From Struggle to Success: Transforming Your LinkedIn with Content Categories | LinkedIn for Business 101

Whenever I struggle with creating social media content for my LinkedIn account or a client’s, I have a few tried-and-true methods to get inspired.

TWO WORDS: Content Categories!

What’s a Content Category?

A content category is a group of topics you can use to create content related to your business, industry, or profession.

Jasmine Star , the founder, and CEO of Social Curator , advocates for content categories because they help business owners “...talk about your business without selling it. They demonstrate your expertise and encourage your followers to KNOW, LIKE, & TRUST you.”

The Social Curator program suggests seven categories that each speak to the Know-Like-Trust factor:

1. About You

The know, like, and trust factor has played a massive role in helping businesses gain followers, attract customers, and increase sales - especially in the digital marketing age. When all people see are pixels, texts, and stock photography, it’s a great idea to share information about yourself so your followers can connect with your brand (business or personal).

I love this category because it allows you the freedom to

• Tell your brand story,
• Share your interests outside of work, and
• Showcase your wins along your journey.

For corporate brands, this category is critical:

• What’s your mission?
• How do your core values influence your business practices (internally and externally)?
• What’s your company culture?
• Who are the faces behind the brand?

Who are you beyond the logo, the social media posts, the corporate website, and what you do?

If someone comes across your brand on social media, let them get to know you better by celebrating the person/people behind the brand.

2. Your Why

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” - Simon Sinek

Your “why” is more than just your mission statement. It’s a chance for you to talk about the impact of your work from a personal standpoint. It’s also an opportunity to talk about how you’re making a difference in the world - even if it’s simply the world of your loved ones. Your why doesn’t have to be grandiose or overly complicated; it simply has to be true.

My two favorite business owner's and unofficial mentors are Emmy Award winning designer and CEO or The Futur™ , Chris Do as well as Jasmine Star , CEO and Founder of Social Curator. Let's dive into each of their why and how the stories the tell align with the audience they serve.

Chris Do’s 1-in-a-Billion Mission

Anyone familiar with Chris Do and The Futur would know he’s on a mission to teach 1 billion people how to make a living doing what they love.

During podcast episodes or interviews, he’ll share his desire to help

• Creatives develop business skills to move from starving freelancers to CEOs and
• Business executives grow in their creative capacity so they can build influence and impact their respective industries.

Chris' audacious mission simultaneously calls to the struggling freelancer and solopreneur, while demonstrating that his brand stands for something bigger than himself.

Chris Do demonstrates how aligning your content and life with a higher mission is key to scaling your brand and gaining an audience of loyal followers and advocates who are proud to be counted as one among the billion.

Jasmine Star: A Storytelling Superstar

In contrast to Chris Do's global mission, Jasmine Star's why is a lot closer to home - her family. If you take quick scroll through any of her social media accounts you're bound to encounter her daughter Luna, her husband and letters of love, gratitude and admiration for her parents and twin sister.

She also measures her success by her ability to take her family to Disneyland something her family wasn't able to afford when she was growing up.

Her why and definition for success may seem small, but her audience tends to be small business owners, solopreneurs, or freelancers who simply want to create a life and business that integrates with their home life.

Her followers aren't necessarily looking to be massive influencers, but rather, want to create their own version of success that also works with their family.

Her story resonates deeply with her followers because they can relate to her message that tiny wins with consistent effort will get you where you want to be - whatever that looks like.

It’s her connection with her audience and their understanding that success doesn’t have to equal 7-figures or trips around the world. Their why needn’t be to save the planet or change anything; wanting to take your family on vacation or breaking the cycle of living paycheck-to-paycheck is a worthy goal.

On paper, Chris Do and Jasmine Star teach their followers how to build successful businesses from scratch and how to use creativity, social media, and the power of community to get there.

3. Behind the Scenes

Most consumers love taking a peek behind the curtain of what goes on in the day-to-day operations of a business. Showing how you work, who works with you, and what processes go into creating your products or delivering your service can help customers better understand and appreciate what they’re buying from you.

As a bonus, it positions you as someone who knows what they’re doing and has competency in their craft. The magic behind how you do what you do is part of why customers choose you.

It also helps to create a sense of community and give people an idea of the culture within your business. Hearing from your staff (if you’re a corporate brand) or seeing your work setup if you’re a solopreneur can help customers connect ith you on a deeper level.

Taking them behind the curtain can move them from simply knowing about you to liking you and, later on, possibly trusting you with their purchase.

4. Personal Insights aka Lessons Learned aka Thought Leadership

Similar to the behind-the-scenes approach, giving customers a glimpse of the inner knowledge and experience you have gained throughout your career is a great way to build trust. After all, who better than yourself to provide personal insights into the industry you’re in?

Sharing some of the lessons you have learned or acquired knowledge helps people understand why they should choose you over someone else. It also adds an element of credibility and makes them feel like they are learning from a real expert in the field.

By creating thought leadership content through blog posts, podcasts, or video interviews, you can establish yourself as an authority and a reliable source of information. Plus, since these content pieces take longer to create and require more effort than other formats, customers will feel like you’ve gone out of your way to provide value.

It all comes down to creating content that makes customers feel like they are getting something unique and helpful from you. With the right mix of content, you can start building relationships with potential customers and establish a robust online presence for your brand.

7. Benefits

If you googled copywriting tips, you’re sure to read about the importance of highlighting BENEFITS over FEATURES.

It’s true; people don’t want to know about your product or service in terms of features alone. They want to know how it can benefit them, and this is where great copywriting comes into play. To paraphrase Chris Do, how does what you do solve your client’s problem? What’s the pain it takes away?

Plus, you can use the benefits category to directly address objections.

I spoke to a business owner who was exploring the possibility of using LinkedIn Pages to boost their brand awareness. During the conversation, I sensed resistance from him every time I outlined the traditional avenues of generating leads on LinkedIn:

• Decision-makers aren't really active on LinkedIn, their assistants are and you don't want a middle man.
• They don't need to gain hundreds or thousands of followers, just a few choice people.
• They don't know what to say or how to communicate it simply because their audience is so specific and so small.
• Is growing a following even worth it if your so niche?

All these objections highlighted a specific misconceptions toward social media that I can now address in future content.

6. Services

Here you get to openly brag about the fantastic results you’ve created for past clients and what services you can offer new customers. Unlike the benefits category, which highlights what’s in it for your customers, this category is all about promoting your services and directing readers to speak to you.

Explain your services, how long they take, and how customers can contact you. Make sure to include a call-to-action so readers have an idea of what the next step is.

I like posting the Benefits and Services categories consecutively so readers can see the value on day one before issuing a direct ask on day two.

7. Encouragement aka Candy Content aka Content that’ll Get Engagement

Finally, the Social Curator suggests adding a category that offers motivation, funny content, and anything else that could help boost engagement. This type of content is usually lighthearted, fun, or inspiring. It doesn’t necessarily have to relate directly to your brand. Still, it should fit in with the overall mission and values you are trying to portray.

It’s important to note that while this type of content may get more engagement, it shouldn’t be your only form of content. It’s essential to post content to help potential customers learn more about you, your services, and why they should choose you.

Share your success stories, values, favorite quotes or mantras, and what makes you unique!

Carve Out Time to Create a Strategy Using Content Categories

Carving out time to develop a content strategy for your brand is a challenge, and you would be right.

But that’s why there’s ME! 

I’m a creative thinker and skilled content writer who has helped other business owners gain clarity on 

• Who their target audience is,
• What content should they be sharing, 
• When they should be posting, and 
• Where their audience is most active.

I specialize in showing you how simply getting to know your brand and your ideal customer can help you create a content strategy that works. 

If you want to create content that will capture the attention of your ideal customer, contact me today and let’s discuss how I can help!

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