Top 5 LinkedIn Growth Hacks That Work in Nigeria

You have probably heard stories of Nigerians landing their dream jobs through LinkedIn. You have seen people share how LinkedIn opened doors to amazing opportunities. Every day, you watch as Nigerians celebrate gaining thousands of followers on LinkedIn.

In fact, if you check your LinkedIn feed right now, chances are you see another “I am happy to announce…” post from a Nigerian celebrating a new job, opportunity, or hitting a high follower count.

And I am sure you have also wondered why LinkedIn is not working for you even though it seems you have done everything possible.

Well, LinkedIn works but you have to know how to use it the right way.

In this article, you will learn some hacks and tips that will help you win on LinkedIn as a Nigerian.

5 LinkedIn Growth Hacks That Work in Nigeria

Here are some hacks that can help you win on LinkedIn as a Nigerian:

1. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

You have probably heard this on and off LinkedIn about how important it is to optimize your profile. Yet many Nigerians still sleep on it.

Optimizing your profile isn’t just a nice-to-have; It can also increase the chances of a recruiter reaching out to you directly. Here are some tips for optimizing your LinkedIn profile:

• Upload a cover photo and banner that clearly explains what you do, who you do it for and how you do it.
• Use keywords related to your job when writing your heading, about section, experiences and skills section. To find the right keywords, search for your job title e.g ‘content marketer’ in the LinkedIn job section. Then, click on a few content marketer jobs and note the skills they require. Finally, go back to your profile and include those skills in your headline, about section, skills, experience, and endorsements.
• Completely fill out your skills and experience section. It is advisable that you include every job experience you have ever had in your job section, including your NYSC experience. However, don’t just add your job experiences. Make sure to include your achievements and results.
• Write a compelling about section i.e a summary of who you are, what you do, and the value you bring. Don’t just copy your resume or CV on the about section. Instead, tell your story like what inspired your career path, the kind of work you love doing, who you help, and how you do it, your results, etc. Also, include keywords naturally while writing it. Finally, add a simple call-to-action like ‘Feel free to reach out if you’d like to connect or work together’.
• For each role you have listed in your experience section, add a link to any project, article, design, report, etc., that gave you that experience. It could be a blog post you wrote, a campaign you worked on, a presentation you designed, a contract you drafted, etc.

2. Use LinkedIn like a Social Media Platform

Some of us forget that LinkedIn is a social media platform and it requires content. You can’t just open an account, optimize your profile, add an “Open to Work” badge, and wait for magic to happen.

If you want to attract opportunities, you need to show up. Whether it’s a simple text post, a carousel, or a short video, etc., what matters is that you post content regularly.

What Type of Content Should You Post on LinkedIn?

a. Personal Stories and Experiences

Share real stories from your job, life, or things you’ve noticed. Talk about your values, opinions, and lessons learned. In fact, from my experience, stories actually perform better on LinkedIn than just tips or lessons.

b. Tips and Hacks in Your Job/Career

Share things you have learned that could help others in your industry. These could be tools, shortcuts, or practical advice that shows you know your stuff.

c. Build-in-Public Content

Post updates about your job, projects you are working on, courses you are taking, or anything you are learning. This will help people get to know you better and allow them to follow your journey.

Also Read: How to Achieve Work-Life Balance for Long-Term Success

3. Always Engage on LinkedIn

Engagement is very important on LinkedIn. You may not post regularly, but you should always engage other people’s posts. Here are some LinkedIn engagement tips you should note:

a. Engage Before and After You Post

You can’t just post on LinkedIn and go. You need to engage with other people’s posts. This is also recommended by many LinkedIn coaches and influencers. Engage with other people’s post for a while, before you post. Then after you post, engage again. It will boost your post impressions and make your content more visible.

b. Comment on Your Own Post

This is a hack that works for me personally. After my post goes live, I make sure to comment 1 or 2 times on it. Even a single ‘good morning’ will suffice. This always boosts my post engagement, impressions and even followers.

c. Comment on Top LinkedIn Influencer’s Posts

You also need to start commenting on top LinkedIn accounts like Angel Eze, Haoma Worgwu, Lara Acosta, Justin Welch, etc.

d. Engage with Other People’s Post

If you find out that you are not growing on LinkedIn even though you’re posting regularly, it might be because you’re not engaging enough with other people’s content. To get noticed, you need to actively like, comment, and interact with others.

e. Comment Meaningfully

Although engagement is important on LinkedIn, it doesn’t mean you should abuse it. Comments like ‘nice post’, ‘great post’ are not advisable. And with AI comments on the rise on LinkedIn, commenting like this makes people think you are an AI bot.

Sometimes, LinkedIn even notifies users when a comment on their post seems AI-generated (I’ve gotten that notification before) So, always aim to leave thoughtful and genuine comments.

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4. Batch Create Your LinkedIn Posts

If you want to win on LinkedIn, you need to post consistently. And if you want to post consistently, batch creating your posts can help.

You can take time on the weekends to sit down and write down your LinkedIn posts for the week or even a month. This way, you just need to copy and paste your posts each day, making it easier to stay consistent. You can also choose to schedule your posts if you want.

5. Write LinkedIn Articles

This is one way you can get people to reach out to you. You can share some stories or tips related to your industry as a LinkedIn article.

Even if you don’t get sales or clients from it, it can still increase your reach. This is because Google and ChatGPT promote content from LinkedIn so your article can get in front of more people.

Conclusion

LinkedIn can be a great way to get jobs and access opportunities as a Nigerian. Whether you’re sharing your stories, writing helpful articles, or using smart keyword searches to find jobs, these 5 tips would help you get noticed, connect with the right people and win on LinkedIn as a Nigerian.