You’ve put in the effort—drafted a sharp post about your company’s latest milestone, shared a press release, maybe even highlighted an award. You hit publish, expecting at least a few comments or congratulations.
Instead? Crickets. No conversations. No engagement. Just silence.
So you stop posting. You tell yourself LinkedIn doesn’t work, or that your audience must not be active there.
But the truth is simpler (and more frustrating). The problem isn’t LinkedIn. The problem is that most people don’t care about your posts because they’re not about them. If you shift the focus from yourself to your audience, you can flip that dynamic entirely.
Most B2B leaders default to posting company news on LinkedIn: new hires, product updates, internal awards. It’s the content that’s easiest to create because it’s what’s already happening inside the business.
However, those updates usually answer the question “What’s happening with us?” instead of “Why should this matter to you?”
The fix isn’t to stop sharing company milestones altogether. It’s to reframe them through the lens of your audience—their challenges, their goals, their risks. Instead of treating LinkedIn as a bulletin board, treat it as a conversation where the reader needs to see themselves in the story.
Here’s an example of how to reframe typical company updates into audience-first messages that actually resonate.
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Before (Company-Centered) |
After (Audience-Centered) |
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“We’re excited to announce our new product launch!” |
“Struggling with long onboarding times? Our new solution cuts average setup from three weeks to five days. Here’s how.” |
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“We’ve been named a top 100 SaaS company.” |
“When evaluating partners, credibility matters. Being named a top 100 SaaS company means lower risk for your team and faster approvals with your board.” |
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“We’re thrilled to welcome Sarah as our new VP of Sales.” |
“Sales leaders today face X challenge. Here’s how Sarah, our new VP of Sales, has tackled it—and what it could mean for customers like you.” |
This reframing is important because attention is scarce. Your buyers don’t log into LinkedIn hoping to hear your news. They log in looking for insights that help them do their jobs better. The B2B leaders who win aren’t the ones with the loudest announcements but the ones who connect those announcements to real-world value.
Shifting from company-centered posts to audience-first thought leadership is a strategic lever for influence and growth. Leaders who master this shift consistently outperform those who use LinkedIn only as a corporate bulletin board.
When you address the actual pain points and aspirations of your buyers, you show that you understand their world. A CFO or CMO isn’t looking for another vendor but for someone who “gets it.” When your posts reflect that understanding, you earn credibility before you even get on a call.
The LinkedIn algorithm prioritizes content that sparks interaction. That means thoughtful, audience-first posts travel further, reaching not only your direct connections but also their networks. More reach leads to more conversations, which naturally translates into pipeline opportunities without cold outreach.
Audiences can spot a sales pitch disguised as content instantly. Audience-first content flips that dynamic. It feels less like a pitch and more like a partner sharing perspective. That sense of being understood fosters goodwill and makes prospects more open to real conversations.
Authority isn’t built overnight. But when you show up week after week with relevant, audience-centered insights, people begin to associate your name with credibility. Over time, it creates a compounding effect. Your influence grows beyond LinkedIn, shaping how people perceive you in the market, in boardrooms, and during buying cycles.
The fastest way to turn “nobody cares” into “this is worth my time” is to flip your content lens outward. Audience-first content sits at the intersection of three things:
The sweet spot is in the middle. Stay in your lane of expertise, connect it to something your audience actually cares about, and deliver it in a way that builds credibility.
Too often, leaders camp out in just one circle. They either overshare what they know (but it’s irrelevant to their audience), echo audience struggles without adding new perspective (which comes off as shallow), or produce polished updates that sound credible but don’t connect to lived pain points. The power is in combining all three.
Use these prompts to find the sweet spot:
The key is to move beyond surface-level answers. A thoughtful perspective signals that you’ve been in the trenches and have insights others can trust. When your posts consistently reflect this formula, your audience begins to see you as a resource, not just another executive broadcasting updates.
Many B2B leaders struggle with figuring out what to post on LinkedIn. To beat blank page syndrome, start brainstorming ideas with these five categories of content that consistently resonate when you post with an audience-first lens.
Failure stories humanize leaders. They show humility, resilience, and the willingness to learn—qualities that attract respect and trust. Nobody wants a leader who pretends they’ve always won; they want one who can share how they’ve grown.
Think about a project that went sideways, a deal you lost, or a strategy that didn’t land. Instead of stopping at “we failed,” unpack why it happened, what you learned, and what you’d do differently next time.
Example: “We tried to roll out a one-size-fits-all onboarding playbook. As a result, half our customers disengaged within the first month. We learned an important lesson: Standardization isn’t the same as success. Now, every playbook starts with a discovery session to tailor the process.”
Your buyers’ questions are clues to their pain points. If one person is asking, dozens more are thinking it. Answering them in public shows empathy and positions you as the go-to leader who listens and responds.
Keep a running list of the questions prospects and customers ask in sales calls, onboarding sessions, or quarterly business reviews (QBRs). Turn those into LinkedIn posts by restating the question, explaining the context, and giving a clear, actionable answer.
Example: “A prospect asked me last week, ‘How do we shorten our sales cycle without adding more sales reps?’ Here’s the three-step process we use with clients that cut cycle time by 20% without changing headcount.”
Sharing a headline isn’t enough. Your network wants to know what that headline means for them. Adding your point of view turns a generic share into a valuable interpretation.
Pick one industry development a week: a regulation, an acquisition, a funding round, a new tool. Instead of reposting it, add two to three sentences of your take—what’s the implication, who’s affected, and what action leaders should consider?
Example: “Marketing budgets are flat for 2025, but customer acquisition cost is rising. Translation: Teams will be asked to do more with less. The winners will be those who can repurpose existing assets into multi-channel plays instead of chasing shiny new formats.”
People buy from people, not logos. Offering a peek into how you think and lead makes you relatable and trustworthy. It’s also a way to showcase values without being preachy.
Share the story behind a leadership decision, like why you invested in a new role, how you handled a tough trade-off, or what principle guided your choice. Keep it grounded and specific.
Example: “Last quarter, we debated whether to cut back on customer success or double down. We chose the latter—and while it meant trimming in other areas, our net promoter score (NPS) jumped 14 points. Sometimes the harder trade-off is the one that pays dividends.”
Celebrating others is a credibility booster. It shows you’re paying attention and value more than just your own spotlight. But it only resonates if you connect it to lessons others can use.
Highlight a win, but frame it as a takeaway. Instead of “congrats to our team,” explain what challenge they solved and how.
Example: “Our team just helped a client reduce onboarding from 30 days to 12. The secret was creating one clear owner per phase. If you’re struggling with onboarding bloat, assign a single accountable person for each stage.”
Most leaders treat LinkedIn like a megaphone. But if you want real engagement, think of it like a networking dinner. The best conversations happen because you asked questions, listened, and invited dialogue.
The more you approach LinkedIn like a series of small, ongoing conversations instead of a broadcast channel, the more your audience will feel seen and want to contribute.
Instead of “Here’s what’s happening in the market,” ask, “How are you navigating this shift?” Questions invite participation and turn a post into a thread of shared experience.
When someone replies, don’t just “like” their comment. Reply thoughtfully. Add context, agree or disagree respectfully, and extend the thread. Each back-and-forth signals to the algorithm—and to humans—that your post is alive and worth joining.
When a post touches on a topic relevant to a peer, partner, or customer, tag them with context. Don’t just drop their name; explain why their perspective matters. This approach not only broadens the conversation but also shows thoughtfulness in how you engage.
Some of the best conversations don’t stay on LinkedIn. They move to calls, coffee chats, or email threads. When a comment hints at deeper interest, send a DM and suggest continuing the conversation elsewhere. It’s a small step that transforms engagement into actual relationships.
The easiest way to tank a LinkedIn post is to forget the golden rule: Every reader asks, “What’s in it for me?”
Ask these questions before you publish:
If you can say yes to most of these, you’re ready to publish. If not, pause and reframe. Over time, running every post through this checklist will sharpen your instincts so you naturally think audience-first.
The harsh truth is simple: Nobody cares about your LinkedIn posts—unless you make them care. And you do that by shifting focus outward, connecting your expertise to your audience’s needs, and treating every post as the start of a conversation, not the end of one.
For B2B leaders, marketers, and sales professionals, this shift is what separates noise from influence. Start asking “What’s in it for them?” before you hit post, and watch your LinkedIn presence go from ignored to indispensable.
Need help taking full advantage of your LinkedIn presence? Good news: We’re the LinkedIn experts!
Schedule a consultation with us today to learn more about how OneIMS can help engage your LinkedIn audience, get more leads, and grow your business.