Create a LinkedIn post

You can create and publish LinkedIn profile or Page content from Composer. To save time, you can publish to several LinkedIn accounts or social networks at once. Publish posts right away, or schedule them in advance for a specific day and time. Read on to learn about all you can do when creating LinkedIn posts in Hootsuite.

Before you begin

Make sure you’ve already added a LinkedIn profile or Page to Hootsuite. How to add a LinkedIn account.

Create your post

To get started, select Composer . Then use the following steps to create your post. Hootsuite is not able to support creating carousels, event posts, polls, or articles.

1. Under Publish to, select the LinkedIn profiles and Pages you'd like to publish to.
2. In the Content area, enter your post text. You can proofread your text using Grammarly. The character limit for LinkedIn posts is 3,000. You can include the following in the body of your post:
   • Links - If you include a link, a link preview appears on the right. Can’t see a link preview? See Work with link previews.
   • Hashtags - Select the hashtag icon to get some hashtag suggestions. The suggestion list is powered by AI (artificial intelligence), based on your post text and media (see also our guide to using hashtags on every network).
   • Mentions - To mention a LinkedIn Page, enter @ followed by the LinkedIn Page name, and then select an option from the list. To learn more, see Mention a user or Page.
   • Emoji - Select the smiley face to add emoji (see also Add more inclusive emoji).
3. To shorten a link, below the Content area, select Shorten with Ow.ly. The full links remain visible in the Content area, while the post preview on the right displays the shortened link.
4. To add link tracking parameters, below the Content area, select Add tracking, select Ow.ly, and then select Custom. Enter your campaign name, type, and value, and then select Apply.
   More about parameters

   All plans can add custom link tracking parameters, designed to work with analytics systems. Parameters are tags that identify a link and the post that contains it. See Shorten and track links to learn more. Team, Business, and Enterprise customers can also set up a vanity URL to use as a link shortener instead of Ow.ly. To learn more, see Set up a vanity URL.

5. Add one or more images or a video to your profile or Page post, or a GIF (Page posts only). 
   Media upload options

   • Drag files from your computer into the Content area.
   • Select Upload media.
   • Select Design with Canva (see Design images with Canva in Composer for details).
   • Select Media library , and then select Free Images or GIPHY from the drop-down. Select a media file, and then select Close media library.

   To learn more about media file requirements, see Image file requirements and Work with videos.

   Note: LinkedIn doesn't support PDFs or other documents in posts from third parties like Hootsuite.

6. To edit an image, add filters, or make other adjustments to it, point to the image and select Edit image. For detailed instruction on using the image editor, see Work with images.
7. To add alt text (descriptive text for your image) on a Page post, point to an image thumbnail and select Alt. Enter the alt text description of the image, and then select Apply. The alt text character limit for LinkedIn is 300 characters.
   
   

Advanced options

When you create your post, you can also take advantage of additional options (depending on your Hootsuite plan type) to promote your post, apply tags, or select the specific audience who can see your post.

Promote a post

Select Promote this post under Promotion to promote your post on LinkedIn. To learn more, see Boost a LinkedIn Page post.

Specify targeting for a post

Select Add next to LinkedIn Page audience to select who you’d like to see your post. Select industry, seniority level, functions, locations, language, and company size, and then select Add. LinkedIn Pages must have at least 300 followers that match the selected targeting options to successfully publish a targeted post to that audience.

Specify a campaign (Business and Enterprise organizations)

Select your organization, and then select Campaign to associate your post with a current or future campaign. To find out more, see Create and manage content campaigns.

Upload images from your content library (Business and Enterprise organizations)

In the Content area, select Media library , and then select Content Library Images from the drop-down to select an image from your pre-approved media files.

Apply a tag (Business and Enterprise organizations)

Select Add next to Tags to apply tags to your posts and analyze their performance in Hootsuite Analytics. Select the tags to add to your post, and then select Add. To find out more, see Add tags to track your outbound posts. 

Publish your LinkedIn post

When you’re finished creating your post, review it in the preview on the right to see how it will look on your LinkedIn profile or Pages. You'll be alerted to any issues with your post. Then select from the following options in the bottom right:

• Post now - Publish the post right away.
• Schedule for later - Select a date and time to publish the post, or select a day and choose from any recommended times available (see Schedule posts at recommended times). Select Done, and then select Schedule.
• Save draft - Select the arrow next to Post now, and then select Save draft if you’re not ready to publish or schedule your post.

Tip: Find and manage your drafts, published posts, and scheduled posts in Planner .

If you want to create another post right away, select the arrow next to Post now (or Schedule), and then select one of the following options:

• Post and reuse accounts (or Schedule and reuse accounts) - Publish your current post and begin a new one to the same social accounts.
• Post and duplicate (or Schedule and duplicate) - Publish your current post and retain its content to create a new, similar post with a unique post ID. Promoted ad spend is not retained for the new post.