As a professional, there’s no better way to future-proof your career than building your personal brand on LinkedIn.
Establishing yourself as a thought leader and building an engaged audience on the platform can help generate new customers for your business, exciting job opportunities, and even paid side projects as a B2B (or B2C) creator.
I’ve been focused on building a personal brand on LinkedIn since mid-2022 (that’s just about two years at the time of writing this), and the effort has already paid off — and then some.
Without it, I’d never have been invited to host my own podcast, connected with some important leaders in my industry, and — best of all — landed my dream job on Buffer’s marketing team.
Of course, it’s not been without work. While LinkedIn is a little more forgiving than other social media platforms, I’ve been consistently publishing two or three posts per week for most of that time, bar a week or two off here and there while on vacation.
For seasoned creators on TikTok, Instagram, and X (Twitter), that posting frequency probably sounds like a breeze compared to how often you have to create content to maintain your reach.
On the other hand, if you’re new to creating content, that might feel like a heck of a lot. I get it: I’ve been there. But don’t let the frequency intimidate you! For starters, it gets a little easier every time you post.
Plus, posting and engaging often can turn into a content flywheel of sorts. Questions and comments on your posts (or your comments on other’s LinkedIn posts) can spark multiple new content ideas. The more often you post, the easier it is.
All that said — getting and staying active on the platform can often be the biggest hurdle to overcome.
If that resonates, you’ve come to the right place.
In 2024, my Buffer Content Team co-conspirator Tami Oladipo (a LinkedIn force to be reckoned with herself) kicked off Creator Camp — a 30-day challenge to help creators do exactly that: get and stay active on their platform of choice.
Overwhelmingly, we found that the creators who joined the challenge in the Buffer Community were laser-focused on LinkedIn. To help them meet their goals, Tami shared a LinkedIn post prompt every day to take the guesswork out of what to post.
These prompts turned out to be the most sought-after aspect of the challenge. While the challenge is now over, we still have folks popping into the community asking for these prompts — which is why we’re sharing them here, for everyone to use.
To help spark some ideas on how to approach each prompt, I've added some examples from my Buffer teammates. (There are several of us on the team focused on sharing more about our work and building our presence on LinkedIn — and we've all leaned on Tami's excellent prompts at some point!)
You'll also find some posts from our first cohort of Creator Campers, all of whom boosted their following and reach with these prompts.
How to use this guide
- Don’t stick to text: Where it makes sense to do so, try adding a photo, a video, or a carousel. According to Buffer data, these formats often outperform plain text on LinkedIn.
- Focus on your ‘hook’: Remember that only the first two to three lines of your posts will be visible. Make them intriguing enough to entice your followers to click ‘See more.’
- Don’t fret about posting every day: While consistent posting is a surefire way to grow your audience, don’t risk burnout if that cadence doesn’t seem sustainable to you. If you grab one or two posts a week here and draw this content out for the next few months, that works, too!
- Choose your posting time wisely: LinkedIn posts shared at certain times tend to get more engagement than others. Plan your content around these best times to post on LinkedIn.
- Branch out from LinkedIn: These prompts will help you build your personal brand on any platform. Don't be afraid to cross-post your content elsewhere! Pro tip: These ideas will work particularly well on other text-based platforms like Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky, or X.
- Work smarter, not harder. Batch prep your content and schedule it in advance. To ensure you hit your posting goals, it's a great idea to block some time in your calendar and schedule some of your posts. Here's how to do that with Buffer →
30 days of LinkedIn prompts to help you build your personal brand
Day 1
Share your career origin story: Re-introduce yourself to your network with some personal anecdotes about where you started and where you are now.
Here’s a great example from Buffer Founder and CEO Joel Gascoigne:
Day 2
Discuss a surprising skill — whether it was learned when you were 6, 16, or just yesterday — and how having it has impacted your life.
Here's a great example from Creator Camper, Alexander Boswell:
Day 3
Share a personal accomplishment you're proud of and what it took to achieve it.
Here's an excellent post from Cameron Small, another Creator Camper:
Day 4
How did you land your current role (or if you’re a business owner, what steps did you take to get going)?
Here's a brilliant example from Buffer's Social Media Manager, Mitra Mehvar. Note the excellent hook:
Day 5
Share your top productivity hack for managing your time effectively.
Day 6
Discuss a personal boundary you've set for yourself and how it has improved your life.
Day 7
Share your 'new week' routine — how do you psych yourself up for Mondays?
Day 8
Share your work tool stack. What software would you be unable to do your job without, and why?
Here's an example from Buffer's Director of Growth Marketing, Simon Heaton:
Day 9
Reflect on a piece of feedback you received recently and how it helped you improve your approach to work, life, or content.
Day 10
Share a cliche quote that you can't help but take seriously.
Day 11
Discuss a risk you've taken in your career or business and how it has paid off or taught you a valuable lesson.
Here, Buffer's Head of Content and Communications Hailley Griffis talks about why she's taken the 'risk' of staying in her role rather than moving on:
Day 12
What does a week in the life of a [insert your job title here] look like?
Here's a great example from Buffer's Senior Product Marketing Manager, Michael Eckstein:
Day 13
Write about an accomplishment you're proud of (recent or from when you were 9) and what led to it.
Day 14
Share a seemingly random event in your life that you now know led you to an amazing opportunity.
Day 15
Share a photo or video of your workspace and how it helps you boost productivity — whether that's in an office, at home, or in a coffee shop.
Here's how Creator Camper Farrah Garcia approached this prompt.
Day 16
Share your take on a recent development in your industry, hot or not.
Day 17
Share some job openings. Whether it's an opening at your own company or a list of open roles you've spotted in your network, these posts have incredible potential on LinkedIn.
Here's an example of one I shared recently:
Day 18
Revisit an old post and rework it in another format – repurposing is a great way to extend the shelf life of your ideas.
Day 19
Share a time you went outside of your comfort zone and how it went, positive or negative.
Day 20
Share a time a pivot worked (or didn't) for your business or career.
Day 21
Share your philosophy and approach to procrastination — don't be afraid to get funny or deep with it!
Day 22
Share some data. You likely work with some sort of performance tracking in your day-to-day job. Sharing a graph or metrics* that showcases some project results or another shift can be helpful to others in a similar role or industry.
Here's how Buffer data scientist Julian Winternheimer approached it:
*Buffer is a fully transparent company so we don't need approval for sharing info like this. If your company doesn't have a similar approach, be careful about sharing confidential numbers.
Day 23
Hone in on one tool and how it vastly improves your day-to-day work or life.
Here's one from Tami:
Day 24
Share a recent challenge you've faced at work and how you dealt with it.
Here, Buffer's Chief of Staff, Carolyn Kopprasch, gets candid about the impact of deciding not to work with a recruiter to help with Buffer's hiring:
Day 25
Share how you structure your work day. What time do you start in the morning? When is your most productive period?
Day 26
What books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources have you found most helpful in your career growth? What about them was specifically helpful?
Day 27
Invite your audience for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) in the comments of your post. This is an underrated way to get content ideas you might never have come up with on your own.
Here's how Tami approached it (she turned many of the questions she received into new LinkedIn posts):
Day 28
Share something that makes you optimistic about life, your career, or industry.
Day 29
Share a non-work hobby that brings you joy. (This is a great opportunity to share a photo or video.)
Day 30
Share your experience with posting consistently (through Creator Camp or any other project) with a sprinkle of your favorite results if you're comfortable.
Here's an example from Emily Miels, who took part in Buffer's latest Creator Camp:
How did it go? We’d love to hear from you if you’ve taken this challenge or found these prompts helpful. Find us @buffer across socials, or join the conversation in our community on Discord.
More LinkedIn + personal brand resources
If you're new to LinkedIn, we have a ton of resources that will help get you started:
