Overview of Popular LinkedIn Formats 2024

1. Content marketing on LinkedIn
2. These are the most important content formats on LinkedIn
3. Text posts - The LinkedIn evergreen
4. Conclusion: These are the most popular LinkedIn formats

With around 17 million users, LinkedIn is the most important B2B platform in the DACH region. It is therefore not surprising that more and more C-levels, politicians and influencers are drawn to the business platform.

With the new "Creator mode" LinkedIn has increased the importance of platform-owned content and is increasingly developing into an international content platform for companies, professionals and job seekers.

However, especially LinkedIn newcomers have the agony of choice when it comes to LinkedIn formats. Which formats work best? And what should be considered? In this article you will learn more from guest author Su Reiter.

Content marketing on LinkedIn

LinkedIn offers a variety of creative formats for content creators and those who want to become one. LinkedIn is not to be understood as a rigid Business platform, but rather as a social network, which is primarily intended for mutual exchange. Because, like any other platform, LinkedIn also depends on interaction with the posts. Therefore, the interaction rate is the most important currency on the platform.

More advantages of LinkedIn as a content platform:

• Even if you are not currently looking for a job, you will find exciting contacts and job opportunities on LinkedIn.
• It can also be worthwhile for employers to focus on LinkedIn content. Smart Employer Branding can inspire the next generation.
• If you are self-employed, you can land a lot of new orders through Social Selling on LinkedIn.
• If you are active on LinkedIn, you will also be found via Google. It is therefore advisable to use relevant keywords in your profile and always keep the profile up to date.

These are the most important content formats on LinkedIn

As a content platform, LinkedIn offers many formats for posts. I'll show you which formats are most popular and which ones work particularly well.

Formats for the LinkedIn profile

If you think it's enough to just upload your CV to LinkedIn, you're mistaken: LinkedIn offers many opportunities to personalize your own profile and thus improve it. Because if you want to be seen in the LinkedIn jungle, you have to distinguish yourself from others. And this is best done through uniqueness and design.

So before you start making diligent LinkedIn posts, you should prepare your profile as follows

LinkedIn profile picture (image size: 400 × 400 pixels):

Just like with applications, a lot also works via sympathy on LinkedIn. Therefore, your choice should be a friendly portrait photo, which does not show you too serious or too revealing.

Proven to be profile pictures with a clear focus on the face, for example in a chic office, in the green or with a neutral (or colored) background. Passport-style profile pictures - preferably in black and white - are definitely to be avoided.

Profile banner (image size: 1128 × 376 pixels):

Many forget and yet so important - the banner at the top of your profile. The profile banner is next to the profile picture and the profile slogan the first thing other LinkedIn users see, when they come to your profile. It is best to use this space to accommodate your brand colors, convey your core message or incorporate a call-to-action (CTA).

Tip from the professional:  Keep your profile as uniform as possible. This means: invest in good design that underlines your personal brand and runs like a red thread through your LinkedIn profile. This also includes the graphics you create for your posts.

Text posts - The LinkedIn evergreen

Most posts on LinkedIn are written in text form and published without attachments. This also has a logical reason: Nothing is easier than to write a few lines about a business topic, which currently occupies you and share it with the community. Text contributions can also be wonderfully automated via automation tools like Hootsuite or Later.

The disadvantage: Especially for LinkedIn beginners, it can be difficult to build a personal brand, exclusively through text contributions. Therefore, your content plan should have a colorful mix of image and text contributions.

Good to know: Like on classic websites, it is crucial for the algorithm on LinkedIn how long users linger on your posts. To increase this dwell time, many content creators work with provocative headlines that encourage users to click on "Show more".

Only then does the entire text unfold - which is then mostly read with sincere interest and not just skimmed over. So make sure to put your core message at the beginning and not to give away too much.

Image formats on LinkedIn

Pictures say more than a thousand words - this also applies to LinkedIn. If you look at the most successful personalities on LinkedIn, it quickly becomes clear that pictures are an absolute success factor, but it doesn't always have to be a selfie. Also quotes, statements, visualizations and infographics work on the platform.

Tip from the professional: Since most users use LinkedIn on their smartphones, it is advisable to publish graphics either square (1920 × 1920 pixels) or in portrait format (1080 × 1350 pixels) to give away as little space as possible.

LinkedIn slides as a reach booster

As last year, it also applies this year: If you want to be rewarded by the algorithm, you should make friends with LinkedIn slides. On the one hand, this feature is currently favored by LinkedIn - on the other hand, the dwell time also increases if users swipe through your posts. So it's no wonder that LinkedIn slides are currently true reach boosters.

It can also make strategic sense to rely on LinkedIn slides. Because here you can not only accommodate longer texts, but also many visual elements skillfully. Nowhere else on LinkedIn do you have the opportunity to achieve this information density while keeping the fun factor high. Good call-to-actions can be included on the last page and leads can be driven forward.

Tip from the professional: The keyword is "Snackable Content" - posts that can also be read quickly on the train or 5 minutes before a meeting and still offer added value. With LinkedIn slides, you can make it easier for your community to consume your content and find out who you are and what you do without giving the impression of a doctoral thesis.

How to create LinkedIn slides?

To create LinkedIn slides, you need to export your graphics as a PDF and upload them to LinkedIn. The platform then automatically creates the slides for you. This is how you proceed:

1. You can use the graphics program of your choice (e.g. Canva Pro). Choose 1,920 × 1,920 pixels (square) as the format.
2. Now create about 4-8 pages on your desired topic, working with as little text and many visual elements as possible.
3. The first and last page are most relevant. On the first slide, you make the topic interesting. On the last slide, you can place a call to action (Call-to-Action) like Liken, Follow or "Contact".
4. Finally, link the individual pages in the correct order to a PDF document and upload this with a short teaser to LinkedIn.

Using the same method, you can also upload classic PDF documents to LinkedIn - but this is not advisable, because nobody wants to read page-long letters in the smallest font size on the smartphone.

LinkedIn videos are still in its infancy

Whether Tiktok videos, Instagram reels or YouTube shorts - almost every major platform is currently developing into a video platform. Video formats are the future and those who recognize this development early have a clear competitive advantage.

It is also possible to publish videos on LinkedIn. However, videos are (still) not too strongly supported by the algorithm, which is why many well-produced, informative or entertaining videos go down in the newsfeed. But it is just a matter of time until LinkedIn increasingly aligns its algorithm with videos and a fundamental change takes place on the platform.

In short: Although video formats on LinkedIn are still in their infancy, as early adopters you can benefit in the future from publishing videos on the platform early on. Once created, short videos can also be used cross-platform (so-called content repurposing).

What you should pay attention to when creating short videos for LinkedIn:

• Videos in landscape format are more suitable for YouTube videos, while vertical videos can be used for a wide variety of social networks. The ideal video format is therefore 1080 x 1920 pixels.
• Cross-platform, short videos (up to 3 minutes) perform best. The first 5 seconds decide whether a user continues to watch the video.
• Linking to YouTube videos does not work well on LinkedIn because they lead away from the platform. You should therefore always upload videos natively to LinkedIn, not just link to them.

LinkedIn surveys - good for in between

A good possibility to get direct feedback are LinkedIn surveys. I like to use this function regularly to find out what my community thinks about current debates and which contents it wishes from me. So surveys not only serve self-purpose, but also provide you with a basis for strategic decisions.

Since LinkedIn surveys - like the LinkedIn slides - are pushed by the algorithm, these are currently visible everywhere in the newsfeed. In many posts, users complain about this condition. Therefore, never use this format alone and also not too often, but always anchor it in your content plan (2-4x per month are ideal with a high posting frequency).

Go live with the live format on LinkedIn

Recently, a lot has been happening on LinkedIn towards live formats. By now you can not only go live in video format on the platform, but also organize live audio events. Especially audio formats are appreciated on the business platform because they allow users to use LinkedIn as a "side-by-side medium" at work.

However, not all live functions are yet unlocked for all LinkedIn users. Especially the audio-only formats are reserved for range-strong creators who put the brand new function to the test. Ordinary people will therefore have to wait a little longer before they can publish their own formats.

LinkedIn Article: Share Knowledge through Longform Content

A good opportunity to publish longform content on LinkedIn is offered by the article function. With LinkedIn articles you can talk about your favorite topics without having to stick to a certain number of characters. LinkedIn articles are therefore the counterpart to a classic blog post.

Attention: Experience has shown that a LinkedIn article is little "snackable" - that means, the article may not go as viral as a short LinkedIn post with a graphic on the subject. So feel free to use this format occasionally to impart knowledge and show expertise, but always supplement it with easily digestible content.

Tip from the professional: If you decide to write a LinkedIn article, make sure it stays readable. Many people think longform content must necessarily consist of pure flowing text. However, it has proven, especially with long text formats, to create visually variety (e.g. many paragraphs, bold markings, banners and infographics, bullet points etc.).

LinkedIn Newsletter - invisible feature?

A few weeks ago I had published a survey on my LinkedIn profile and asked the community what she thinks about LinkedIn newsletters. I had already suspected the result of this survey: More than 2/3 of my community did not know the function yet.

And that's not surprising either: On a social network like LinkedIn, an integrated newsletter is completely unnecessary if it offers the same content as regular LinkedIn posts

After all, many users scroll through their newsfeeds every day because they want to stay up to date. My clear recommendation is therefore: Invest your time in good LinkedIn posts, which you publish regularly, instead of setting up a newsletter that nobody sees on the platform in doubt.

Conclusion: These are the most popular LinkedIn formats

If you want to become visible on LinkedIn, you have to invest in good content. For this you have many tools at your disposal that make it easier for you to create and publish the content.

In addition to pure text contributions, you should focus on contributions with pictures and LinkedIn slides. As soon as live formats are accessible for your profiles, you can regularly organize business talks in video or audio format. If you also dare to get in front of the camera and create short videos for LinkedIn, you still have the chance to secure an early adopter status in your industry.