How To Write A Viral LinkedIn Post (That Adds 5K New Followers!)

Many people would love to have a Linkedin post go viral, and up until a few months ago, I was one of them. Then, I had a post go viral to the tune of 27,000 reactions, 2,000+ comments, and over 600 shares within 72 hours. I also gained over 5,000 new followers during that time. 

Let’s analyze that Linkedin post and look at why it went viral and learn how you can replicate it for yourself. 

My Viral LinkedIn Post Example

So, what was my viral LinkedIn post? Here it is. 

I shared how I am teaching my kids financial intelligence, which is something that keeps a lot of entrepreneurs up at night. It’s hard to get kids interested in learning, so I issued my kids a challenge, and I shared the challenge on LinkedIn with a candid photo. This was how I found them when I walked onto the beach later in the day. They actually shooed me away because I was distracting them.  

The Stats 

Within 72 hours my post had achieved the following stats:

• 3.6 million impressions 
• 27,000 reactions 
• 2,000 comments
• 670 shares

I also gained 5,000 new followers within 72 hours of posting the post, which is even better because I can continue to nurture these relationships.

Here’s a video I made discussing how to write a LinkedIn post that goes viral.

Why Did This Go Viral? (And A LinkedIn Post Template You Can Steal)

Now I’m not a LinkedIn expert or an insurance agent marketing know-it-all. And I don’t know much about LinkedIn’s algorithm. I don’t know everything about how to post on LinkedIn. But you can certainly learn something from my viral post and use these tips as a LinkedIn post template.

These insights are based on what I can deduce from this post and other viral LinkedIn post examples. From what I can see, the reason this LinkedIn post went viral is because it hit the 3 H’s. Those are human, helpful, and hopeful. 

Human 

The post was a relatable, personal story. Anyone with teenagers knows it can be difficult to educate and motivate your kids. It is our duty as parents to help our kids grow and become better humans in many different aspects of their lives. The comments on this post were largely positive and many people chimed in sharing tips for getting their teenagers engaged in entrepreneurship or financial education or sharing their worries and struggles. 

My post briefly mentioned that I don’t believe schools are giving our kids financial education which sparked a respectful debate in the comment section. Some people were with me in worrying that their kids would graduate without any money management skills. Some people disagreed. It was very interesting to see both perspectives.

Another human element was the fact that I tagged multiple people in the post. I tagged the authors of the two books I asked my kids to read (Tim Ferris and Robert Kiyosaki) and I tagged the author of the book that gave me this idea, Garret Gunderson’s What Would the Rockefellers Do? I also tagged my friend who recommended the book because I was super grateful for the recommendation. 

Helpful 

A key element of viral LinkedIn posts is that they are helpful. By that, I mean they give actionable advice that inspires people to try it for themselves. In the case of this post, people could go and try my challenge out for themselves or try a variation that worked for their circumstances. Plenty of people were commenting that they do something similar, but they change one thing, so there were plenty of variations to try. 

LinkedIn is not actually about making connections; it’s about developing relationships. My buddy Chris Tuff who wrote the book Save Your Asks talks a lot about this and changing that mindset has helped me grow my presence on LinkedIn. So how do you put that into practice?

If you’re approaching a niche market, you need to find the things that are helpful for those people. How can you add enough value that those people comment on your post or share your post with the people in their network? Download my free list of examples of how you can add value to your clients so you can build a relationship on a strong foundation of trust.

Hopeful 

The final element of my post that helped it to go viral was that it was hopeful. I mentioned being inspired by Garret Gunderson’s book and showed that it was possible to do it on a smaller scale. The book suggests using a $10,000 incentive per book (which adds up with 2 kids and 2 books) but I did it was a $1,000 incentive. It showed that it was possible for people with smaller budgets. I think this challenge could work very well with $100 or $300 if you wanted to try it yourself. 

It’s the hopeful and uplifting social media posts that gain the most traction on LinkedIn from what I’ve seen. This post showed that you could solve a problem or a worry for a small budget in a really simple way. The comments were full of people saying they were going to try it and the shares were people saying that they never thought of trying something like this.

You’re always going to get a few haters when you post publicly, and a lot of those haters had something to say about the amount of money I offered my kids. I stand by my challenge and the monetary incentive. The majority of comments were respectful even if their opinions differed from mine. All I can say is ignore the rude or obnoxious comments and don’t give them credence. No matter what you post, someone will always have something negative to say, so don’t let it get you down.

Got Any Other LinkedIn Post Ideas?

Let me know in the comments if you have a LinkedIn post strategy that’s worked well for you, or if you have any examples of good LinkedIn posts.