The LinkedIn Creator Mode Explained

In this edition of my newsletter, I'm going to explain to you what Creator Mode is on LinkedIn and what the benefits of using it are.

LinkedIn has made a LOT of changes in 2022 and is having a big push to increase the quality and quantity of content on the platform.

Not everyone is happy with the changes as most people have seen their content views and interaction fall as a result.

This is because content creators, or as LinkedIn describes them, people who regularly share content with their network that shows their expertise, start conversations about ideas and experiences and build communities around ideas, are being favoured by the algorithm.

So, it might be time to rethink your content strategy on LinkedIn (I'll talk about this in a future edition of this newsletter) and time to switch on Creator Mode to get yourself back in the game.

Doing these two things will help your content get more impressions and engagement and grow your following at the same time. And this is definitely something you want to be doing if you're serious about using LinkedIn to help grow your business!

Unfortunately, most people are really missing a trick by either not switching Creator Mode on in the first place or switching it on but not taking full advantage of some of its best features.

What can you do with Creator Mode?

Here are some of the things you can do when you're set to Creator Mode:

• Add topics that you frequently talk about as hashtags directly to your profile Intro Section, showing the topics you focus on, which makes it easier for people to discover and follow you.
• The main CTA button in your Intro section changes from 'Connect' to 'Follow' and a 'Follow+' link is added to the top right of every piece of content you post, encouraging people to follow you rather than connect with you. This makes it more likely that your following will grow.
• Your Featured Section is pushed further toward the top of your profile so people will be more likely to interact with whatever content you decide to put there.
• Your activity section shows only your original posts, rather than all your activities, encouraging people to read and interact with your original content.
• Your Activity Section also gets pushed further up your profile just underneath the Featured Section so it's more prominent.
• When someone sends you a connection request after you turn on Creator mode, they'll automatically follow you while they await your response. Even if you decline the invitation to connect, they'll still follow your posts until they manually unfollow you.
• You can add a link to an external website from your Intro Section and customise the link text. Click here for instructions to add a link to your Intro Section.
• You become eligible to be featured as a suggested creator for people to follow by LinkedIn.
• You can create a newsletter and invite all your followers to subscribe. Click here for instructions to create a newsletter.
• You get access to LinkedIn Live, enabling you to stream live video and notify your followers about it.
• You can host Audio events, enabling you to create communities, discussions and drive people toward your content and your funnel.
• You get access to Creator Analytics, enabling you to analyse how your content performs over time.

All-in-all you get a LOT of additional features that are designed specifically with content creators in mind!

How to Enable Creator Mode

From your Home page click on the image of yourself towards the right-hand side of the top menu bar and then click 'View profile'.

Then, scroll down to the Resources Section, just below your Analytics Section and click on 'Creator Mode'.

This opens up the Creator Hub window. Add your hashtags here. Note: research your hashtags before you do this! Understand which hashtags your audience is most likely to follow etc. This is a whole other topic that will be covered in an upcoming newsletter... 😉

Then scroll down to the bottom to the link that toggles Creator mode on and off. Make sure it says 'Turn off creator mode' before you close the Creator Hub Window by Clicking the 'Done' button in the bottom right corner of the window.

And... voila! Your profile is now in Creator Mode.

Who Should Use Creator Mode?

Just to be clear, Creator Mode is NOT for everyone. I would only recommend it for people that are trying to increase their following to a specific audience in order to increase awareness about the goods or services they offer by offering value through engaging and helpful content.

For coaches and consultants, it's perfect. However... you need to be willing and able to produce a LOT of content. And I don't just mean any old content. It has to be focussed on your field of expertise and most importantly, genuinely valuable to your audience.

You'll need to acquire some copywriting and marketing skills to get it right and you'll need a content creation strategy unless you want to spend all day every day just thinking up and writing posts!

I use the Hub and Spoke strategy that I learnt from Justin Welsh (worth following this legend of a man!)

This is where you create a piece of long-form content (the hub) such as an article or newsletter and produce several pieces of short-form content from it (the spokes) that you can turn into short, punchy posts that point back to the hub. Then in the hub, you have a CTA that points people to the next step in your funnel and so on.

When you have a system in place to help you do this and you can just choose from templates to create your content, it becomes very efficient. You can produce content quickly and effortlessly. If I didn't do this I would spend hours each day trying to come up with content. Now that I have a system I spend about 3-4 hours per week and yet I post every day.

If you're prepared to do this then you would do very well to switch on Creator Mode on your LinkedIn Profile.

If you're not prepared to do this I would have a serious think about your strategy on LinkedIn and if you are really taking the right actions to grow your following and hence your business!