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How To Expand Your Reach With LinkedIn Creator Mode

Looking to ramp up your reach on LinkedIn? Consider switching to LinkedIn creator mode and gaining access to even more features and benefits.

Chloe West May 15, 2023
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As a business-oriented social network, LinkedIn can bring marketers up to 2x conversions. So it’s no surprise that many professionals have flocked to this platform as a part of their marketing strategy.

Because LinkedIn can be powerful for professional and business accounts, many people use this platform as part of their personal branding efforts. And LinkedIn creator mode can be a huge help.

In this article, you’ll learn what LinkedIn creator mode is, how to turn this mode on (and back off if you choose), the pros and cons of flipping the creator mode switch, and more.

Bonus: Download a free guide that shows the 11 tactics Hootsuite’s social media team used to grow their LinkedIn audience from 0 to 278,000 followers.

What is LinkedIn creator mode?

LinkedIn creator mode is a setting on personal LinkedIn profiles that provides access to additional features. LinkedIn says creator mode “can help you grow your reach and influence” on the platform.

Users who regularly create and share content on the platform can benefit from creator mode and its additional features. Some of these features include:

  • A Follow button replacing the Connect button
  • Eligibility to be featured as a suggested creator
  • The ability to display topics you post about at the top of your profile
  • A bio link to use as a call-to-action
  • Profile rearrangement to showcase the Featured and Activity sections first
  • Access to LinkedIn Live, newsletters, and analytics

These features can be a major help to professionals looking to generate even more reach with their LinkedIn content.

How to turn on creator mode on LinkedIn

LinkedIn creator mode is a specific setting you can toggle on and off in your profile settings. This means turning on creator mode isn’t necessarily a permanent decision. If you decide not to invest as much time in LinkedIn, you might choose to turn creator mode off.

Getting started with this mode is simple. Start by clicking Me in the top navigation bar to access this dropdown menu:

me icon top navigation bar LinkedIn

Click the option to View Profile. Scroll down until you reach the Resources section of your profile.

Note: This section doesn’t appear on your public-facing profile. It’s only visible to you.

resources creator mode

Click on the Creator mode [Off] area to access more information about this mode and the option to turn it on.

You’ll see a pop-up containing a snippet of information about what creator mode has to offer. It’ll also show you a quick preview of what your profile will look like once you turn creator mode on.

grow your audience with creator mode

Click Next to move on to the next step. Or, if you decide you aren’t interested, you can simply click the X in the top right corner.

From here, you can immediately start taking advantage of and learning more about the new features you get access to with creator mode.

First, choose up to five topics that you regularly talk about on LinkedIn.

creator mode topics and creator tools

While you can add any number of topics up to five, using all five is recommended to give a clear idea of the content you share. This can help your profile appeal to a wider audience, enticing more users to follow or connect with you.

You can also click on the four available creator tools (LinkedIn Live, Audio Event, Newsletters and Follow link) to learn even more about the features you can now access.

Once you’ve completed this section, click Turn on to switch into creator mode.

Benefits of using LinkedIn creator mode

Curious if LinkedIn creator mode is right for you? Here are five major benefits that using this setting can provide.

1. Increased reach

Turning on creator mode can help you reach an even wider audience with your LinkedIn content. LinkedIn says that accounts in creator mode are eligible for discovery, which means creator accounts may be featured as a suggested follow.

Suggested creators are featured in the Discover Hub. Users can access this by clicking the Discover more link at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar on their feed sharing recent pages viewed, groups they’re in, and more.

trending people in your network profiles

If you turn on creator mode, you might appear under this section for people in your industry, introducing you and your content to a bunch of potential new fans.

The additional features and benefits we’ll discuss more in-depth below can also contribute to your increased reach across the platform.

2. Detailed analytics

Tracking your social media analytics is key to understanding how your posts perform and whether your target audience engages with your content. Creator mode’s detailed analytics give you even more insight into this information.

Creator analytics includes both combined post analytics and audience analytics.

Combined post analytics showcases your content performance, including impressions and engagements, as well as your top-performing posts so you can see which content resonated most with your audience.

LinkedIn analytics with top performing posts

Source

Audience analytics give you insight into your follower growth rate and audience demographics so you can ensure you’re reaching the right people.

audience analytics new followers

Source

The data you gain from these detailed analytics can help improve your LinkedIn strategy, leading to even higher reach, more followers, and, hopefully, more conversions.

3. More profile information

Creator mode gives you access to a more detailed profile, which means more opportunities to share who you are and what you’re all about.

In addition to the topics you can add to your profile, creator mode lets you add a website link at the top of your profile. This helps give interested followers a better idea of what you do at a quick glance. Plus, it can help you lead potential clients and customers directly to your website or sales page.

Here’s an example of what your profile could look like with your topics and profile link:

LinkedIn updated profile with topics and link

The additional info gives your followers and connections an idea of who you are and what you do. This will increase the chances that they’ll want to follow along and engage with your content.

4. Increase in followers

Because the Connect button is replaced with a Follow button, you can generate even more followers. Plus, as an account in creator mode, if someone chooses to send a connection request, they will also automatically follow you — regardless of whether you accept the connection request.

In creator mode, your follower number will also appear on your profile alongside your number of connections. Highlighting this number front and center provides great social proof to someone interested in following along.

5. Additional feature access

The last benefit — and it’s a big one — is that you get access to even more features. Only users in creator mode are able to create LinkedIn newsletters, go live, host audio events, or paste follow buttons on your website and other pages.

These creator tools give you even more outlets for creating content and growing a bigger following. Take advantage of one or all of these additional content types to further your reach.

Should you turn on LinkedIn creator mode?

Is LinkedIn creator mode right for you? Let’s cover a few pros and cons to help you decide whether you should turn on creator mode.

Pros

  • Give potential followers a better idea of who you are and what you do by adding five topics to your profile, a website link, and other information.
  • Creator mode also allows you to add a 30-second profile video that viewers can click on and view when they land on your profile, sharing even more information about the type of content you share.
  • Increase your followers rather than adding even more connections. This means your content will appear in other feeds without further cluttering your own.
  • Create your own LinkedIn newsletter to reach a dedicated audience of subscribers with your own original content.
  • Hold live streams and audio events that enable you to further reach your audience and share even more valuable content and information.
  • Take advantage of creator analytics that can help inform your strategy and ensure your content reaches the right audience.

Cons

  • Followers replace connection requests, so your profile may look lacking if you haven’t met the 500+ connection threshold.
  • If you’re not consistently creating content and interacting with other users on LinkedIn, you won’t be able to fully reap the benefits of creator mode.
  • Your About section is pushed down to make room for Featured and Activity. Profiles with low activity won’t look as interesting to potential followers.
  • You’ll likely need to dedicate more time to your LinkedIn strategy and creating content to share. If you don’t have this time, creator mode may not be worth it.

Frequently asked questions about LinkedIn creator mode

What does creator mode do on LinkedIn?

Creator mode provides users with even more features, more detailed profile information, and the ability to reach an even wider audience on LinkedIn.

Do LinkedIn creators get paid?

LinkedIn creators don’t get paid by LinkedIn, but they may make money through brand deals. A LinkedIn influencer’s pay will vary depending on their agreement with the brand.

Is LinkedIn creator mode free?

Yes, turning on LinkedIn’s creator mode is completely free.

Is creator mode worth it on LinkedIn?

This all depends. Creator mode isn’t a magical setting that will propel your content to the masses — especially if you don’t post often. But if you’re an avid LinkedIn creator, this setting can be a huge help to those interested in following you, helping you provide more clarity about who you are and what you do, and helping you to reach even more users.

What does it mean to be a LinkedIn creator?

A LinkedIn creator is essentially someone who creates and shares public posts that offer valuable educational tips for their audience. While these often come in the form of LinkedIn posts, creators may also take advantage of LinkedIn Pulse articles, creating longform content.

What is the difference between creator mode and public on LinkedIn?

A public profile is one that is visible to anyone on the internet, even if they’re not logged into LinkedIn or connected with you. Creator mode is a specific mode available to individual profiles that offers more features and better reach. Both are optional — users may choose to have a private profile or may choose to have a public profile but not use creator mode. It’s completely up to your level of comfort on the platform.

Easily manage your LinkedIn Page alongside your other social channels using Hootsuite. From a single platform you can schedule and share content—including video—engage your network, and boost top-performing content.

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By Chloe West

Chloe West is a digital marketer and freelance writer, focusing on topics surrounding social media, content, and digital marketing. She's based in Charleston, SC, and when she's not working, you'll find her playing card games or watering her plants.

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