smiling stock heroes. Consider niche experts, your customers, your colleagues, etc. (All relevant to the context of the LinkedIn post text you share.)
13. @Mention connections
Here’s the trick to influence your posts’ visibility and engagements:
Mention someone notable in your LinkedIn posts when applicable. Sure thing, keep it relevant to the post’s content.
Ideally, you @mention a brand or a person you’ve already formed a relationship with. Also, it’s okay to mention someone influential to your business or career. It can be a connection who shared valuable advice, featured you on their website, you name it.
The goal is to encourage them to comment on your LinkedIn post. If they do this, the post is more likely to appear in their connections’ feeds!
Perfect to boost your visibility and grow your network, huh? I practice this formatting trick every time I get my guest article published or when I collaborate with my fellow writers on content creation.
14. Always conclude with a question or a CTA
You have three reasons to do this:
- LinkedIn loves posts with comments, rewarding them with better visibility.
- A question in your LinkedIn text invites readers to answer it in the comments, thus making it more likely to trend.
- Trending posts appear in the feeds of second- and third-degree connections, thus working on impressions boost.
More than that:
Asking for your connections’ viewpoints is flattering as it satisfies their social instinct. (It’s among the three basic instincts making us crave personal value, status, and approval.) Questions encourage answers, thus influencing your LinkedIn posts’ behavioral factors.
Speaking of CTAs (calls to action):
They allow the audience to understand what to do after reading your post. Plus, they can serve as lead magnets, bringing the readers’ attention to your products or services.
15. Add a few relevant hashtags at the end
Hashtags are your instruments to reach a broader audience outside of your network.
When formatting LinkedIn post texts, choose a mix of niche and popular hashtags to add. To do so, type a word into the search bar; you’ll see the options. LinkedIn also provides hashtags based on the content of your posts. Feel free to use them, too.
Tip: Add no more than five hashtags. Otherwise, your posts will look spammy and desperate. My trick is also to place hashtags so they form logical expressions and word combinations.
Takeaways
Let’s face it:
Users got tired of the same-looking and pale content assets they see online. For your message to stand out and impress the target audience, follow the rule of three:
- Emotions (to impress)
- Context (to bring value)
- Format (to hook and make it easy to read)
When emotionally invested in your LinkedIn posts, users are likelier to read and remember you. Engage them with authentic messages that bring value and are relevant to your industry – and you’ll get them hooked.
Ready to format LinkedIn post text with the above LinkedIn tips in mind and see the magic happen?
Author Bio
Olesia Filipenko is a seasoned content writer who offers ghostwriting, SEO writing, and blogging services. She works with B2C businesses, providing digital marketing content that increases their search engine visibility. Check out her portfolio to learn more, or feel free to follow Olesia on LinkedIn.
