What happens when personalization in marketing becomes impersonal? Or even over-personalized? While 71% of buyers expect personalized experiences, I am starting to think that maybe all this personalization has become too much. This idea of over-personalization is becoming more frequent, especially on LinkedIn, and LinkedIn engagement rates appear to be taking a hit. What once was a platform to share job updates and company happenings has turned into everyone posting their “30 Things I Learned About Sales on my Vacation to Portugal” and other lists that take three or four scrolls to get through. Most of the time, I can tell AI helped them put the post together or even wrote the entire thing, because who learns things on vacation, let alone remembers them?

Regardless, the deployment of personalized and automated, AI-generated content has become overdone and is underwhelming. And while I see the benefits of generative AI and am a fan of automation, I am not a huge fan of seeing the same things on LinkedIn. Maybe not exactly the same thing, but all are the same format and same structure. And do not get me started on what my LinkedIn inbox looks like. I mean, LinkedIn is a great tool, but when did it become such a tool?

To stand out and hit the mark in an inundated, automated, hyper-personalized world, generating increased LinkedIn engagement, here are a few things to stop and a few things to start to increase engagement and start real conversations with real intentions.

Stop: Using the Same Structure for Everything

Do not use the same structure for every post. Do not use the same prompt every time you run something through AI to create your post. We can tell. Especially someone who sees hundreds of LinkedIn posts and receives countless LinkedIn messages, all with the same structure. People crave authenticity. Not the words that have been through a dozen AI prompts and polished to perfection. While personalization is important, if you put the same thing in, you will continue to get the same result. And isn’t that the definition of insanity, doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results?

Start: Being Real

Start being real. I know this is a common piece of advice, but it is true. I have seen posts that do not follow a script, do not end with a CTA, and do not try to teach me something. They just share a moment. A challenge. A win. Something that happened on a client call. Those are more relatable. While lessons are always great and interesting to read about occasionally, when someone shares a story that does not have a “lesson learned” or something in that realm, it feels like a breath of fresh air. I know when I post something that is simply on my mind, engagement increases.

Stop: Sending Generic Messages to Inboxes

We are all accustomed to receiving generic messages in our inboxes. For example, the messages from people who are trying to sell leads or from universities that thought a certain Master’s degree program would be a perfect fit. I do not engage with these messages; they usually are not worth my time and again, they are always the same. They are generic. It is not striking any part of my emotions or sparking my interest. These messages flood my inbox, and if they are trying to sell me something, it is not working.

Start: Actually Trying to Connect

If you are looking to connect with me, whether it is to sell me something, discuss a potential partnership, or looking to discuss something industry-related, make an effort. Whether it is a callout about something in my profile, a question that intrigues me, or an off-the-wall introduction, if it gets my attention, I am likely to respond. Aside from directly messaging, make the effort to engage overall. Like a few posts. Comment on something that was shared. Send a few follow-up messages. The more you seem interested in what someone has to say, the more interest they will show you.

I would love to see LinkedIn get back to a place to see how my network is doing, learn things, and just connect. One proactive post I did recently was to address HOW sales-heavy LinkedIn is (I am guilty as well), so I posted about five things I was interested in learning about. Solutions that I was ACTUALLY a potential buyer for. This prompted some great conversations with people. But it was successful because it was not mainstream, and it got people’s attention to start a conversation.

Stop: Sharing Anything and Everything

I always enjoy seeing content from those that I follow. And of course, the whole point of having a social media platform is to post. But please stop sharing everything. Sure, keep things exciting and mix up what you post, but if I see you posting five times a day and it is the same post, I might hit the unfollow button.

Start: Adding Value

Add value. We have all heard that before, but the more someone connects with your post, the more likely they are to share it, react to it, or something else. What do I mean by adding value? Instead of telling me I need to generate more leads by reaching my target audience. Tell me how to do that. No, I am not saying to give away all your secrets or provide me with the services your business provides, and customers pay for, but give me something tangible! Or give me a link to an article about the tactics needed to generate more leads. If a person can take something with them to apply in their business or use in their life after coming across your content, that is adding value.

These are all tactics I have tried in my own LinkedIn posts, and I have seen positive results with my LinkedIn engagement increasing. The blunter I am on certain topics, the more impressions I seem to get. My unconventional perspectives on topics have allowed me to schedule several meetings with prospects. While these things aren’t a magical fix, the more we can get away from the over-personalized, repetitive posts and start being humans again in our LinkedIn and marketing world in general, the more we can create meaningful connections that lead to sales conversations, potential partnership opportunities, and much more.

If you’re ready to hit the refresh button on your LinkedIn efforts to boost engagement, or look closer at your marketing efforts in general, we can make it happen! Contact Launch Marketing today.