Start focusing on the quality of what you’re sharing.
This is one of those “do as I say, not as I do” moments.
While I do aim for quality in my LI posts, for 20 years, I’ve been trying to break the habit of checking engagement metrics. It feels good when someone likes your post. It feels even better when the views climb and people jump into the comments.
We’re human. Validation feels good.
Recently, I left a comment on someone else’s LinkedIn post. The last time I checked, that comment had generated more than 200 likes and over 20,000 impressions. I believe that’s more engagement than anything I’ve ever posted myself.
For a brief moment, it felt pretty great.
Then I clicked to see who was liking the comment. There were practically no attorneys.
That was a useful reality check since all of my clients are lawyers.
A social media-savvy friend once told me these are vanity metrics. He was right.
The goal isn’t to reach everyone. The goal is to reach the right people.
If you sell a consumer product, maybe broad visibility matters. But if your audience is a specific group, 20,000 impressions from the wrong audience may be far less valuable than 500 impressions from the right one.
In my case, I’d much rather have a thoughtful comment from one lawyer who genuinely connected with the message than hundreds of random likes from people who will never become clients, referral sources, or meaningful connections.
So I’m reminding myself (again):
💡Create useful content.
💡Share ideas that help your audience.
💡Be consistent.
💡Build trust.
And stop treating LinkedIn like a slot machine (easier said than done 🤪.)