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Although LinkedIn Creator Mode is free, it's worth considering if it's right for you. Our guide will take you through the ins and outs of the Creator Mode with plenty of examples you can use to inspire your content strategy. Dive in!
Introduced in 2021, LinkedIn’s Creator Mode is a profile setting that aims to help you reach more people and grow your influence.
Although the tool is free and does offer significant benefits, especially when you create content regularly, it is worth considering whether it’s right for you. So, ultimately, the question is: Should you use LinkedIn Creator Mode?
It’s time to find out! This post will walk you through the ins and outs of LinkedIn Creator Mode, complete with examples of successful Creators.
To use LinkedIn Creator Mode, you’ll first need to turn it on. To do this, you’ll log into your LinkedIn profile, click on the Me menu, and then click on View Profile. In your LinkedIn dashboard, you’ll find the Creator Mode option.
By default, it will be turned off, and you’ll just need to click on the Creator Mode option to turn it on.
When you click on Creator Mode, a pop-up window will open. Here, you can click on Next, and on the next page, you’ll be able to choose five topics you’ll create content about.
These topics will then show up as hashtags on your profile.
Keep in mind, though, that it might be possible that you won’t have the Creator Mode option in your dashboard. If this is the case, you don’t have access to the feature yet, but you can apply for it by submitting a request to LinkedIn’s support.
Once you’ve turned the feature on, you’ll notice a few changes on your LinkedIn profile.
For instance, the Connect button on your profile will change to Follow. You’ll also see your number of followers in your profile introduction.
If someone sends you a connection request, they also become a follower, irrespective of whether you approve it.
Another change you’ll notice is that your profile's Featured and Activity sections will move up and be displayed first. And you’ll also be able to add a link to your profile’s introduction section.
These changes mean that you’ll be able to showcase your original content over your work experience. This, in turn, allows you to establish your unique voice with any LinkedIn users who visit your profile.
Moreover, when you activate Creator Mode, you’ll become eligible to be featured as a suggested creator, which increases your chances of being discovered.
Ultimately, these changes to your profile and the ability to be featured as a suggested creator aim to help you grow your LinkedIn following.
Now that you’ve seen what Creator Mode is, the more important question is: Should you use LinkedIn Creator Mode? Answering this question requires a two-pronged investigation.
First, we’ll need to discuss the pros and cons of the tool, and second, you’ll need to consider your goals.
We’ve already mentioned some of the Creator Mode features that help you grow your LinkedIn following. However, it goes further than this, and the tool offers several other advantages. Unfortunately, it’s not only good news; there are some disadvantages to using Creator Mode.
Apart from changes to your profile, Creator Mode gives you access to a wealth of other LinkedIn features that allow you to attract a larger audience and grow your following. For example, you can send your own LinkedIn newsletter to your followers.
You’ll also be able to stream live video directly from your LinkedIn profile. Since video is becoming one of the pillars of successful marketing, this is a great way to showcase your skills, expertise, and industry experience.
It’s important to remember that you won’t get broadcast access automatically when you activate Creator Mode. You’ll need to meet the criteria before your access is approved.
In addition, you’ll get regular content tips and advice from LinkedIn that will help you produce more engaging content. And, as part of Creator Mode’s features, you’ll also get access to Creator analytics, which gives you deeper insights into how well your content is performing and if it resonates with your audience.
As mentioned earlier, there are some disadvantages to using Creator Mode. For instance, because the Connect button will change to a Follow button, you’ll likely get fewer invitations to connect. However, you can mitigate this with the correct strategy.
If needs be, you can also see who followed you and send connection requests to them.
Another drawback of the tool is that the Featured and Activity sections that move up will force your About section down. This makes it difficult for other users to see who you are and what you do at a glance, and despite this feature aiming to showcase your content, it could be a drawback without quality content.
Finally, not everyone on LinkedIn will be interested in the same content. You’ll need a powerful LinkedIn content strategy for Creator Mode to be most effective.
Another aspect that you’ll need to consider when deciding if you should use Creator Mode is your goals. In other words, you’ll need to consider what you’d like to achieve on LinkedIn.
For example, if you’d like to take a more personalized approach and be more mindful of who you connect with on the LinkedIn platform as a recruiter, Creator Mode will likely not be the best option for you.
In contrast, however, if you’d like to use content to grow your audience and following as a thought leader or business owner, Creator Mode could be an invaluable tool.
As Nancy Duarte, a communications expert, explains:
“A CEO has every bit as much of a need to connect with their clients and employees as all other parts of the company. Storytelling provides an avenue in which to do that. They allow people to see the very real person behind the company, behind the product.
The power of stories is that they connect people to each other, and they are far more likely to stay in people's minds and be retold than a regular presentation.”
In fact, if you’re a content creator, there are not many reasons why you shouldn’t use Creator Mode. Just remember to properly consider all the pros and cons before you do.
Now, is using Creator Mode as easy as activating the feature, creating content, and waiting for your audience to grow? It’s not as simple as that, and there are best practices that you’ll need to consider when using Creator Mode.
Like with most other business or marketing endeavors, you’ll need to develop a content plan.
So, you’ll typically define what content you’ll create, when you’ll post your content, and how you’ll encourage engagement around your content.
While there are some guidelines on how often to post, it will largely depend on your unique circumstances and audience.
When it comes to the type of content you’ll create, we’ll look at some ideas later.
We’ve mentioned earlier that you’ll need to choose five topics displayed as hashtags on your LinkedIn profile when turning Creator Mode on. We also noted that you’d have to create different content to attract the widest audience.
So, ultimately, it’s a balancing act to find hashtags that best illustrate your skills and expertise while, at the same time, attracting the largest audience possible.
First, pick three popular hashtags. You can find these hashtags using LinkedIn’s trending topics tool or even by checking what’s trending on Google or other social media platforms. No matter how you find these hashtags, they’ll attract more visitors to your profile.
Next, pick two hashtags that show who you are and what you can do. These can include hashtags relating to your products or services, skills, expertise, mission, values, and more.
Apart from choosing the right hashtags, you’ll also need to create the right content. Now, the question is: What is the right content?
Ultimately, this could vary from case to case, but generally, you’ll want to create engaging content that encourages other LinkedIn users to follow you. This might mean creating:
Post content with your unique perspective on industry news and trends. When doing this, you give your audience a view into how you approach problems and challenges and how you come up with solutions.
You’ll also show them more of your personality and give them something they can identify with.
Find trending topics or news in LinkedIn’s news feed and provide your commentary on these topics when sharing.
Showcase your skills and industry expertise.
Remember, a significant part of growing your network and following on LinkedIn is showing people that you can solve problems. As such, you must create content that shows other users that you’re a professional in your field.
Create long-form content that deals with specific subject matter in depth. Apart from content that shows your skills and experience as described above, creating long-form content allows you to delve deeper into specific aspects within your industry or profession.
This helps you establish yourself as an expert in your field and a valuable resource other people will turn to when they have challenges they’d like to solve.
When you create long-form content on LinkedIn, it will be indexed by search engines like Google, which means people can find it outside the LinkedIn platform.
Long-form content will also help you effectively tell your story on LinkedIn and establish the foundations for your brand.
Finally, experiment with different content formats, from short-form posts and illustrations to LinkedIn Carousels.
Apart from creating your own content, you should also curate others’ contact that you’ll share on your timeline. And don’t forget, commenting and engaging with others’ content is also invaluable for growing your following.
One of the tools that Creator Mode offers is the ability to start your newsletter. This will allow you to share content, videos, audio, PDFs, and other assets with your audience. You’ll be able to reach your audience even when they are not actively browsing or searching on LinkedIn.
If available, you should create or live-stream video content for your audience. Like some of the content options mentioned earlier, video content allows you to demonstrate your skills and experience and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
However, it also offers an added benefit: when your audience sees you speak, they’ll learn more about your personality, and you’ll build deeper relationships with them.
Finally, one of the most important things you should do when creating content on LinkedIn to grow your network is to be consistent.
Simply put, if you only create and post content once in a while, you won’t gather much momentum on the platform, and growing your following, if it happens, will take ages. You can almost think of it as an investment – the more you invest, the higher your returns will be. So this means you’ll need to create content on a consistent and regular schedule.
Now, if you implement all these best practices and guidelines when using Creator Mode to grow your following, how would you know if what you’re doing is working?
This is where Inlytics comes in.
Our platform provides valuable insights into your personal profile content’s performance so that you can see what’s working and what’s not. Ultimately, this means you can create more content proven to work.
This is exactly what Inlytics did for Daniel from Pactum Academy. As he explains:
“Before learning about Inlytics, I had to spend a lot of time to understand the performance of my posts. Now, I'm able to understand the performance of my posts and use the ones with the best performance to develop new posts.”
After all, what’s better than knowing exactly what works for your audience - and then replicating it at scale?
Supercharge your approach to LinkedIn Creator Mode. Get access to cutting-edge analytics for personal profiles that you won’t find anywhere else.
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