What LinkedIn “Reactions” Mean for Users and Businesses

By ideamktg

Much like Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn is copying its competitors’ features by introducing LinkedIn reactions. For users, this means more ways to express themselves when engaging with LinkedIn content. For businesses, it could mean better engagement if they can recognize user intent and follow up where appropriate.

Why Did LinkedIn Reactions Become a Feature?

Originally, LinkedIn was best known for professional networking and career-building – but now users also share photos, videos, and personal thoughts.

Social media platforms observe their competition and survey their users in order to learn what they want. Then, they implement those features in their own way. For example, Facebook gave its users emoji-based reactions in 2016, which included the standard “Like” (a thumbs up) as well as “Love” (a heart), “Haha” (a laughing face) “WOW” (a mouth wide open face) “Sad” (a frown with a tear) and “Angry” (a red-faced emoji).

These reactions satisfy our desire to understand “why” a person liked a particular post. But, for businesses, LinkedIn reactions provide useful feedback that helps understand the impact their post had on the person who reacted. In fact, the social media giant states that introducing Linkedin reactions provides users with more ways to express yourself. 

As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Because these emoji reactions are universally understood, they won’t get lost in translation.

The research behind LinkedIn reactions

LinkedIn’s official announcement regarding reactions pointed to feedback from users who wanted more ways to respond to other users’ posts. The company analyzed the most used one to two-word comments in addition to which types of posts people shared most.

“We also conducted global research with LinkedIn members to get feedback on the specific reactions to ensure they were universally understood and helpful.”

It’s worth noting that LinkedIn sought more ways for its users to “quickly and constructively communicate with one another,” as the announcement read. In contrast, Facebook’s infamous algorithm updates in early 2018 sought the opposite–giving news feed priority to posts that created “meaningful interactions.” Today, it is not very hard to figure out how to engage on LinkedIn – reactions, comments, and shares go a long way to spread a message and make it go viral.

How to Use the New LinkedIn Reactions

LinkedIn provided a helpful overview for users who wonder when and how each reaction would be appropriate. It suggests using “Celebrate” to praise an accomplishment or a milestone. For example, if someone secures a new job or if a company announces an acquisition. “Love” can be used to show a post resonates deeply with you, or that you support the point of view.

For example, you may “Love” an article about the impact of mentorship, according to LinkedIn. The difference between “Insightful” (recognizing a great point or interesting idea) and “Curious” (showing your desire to learn more or respond to a thought-provoking topic) is a bit fuzzier.

The key isn’t just for users to have more ways to express themselves. These new LinkedIn reactions allow the people behind company pages to better understand why someone liked their post and which content is earning a deeper level of interest. And in the instances of “Insightful” or “Curious” reactions, social media managers should see an opportunity to engage users further.

Bringing emotion to social media by using reaction emojis that align with personal feelings about a topic is a new social media trend that seeks to more closely discern how individuals interact with content and to catalyze a more “human touch” to our online interactions.

LinkedIn Launches New ‘Support’ Reactions

A recent addition to the list of LinkedIn reaction options includes the new support emoji which was added shortly after the beginning of Covid-19. It was a very difficult time for many businesses and the new LinkedIn reaction allowed users to show their support to organizations and businesses. Many users called on the platform’s leadership team to make adjustments to their reaction options that better reflected the current global circumstances, arguing that current LinkedIn reaction emojis were inappropriate or even tone-deaf.

This new LinkedIn reactions option made it easier for businesses to measure the level of support their audience felt for their content or announcements. Instead of deciphering through the emojis to gauge their audience reaction, business executives now can be certain when their employees or the general public support their direction.

Launch of a New ‘Funny’ Emoji for LinkedIn Reactions

The list of possible reactions on the professional networking platform continues to grow. LinkedIn has recently announced the expansion of its list of Linkedin reactions with its brand new ‘funny’ emoji. The funny reaction has been in demand for several years with various petitions circulating for the addition of the LinkedIn reaction. In June 2022 launched the new funny reaction emoji to answer the growing calls from the public.

This new blue ‘funny’ emoji provides another emotion for users to express about the content that they interact with. Now users are able to express humor more easily about the content they find funny on LinkedIn. Adding this new funny reaction to the list brings the total number of LinkedIn reactions up to 7.

Tips on How to Use LinkedIn for Business and Increase Your Engagement Levels

LinkedIn is one of the most unsaturated social media platforms that cater to well-educated, career-minded individuals that constitute some of the best leads for your business. Here are some key ways how to use LinkedIn to market your business and bring value to your existing or potential customers. Remember, creating a LinkedIn business page will highlight your thought leadership and showcase that you are a true leader in your niche! 

• Create a content marketing strategy for your business profile page that brings value and caters to your ideal audience.
• Think of ways you can make your content eye-catching and interactive. Use images that are engaging and remember the 8 tips for image content use.
• Post at optimal times of the day and be consistent (you can decide to post once a day or once per week on a specific day). According to HubSpot, the best days to post are on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday between 7 – 8 a.m. and 5 – 6 p.m.
• Make sure your profile has a capturing background and profile images that align with your branding. You can also use the background “real estate” to create an eye-catching one-line text call to action.
• To expose your business to your own personal LinkedIn community, make sure to link your LinkedIn business profile to your personal LinkedIn page. 
• Optimize your LinkedIn profile headline, since it is the most visible component of your profile when you engage with others; listing your business URL would be very strategic!
• Tell a hero’s journey story of how you overcame obstacles to success; you’ve probably noticed that stories of struggle and triumph get the most views, shares, and engagement on LinkedIn, as they have a profound emotional resonance with audiences.
• When in doubt about what to post, encouragement and positivity tend to do well on LinkedIn; try posting a motivational quote or a story that can lift others up.
• Keep track of your page analytics to better understand which content is the most popular with your audience; use this data to tweak and plan out your future content.

And while you’re hoping for engagement on your own page, part of social media best practices is to show a bit of love to other content creators. Make sure you practice reacting on LinkedIn and commenting on other posts. That way, you enlarge your community based on shared thoughts and interests and introduce valuable content to your own followers (by reacting to a post, you automatically share it with your audience on the news feed).  

And if you need a bit more advice on how to make your LinkedIn and social media presence stand out so that you can attract the ideal audience and grow your business, here are a few of our top recommended resources:

• How to Use LinkedIn to Market Your Business
• Which Paid Advertising Type is Best for Your Business?
• Got Social Strategy? Social Media Tips for Greater Lead Generation

Try Linkedin Advertising to Increase Engagement

Linkedin Advertising offers your brand access to the largest professional network in the world. It is an ideal platform for reaching real decision-makers within your target industry. By creating engaging ad content formats in either video, image, or message ad format, your brand can start reaching a professional audience overnight!

LinkedIn Ads is a great opportunity for your brand to spread awareness and send traffic to your website or other desired landing pages. You can also leverage your campaigns to grow your following which will help your brand increase your organic audience. With additional targeting features, you can build an audience from those who visited your website, and then retarget that audience. This audience already showed interest in your brand and is the one that is most likely to result in conversions!

Not sold on LinkedIn ads? Consider the alternative, Google Ads. Google Ads offers a much larger reach and layers of targeting are also available. Most brands are already running Google Ads campaigns, but are they getting the most from their ad spend? Many Google Ads campaigns are not fully optimized which means more spend and fewer conversions! If you are running a Google Ads campaign, consider a audit by the Google Ads experts.

Use Linkedin Reactions and Other New Features For Higher Engagement Levels

By now, we know that change is the only constant in the evolving world of social media. Most users may even see LinkedIn reactions as the next logical step in the LinkedIn evolution.

The thought behind making the platform a more attractive platform for brands is both valid and reasonable; if users spend an increased amount of time engaging on LinkedIn, business posts will see a higher engagement rate as a result.

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