The Art of Giving Engagement
Anyone who’s active on LinkedIn craves engagement. The likes, clicks, comments and shares are the currency of conversation. Not only are they scientifically proven to make us feel good, we know generating activity of this sort further exposes our content to more and more people, so the engagement has a circuitous, regenerative effect to it.
Of course, the endgame for many people on social networks like LinkedIn is a self-serving transaction or event of some kind. Ultimately, we want to form new relationships, generate increased brand exposure, secure “conversions,” and maybe even get hired along the way. So much time and thought are put into solving the simple equation: “What type of content can I create and share that will generate the most engagement?”
This is a natural question, and I’ve asked it of myself many times. But it’s not the only question. Or, put another way, there’s more than one way to get engagement on LinkedIn...and perhaps a better way is giving engagement on LinkedIn.
Bring the Wine
Chris Brogan calls it “bringing wine to the picnic,” crediting Conn Fishburn with the analogy. The premise is rather straightforward: Be the type of person who brings wine when you’re invited to a party. Don’t just show up, eat and drink, and go home. What can you offer to the group that’s of value? Think about giving, not getting.
How this works as a practical matter is equally straightforward. It’s a simple shift in mentality: Rather than asking something akin to “How can I get something out of this…” ask instead, “What can I give of myself that others would value and appreciate?”
For one, there’s a certain degree of randomness when it comes to generating significant engagement. One of my partner Jay Harrington’s most-engaged-with LinkedIn posts was written in under 10 minutes, on a lark, and posted on New Year’s Day, of all days. So sitting down trying to write the viral post is as big of a fool’s errand as a songwriter sitting down trying to write a number-one hit song. It’s the wrong approach, and it almost always fails.
Secondly, as Brogran points out, if you’re constantly trying to get people to engage with your content, or click on your links, or respond to a marketing pitch, you’re going to come across as “that guy” (his words), and people will tune you out.
So, let me tell you about the week I had…
A True Web Log
Remember when “blogging” was about logging your day’s events or experiences, much like you would with a diary? Well, allow me to share with you my “engagement” metrics from last week, and how I got there, in case it inspires you to think a little differently about how you approach your content/engagement strategy.
For me, last week was the first back from a weeklong vacation. Work had piled up, and time was scarce. And the calendar had gotten quite booked up while I was disengaged from managing it for several days on end. I knew it would be a challenge to spend significant time writing a blog post, or generating long-form content of any kind.
But you know what I did have time for? A comment or two. Or three...or several. I spent about 15 minutes in my LinkedIn feed, and was blessed to have a treasure trove of great content at my fingertips (thank you, smart people!). Post after post authentically spurred a thought, which I quickly captured in the form of a post comment.
In this way, I was giving engagement, not asking for nor expecting anything in return. Now it was me being generous with the likes and comments (and even a share or two!), knowing full well how it was helping the recipient in the ways described above.
But a funny thing happened along the way: My comments on other people’s posts generated 236 likes of their own, and an additional 312 comments in response to my comments. Granted, one of these posts was already something approaching “viral” on its own, so I had help. But I commented on that post by design—not accident. Not only was it fantastic content, but it was already generating significant conversation. So not only did I join the picnic, I brought the wine!
So far: 236 likes and 312 comments, and counting. Those are significant engagement numbers for most people on LinkedIn—and those would be great metrics, had a single post of my own generated such engagement—and all it took was a few generous comments!
The other serendipitous occurrence that happened without my engineering was that three people whom I’ve never met independently posted something I had written on our blog to LinkedIn—this post entitled, “How (Not) to Use LinkedIn as a Business Development Platform.” I never even posted this piece myself, but I was watching it generate all sorts of comments, likes and re-shares...most of which transpired while I was out of the office enjoying some family time!
So how is this an example of giving engagement, rather than getting engagement? More wine. I encourage people to approach their content strategies the way I do. Rather than asking “How can I get people to click on this?” I ask, “How can I help?” The article that was being linked out on LinkedIn apparently delivered enough value that it compelled others (practically strangers) to share it with their own networks.
Two Takeaways
My pleasant surprises that came along during a week in which I was “too busy to be effective on LinkedIn” should be reminders that you don’t always have to pen Wordsworth to have something to share on LinkedIn. Sometimes, it’s a simple gesture—a comment, a re-share—that’s enough to get the conversation going, and the engagement flowing. That’s lesson one.
Lesson two is that, if you’re consistently generating wine-worthy content, people will notice, and they will want to share it with the world, on your behalf. But it all starts by being generous with your expertise, and not always working overtly to generate inbound business opportunities. Nobody will share your sales pitch with their networks.
So not only is it better to give than to get, but it’s also true that giving begets getting. So get going giving.
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