LinkedIn Pulse is LinkedIn’s built-in blogging and publishing platform that lets members share long-form articles.
With over 830 million users on LinkedIn, Pulse offers immense opportunities for brands and professionals to build authority and amplify content.
This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know to leverage LinkedIn Pulse for maximum impact.
Table of Contents
What is LinkedIn Pulse?
LinkedIn Pulse, formerly known as LinkedIn Publisher, is LinkedIn’s blogging platform that enables members to publish long-form articles natively on LinkedIn.
Pulse articles appear prominently in follower feeds as well as on dedicated profile pages. Members can follow specific authors to get alerts when they publish.
For brands and professionals, Pulse provides a key avenue to:
- Share expertise
- Promote thought leadership
- Demonstrate passion topics
- Build authority
- Expand reach
- Increase engagement
Publishing valuable insights on LinkedIn Pulse showcases knowledge while boosting visibility.
A Brief History of LinkedIn Pulse
Here’s an overview of key developments with LinkedIn’s publishing platform:
- 2012 – LinkedIn acquires Pulse, an iOS news aggregator app, to enter the publishing space
- 2014 – LinkedIn renames its publishing platform from LinkedIn Publisher to LinkedIn Pulse, integrating the Pulse technology
- 2017 – LinkedIn revamps Pulse as the official blogging platform for members
- 2022 – LinkedIn launches full-screen Pulse articles for more immersive reading
After multiple generations, Pulse is now LinkedIn’s matured content publishing engine – one optimized for discovery and engagement.
Also Read – LinkedIn About Me Examples: Crafting Compelling Profile Summaries
Benefits of Publishing on LinkedIn Pulse
What makes LinkedIn’s Pulse such an effective blogging platform? The top advantages include:
- Built-in audience – Immediate visibility to your existing LinkedIn network and followers
- Strong discoverability – Content surfaces in Pulse sections, hashtags, and search
- Multimedia support – Insert rich media like images, video, presentations
- Mobile optimization – Content automatically reformats for seamless mobile consumption
- Audience targeting – Authors can select to share posts only with certain connections
- Engagement – Readers can like, comment, and share Pulse posts
- Analytics – Insights into content performance right within LinkedIn
- Lead generation – Pulse posts can include customizable lead gen forms
Publishing natively on LinkedIn amplifies your reach and impact exponentially compared to third-party blogs.
Who Can Publish on LinkedIn Pulse?
The ability to publish on LinkedIn Pulse was originally limited to Influencers and a select group of members.
But today, most members on LinkedIn can create Pulse posts by going to Write an article in the Publishing panel.
The only restrictions are:
- Your profile must be private profiles can’t generate public posts
- Student accounts lack publishing privileges
So as long as you have a standard public profile on LinkedIn, you can share Pulse articles.
That said, to maximize visibility, you’ll want to grow your network and follower base first before publishing extensively.
How to Publish on LinkedIn Pulse
Ready to share your first Pulse article? Here are the simple steps:
1. Compose your post
- Click “Write an article” in the LinkedIn Publishing panel
- Draft your post just as you would a regular LinkedIn post
- Add multimedia like images, videos, and presentations
2. Select your audience
- Choose to share publicly, with your network, or only with certain connections
3. Refine with advanced options
- Select industry tags, keywords, and location targeting
- Enable customized lead gen forms to gate-gated content
4. Preview and publish
- Preview how the post will appear
- Click “Publish” to share it publicly
The process makes it simple to create polished posts that resonate with your target audiences.
LinkedIn Pulse Post Best Practices
To maximize the impact of your Pulse content:
- Choose compelling topics – Address trending issues and questions your audience cares about.
- Optimize headlines – Use emotional, benefit-focused headlines that grab attention.
- Open strong – Lead with an interesting stat, question, anecdote, or statement.
- Showcase expertise – Share hard-won insights, perspectives, and advice.
- Get personal – Blend in commentary on your experiences and journey.
- Use rich media – Incorporate relevant images, embeds, videos, and presentations.
- Include CTAs – Close with clear calls to like, share, comment, and follow.
Optimizing content for engagement and amplification ensures your posts resonate on this powerful platform.
Also Read – A Complete Guide to LinkedIn Account Based Marketing
LinkedIn Pulse Post Ideas
Looking for ideas to inspire your first (or next) Pulse article? Consider writing about:
- Your top lessons learned in your career
- How you overcame early failures and challenges
- Advice and tips drawn from your areas of expertise
- Responses to current events impacting your industry
- Origins of how you got into your field
- Trend forecasts relevant to your audience
- Exploring controversial topics in your niche
- Case studies on client wins or projects
- Reviews of influential books you’ve read
- Commentary on studies and new research
- Behind the scenes of major career milestones
- Interviews with influential connections
- Unique applications for products/technology
- Roundup posts on resources, tools, or articles in your space
- Photo essays, like “A Day in the Life of a _“
Publishing valuable “how I did X” insights builds credibility with audiences eager to learn from your experience.
Driving LinkedIn Pulse Article Views
Once you publish your articles, keep these promotion strategies top of mind:
- Catchy headlines – Use emotional hooks like “The 1 Skill that Transformed My Consulting Approach”
- Compelling imagery – Incorporate visually dynamic photos and graphics to draw the eye.
- Hashtags – Include relevant hashtags like #socialmediamarketing or #employeestories
- @mention influencers – Ask leaders in your niche to share their thoughts in the comments
- Promote in messages – Proactively share your posts through LinkedIn messages and newsletters
- Pulse notifications – Encourage followers to enable alerts to get notified when you publish
- Lead gen forms – Gate key content behind lead capture forms to incentivize downloads
- Retargeting – Remotely promote Pulse posts via ads to engage visitors and followers
- Cross-promote – Share your articles across your other social channels
- Infographics – Create visual synopses of your posts as engaging imagery to share
Promoting articles across multiple channels and platforms maximizes consumption and amplification of your insights.
How to Repurpose Content for LinkedIn Pulse
Don’t limit yourself to only publishing original content on Pulse. Repurposing existing content can also be highly effective:
- Condense ebooks and reports into shareable excerpts
- Turn popular blog posts into a Pulse summary
- Re-share evergreen Pulse content seasonally
- Adapt conference presentation slides into articles
- Publish excerpts from your podcast or YouTube interviews
- Compile related Pulse articles into one comprehensive guide
- Convert webinar recordings into articles
- Feature infographics as standalone posts with added context
Adapt existing assets into snackable articles that align with LinkedIn’s formats. This amplifies their reach.
Advanced LinkedIn Pulse Features
Beyond basic posting, LinkedIn Pulse offers advanced functionalities to further amplify your content:
Lead Gen Forms
Attract and capture more leads by gating Pulse posts behind customized lead capture forms. Visitors provide contact details in exchange for downloading the full article.
Content Recommendations
The “Recommended for you” section surfaces relevant Pulse content from voices you follow. This increases discovery and shares.
Analytics
Pulse provides insights into post performance like total views, engagement, followers acquired, and content shares. Monitor metrics to refine efforts.
Saved Articles
Readers can save Pulse posts to curated collections for convenient future reference, increasing your content’s longevity.
Notifications
Followers who enable alerts receive notifications when you publish new articles, keeping your content top of mind.
Full-Screen Reading
Pulse’s immersive full-screen viewing option allows readers to focus on content without sidebar distractions.
Leverage these features to make it indispensable for audiences to follow and engage with your insights.
Also Read – LinkedIn Group Best Practices: The Ultimate 2024 Guide
Common LinkedIn Pulse Post Mistakes to Avoid
When sharing articles on LinkedIn Pulse be sure to avoid these missteps:
- Overly promotional posts – Focus on value over product pitches.
- Thin, low-quality content – Pulse rewards rich, meaty thought leadership.
- Overused formats – Mix up article styles and don’t solely post simple listicles.
- Weak headlines – Spend time crafting captivating headlines that draw readers in.
- Lengthy intros – Grab attention quickly in the opening lines before readers disengage.
- Off-topic multimedia – Ensure all images, videos, etc directly support the content.
- Infrequent publishing – Share consistently to stay top of mind vs posting sporadically.
- Ignoring analytics – Analyze metrics to identify high-performing topics and formats.
- Not promoting – Don’t expect organic reach alone. Proactively amplify posts through campaigns and messaging.
Remember these pitfalls as you refine your Pulse content approach to maximize results.
Key Takeaways
- LinkedIn Pulse enables publishing long-form posts natively on LinkedIn.
- Focus on sharing insights and expertise vs overt self-promotion.
- Promote posts through social channels, retargeting, and LinkedIn messages.
- Monitor performance metrics to identify winning topics and styles.
- Repurpose existing content like presentations and webinars into Pulse articles.
- Use lead gen forms, saved articles, and notifications to boost engagement.
You are publishing valuable expertise through Pulse positions you as an authoritative voice while expanding your reach.
The opportunities to educate and engage professionals through LinkedIn Pulse are immense. With a strategic approach, your influence and brand can thrive.
