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A Guide to Authentic Professional Posting on LinkedIn in the AI-era

Written by Anita Moorthy | Aug 20, 2025 12:02:01 PM

LinkedIn can feel like a minefield of content creation advice. Post daily! Be authentic! Build your personal brand! But after months of random posting and minimal engagement, I discovered that most of this advice misses the mark. Here's what I learned about creating LinkedIn content that actually resonates—and why changing my mindset was more important than any posting strategy.

 

Stop Writing for Everyone (And Start Writing for Someone)

My biggest breakthrough came when I stopped trying to appeal to everyone on LinkedIn. Like many creators, I was posting about whatever came to mind—productivity tips one day, industry news the next, random career thoughts after that. I was playing the frequency game without any real focus.

Everything changed when I identified my "zone of excellence"—those one or two topics I could speak about passionately and authentically. For me, that became about two things:

a) talking about my point of view on the increasing importance of human expertise in marketing for the AI-age.

b) sharing personal stories about being a woman over 50 starting a company, directed specifically at other women contemplating their next career move.

But here's the key: I write as if I'm having a conversation with one specific person I know who cares about these topics that I personally know.

This mental shift transformed my writing from generic advice to personal, relatable stories that felt like actual conversations.

 

Write to Help, Not to Impress

The other important mindset shift I had to make was to realise I wasn't writing for self-validation. Those likes and comments felt good, but they weren't the point. Once I started thinking about how my content could genuinely help a specific group of people, my posts became more focused and valuable.

When you write to help rather than to impress, your tone naturally becomes more conversational and less performative. You start sharing real insights instead of recycled LinkedIn wisdom.

 

Embrace Your Beginner Status (It's Actually an Advantage)

I spent months trying to emulate creators with 100,000+ followers, wondering why my content which followed a similar pattern fell flat. Then it hit me: I don't have authority on LinkedIn—and that's okay. Those established creators can share a simple thought and get thousands of engagements. I can't.

So for every post, I ask myself: "Why would anyone stop scrolling for this?" This question forced me to:

  • Lead with compelling hooks
  • Share more personal, vulnerable stories
  • Provide concrete value or insights
  • Create genuine curiosity

 

Ditch the "Guru" Voice

One of my biggest mistakes was adopting that "LinkedIn voice"—you know, the one that sounds like a motivational poster. Preachy, overly confident, full of sweeping statements about success and productivity.

Switching to a more humble, curiosity-driven tone made all the difference. Instead of "Here's how to succeed at marketing," I started asking genuinely curious questions and sharing my observations "Here's what I learned about marketing after failing at it" That vulnerability made my content more relatable and engaging.

 

Start Fresh Every Time

Here's a sobering reality or maybe an opportunity for everyone about LinkedIn: there's no compounding effect for most of us. Your amazing post from last week doesn't automatically give your new post more reach. For every piece of content, you're starting from the assumption that no one knows who you are.

This sounds discouraging, but it's actually liberating. It means:

  • Every post needs to stand on its own merit
  • You can't rely on past success to carry future content
  • Each piece of content is a new opportunity to connect with someone

 

Don't Fear the Flop

LinkedIn's algorithm is actually your friend when it comes to bad posts. The platform throttles content that isn't getting engagement, so most of your audience will never see your less successful posts. This took so much pressure off me—I realized that the only way to get good at LinkedIn content was to practice it often, even if some posts fell flat.

 

The Real Secret: Consistency in Purpose, Not Frequency

Everyone talks about posting consistently, but they usually mean posting frequently. What actually matters is consistency in purpose. When you know exactly who you're writing for and why, your content naturally becomes more focused and valuable.

You don't need to post every day. You need to post with intention, speaking to your specific audience about topics within your zone of excellence, one conversation at a time.

 

Your Next Steps

  1. Identify your zone of excellence: What 1-2 topics can you speak about passionately and authentically?
  2. Define your specific audience: Not just demographics, but what challenges are they facing?
  3. Pick one person: Think of someone specific who represents your audience and write to them
  4. Check your tone: Are you preaching or sharing? Talking down or talking with?
  5. Ask the scroll-stopping question: For each post, why would someone pause their scrolling for this?

LinkedIn content creation isn't about gaming the algorithm or copying successful creators. It's about finding your unique voice and using it to have genuine, helpful conversations with the people who need to hear what you have to say.

The platform has enough generic advice and motivational quotes. What it needs is your authentic perspective and real experiences shared with the people who can benefit from them most.