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During the pandemic, millennial entrepreneurs Jerry Lee and Jonathan Javier decided to leverage their experience landing roles at technology powerhouses like Google, Cisco and Snap, Inc. to launch Wonsulting, a career consulting firm. Now boasting more than 300,000 LinkedIn followers collectively, Lee and Javier insist that social media has been a key element of their success, and they’ve curated a targeted strategy for crafting high-engagement posts.
Share Vulnerable, Relatable Stories
Just as in life, on social media people gravitate to stories they can connect and relate to. Instead of bragging or preaching, it’s so much more effective to be vulnerable and share authentic experiences (good and bad). In this revealing post, Javier openly discusses his rejections and frames them as a natural part of the career progression process. This repositioning doesn’t just make him relatable; it likely makes readers feel better about themselves as well. The post generated over 40,000 reactions and nearly 2,000 comments. “Even LinkedIn’s former CEO Jeff Weiner liked the post and shared it,” reports Javier. “By sharing stories that people empathize with, you’ll be able to get more engagement on your posts.”
Javier recommends the following basic structure for these “career struggles” type posts:
· Part 1: The Beginning: What happened? How did the situation make you feel?
· Part 2: The Climax: What did you do to overcome the situation? What steps did you take and why did you take them?
· Part 3: Learnings: What did you learn?
· Part 4: The Ending + Tags: Who helped get you to where you are today? Tag them in your post and thank them.
Lee also reminds us how important authenticity is when storytelling on social media. In this viral post that garnered over 1,000 comments and 2.7 M views, he challenges the tacit social media pressure to project a superhuman, overachiever image and instead invites us into his every day, much more relatable life as a young entrepreneur.
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Create Simple, Engaging Polls
Polls can be a great way to not just gather tangible feedback on an issue of interest but also engage your audience in the process. In this poll Javier asks the simple question “How many years should you stay at a company before leaving?” The poll didn’t just generate over 23,000 votes, it started a conversation. Javier and Lee warn against trying to tackle complex issues using polls. “Ask questions that everyone asks,” insists Javier. “Simple polls with only 1-2 lines do extremely well because they are straight to the point and people can decipher the question easier.”
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Provide Real Value
It should go without saying that the primary goal of posting should be value creation. Indeed, posting for the sake of posting rarely bodes well. Instead, offer readers specific tips, ideas and suggestions that will help them reach their goals. “In my viral LinkedIn resume post I shared my resume that got me into top companies after working at Snap, and I broke it down by color, coordinating based on key elements,” explains Javier. “By doing so it was even shared by Daniel Roth, Editor-in-Chief at LinkedIn.”
In this poignant post, Lee shares some great advice he received from a mentor while working at Google—apply for positions every year even if you love your job. He openly shares his conflicted feelings. “As an Asian American, I felt weird to continually seek for more in a time of comfort,” he explains in the post. “I was told to be grateful for what I have, work hard and don’t make too much change.” Garnering over 500 comments and 1.4M views, the post reveals the evolution of his thinking and details how he followed up on this sage advice.
Cultivate Interesting Ideas and Perspectives
If you’re trying to follow the best practice of posting consistently and frequently, it can prove challenging to continuously come up with fresh, interesting content for your posts. Lee insists that it’s important to develop habits and processes that help you generate content regularly. “Create a running list of content ideas every time you are inspired,” Lee explains. “I use Google Keep to write down all ideas whenever I’m inspired by reading articles, talking to clients or reading other influencers’ content.” He also recommends creating content in batches and using a tool like SproutSocial or Buffer to schedule your posts.
Contrary to what some may think, your last name doesn’t have to be Gates, Musk or Zuckerberg to author a viral post, and it doesn’t have to be a once in a lifetime fluke either. Javier and Lee have had repeated success not just creating high-engagement posts but also using them to build a strong online brand with a loyal following. You can too.
Note: Lee and Javier’s advice is their own and not informed by any specific feedback from LinkedIn.
