How to Get More Followers on LinkedIn

Before you can even think about getting more followers on LinkedIn, your profile has to do the heavy lifting. Think of it as your personal landing page. It needs to tell a compelling story, show off your value, and give people a very clear reason to hit that Follow button.

Build a LinkedIn Profile That Attracts Followers

Your LinkedIn profile is the foundation of your entire growth strategy. It's often your first—and only—chance to turn a casual visitor into an engaged follower. A profile that’s just a digital resumé is a huge missed opportunity. What you need is a strategic asset that works for you 24/7.

This means moving beyond just listing job titles and responsibilities. It’s about crafting a narrative that truly connects with the people you want to reach.

The sheer scale of the platform makes this non-negotiable. LinkedIn has blown past 1 billion registered users, with an incredible 2 to 3 new professionals signing up every second. With millennials and Gen Z now making up the vast majority of users, the competition for attention is fierce. A thoughtfully built profile is your best bet to stand out in this crowded room.

Craft a Headline That Communicates Value

Your headline is prime real estate. It shows up right next to your name in search results, in comments you leave, and every time you post. Don't waste it with a generic job title like "Marketing Manager." Instead, use that space to spell out your unique value. Who do you help? What problem do you solve?

• Generic: "Software Engineer"

• Value-Driven: "Software Engineer building scalable FinTech solutions | Python & AWS | Helping startups secure their financial data"

See the difference? The second one immediately tells visitors about your specialty, key skills, and the real impact you make. It’s a mini-pitch that hooks the right kind of people from the get-go.

Write an 'About' Section That Tells a Story

Your 'About' section is where you get to connect on a human level. Ditch the third-person corporate-speak and please don't just copy-paste your resumé summary. This is your place to tell your professional story.

Key Takeaway: Your 'About' section should be a blend of your professional journey and your personal mission. Don't just explain what you do, but why you do it. This narrative approach builds trust and makes you far more relatable.

Start with a powerful opening line that sums up your core mission. From there, detail your expertise, share a key accomplishment you're proud of, and wrap it up with a clear call-to-action. A simple invitation for people to follow you for more industry insights works wonders.

Optimize Your Profile With Visuals and Keywords

First impressions are almost always visual. A high-quality, professional headshot where you look friendly and approachable is non-negotiable. Pair it with a custom banner image that reinforces your personal brand, highlights your value, or even includes a call-to-action.

Take a look at how Bill Gates does it. His headshot is simple and professional, and the banner reflects his current work with the Gates Foundation.

It’s a simple combination, but it creates a cohesive and professional first impression that lines up perfectly with his personal brand.

Beyond visuals, you need to be strategic with keywords. Weave them naturally throughout your profile—in your headline, 'About' section, and experience descriptions. Put yourself in your audience's shoes: what terms would they search for to find someone with your skills? For a real edge, think about how pros like recruiters find talent. Understanding their candidate sourcing strategies can give you some great clues for optimizing your profile for discovery.

Finally, don't be shy about asking for powerful, specific recommendations. A good recommendation goes way beyond "She's great to work with." It should detail a specific project, highlight a key skill, and describe the positive outcome. These testimonials are powerful social proof that builds instant credibility, making the decision to follow you an easy one.

Develop a High-Impact Content Strategy

A polished profile is great, but it’s a passive asset. It just sits there. To really get more followers on LinkedIn, you need to be active. You have to give people a reason to check out your content day after day.

This is where a real content strategy comes in. It’s what separates the pros from the people just shouting into the void. Posting whenever you feel like it or without a clear point won't build a loyal following. A focused plan will.

The idea isn't just to "post more." It's to consistently deliver value that actually solves problems, gets people talking, and makes you someone they need to follow. Forget trying to appeal to everyone. Your real power is in finding your niche and owning it with your unique voice.

Define Your Core Content Pillars

Before you even think about writing a post, you have to know what you’re going to talk about. These are your content pillars—the 2-4 core topics you’ll build your entire presence around. These pillars need to be at the sweet spot where your expertise, your audience's needs, and your personal interests all meet.

Think of it as a simple formula:

• Pillar 1: Your Expertise: What do you know inside and out? This could be anything from SaaS sales and project management to frontend development. This is your foundation.

• Pillar 2: Your Audience's Pain Points: What keeps your ideal follower up at night? What are the questions they're secretly Googling? Your content should be their answer.

• Pillar 3: Your Unique Perspective: This is the magic ingredient. What are your personal stories, the lessons you learned from failures, or your contrarian takes on industry dogma? This is what makes your content truly yours and not just another generic post.

For example, a startup founder’s pillars might be "Bootstrapping a Startup," "Building Remote Team Culture," and "Mental Health for Entrepreneurs." That mix hits professional value hard but also builds a genuine human connection. It's how you become a must-follow.

Choose the Right Content Formats

The way you present your content is just as important as the content itself. Different formats do different jobs and click with different people. Mixing it up is key to keeping your feed from getting stale.

This simple workflow shows that great content isn't an accident. It's a deliberate process of understanding your audience, crafting a message, and making it look good.

It all comes down to a planned sequence: understand, write, and design. That’s how you get real impact.

To help you decide what to create, here’s a quick breakdown of what works on LinkedIn.

Effective LinkedIn Content Formats

Mixing these formats keeps your content strategy dynamic and engaging for a wider range of followers.

Pro Tip: Don't just post a poll and ghost. Once it closes, create a follow-up post. Analyze the results, share your own take, and thank people for participating. This doubles your content and gives huge value back to your audience.

Create a Sustainable Content Calendar

If there’s one secret to LinkedIn growth, it’s consistency. The algorithm rewards it, and your audience learns to expect it. But don't panic—consistency doesn't mean you have to churn out content every single day.

A realistic goal is 2-4 high-quality posts per week. A simple calendar helps you map your content pillars across the week, so you’re hitting your key topics without sounding like a broken record. You might share a personal story on Monday, a carousel with a technical tip on Wednesday, and a poll on Friday.

For those serious about growth, setting benchmarks is key. A healthy monthly follower growth rate on LinkedIn is typically between 2% and 5%. So, an account with 1,000 followers would aim for 20 to 50 new followers each month. However, with a really strong content strategy, I've seen smaller accounts pull off exceptional growth between 8% and 15% monthly.

This whole process—crafting, scheduling, and tracking—doesn't have to be a grind. A tool like Postline.ai can be a lifesaver, helping you turn rough ideas into polished posts in minutes. It uses AI to help with writing and formatting, and then you can schedule it all out.

It’s all about creating a system that removes the daily "What on earth do I post today?" panic. If you want to go deeper on this, check out our complete guide to building a powerful LinkedIn content strategy. That way, you can focus your energy on what really matters: creating content that connects.

Master Video and Visuals to Stop the Scroll

Let's be honest, the LinkedIn feed is a fast-moving river of text. If you want to get noticed, plain text posts just don't cut it anymore. Visual content is your secret weapon to make people stop scrolling and actually pay attention to what you have to say.

If you're serious about getting more followers on LinkedIn, you have to get good at visuals. It's not about becoming a professional videographer overnight, but you do need a strategy to make your content more engaging and shareable.

Why Native Video Is a Growth Engine

Uploading your videos directly to LinkedIn—what we call native video—is one of the most powerful things you can do for your reach. The platform's algorithm loves it and gives native video a serious boost over links to YouTube or other sites.

And these videos don't need to be Hollywood productions. In fact, authentic, short-form clips often perform the best. They build a real connection and show the human side of your professional brand.

Here are a few simple video ideas to get you started:

• Quick Tip Tutorials: Share a 60-second tip from your area of expertise. A software developer could record a quick screencast of a coding shortcut.

• Behind-the-Scenes Looks: Give your network a peek into your workday. A project manager could do a quick walkthrough of their team's Kanban board.

• Brief Expert Interviews: Record a short chat with a colleague or industry peer about a trending topic.

To make your videos pop, the technical details matter. Crisp audio is a must. Learning how to remove background noise is a game-changer for making your content feel professional. Also, keep your videos between 30 and 90 seconds, and always add subtitles—most people watch with the sound off.

Design Compelling Carousels and Infographics

Beyond video, carousels (which you upload as a PDF) are absolute gold for follower growth. They break down complex ideas into simple, swipeable stories that really hold a user's attention. Think of them as mini-presentations that deliver a ton of value in a bite-sized package.

Key Insight: Carousels are so effective because they boost "dwell time"—how long someone spends on your post. When a user swipes through your document, it signals to the algorithm that your content is engaging, which can seriously increase its reach.

Great carousels often walk through a process, share a list of actionable tips, or turn a blog post into a visual summary. Use a clean design, keep the text on each slide minimal, and make sure the first slide has a bold, intriguing title to get that first click.

The numbers don't lie. Video uploads have jumped by 34% in recent years and generate 1.4 times more engagement than other formats. This isn't just a trend; it's a statistically proven strategy for anyone looking to grow their following on LinkedIn.

Tools like Postline.ai can help you quickly design and schedule visually appealing content, so you’re never scrambling for something to post.

As you can see, you can easily add media to your scheduled posts, making sure your visual content fits seamlessly into your overall strategy.

Whether it’s a quick video tip or an insightful carousel, visual content makes your profile a more dynamic and valuable place to be. This variety doesn't just keep your current audience hooked; it makes your content far more shareable, helping you reach new networks and potential followers.

Engage Smartly to Accelerate Follower Growth

Look, creating and publishing content is only half the battle. Your posts can be brilliant, but if they just sit there gathering digital dust, you're missing the single biggest catalyst for growth. Strategic engagement is the fuel that boosts your visibility, builds a real community, and ultimately helps you get more followers on LinkedIn.

Think of it this way: every post is an invitation to a conversation. Engagement is what happens when people accept that invitation. This isn't just about being "active" for the sake of it; it's about making every single interaction count.

I'll take a sustainable routine focused on high-impact activities over sporadic, aimless scrolling any day of the week. The goal is simple: spark conversations that draw the right people back to your profile, genuinely intrigued by what you have to say.

Go Beyond "Great Post"

Leaving thoughtful, value-driven comments is arguably the most underrated growth tactic on LinkedIn. It’s your chance to showcase your expertise on someone else's stage, grabbing the attention of not just the original poster but their entire audience.

Generic replies like "Great post!" or "Thanks for sharing" are completely invisible. They add zero value and do nothing to make you stand out. You need to do better. Aim to leave comments that either add to the conversation, ask a clarifying question, or offer a unique perspective.

Let's say you see a post about new marketing trends:

• Weak Comment: "Nice insights." (Might as well be invisible.)

• Strong Comment: "This is a great point on AI's impact. We've seen a similar trend with our clients, but found that the real win comes from combining AI-generated copy with a final human edit for brand voice. Has anyone else found that balance to be key?"

See the difference? This type of comment immediately positions you as a knowledgeable peer and invites further discussion. It makes people curious enough to click on your profile and see who you are.

Develop a Daily Engagement Routine

Consistency is everything. I'm not talking hours here. Just dedicate 15-20 minutes each day to intentional engagement. This small habit can have a massive impact on your follower growth over time.

Your daily routine could look something like this:

1. Check Your Notifications: First things first, reply to every single comment on your own posts. This is non-negotiable. It shows you're present and value the input.

2. Engage with Target Connections: Identify 5-10 key people in your industry—peers, potential clients, or thought leaders—and leave meaningful comments on their latest content.

3. Explore Your Feed: Scroll your feed for just 5 minutes and leave 2-3 insightful comments on other interesting posts that catch your eye.

Key Takeaway: Replying to comments on your own content does more than just build community. It’s a powerful signal to the LinkedIn algorithm that your post is valuable and generating conversation, which often results in the algorithm showing it to more people.

Master the Art of Replying

How you respond on your own turf matters immensely. When someone takes the time to comment on your content, they are giving you a gift. Honor it with a genuine reply.

Don't just "like" their comment and move on. Acknowledge their point and, if possible, ask a follow-up question to keep the conversation going. This back-and-forth in your comments section is pure gold for the algorithm and shows potential followers that you are an engaged and accessible expert.

Of course, the foundation of all this engagement is having something valuable to talk about in the first place. You can learn more about how to create content that naturally sparks these conversations in our guide on how to write engaging LinkedIn posts. By combining great content with smart engagement, you create a powerful cycle that consistently attracts new, relevant followers.

Advanced Tactics to Expand Your LinkedIn Reach

Once your profile is sharp and your content engine is humming along, it's time to layer in some advanced strategies. These are the tactics top creators use to break through growth plateaus and pull in more followers by tapping into networks beyond their immediate feed.

This is where you shift from just broadcasting your message to strategic community building. It’s about moving away from waiting for followers to find you, and instead, actively placing yourself in the digital rooms where they already hang out.

Get Active in Niche LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn Groups are often overlooked goldmines for connecting with professionals in your field. The key, however, is to be a contributor, not a self-promoter. Just dropping links to your latest post is a surefire way to get ignored or even kicked out.

The real magic happens when you participate in existing conversations. Find active groups in your specific niche, join them, and spend some time just listening. Jump in to answer questions, offer a unique perspective on a discussion, or provide genuine value without asking for anything in return.

When you consistently show up as a helpful expert, people will naturally get curious. They'll click over to your profile, and that's when they hit "Follow."

For instance, if you're a product manager, don't just post your own articles. Find a thread where someone is struggling with roadmap prioritization. A single thoughtful, detailed response from you is far more powerful than any self-promotional post you could write.

Expert Insight: Think of LinkedIn Groups as professional communities, not content distribution channels. Your goal is to build relationships and establish credibility by being genuinely helpful. The followers will come as a natural byproduct of the trust you earn.

Publish LinkedIn Articles for Deeper Authority

While short-form posts are great for daily engagement, LinkedIn Articles are your secret weapon for building deep, lasting authority. Think of them as blog posts that live directly on your profile, allowing you to explore topics in much greater detail than a standard post ever could.

Even better, LinkedIn Articles are indexed by Google. This is huge. It means a well-written, keyword-optimized article can start pulling in followers from outside the LinkedIn platform, giving you a serious SEO advantage.

Use Articles to:

• Go deeper on a popular post: Did a short post get a ton of comments and likes? That's your audience telling you they want more. Turn it into a full-length article.

• Share compelling case studies: Walk people through a successful project, detailing the challenge, your process, and the impressive results.

• Present original research or data: If you've gathered unique data or insights, publishing them in an Article positions you as a true thought leader in your space.

This tactic is a cornerstone of building real influence. To see how it fits into the bigger picture, check out our guide on how to build a personal brand on LinkedIn.

Use Strategic Mentions and Collaborations

Tagging people with an ‘@’ mention can be a powerful way to expand your post’s visibility—but only if you use it correctly. The key is relevance, not volume. Blasting a post with tags for a dozen influencers hoping for a share is just spam. Don't be that person.

Instead, tag people or companies only when they are directly relevant to your post. For example, if you're writing about a great experience you had with a particular software, tag the company. If you're quoting an expert or building on one of their ideas, tag them to give them credit. This puts your content on their radar and exposes it to their network in a natural, authentic way.

Beyond simple mentions, you can take it a step further by actively collaborating with other creators in your space. This could mean co-hosting a LinkedIn Live, co-authoring an article, or even just creating content that highlights each other's work. By partnering up, you get direct access to a brand new, highly relevant audience that's already primed to be interested in what you have to say.

For truly exponential growth, you can even explore viral marketing strategies to amplify these collaborative efforts and attract followers at scale.

Your Top LinkedIn Follower Questions, Answered

As you start getting serious about growing on LinkedIn, you're bound to run into some questions. It's totally normal. The road to more followers isn't a straight line—it’s full of little adjustments, hitting roadblocks, and figuring out what actually moves the needle.

So, let's tackle some of the most common questions that come up when you're trying to build a real, engaged following. Here are some clear, straight-up answers from my own experience.

How Long Does It Really Take to Grow?

This is the big one, isn't it? Everyone wants to know the timeline. While you can see some small wins almost right away by making a few smart tweaks, real, noticeable growth is a game of consistency.

Frankly, you should plan on putting in dedicated effort for three to six months before you see truly meaningful results. That means consistently creating great content and actually talking to people in your network several times a week.

Key Insight: Follower growth on LinkedIn is a snowball effect. Getting those first 1,000 followers is often the hardest part. But as your audience gets bigger, your content's reach expands, and the next 1,000 come much, much faster.

Don't let a slow start get you down. Every single creator you admire started at zero. The trick is to build a routine you can actually stick with for the long haul.

Should I Connect With People or Just Have Them Follow Me?

This is a fantastic strategic question, and the answer is crucial for scaling. For pure audience growth, you absolutely want to push people to Follow you instead of connecting. There's a very practical reason for this: you can have an unlimited number of followers, but your direct connections are capped at 30,000.

It’s super easy to change the main button on your profile from "Connect" to "Follow" right in your LinkedIn settings. A simple switch like this funnels new audience members into the follower camp, saving your precious connection limit for relationships that really matter.

• Connections: Keep these for people you want a genuine, two-way relationship with. Think colleagues, high-value prospects, or strategic partners.

• Followers: This is for everyone else who wants to keep up with your content. It lets you build a massive audience without cluttering your personal network.

Understanding this difference is fundamental if you're serious about growth. If you want to dig deeper, our detailed guide on how to grow LinkedIn followers breaks down this and other foundational strategies you need to know.

How Often Should I Be Posting?

The age-old debate: quality vs. quantity. On LinkedIn, consistency trumps pure frequency every single time. The algorithm heavily favors high-quality, engaging content over daily, low-value posts that just add to the noise.

A great starting point is 2-3 high-quality posts per week. This is a realistic and effective pace for most people. It gives you enough breathing room to create something genuinely valuable without disappearing from your followers' feeds.

Just posting for the sake of posting can actually set you back. If your content consistently bombs (low engagement), the algorithm learns to show your future posts to fewer people. It's far better to publish one incredible post than five mediocre ones. This is more true than ever as the platform explodes in size. Between 2019 and 2025, LinkedIn's user base shot up from 644 million to over 1.15 billion. You can discover more insights about LinkedIn's growth from Cognism.com.

Your goal should be to become a trusted, reliable source of insights, not just another voice shouting into the void. Pour your energy into creating content that truly helps your audience, and the followers will naturally follow.

Ready to put these ideas into practice? Stop staring at a blank screen and start creating content that pulls in followers. Postline.ai is your AI sidekick for writing, refining, and scheduling high-impact LinkedIn posts in just a few minutes. It helps you brainstorm ideas, find fresh research, and write in your own voice, so you can build your audience without the burnout.

Start growing your LinkedIn presence with Postline.ai today!