What to post on LinkedIn during the coronavirus pandemic

To help brands keep their social media flowing, LinkedIn has issued a series of pointers designed to help brands establish an appropriate approach to communicating with their audiences. 

Its report says that “Conversations on LinkedIn typically reflect what’s happening in the business world. In January and February, the top two hashtags on LinkedIn were #marketing and #leadership. So far in March, the top two hashtags are #coronavirus and #COVID-19. 

On LinkedIn the number of articles about coronavirus increased by 17X between February 1 and March 17. The biggest topics of discussion we’ve seen on LinkedIn are perspectives and advice on remote working, social distancing, crisis management, business continuity, online learning, collaboration and more. For example, “remote working” searches on LinkedIn Learning tripled in March.

We’re seeing brands work through how they communicate with their audiences, from employees to customers, and have observed a set of emerging best practices.” 

Read on for easy-to-implement suggestions and best practises to adopt right now to help you stay connected, not just with your customers but with your team too. 

LinkedIn’s first recommendation for brands is to share their experiences – if you have sent your team home to work remotely for example, you could cover that in an update, letting your audience know how you’re getting on, the things you have learned and any tips you may have to help others going through the same thing. 

If you’ve discovered a wonderful app or tool that has made life easier, such as a service for video calling or team collaboration, you could also share that in your post. On the flip side, if you’re still figuring things out, why not ask for recommendations? Posting a quick question asking others how they are finding it and what works for them is a great conversation starter and could be a treasure trove of useful recommendations. 

Your posts are a gray way to recognise team members who have gone above and beyond in difficult times. You could share a throwback team photo or share a piece of feedback received from a client about a particular staff member. Of course, the standard best practise rules apply here; be authentic and transparent. 

Don’t forget the social element of social networking – that means taking time to respond to posts, like and share. Ask questions or leave words of encouragement, provide suggestions and recommendations where you can be helpful to someone within your network. Commenting also means that you’ll become more visible, raising your profile with connections of your connections. 

LinkedIn has also stressed the importance of seeking out trusted news sources and says it is working hard to ensure that accurate iformation appears in your feed. It advises, “LinkedIn's team of editors are bringing members trusted news featuring reliable updates from experts including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Following the latest news and simply sharing articles to your feed is another great way to take part in the conversation, and engage and inform your LinkedIn community.”

Here, be sure that you are sharing information from trusted sources. Act responsibly and consider if you trust the source of the news before sharing with your connections. Use hashtags as you would normally to aid with post and information discovery. 

Almost every business has been affected to some extent by the spread of coronavirus and it is likely that you are one of them. You may have had to switch to remote working or change timeframes for services. It could be that you are no longer able to offer some or have pivoted, and launched new ways to support your customers at this time.

Your social media pages are the perfect place to address how you are facing these challenges and the actions you are taking. Be open about sharing any changes that will impact on the customer experience, such as a switch to email only support or reduced customer service hours.