LinkedIn Likes vs Shares - Which is Better?

If you share a link on LinkedIn it's because you want to draw the attention of your audience to something you find interesting. You are recommending they take action, look at a picture, read an article, visit a website, or do something proactive - with the hope that they in turn will share it. 

On the other hand, if you like a LinkedIn post, it's just a signal that you find something interesting and perhaps you want the originator to know that they hit the mark with their post.

Both sharing and liking LinkedIn posts are proactive ways for you and your team to share your companies corporate and marketing information and it's your individual way of expressing interest and value while creating more exposure and visibility of the message.

The LinkedIn algorithm decides, based on the posts value and interactions, to expand the message reach and show the post to more people. It has to do with how interesting the link in general is. So LinkedIn will also look at what the relevance of the link is, and how much interaction there is with the link. Usually the more interactions (clicks/likes/shares) the more reach the post will get.

And once the link matures, fewer and fewer people will interact with it and the link will get less and less reach. Slowly it won’t be shown anymore in people’s feed.

Here's the twist - to maximize the chance of the post getting maximum reach and exposure, try liking and sharing the post.

When you believe the post would be appreciated by your contacts, connections, target audiences, prospects, and even groups - like AND share a post.

Both methods will add to the value score that LinkedIn uses to promote content giving it greater visibility.

When I share a post, I have the option to share via public, connections, or in a group. Which is Best?

Think of all three options like an Inbound Marketing funnel. The top is broad - anyone can see that you’ve posted this update. As you go down the funnel to connections, only the people you have as connections (followers, colleagues and friends) will see the update. Finally, sharing with a group will only be seen within a specific group - perfect for niche markets to share very targeted content!

Groups are excellent targets, as you already know their interest, so providing curated content based on this interest is more likely to get quality conversions (but not necessarily “quantity” leads!). Gated content such as a Case Study, or an eBook Guide based on the groups interest are perfect. Public sharing is good for awareness, and grabbing more followers. And remember, the more authority your team garners through posts, the more you can utilize Sales Navigator and TeamLink.

What makes a Good LinkedIn Comment?

Whether it's a company update at a conference, a new blog, or infographic, keep these three tones in mind when commenting:

• What did YOU learn

• What can OTHERS learn

• And is it YOU?

Let’s say you’ve shared an "AI in the Contact Center" eBook. It talks about how AI will lower wait times, offer better customer service opportunities, and 3 other great trends to implement into business customer service strategies. So here is a comment suggestion. “AI isn’t here to take anyone’s job, and SkyNet isn’t going to ruin 2029 (hopefully). Check out how AI lowers customer wait times and 3 other great trends.”

Terminator movie references are pretty cheesy (even for me), but it makes it more personal. You do not have to make things funny, but you do have to make them you. B2B content is leaning towards more B2C type messaging. Tell a story, and be yourself, while maintaining a professional overall tone is important.

So, you have what you learned: AI isn’t a threat to jobs - quite the opposite! And you have what they can learn: They can learn about customer wait times being lowered and three other great trends. All while being conversational as opposed to corporate.

Why is this all important?

It's all about leads. According to recent statistics, LinkedIn is much more effective at generating Leads for B2B companies. Hubspot found that LinkedIn is 277% more effective than Facebook and Twitter in generating B2B leads. And according to LinkedIn statistics, B2B marketers reported that 80% of their social leads came from LinkedIn.

In addition, being active on LinkedIn shows that your team are positive contributors to the industry community, while maintaining a professional profile and connections is also important for everyone’s personal development.

So, login to LinkedIn periodically throughout the week. Share AND like your company LinkedIn posts and other industry content you find interesting. And remember to comment to make the interaction more personable.