LinkedIn was created as a platform that would make it much easier to develop professional connections, giving its users the ability to network through the internet while also making it far easier for job seekers to become visible to potential employers.

Understanding LinkedIn articles vs posts will help give you an edge in using Linkedin more effectively. As the years have passed, LinkedIn morphed into the professional, online social network that it is today, and its users can create their content and share it with the connections that they have made on the platform. 

LinkedIn users have two ways of broadcasting content:

• Publish a Post
• Write an Article

Although these are two varying methods of curating content, many users are not aware of their differences and this has often led to confusion and debates. However, thinking that both features are similar could not be further from the truth.

This article explores the difference between publishing a Post and writing an Article on LinkedIn. It will also explore the advantages and disadvantages of each method, and how you can utilize them to generate leads, turning prospects into customers.  

LinkedIn Articles vs Posts

Posts are often recognized as the default method of broadcasting on LinkedIn. These Posts allow users to share their experiences and professional expertise to both their connections and the wider professional community.

LinkedIn allows users up to 700 words per Post (or 1300 per company post), while also enabling them to add photos, videos, or even attach files from local and cloud services.  

LinkedIn users have privacy levels for their Posts:

• Anyone
• Anyone on LinkedIn + Auto-post to Twitter
• Connections only

If you are seeking a higher amount of visibility, then set the privacy level to anyone. However, the reach of your Post will not only be dependent on the visibility levels but also the hashtags you choose and how well your followers engage with the Post i.e., liking, commenting, and sharing. 

Articles represent an alternate form of broadcasting on the platform. Users often utilize this feature when they are seeking to create blog-type posts or longer and more in-depth broadcasts. 

You can create articles by clicking on the “Write an Article” button on your feed. Articles are powered by LinkedIn’s Pulse Publishing platform, which allows you to create more communicative broadcasts through the help of basic editing tools such as adding emphasis to specific words, creating a headline, and inserting media at the start of each paragraph.

Pros of LinkedIn Posts

Gives You the Ability to Reach a Larger Network:

Even if your Post does not achieve the “viral” status, having a good number of connections on LinkedIn is likely to give your Posts an acceptable number of views. This is because the news feed is the centerpiece of LinkedIn and each time a user shares your Post, every one of their connections is also going to see it on their feeds as well, giving it a knock-on effect.  

Visibility Setting:

You may not want to share certain Posts with the entire LinkedIn community but rather to only your connections. The ability to set the visibility level per Post gives you a high level of privacy that you may not find on other platforms. 

Cons of LinkedIn Posts

Short Term:

Posts on LinkedIn are often thought to have a shelf-life of three to ten days. This is because they are pushed down other people’s news feeds from the moment that they are posted, this makes it inevitable that fewer people will see and share your post over time especially as they are not available through search engines. 

Pros of LinkedIn Articles

No Word Limits:

Unlike Posts, LinkedIn Articles have no word limit. This allows you to share more information with your users through distinctly structured long-form content.

Articles are Forever:

LinkedIn articles are known to have a strong shelf-life due to the different ways that they can be accessed. Articles are not only easier to find on your page than specific Posts, but Pulse also allows your articles to be accessible from search engines, which greatly increases your audience.

Cons of LinkedIn Articles

Dwarfed Views:

While Articles may have a higher shelf-life than Posts, it is also likely that they will amass a smaller number of views compared to Posts. The major reason for this lies in LinkedIn boosting Posts on other people’s newsfeeds rather than Articles, and as people often spend more time on their feeds than on specific profiles, it is more likely that they will see your Posts than your Articles. 

Generating Leads from LinkedIn Posts and Articles

Many LinkedIn users often place their focus on using connection groups to generate leads and fail to realize that using Articles and Posts can be one of the most effective ways of Linked marketing.

However, several users have made attempts to generate leads through Articles and Posts but have struggled to produce adequate results. Here are some helpful tips to generate leads with your Articles and Posts:

Write Personal Posts:

Several Posts on LinkedIn can feel distant when reading them, as people try to maintain a level of professional courtesy.

However, if you are interested in generating leads through your Posts or Articles, then you must find a way to balance both the professional and personal aspects. 

As you use LinkedIn to network, find a way to bridge your personal life with business thoughts and ideas. This does not only make you more approachable and trustworthy, but it also makes prospects more likely to do business with you as they can relate to your Posts and Articles.

If you are struggling to create personal posts, think of your hobbies and aspirations and try and link them to your business life.

For Example, you could create a Post about how your favorite football player may have taught you about how hard work and perseverance are required to reach any goal.  

Use Your Posts and Articles to Educate Not Sell:

You should not use your Posts or Articles as a sales pitch. Instead, try and become an educational source for people on LinkedIn. If your Posts are adding value to a reader’s life, then it is more likely that they would want to connect with you. 

There are several types of educational Posts on LinkedIn, and each teaches a different type of lesson to readers. 

Some examples are:

• Posting about how people changed or grew their business.  
• Posting about life lessons.
• Posting about what business tools you consider most essential and how you have used them in the past. 

Your Posts Must Remain Relevant:

If you want to successfully generate leads, then you must place yourselves in the shoes of your audience and write relevant and original content. Many people often feel that to stay relevant, they must make Posts about the most recent professional headlines, but you are likely for a specific audience.

So, when curating content for your feed, you should not focus on the whole of LinkedIn but rather on your target audience. Your Posts could be about the problems that are likely affecting their work or the most recent developments in the field.   

Posts and Articles – So Which One?

LinkedIn Posts vs Articles will probably continue to be a debate among the users of the platforms as each has its drawbacks and benefits. However, as a rule of thumb, if you are more interested in curating long-form content, it is more beneficial to make use of Articles rather than Posts. 

PS…

If you read this article, consider checking this post on how to find your target audience on facebook.