Posting well on LinkedIn

What tends to work

LinkedIn is where a newsletter’s ideas often travel furthest: people come to read and learn. A useful insight from your issue, said plainly in your own words, tends to do better than a teaser asking people to “read more”.

Think of each post as one finished thought, not an ad for the issue. If someone reads only the post and never clicks, they should still come away with something they can use.

How long can a LinkedIn post be?

A LinkedIn post can be up to 3,000 characters. The counter under the editor shows where you are (for example 1,240/3,000) and turns red with the number of characters over if you pass the limit.

You don’t need to use all of it. Karrow’s AI drafts for LinkedIn aim for roughly 1,300 to 1,900 characters: long enough to make a real point, short enough to read in one go. Short paragraphs and white space make a longer post easier to read on a phone.

If a post runs long, select the part you want to cut and choose Shorten from the menu that appears. Press ⌘Z (Ctrl+Z on Windows) if you don’t like the result.

What shows before “see more”?

Only the first two or three lines show before LinkedIn cuts the post off with “see more”, and on a phone that can be as little as roughly 140 characters. Whatever sits above the fold decides whether anyone opens the rest.

Lead with the takeaway, the surprising number, or the question your issue answers. Save the background and the caveats for after the fold.

On a wide screen, the preview beside the editor shows your post as a LinkedIn card and folds it after about three lines with “…more”, so you can see exactly where the cut lands before you schedule.

A quick test: cover everything below the second line. If those two lines alone would make you tap “see more”, the hook is doing its job.

Should I put links in a LinkedIn post?

Usually not in the post itself: put your link in the First comment field instead. Many people find that LinkedIn shows posts with a link in the body to fewer people, so Karrow’s drafts keep links out of the post.

Karrow posts the First comment as a real comment on your post the moment it goes live. It’s a natural home for “Full issue here” and your subscribe link.

Hashtags, emoji and the closing line

Karrow’s LinkedIn drafts use at most three hashtags and at most one emoji. Many people find hashtags matter less than they used to; the words in your post do more to say what it’s about.

Ending with a short question people can answer quickly gives readers an easy way into the comments. Ask something you actually want to hear about, not “Agree?”.

Images and video

You can add up to 20 images (8 MB each), or one video. Images can be JPEG, PNG, WebP, or GIF; video can be MP4, MOV, or WebM, up to 5 GB.

When Karrow drafts from an issue, it attaches the issue’s lead image to the draft. Remove it with the bin icon on the thumbnail, or use Add media to upload your own or pick another image from the issue.

Can I post as my company Page instead of my profile?

Yes, if your LinkedIn account is an admin of that Page. When it is, a Post as menu appears under the editor with Personal profile and each Page you manage, so you choose per post. If you don’t manage any Pages, the menu doesn’t appear and posts go out from your profile.

A personal profile usually feels more human; a Page fits when the newsletter is a brand in its own right. You can use both: the profile for opinions and lessons, the Page for announcements.

For personal profiles, LinkedIn only reports analytics for posts published through Karrow. Karrow doesn’t show saves or clicks for LinkedIn posts, because LinkedIn reports them only for some kinds of account.

How do I connect LinkedIn to Karrow?

Connect it from your publication’s Channels tab. Each publication has its own channels, so if you run two newsletters, connect LinkedIn on each one that should post there.

1. 1Open your publication and go to the Channels tab.
2. 2Click Connect a channel and choose LinkedIn. The tile is marked “Profile or Page”.
3. 3Click Continue to LinkedIn. LinkedIn opens in a new window; sign in and approve access there.
4. 4Come back to Karrow. When the connection lands you’ll see “Your LinkedIn account is connected.”

Want to add a second LinkedIn account? Log out of the one that’s currently signed in on LinkedIn first, then use Add another account.

Scheduling and editing

Click Schedule, pick a day and a time (in 15-minute steps, in your device’s time zone), and click Schedule again. Post now publishes straight away; Karrow asks “Publish now?” first so it can’t happen by accident.

Once a post is scheduled, its text is locked: the draft says the post can’t be edited now. Read it once more in the preview, including the first comment, before you schedule.

How often

A steady rhythm usually beats bursts. A few strong posts per issue, spread across the week, is a good place to start. Watch your analytics and adjust.