Stop repurposing Instagram and 12 other noob LinkedIn mistakes

LinkedIn is confusing, eh? There’s lots of experts telling you what to do. And I am here to confuse you further. Don’t listen to THEM. Only listen to ME.

Nah, do what you want actually. But you might want to avoid some of these LinkedIn mistakes.  

LinkedIn Mistake #1 Repurposing Instagram content 

I get it. You can add LinkedIn to your scheduler tool and just share the exact same post from Instagram on LinkedIn. Mistake!

But your audience can spot an Instagram post from across the room. And they know. Sure, they probs don’t CARE. But deep down, they see you’re taking a shortcut. The 30 hashtags and the cool graphics on your post is a giveaway. It’s like saying ‘my Insta audience is more important, and you here? Afterthought at best.’ 

What works on Instagram (pretty post, lotsa hashtags, short caption) doesn’t work on LinkedIn. On Linky, the written post is everything. The pretty image is a distraction. When you share lots of images with text, your audience doesn’t see or click the see more button. Which tells the algorithm your content sucks. And damages your reach. 

The job of the image is to gain attention in the feed, which drives people to click the see more. Pictures of cats? Okay. 

Occasional selfies? Good. 

Wordy image that gives them no reason to click further? Bad. 

Never fear, you can RECYCLE (not repurpose) your Instagram content for LinkedIn. But it needs a few tweaks.

1. remove the unnecessary hashtags
2. remove or tone down the image 
3. focus on a strong hook as the opener to the written post 

LinkedIn Mistake #2 Useless hashtags

When I was a blog copywriter I used the hashtag #blogwriter on my LinkedIn posts. But guess what? The only people using that hashtag are other blog writers. My clients aren’t following that hashtag. They’re probably not following any hashtag at all. 

One day, I decided to check out the blog writer hashtag. It has only 139 followers. Total waste of time. 

So check the hashtag you are using. Unfortunately with LinkedIn, only the high volume hashtags help you get discovered. But they are usually quite generic, and followed by a large international audience. If you’re not targeting overseas clients, using hashtags at all is likely not helpful. 

And for the love of d’Affinois, don’t use 30 hashtags, this isn’t Instagram. 

LinkedIn Mistake #3 The accidental bubble 

You love commenting on all your friends’ content, right? You want to show the love for their awesome services, or celebrate their latest win. Problem is, they aren’t your ideal audience. This is one of the most common LinkedIn mistakes. And I’ve been guilty of it myself. 

When you do this, you risk getting into an unofficial LinkedIn bubble. This can happen when people are in memberships or masterminds together. They all comment on each other’s content and their reach beyond this network goes south. 

It looks like an engagement pod—to LinkedIn algorithm and to your audience. So mix up your commenting beyond your favourite humans. 

LinkedIn Mistake #4 Sending DMs to ‘start conversations’ 

You might have been taught this. But does it feel icky? You potentially have to be sending loadsa DMs every damn day, just hoping someone will chat. Perhaps someone will miraculously tell you, an internet stranger, that they struggle with the exact same problem that you can solve. Looooong odds for success there. Which means you have to do a lot of it, just to get a chance of a nibble. 

DMs are annoying, so people ignore them. Or they block you. 

So save that content for your posts. Share your brilliant offer as a post. Put amazing free helpful stuff into your content, and invite your audience to come to you. 

If you MUST DM, why not just shoot your shot? I’d rather receive a blatant sales pitch than some kind of sneaky subterfuge. 

LinkedIn Mistake #5: not sharing sales posts 

If you don’t make it clear how to buy from you? Well, people won’t know how to buy from you. 

And if you’re not good at sales? You won’t be able to sell. This is one of the most common LinkedIn mistakes, because people get funny about being salesy. 

If you are relying on people to stumble from their LinkedIn feed to your profile to your website to your sales page and then buy—that’s a lot of bridges they have to cross. 

Or worse, you expect people to get in touch saying, ‘What are your packages?’ 

Noooo! *shakes fist at sky* 

How about making this easier for your audience? 

Step one: You clearly outline your offer right there as a post on LinkedIn

Step two: repeat

It’s super effective, and it works. Make yourself some money. 

LinkedIn Mistake #6 stuffing up creator mode 

When you turn on creator mode, you are making a little promise to LinkedIn. You are pinky swearing that you are going to create content. And the algorithm expects you to do so. 

I don’t have any proof, but I reckon LinkedIn doesn’t like it when you turn on creator mode and then NOT create content. 

If you have the follow button on but you haven’t posted content in a while? Why would people follow you then? 

That’s why I recommend leaving creator mode OFF until you reach a good number of connections. When you are starting out, you want the two-way connection. Once you build a following, you can switch on creator mode. (This is very general advice, and a lot depends on your sitchy.)

If you don’t understand a word I’ve just written about creator mode, then I have a whole blog with more details. I’ll explain the whole follow/connect shenanigans and help you decide what is best for you. (It depends.)

LinkedIn Mistake #7: sharing other people’s content 

It’s great for THEM. For you, not so much. 

Because it positions someone else as the thought leader. 

Too many shares is like telling everyone ‘hey look at this cool expert I found.’ 

Instead, share YOUR advice, your free helpful stuff. 

LinkedIn Mistake #8: too many topics 

You really want to be known for just ONE thing. ONE area of expertise. When you blather about too much stuff, you dilute the message. It’s confusing, and it’s another one of the big LinkedIn mistakes I see often. 

Stay in your lane. Crap on about your one thing. 

LinkedIn Mistake #9: following popular templates 

When someone is an in-demand creator, they start selling templates. And their audience all use those templates. Guess what? Suddenly, your LinkedIn feed is filled with all the same kinds of posts! So instead of standing OUT, you’re blending IN. 

Templates themselves are not bad. But be careful of following the style of someone else. Better to define and stick to your own tone of voice. Then, you will always be original. 

LinkedIn Mistake #10: sharing viral videos 

This drives me batty! 

The idea is: 

1. you share a viral video (cute cat, adorable kid, sympathetic story etc) 
2. you neglect to credit the original creator (potentially deliberately misleading your audience) 
3. everyone watches it, likes and shares it 
4. reach and engagement booms
5. then nothing

Unfortunately, sharing cute or weepy viral videos won’t do anything but give you artificial engagement. Do you want to be known as a person who shares funny memes or do you want to make some money? 

I’ve had posts ‘go viral’ but I assure you, they did NOTHING to grow my business. 

Avoid. 

LinkedIn Mistake #11: stop/start content 

You have a great run on LinkedIn where you share stuff and show up consistently. Until you stop. You took a break, you weren’t feeling it. Or you got busy. 

Then it’s SO hard to begin again. Your audience has forgotten you (a bit). 

This is risky. Because your audience can’t trust that you’ll be there for them. You have a splurge of action, then you disappear. OR your run of clients suddenly dries up and you need more income, quicksmart. 

So please keep showing up on LinkedIn. Better to reduce your frequency, recycle old content and create a sustainable plan for producing content (even when you are busy or over it) than go quiet altogether. 

LinkedIn Mistake #12: overthinking the algorithm

If you obsess about getting the best out of the algorithm and the reach, you can get in your own way. 

Don’t worry about the best time of day to post. Don’t do dorky things like tag a bunch of randoms to extend your reach. 

Don’t obsessed about the best time or day of the week to post. Or links in comments. 

Flip that focus. Towards your audience. 

Take your preoccupation with gaming the algorithm and turn it towards creating awesome content and free helpful stuff. 

LinkedIn Mistake #13: failing to use hooks

Have you ever started a post with one of these? 

• Hello there! Today I want to share with you something that’s very important to me… 
• Last week, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to…
• Here at {Blah Company}, we believe that…
• As a business owner, do you feel that…
• I’m delighted to announce that…
• When it comes to (x)…
• Did you know that… 

These are all opening hooks I’ve spotted on LinkedIn. And they SUCK. 

What’s wrong with them? They: 

❌ Are not audience-driven

❌ Don’t get to the point

❌ Lack impact

❌ Are generic 

❌ Are wordy 

❌ Are dull 

And they won’t stop the scroll, reducing your reach. 

Instead focus on: 

✔️ Grabbing attention with a hook 

✔️ The audience, not yourself 

✔️ A distinct tone of voice 

The better your opening hook, the more people read your content, which amplifies it further, boosting your visibility. And with more visibility, you have a bigger audience to sell to. 

This is a pretty long blog post. So I’m gonna finish up now and have a Milo. But just to recap: 

You are better than these 13 LinkedIn mistakes 

1. Repurposing Instagram
2. Too many hashtags
3. The accidental bubble
4. Sending crap DMs
5. Not selling on LinkedIn 
6. Stuffing up creator mode
7. Oversharing others’ content 
8. Too many topics 
9. Following templates and trends
10. Sharing viral videos
11. Stop/start content
12. Overthinking the algorithm
13. Failing to use hooks