LinkedIn Playbook for Startup Founders

With a user base of 930 million individuals and over 75 million businesses as of 2023, LinkedIn is “the” place to be for any startup looking to grow.

When used strategically, LinkedIn can enhance your startup's visibility, allow you to establish connections with your customer base, fast track the growth of your business, and even help you find new investors. 

The most important piece of advice? 

Don't think of LinkedIn as your CV, an extension of your website, or your pitch deck. This is a platform that allows you to show your vision and leadership, and engage genuinely with peers, mentors, prospects, and industry enthusiasts.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In this playbook, you will find a comprehensive guide for startup founders, outlining essential strategies and tactics to maximize your presence on LinkedIn and drive sustainable growth.

Starting point

LinkedIn as a platform is constantly changing, meaning your strategy will likely need to adapt. However, there are some general marketing “rules” that are most likely not going to lose relevance.

Let's take a look.

Publish relevant, high-quality content consistently

This first one is a no-brainer –  you can’t grow your LinkedIn page if you don’t publish content. Create a content strategy and start posting at least once a week. 

Once you understand a little better what your audience likes and what drives growth, increase the number of posts—2-3 posts per week are optimal for remaining consistent and staying top-of-mind. It’s all about cadence. 

But it's not about creating content or posts just for the sake of it. You need to be relevant to your industry and target audience.

How? By addressing their problems, pain points, concerns, and objections. And you certainly can’t do that if you haven’t identified your niche. Sometimes it really helps to have someone specifically in mind when ideating and creating your content. 

Pro tip: Try to plan for the week ahead and have some posts done ahead of you, so you don’t have to start the day with the dreaded writer’s block.

Find your voice (and broadcast it)

It doesn’t matter what social network you are in: people want to talk to people. Companies? Not so much. 

So either on your personal page or your startup’s, don’t forget to share your vision and point of view of the industry you are trying to establish. 

Humor is a powerful way to build genuine connections with your potential customers. 

Another one is storytelling. Share your startup’s story, your wins, and struggles, how you got the idea…you get it. People love hearing about the “backstage” of things.

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Other growth hack is to find the “enemy” you share with your audience (whether is climate change, work from office or lack of women representation in leadership roles) and create content that helps you get an emotional reaction. The “Us vs. Them” point of view is always a great way to resonate with your followers.

Friendly reminder: If you are posting news articles or links of any kind, be sure not to link them directly in your post, as the algorithm seems to penalize this.

Experiment with different content formats 

LinkedIn supports multiple content formats for a reason. Mix text, images, carousels, and even videos to see what performs better with your audience. 

It is known that the platform prioritizes some formats more than others. Carousels are the cherry on top. First, they’re great for increasing brand awareness because you can add your logo, visual branding, and contact info to the document. Users can also download them to view later. 

Second, they increase your visibility and get more reach. As your audience flips through the pages of the document, the retention rate and click-through rate of the post increase, thus, boosting your reach. 

Anyway, the key is in the mix. These last days, we’ve heard that LinkedIn is currently experimenting with a TikTok-like video feed in its app, so you have to keep that on the radar too. 

Either way you go, don’t forget to keep your images and videos high quality.

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Build a strong and strategic network

You should be aiming to engage not only with your peers but also thought leaders, potential customers, partners, and industry influencers. 

Personalize your connection requests with a brief note about mutual interests or potential collaborations. Don’t sound too salesy. There’s a lot of spam going on and you might not be accepted if it looks like you are just trying to sell something. 

You should also try to become an active participant in LinkedIn groups related to your industry or niche. This can be a valuable way to network, share ideas, and establish your expertise.

Don't forget to leverage your alumni networks, which can be a goldmine for making connections that matter. Reconnect with former colleagues, professors, or alumni who might be valuable allies for your startup.

Stay informed about the latest industry trends and insights by following relevant hashtags, topics, and influencers.

Pro tip: remember the power of face-to-face interactions.  Turn online connections into real-world relationships by attending industry events and conferences and sharing your profile in your presentations cards (either digital or in paper, with a QR). 

Engage

One of the most powerful LinkedIn exposure tactics for startups is also the most underutilized – leaving comments. 

Doing so will quickly get you exposure (it’s said the algorithm loves this), build authority in your niche, and provide you with content for your own posts. 

The more you comment, the more likely LinkedIn is going to share your posts in the future.

To make it even easier for you, LinkedIn now suggests topics on which you could comment or contribute, so don’t miss that chance (be sure you have those notifications on).

Use newsletters and collaborative articles 

Newsletters are snowballing on LinkedIn. As of 2023, there were 63,000 newsletters on the platform—10x more than the previous year—and there’s a good reason for this. 

Newsletters help you grow your audience and connect with them more deeply. You can create a LinkedIn newsletter by activating Creator Mode or from your company page. The best part? You can invite all of your followers to subscribe with one click. 

Collaborative articles, on the other hand, are another great and easy way to increase the number of eyes on your company page. Find articles relevant to your audience and add your two cents—share your expertise and vision. 

Optimize your page for SEO

Did you think SEO only applied to search engines like Google? Not anymore.  Use relevant keywords to boost your SEO and draw in more audience in everything you create on LinkedIn – your personal profile, company page, posts, articles, and newsletters.

Your company page needs to be filled out completely – profile picture and banner, info about your product/service, relevant links, custom URL, and accurate, up-to-date information are a must. 

Your personal LinkedIn headline should not only state your role but also your value proposition. Your summary should reflect your passion, expertise, and the mission of your startup. Think of it as an elevator pitch.

You can also improve the reach of your content by using relevant hashtags and tagging people or organizations when mentioning them in your posts.

Drive traffic from your personal page

If you’re a startup founder and you want to build a successful LinkedIn company page you should definitely consider posting content yourself. 

Posts shared by the founder or the employees of a startup get 561% more reach than posts from company pages. 

By publishing content yourself, you can be more personal, thus generating more leads and talking to prospects directly. Make sure to tag the company page when you mention it in your posts, and direct your audience to it. Share it and amplify its content. 

Analyze, learn, and do better

Track the performance of your company page and content using LinkedIn Analytics. 

Evaluate your profile, company page, engagement rates, and network growth. Based on these insights, adapt your strategy.

You should also experiment with different types of content, posting times, and engagement tactics to see what yields the best results for your specific audience.

Don’t analyze data just for the sake of it. The focus is on understanding what content resonates and refining your strategy accordingly.

Pro tip: Be patient and consistent. Building a strong presence on LinkedIn takes time and consistent effort. Don't get discouraged by slow initial traction.

A little help from LinkedIn

There are a tons of tools and resources that LinkedIn offers that can be really useful in your road to creating traction. 

Here are some of them:

Linkedin Sales Navigator:

If your startup is B2B, consider investing in LinkedIn Sales Navigator. This tool can help you find and connect with potential leads and decision-makers.

LinkedIn Events:

Use LinkedIn Events to promote webinars, online workshops, or networking events. This can boost your visibility and establish your position in the industry.

LinkedIn Publishing Platform: 

Take advantage of the LinkedIn publishing platform to amplify your reach and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

LinkedIn Live: 

Host live events and Q&A sessions with LinkedIn Live to engage with your audience in real time and showcase your expertise.

LinkedIn Ads: 

Explore LinkedIn advertising options to target specific demographics, promote your startup, and generate leads.

Remember, your LinkedIn page is more than just an online CV or company brochure; it's an ever-evolving component of your startup's story.

Sharing your startup's journey (and yours as a founder), participating in discussions, and providing value to your network will cement your reputation as a knowledgeable and trustworthy entrepreneur. 

By following these steps and embracing a growth mindset, you can leverage LinkedIn to transform your startup from a fledgling venture to a thriving force within your industry. There are no shortcuts or magic recipes.

This takes work—lots of work—and time. So if your strategy is not giving you the results you expected from the beginning, don’t throw in the towel. Adapt until you make it. 

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