Influencer Strategy on LinkedIn

Struggling to cut through the noise and be heard on LinkedIn? Imagine having industry leaders who your ideal audience follows amplify your voice, bringing your content straight to your ideal audience. That's the power of an effective influencer strategy.

But what we’re talking about here is very different from conventional influencer marketing where you pay influencers to promote your products.

Instead, in this article, we’ll talk about how to engage organically with influencers on LinkedIn without paying for promotion. It's about building genuine, mutually beneficial relationships. When you interact with influencers, you help boost their presence while tapping into their audience. This organic engagement can dramatically expand your reach and help establish you as an authority in your field.

TL;DR: Want to harness the power of LinkedIn influencers? This article is your step-by-step guide to developing an influencer strategy. Here’s what we discuss in a nutshell: 

•  Identify the Right Influencers: Start by looking at who your ideal customers are following and engaging with.
•  Engage Meaningfully: Comment on influencers’ posts with thoughtful insights and questions to add value.
•  Leverage Their Audience: Share influencers’ content with your own commentary to position yourself as a thought leader.
•  Overcome Common Challenges: Use tricks like saved searches to keep track of influencer posts and stay consistent with your engagement.

So let’s dig in and figure out how to leverage influencers to build your audience without spending a dime.

Wait, Are You Paying Influencers?

“Influencer strategy on LinkedIn” might sound like a paid influencer program. But this is different. It's really just a smart way to get your message seen by more people.

Before you start thinking about paying someone to post about your product, let’s clear something up: the approach I'm talking about is very different.

This strategy is an organic, human-to-human approach. It's about engaging with influencers' audiences to build your own visibility and credibility. And it won't cost you a dime.

Let's break it down.

What is an Influencer Strategy?

An influencer strategy is all about connecting with well-known people in your industry. These influencers already have the attention and trust of your ideal audience. Instead of paying them to promote your product, you engage with them and their content to get noticed by their followers. Think of it as building relationships rather than buying ads. You comment on their posts, share valuable insights, and join the conversations they start.

Why is Influencer Strategy Important?

Why bother with this? LinkedIn is a busy place. With so many posts flying around, it can be tough to stand out. Influencers already have the audience you want to reach. By engaging with them, you get to "borrow" their audience. This boosts your visibility and helps you build credibility much faster than if you were going it alone.

What Are the Goals of an Influencer Strategy?

Here are the three main goals of an influencer strategy:

1. Increase Your Reach: When influencers engage with your content, their followers see it too. This means your posts reach more people without you having to do all the work.
2. Build Your Credibility: If an influencer in your industry interacts with you, it shows their followers that you’re worth paying attention to. This boosts your credibility.
3. Grow Your Audience: Influencers can help you attract your ideal audience. They can also help spark conversations that attract people to you. More comments, likes, and shares mean more engagement, which LinkedIn’s algorithm loves!

 In short, an influencer strategy on LinkedIn helps you get noticed, build trust, and start meaningful conversations with your target audience. So, let’s explore how you can make this work for you.

Step 1: Identify the Right Influencers

Now that we’ve got the goals identified, let’s find the right influencers. This part is crucial because the right connections can make all the difference.

Know Your Target Audience

Before you start looking for influencers, make sure you understand your target audience. Think about the people you want to reach. 

•  What companies do they represent? What industry are they in? Are there trends in that industry that are important to your target buyers?
•  Who are the people that influence decisions to purchase your offering? What are their roles in the company? Document the roles of each buyer persona involved in buying your offering.
•  What are the pain points that these personas experience? What are their areas of interest?
•  What problems are they trying to solve? 

Documenting this will help you find influencers who already have the attention of the people you want to connect with.

Define the Criteria for an Influencer

Not everyone with a large following on LinkedIn is the right influencer for you. Here are some key criteria to look for:

• Relevance: The influencer should regularly post about topics that are relevant to your industry and your target audience's interests.
• Engagement: Look for influencers whose posts consistently get good engagement. Aim for creators who consistently get 20-30 comments.
• Audience Overlap: Ensure that at least 20% of the people engaging with the influencer’s content are part of your ideal target audience.
• Consistency: The influencer should post regularly and maintain consistent engagement levels across their posts.

Three Approaches to Finding Influencers

Now that you have your buyer interests and your influencer criteria, it’s time to start searching for ideal influencers. This will take some time. So be patient with the process. Target identifying a list of about 10 influencers. Don’t strive for perfection here. Just get started. You can always modify your list over time.

1. Look at Who Your Customers Follow and Engage With

•  Identify three or four of your ideal customers who are active on LinkedIn.
•  Are they posting and getting engagement? You may want to identify them as one of your influencers.
•  Check out their activity to see who they are commenting on and reacting to.
•  Evaluate the content of those influencers by looking for posts with at least 20-30 comments. Ensure these posts have substantial engagement and that at least 20% of the commenters are part of your target audience.
•  Review other posts from these influencers to ensure they consistently attract the same audience and post relevant content.
  

2. Identify Speakers and Sponsors at Industry Events

•  Look at the speakers, organizers, and sponsors of industry events that your target customers attend.
•  Investigate these individuals’ LinkedIn activities using the same criteria as above: look for high engagement and relevant audience interaction.
•  Make sure that the people who comment and react to these influencers’ posts are also within your target audience. Again, aim for at least 20% relevance.
  

3. Use LinkedIn Search Functionality

•  Use LinkedIn’s search bar to type in relevant keywords for your industry.
•  Filter the search results to show only posts. Look for posts with good engagement—ideally 40-50 reactions and 20-30 comments.
•  Evaluate these posts to ensure the influencers meet the criteria discussed: high engagement and a significant portion of your target audience among the commenters.
  

4. Create a Saved Search

•  As you find your influencers, you want to be able to quickly find their posts with the click of a button. This video walks you through how to create a saved search using LinkedIn plus Chrome’s bookmark feature.
•  How to create a saved search in LinkedIn

By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to finding influencers who can help amplify your message and grow your LinkedIn presence. Next, we'll cover how to engage with these influencers to build genuine relationships and leverage their audience.

Step 2: Engage with the Influencers

Now that you've identified the right influencers, it’s time to engage with them consistently. This strategy not only builds your visibility but also helps the influencer reach a broader audience. Every time you comment and react to an influencer’s post, you signal to the algorithm that the content is interesting. This results in it sharing the post with some of your connections and followers. This boosts your influencer’s reach as well as increasing your visibility. Anyone who sees the post based on your comment will also see your comment first in the thread. Here are the steps to make meaningful connections and leverage their audiences to boost your own visibility.

1. Commenting Strategy

•  Be Thoughtful: When you comment on an influencer’s post, make sure your comment adds value to the conversation. Don’t just say “Great post!” Instead, share your insights, highlight your favorite takeaway, or ask a thoughtful question that shows you’ve really read and thought about their content.
•  Consistency is Key: Engage regularly with their posts. Consistent interactions help you become a familiar name in their notifications. This can lead to deeper interactions over time. I’ve made many friends on LinkedIn using this strategy.
•  Highlight Your Expertise: Use your comments to subtly showcase your knowledge and expertise. This can pique the interest of both the influencer and their followers.

2. Sharing and Adding Value

•  Share Their Content: When you share an influencer’s post, don’t just click “repost.” Instead, add your own insights or commentary. This not only shows respect for their work but also positions you as a thought leader in your own right. And the post accrues to your audience, not just the influencer’s
•  Tag and Acknowledge: When you share their posts, tag the influencer and acknowledge their contribution. This increases the chances they’ll notice your share and drop a comment. When the influencer drops a comment on your post, that brings his or her audience to you.
•  Curate Related Content: Create posts that relate to the influencer’s content. Mention their work and how it connects to your ideas or industry trends. This can start a dialogue and mutual sharing of content.
•  WARNING - don’t just tag an influencer in your content without adding something meaningful about why you’re tagging them. And tag only 1 or 2 people. It’s generally considered rude and annoying if you tag a lot of people. The last thing you want to do is alienate your influencers.

3. Building Relationships

•  Connect and Converse: Reach out to influencers with personalized connection requests. But don’t send a blank request. Mention specific posts or comments that you found valuable and explain why you’re reaching out.
•  Offer Help and Collaboration: Instead of asking for favors, offer something of value. This could be a collaboration opportunity or offering to help spread the word on specific posts. For example, you could encourage them to DM you when they need you to drop a comment on a post that’s not getting as much engagement as they’d like.
•  Build a relationship. Once you’ve engaged back and forth for a few weeks, invite them to a call to get better acquainted.
•  Engage Beyond LinkedIn: If appropriate, take the conversation beyond LinkedIn. Attend the same events, join webinars they’re hosting, or engage in other social media platforms where they’re active.

4. Leveraging Their Audience

•  Expand Your Reach: By consistently engaging with influencers, their followers will start noticing you. This can lead to more profile views, connection requests, and followers.
•  Connect with their Commenters: When you see good comments from people in your target audience, reply to their comment and then send them a connection request mentioning their contribution. When you engage with these people via DM, the more likely they are to see your posts. But do not pitch them. Start conversations.
•  Consistently Post Your Own Content: As people see your comments, they’re likely to go view your profile and check out your activity. They need to see something meaningful there. If they engage in your posts, they’ll be more likely to see your future posts in their feed. Ensure your LinkedIn profile and posts are polished and provide value to visitors.
•  Spark Conversations: Use the engagement to start conversations with the influencer’s audience. Respond to other commenters on the influencer’s posts and be proactive in engaging with new followers who found you through the influencer.

By following these steps, you’ll build strong, genuine relationships with influencers that can help expand your reach and boost your credibility on LinkedIn. Engaging with influencers is about mutual value and authentic interactions, which ultimately lead to more meaningful connections and opportunities for your business. Now, let’s look at how to create content that resonates with both your audience and the influencers you’re engaging with!

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Engaging with influencers on LinkedIn can be incredibly rewarding, but it's not without its challenges. Knowing these hurdles ahead of time and having strategies to overcome them can make a significant difference. Here are some common challenges you might face and how to handle them effectively.

1. Finding the Right Influencers

Challenge: Identifying the right influencers who genuinely align with your brand and have an audience that matches your target demographic can be difficult.

Solution:

•  Research Thoroughly: Spend time researching potential influencers using the criteria we've discussed. Look for consistent engagement, relevance, and audience overlap.
•  Take Your Time: Give yourself a few weeks to accomplish this. Finding one influencer a day over 10 days will give you what you need.
•  Test and Adjust: Don’t be afraid to test engagement with different influencers. Track which interactions yield the best results and adjust your strategy accordingly.
•  Look for Influencers Who Reciprocate: Not every influencer will engage reciprocally with you. So give them a few weeks of consistent engagement. If they don’t reciprocate, don’t be afraid to drop them and pick another. But don’t expect them to reciprocate every time you comment. They won’t necessarily see your posts in their feed. Honestly, if they drop a comment on 1 of your posts for every 20 you drop on theirs, count that as a win. You don’t need them to reciprocate for this strategy to work.

2. Initial Engagement Barriers

Challenge: Breaking the ice with influencers and getting their attention can be tough, especially if they receive a lot of engagement from others.

Solution:

•  Target Smaller Influencers: Don’t try this with huge influencers like Seth Godin or Adam Grant. In many cases, these people aren’t even doing their own posting, and they rarely respond to comments. Also, they attract so much engagement that your comment is going to get buried. Target people who get 20-30 comments for best visibility.
•  Be Genuine and Valuable: Start by engaging with their content in a meaningful way. Offer insights and ask thoughtful questions that add value to the conversation. If you can’t think of anything worthwhile on the post, scroll on by. It’s probably not you. They may have not written a post that’s worthy of engagement. (It happens to everyone.)
•  Personalize Your Approach: When reaching out directly, personalize your message. Mention specific posts or contributions they’ve made that you found valuable.
•  Show Consistency: Regular and consistent engagement will help you stand out. Influencers will start to recognize your name if you frequently contribute valuable comments.

3. Maintaining Consistent Engagement

Challenge: Keeping up with regular engagement can be time-consuming and challenging, especially with a busy schedule.

Solution:

•  Set a Schedule: Dedicate specific times each day or week to engage with influencers. Consistency is key, so make it a regular part of your routine. Fifteen minutes twice a day is more than enough.
•  Use Saved Searches: Use LinkedIn’s search feature to track down your influencer posts. Then bookmark that page. This will allow you to quickly find their latest posts. My video above shows you how to do this .
•  Never Automate Comments: You may be tempted to try tools that allow you to use AI to automate commenting. Don’t do it. These comments are obvious and add zero value to the post. I see creators complaining about this every day. They’re likely to either delete your comment or call you out for using AI. Neither is going to help your brand. You cannot automate a relationship with a human being.

4. Measuring Success

Challenge: It can be tricky to measure the impact of your engagement with influencers and understand if it’s truly benefiting your strategy.

Solution:

•  Track Engagement Metrics: Keep an eye on key metrics on your own posts such as impressions, comments, likes, and shares. These can help you gauge how well your engagement is resonating.
•  Track Profile Views: You should see a gradual increase in views, and they should be weighted toward your target audience.
•  Monitor Follower Growth: Pay attention to changes in your follower count and who is following you. This can indicate if the influencer’s audience is starting to notice you.
•  Analyze Conversion Rates: Look at how engagement with influencers translates into tangible results, like connection requests, messages, or business opportunities. Use CRM tools to track these conversions.

5. Balancing Engagement with Content Creation

Challenge: Finding the right balance between engaging with influencers and creating your own content can be tough.

Solution:

•  Plan Ahead: Use a content calendar to plan your posts and engagement activities. This helps ensure you’re consistently active without feeling overwhelmed.
•  Use Your Comments to Inspire Posts: Often, you can expand on your comment in a post of your own. Tag your influencer and thank them for inspiring the post. That may help get them to drop a comment on your post. I don’t recommend that you use LinkedIn’s feature to turn a comment into a post. That’s just a reshare and doesn’t get as much traction as an original post.
•  Repurpose Content: Efficiently use your existing content by repurposing it in different formats. For instance, turn a blog post into a series of LinkedIn updates. And don’t be afraid to reuse a post from a few months ago.
•  Collaborate with Influencers: Once you’ve built a relationship, consider collaborating on content with influencers. This can save time and boost your reach.

By being aware of these common challenges and implementing these solutions, you'll be better prepared to navigate the influencer engagement landscape on LinkedIn. The goal is to build authentic, valuable relationships that benefit both you and the influencers you connect with.

Want more help to develop your influencer strategy? Reach out to me.  

About the Author: Candyce Edelen is founder of PropelGrowth, where she teaches B2B entrepreneurs and sales professionals to build authentic, human-to-human relationships on LinkedIn. Her strategies have helped clients shift from spammy automation to genuine outreach, resulting in higher-quality leads and increased sales. Candyce is passionate about helping professionals build trust and create a reliable, predictable sales pipeline. She's also a firm believer that you can't automate a relationship.