How Do You Get Followers on LinkedIn? Proven Tips

Growing your LinkedIn following isn't just about what you post; it's about giving people a reason to hit that "Follow" button in the first place. This all starts with your profile. Think of it less as a resume and more as a strategic landing page for your personal brand.

From the moment someone lands on your page, you have a split second to convince them you're worth their time.

Build a Profile That Screams "Follow Me"

Before anyone sees your content, they see you. Your profile is the digital handshake, the first impression, and your best chance to turn a casual visitor into a loyal follower. It needs to immediately answer one critical question for them: "What's in it for me?"

If the answer isn't obvious, they're gone. It's that simple. You need to shift your thinking from just listing your job history to actively showcasing the value you bring to the table.

Nail Your First Impression

People make snap judgments. A blurry headshot or a generic, default banner instantly signals that you aren't taking this seriously. Let's fix that.

• Your Headshot: Get a professional, high-quality photo. You should look directly at the camera, seem approachable, and project confidence. This is not the place for your last vacation pic or a cropped photo from a wedding.

• Your Banner: This is prime real estate. Don't waste it! Use a custom banner to declare your mission, show off your company's brand, or highlight a key value proposition. Treat it like a billboard for what you do.

• A Headline That Hooks: Your headline is so much more than just a job title. It's your elevator pitch. It should instantly tell people who you help and the results you get for them. If you're struggling, we've got an in-depth guide on crafting powerful LinkedIn headline tips.

Tell a Story in Your About Section

This is where you bring your professional journey to life. Please, don't just dump a list of skills and past jobs here. That's what the "Experience" section is for.

Instead, craft a compelling narrative. Talk directly to your ideal follower. What are their biggest challenges? How can you solve their problems? Let your personality shine through and build a genuine connection.

Your LinkedIn profile is your online business card, portfolio, and pitch—all rolled into one. When someone clicks on your page, they need to understand who you are and what you're all about within seconds.

This is your space to establish both credibility and personality. For a deeper dive, there's a great guide on how to write a winning LinkedIn profile that's worth a read.

Put Your Best Work on Display

The 'Featured' section is criminally underused. Seriously. Don't let it sit empty.

This is your personal portfolio. Pin your best-performing article, a link to your newsletter, a client case study you're incredibly proud of, or a video of you speaking at an event. It gives visitors a direct sample of the value you provide, making their decision to follow you a total no-brainer.

Create Content That People Want to Follow

Getting your profile just right is what gets people to click. But it's your content that makes them stick around.

If you’re only posting every now and then, you’re not really building anything. You need a solid content plan that gives people real value and signals to the LinkedIn algorithm that you’re someone worth paying attention to. This is the secret sauce for getting followers who are actually invested in what you have to say.

Think of it this way: you’re moving from random updates to building a library of resources. You want to make following you an absolute no-brainer for the right people.

Choose High-Impact Content Formats

Let's be real—not all post formats are created equal. Some just naturally pull in more eyeballs and engagement, which makes your life a lot easier. For instance, recent data shows that multi-image posts are killing it with the highest average engagement rate at 6.60%. They're perfect for telling a visual story or breaking down a complex idea into simple, swipeable steps.

Right behind them are native documents (think PDFs or slide decks) at 6.10% engagement, which are fantastic for sharing deep-dive reports or valuable guides. If you want to dig into the numbers, this breakdown of LinkedIn benchmarks is a great resource.

What's really interesting is the comeback video is making. Engagement for video posts shot up from 4.00% to 5.60%. This tells us people are craving authentic, helpful videos, not slick corporate ads. They want to see the real person behind the profile.

To help you decide where to focus your energy, here’s a quick look at how different content formats are performing on average.

LinkedIn Content Format Performance

This table compares the average engagement rates of different LinkedIn post formats to help prioritize content creation efforts.

As you can see, leaning into more visual formats is a smart move. But don't discount the power of a well-written text-only post to spark a conversation. The key is to mix it up.

Establish Your Core Content Pillars

You can’t be the expert on everything. If you try, you'll end up being known for nothing.

To build a loyal following, you need to become the go-to person for a few specific topics. These are your content pillars—the 2-4 core areas of your expertise that you’ll talk about over and over again.

Imagine you're a marketing consultant. Your pillars might look something like this:

• Pillar 1: SEO strategies for SaaS companies

• Pillar 2: B2B content marketing that actually works

• Pillar 3: Productivity hacks for fellow solopreneurs

This sharp focus does two critical things. First, it trains the algorithm to show your content to the exact right audience. Second, it clearly tells potential followers what they'll get by clicking that "Follow" button. If your pillars resonate, they're in.

Your mission is to solve one problem for one specific audience. Every piece of content should be a solution to a micro-problem that lives under the umbrella of your main mission. This clarity is what attracts and retains followers.

Once your pillars are set, brainstorming becomes a breeze. Just list ten questions your ideal follower has about each pillar. Boom. You've got a content goldmine to pull from. For a deeper dive into crafting posts that connect, check out our guide on how to write engaging LinkedIn posts.

Build a Simple Content Calendar

Consistency is your superpower on LinkedIn. It’s what separates the pros from the amateurs.

A simple content calendar is all you need to beat the "what do I post today?" panic. Forget fancy software—a basic spreadsheet is perfectly fine.

Just create a few columns:

1. Date: When the post goes live.

2. Pillar: Which of your core topics it covers.

3. Hook: The first line or two designed to stop the scroll.

4. Body: The main message of your post.

5. CTA (Call-to-Action): What you want people to do (e.g., "What's your take? Drop a comment below.").

Planning just one week ahead can completely change the game. It shifts you from being reactive to strategic, ensuring you’re always delivering the kind of value that makes people glad they followed you.

Use Engagement to Expand Your Reach

Putting out great content is only half the job. If you hit "publish" and immediately close the tab, you're missing out on the single most powerful strategy for gaining followers: genuine engagement.

Think of LinkedIn less like a blog and more like a massive, ongoing industry conference. You wouldn't just walk in, shout your opinion into the room, and then stand silently in the corner, would you? Of course not. You'd join the conversations.

Every thoughtful comment you leave is an opportunity. When you drop a nugget of wisdom on someone else's post, you're putting your name, face, and professional headline in front of their entire audience. Honestly, a single, sharp comment on a popular post can sometimes drive more high-quality profile visits than one of your own posts.

Master the Art of Insightful Commenting

Sliding into the comments with a "Great post!" or "Totally agree!" is a completely wasted opportunity. It’s the digital equivalent of a limp handshake. The real goal is to add value, to push the conversation forward. That's what makes people curious enough to click over to your profile.

A powerful comment really only needs a few key ingredients:

• Acknowledge their point: Start by referencing a specific part of their post. It shows you actually read it.

• Add your two cents: Share a quick, relevant story, a different perspective, or a smart question that gets people thinking.

• Keep it punchy: You're aiming for a few well-crafted sentences. This isn't the place to write a novel.

For instance, let's say you see a post about challenges in leadership.

A weak comment would be: "Good advice."

A much stronger, more engaging comment would be: "This really hits home. I once had a similar issue with a remote team and found a weekly 'wins' call completely changed the dynamic. Has anyone else tried something similar?"

See the difference? The second one proves you have relevant experience and invites others to jump into the discussion.

Engagement is a two-way street. If someone takes the time to comment on your post, acknowledge them. Meaningful interactions build relationships and encourage more engagement in the future.

This reciprocity is everything. When you consistently show up in people's notifications with valuable input, they're far more likely to check out your content and smash that "Follow" button. For a deeper dive, our guide on how to increase LinkedIn engagement is packed with more practical tips.

Use LinkedIn Groups to Find Your People

Don't sleep on niche communities. LinkedIn Groups are these amazing, concentrated hubs where your ideal audience is already hanging out and talking about the very topics you specialize in. Joining and participating is like getting a direct line to the right people.

But here's the trick: avoid just dropping links to your own content. That's a surefire way to get ignored or booted. Instead, focus on being ridiculously helpful. Answer questions, share what you know freely, and get involved in discussions.

This builds trust and establishes you as a go-to expert in that community. When people see you consistently offering up solutions, they'll naturally want to follow you for more. It's a pull strategy, not a push strategy, and it's infinitely more effective for sustainable growth.

Find Your Ideal Posting Cadence

Consistency is the single most important ingredient for growing your following on LinkedIn. I can't stress this enough. The algorithm loves it, your audience starts to expect it, and it cements you as a reliable voice in your space. This isn't about posting yourself into oblivion; it's about finding a sustainable rhythm that works for you.

For most people, posting three times a week is the sweet spot. Think Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It keeps you visible in the feed without the pressure of a daily content grind. If you're just starting out, don't sweat it. One or two high-quality posts a week is a fantastic foundation to build on.

Dial In Your Best Posting Times

You've probably seen those articles claiming the "best" time to post is 9 AM on a Tuesday. The real answer? It depends entirely on your audience and when they're actually scrolling. Your best friend here is your own LinkedIn Analytics.

Dive into your past posts that really hit the mark.

• What day did you publish them?

• What time did they go live?

Pay close attention to what happens in the first couple of hours. A flurry of initial engagement—likes are good, comments are golden—tells the algorithm your content is worth showing to more people. Don't be afraid to experiment with different times and track what happens.

Look, don't obsess over finding some magical, one-size-fits-all posting window. Consistency at a "good enough" time will always beat sporadic posting at the so-called "perfect" time. The goal is a predictable schedule that gets your audience in the habit of seeing you.

This steady effort really moves the needle. In fact, pages that post weekly see 5.6 times more follower growth than those posting less. When you consider that 40% of LinkedIn users engage with business pages every single week, it’s clear that just showing up regularly is your most direct path to growth. You can discover more about these LinkedIn statistics and see the data for yourself.

Batch Your Content to Stay Ahead of the Game

Here’s the secret weapon for staying consistent without the constant stress: content batching. Instead of waking up every morning wondering what to post, you set aside one block of time each week to create everything at once.

It’s a simple workflow that can completely change your approach.

1. Ideation (30 mins): Just brainstorm. What questions are people in your network asking? What's a piece of industry news you have a take on? Jot down every idea related to your content pillars.

2. Drafting (60-90 mins): Now, write. Get the rough drafts down for the whole week. Don't worry about perfection; just get the core message and a few key points on the page.

3. Refinement & Scheduling (30 mins): This is where you polish things up. Add a compelling visual, clean up the copy, and pop it into LinkedIn's native scheduler for your chosen days and times.

Adopting this process turns content creation from a daily fire drill into a manageable, strategic task. It means you always have great stuff in the pipeline, keeping you top-of-mind and building that all-important credibility with people who are just discovering you.

Measure What Matters for Follower Growth

Guesswork is the enemy of growth. If you really want to understand how to get more followers on LinkedIn, you have to stop just throwing content at the wall to see what sticks.

It’s all about creating a simple, powerful feedback loop: post, analyze, and tweak your approach based on what the data tells you.

LinkedIn’s built-in analytics are your new best friend. They cut right through the noise and show you what’s actually hitting the mark with your audience. Don't get bogged down by all the numbers; just focus on the few metrics that directly tell a story about your content's performance and impact your growth.

Key Metrics to Track

First thing's first: look beyond the vanity metrics. Likes feel good, but they don't tell the whole story. The metrics that really matter offer much deeper insights into what actually motivates someone to hit that "Follow" button.

Here are the essentials to keep an eye on:

• Post Impressions: This is simply how many times your content has been seen. A high number here means the algorithm is giving your post some love and pushing it out to more people.

• Engagement Rate: This is your golden metric. Calculate it by taking your total engagements (likes, comments, reposts) and dividing them by your impressions. It’s the single best measure of how compelling your content truly is.

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): If your post includes a link, this tells you how many people were intrigued enough to actually click on it.

By checking these numbers consistently, you’ll start to see patterns emerge pretty quickly. Maybe your text-only posts spark way more comments, but carousels get double the impressions. That's the kind of insight that helps you double down on what’s working.

For a complete walkthrough, our guide on LinkedIn post analytics is a fantastic resource.

Dig Into Your Follower Demographics

Your follower analytics are a goldmine of information. This is where you get to see if you’re actually connecting with the right people.

You might be creating fantastic content, but if it's attracting the wrong crowd, your follower growth won't translate into business results. Your demographics data is the ultimate reality check for your content strategy.

Take a hard look at the job titles, industries, and locations of your newest followers. Are these the professionals you’re trying to reach? If you're a B2B sales coach but you're mostly attracting college students, that's a huge red flag that your content messaging needs a major overhaul.

This is also a critical reality check about follower counts in general. The connection between how many followers you have and how many people see your content is surprisingly weak. Recent studies show the average user might only see posts from about 10-15% of the accounts they follow.

This just proves that the raw follower number isn't the prize; the quality and relevance of that audience is what truly matters. You can find more insights on this in this breakdown of how the LinkedIn algorithm works on useaware.co. When you analyze your demographics, you're making sure you’re building a community that will actually see and engage with what you post, creating a growth engine that lasts.

Common Questions About Growing on LinkedIn

Once you get serious about growing on LinkedIn, a few common questions always seem to pop up. Let's cut through the noise and tackle some of the big ones head-on so you can stop wondering and start doing what actually works.

One of the first things people want to know is how long it'll take to see real results. The honest answer? It varies. But if you’re putting in consistent, high-quality effort, you’ll likely start to feel some real momentum in about three to six months. This isn't an overnight thing—you're building genuine trust and authority, and that simply takes time.

Navigating Connection Requests and Burnout

Another big question is about connection requests. Should you just accept every single one that comes your way? In short, no. Quality beats quantity every single time on this platform.

Your goal should be to connect with people who are actually in your industry or part of your target audience. A smaller, highly relevant network that truly engages with what you post is infinitely more valuable than a massive list of disconnected contacts. A bloated network just means your content gets shown to a bunch of people who couldn't care less, which hurts your reach.

And what about creative burnout? It's a very real thing, especially when you're trying to keep up a consistent posting schedule.

The best way to deal with creative burnout is to get ahead of it. Don't wait until you're completely out of ideas. Build a system—like batching a bunch of content at once—and always have a few "evergreen" posts in your back pocket for those days when inspiration just isn't there.

This simple habit can be a lifesaver, helping you stay on track without draining your mental battery. For a deeper dive into more strategies like this, these Proven Ways to Get Followers on LinkedIn offer some great, actionable advice.

The Deal with Automation Tools

Finally, let's talk about automation. Are those tools that promise to auto-comment or auto-connect for you worth the risk? They might sound efficient, but they can backfire, big time.

LinkedIn’s algorithm is smart enough to spot robotic, inauthentic activity, and using those tools can get you penalized or even have your account suspended. But more importantly, they completely miss the point of the platform. You're here to build real relationships through real conversations, not fake ones with bot-generated comments. Sticking to authentic engagement is always the winning strategy for anyone figuring out how do you get followers on linkedin.

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