LinkedIn is a sharing community where engagement is key. To avoid being confined to your own bubble, make sure to repost other people’s content (and tag them) and actively participate in conversations under posts.
Let’s dive into details about tagging people and companies on LinkedIn.
Key points
- LinkedIn allows you to tag individuals within its platform. It’s important to note that tagging is limited to people within your network. In other words, you can only tag individuals who are already connected to you on LinkedIn.
- When you tag someone on LinkedIn, they will receive both a notification and an email informing them about the mention.
Intro: How do you tag someone on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn tags explained
Tags imply a warmer level of connection and show that you know someone beyond just their profile. For example, when you tag a friend in a post, it signifies that you are on familiar terms and aware of their interests. This personalization aspect adds a more intimate touch to LinkedIn interactions.
Top real-life scenarios when tags are useful:
- To bring someone’s attention to a post that you believe they should read and will find valuable. For instance, if you come across a job ad and tag someone from your network who could be a suitable match.
- To involve a company or its representative in a post, expecting them to voice their opinions publicly, especially on controversial issues or terrible customer experiences.
- To inform your friends about a LinkedIn event you have discovered and want them to attend as well.
- To clearly indicate that you are responding to a specific person during a discussion in the comments, especially when there are a lot of participants.
- To highlight contributors to your content, such as when sharing a well-prepared podcast or interview featuring four interviewees, and you tag each of them.
- To demonstrate respect for copyright by always tagging the original source or author of the content you share.
In essence, tags aim to capture someone’s attention, elicit a response, or pay tribute to a person or company.
What is the difference between a tag and a hashtag?
On LinkedIn, a tag is used to directly mention and bring attention to a specific individual or company, fostering personalized engagement. It notifies the tagged person and is typically used to involve them in a conversation or highlight their contribution to a post.
In contrast, a hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by the “#” symbol. It categorizes content thematically, making it more discoverable to a wider audience. Hashtags help users find and engage with content related to specific topics or interests.
How to tag someone in a LinkedIn post
How do I tag someone on LinkedIn? It’s easy, just follow these steps:
Step 1: Log in to your LinkedIn account.
Step 2: Access the homepage and click on “Start a post.”
Step 3: Click on the “@” symbol and begin typing the name to select it from the list.
Step 4: Choose the correct person from the suggestions.
Step 5: Complete your post and click “Post” to publish.
The tagged individual’s name will appear in bold italics. This means that the user will receive a notification that you have included them in your publication.
Note: Sales Navigator subscribers have convenient Alerts for both individual profiles and companies. Sales Navigator notifies you of all the latest updates about your leads, such as job changes, share purchases, promotions, new articles, and more. This can be useful as a prompt for tagging or creating new posts.
Looking to boost your visibility and engagement through tagging? Start by reposting and expressing gratitude or writing reviews on your own page, mentioning brands or individuals.
For example, if you had an excellent customer service experience with an insurance company, share it on your page with a mention of the company. If someone wrote an interesting post, repost it and add your own comment, mentioning the author with a message like this:
“Thank you, @Greg Cartman, for the valuable insights on working with freelancers. I’m sharing a repost with recommendations from trusted professionals.”
How to find a relevant audience for tagging
One effective way to engage with specific individuals or groups is by utilizing the tagging feature. To streamline this process, you can leverage tools like Linked Helper, a LinkedIn automation tool designed to enhance your networking efforts.
Linked Helper offers various features that can assist you in finding a relevant audience for tagging. One such feature is bulk invites with custom messages. With Linked Helper, you can send personalized connection requests to multiple individuals simultaneously. This enables you to efficiently reach out to a targeted audience and establish connections based on shared interests, industries, or professional backgrounds.
Maximizing LinkedIn message automation for targeted tagging
Life hack: We can gather individuals we want to tag in relevant groups, events, or in the comments/likes under posts. Linked Helper can collect them from those sources and then invite and engage with them before mentioning them.
Here’s a step-by-step description of this process:
- You need leads who will be interested in the content under which we tag them, right? So, let’s start by searching for similar topics. You can use LinkedIn filters for this, such as industry (available in any solution), or seniority level (only available in Sales Navigator and above). Read more about the differences and pricing of LinkedIn’s paid solutions.
- Besides using the search function, you can also find targeted leads (2nd and 3rd-degree connections) within related posts or thematic groups/events.
- Furthermore, you can use Linked Helper as a tool to gather an audience from specific groups, Sales Navigator searches, event attendees, or even individuals who have interacted with a particular post (likers/commenters).
- Once you have the audience, you can start inviting them and establishing contact. Initiate small talk, endorse their skills, and engage with their content, so that when you eventually tag them, they will already be familiar with you. It’s also a good idea to suggest creating a joint post in advance via a private message.
❗️ When using Linked Helper or any LinkedIn automation tool, it’s essential to maintain a balanced and organic approach. We recommend sending around 50-70 targeted invites per day to avoid triggering restrictions and maintain a healthy level of engagement. The allowed limit on the social network is 100 invites per week. However, thanks to a unique undocumented feature, you can not only bypass this limit but also include a personalized message in your invite.
✅ Customizing your connection requests on LinkedIn is key to standing out and forming genuine connections. By using personalized messages, you can express your interest in someone’s work, highlight shared interests, or explain why connecting would be beneficial. This approach significantly increases the chances of receiving positive responses and fostering meaningful interactions.
Learn how we generated personalized invite messages using ChatGPT
In addition to sending invites, engaging with group members or event attendees can be a valuable strategy for finding a relevant audience to tag. This process can also be automated:
- Choose a niche group or event as a source for bulk inviting.
- Send bulk message chains to group members or event attendees without sending connection requests.
Actively participating in conversations and providing valuable insights helps establish yourself as a knowledgeable and respected member of the community.
When you discover a post or article that resonates with you or aligns with your expertise, tagging individuals from relevant groups or events can significantly expand your network and increase visibility. By tagging them in your post, you catch their attention and give them the opportunity to engage with the content.
To sum up, effectively finding a relevant audience for tagging on LinkedIn requires a strategic approach. Tools like Linked Helper can streamline the process by enabling personalized connection requests to a targeted audience.
Engaging with group members or event attendees and tagging them in your posts opens doors for expanding your network and fostering meaningful interactions. By utilizing these strategies, you can enhance your LinkedIn presence, establish valuable connections, and increase visibility in your industry or area of interest.
How to tag a company on LinkedIn
Learn your niche before engaging
Before you tag a company in a LinkedIn post, it is crucial to have a solid understanding of your niche and target market. Conduct thorough research to identify the key players, industry trends, and relevant topics. This knowledge will help you create meaningful content and engage with companies in a way that resonates with their interests.
✅ Utilize Linked Helper Organizations Extractor for getting companies insights!
To gain a deeper understanding of a company before mentioning them on LinkedIn, consider using the Organizations Extractor. This tool helps extract valuable information about the company’s background, size, location, and more. Additionally, you can easily read about hundreds of companies from the extracted Excel file. Understanding the company’s position in the market will assist in creating relevant and targeted posts.
Lifehack: If you already have visited leads, you can convert them into organizations. Since you may have collected leads earlier for the purpose of mentioning them somewhere, it may be beneficial to study the companies they work for and use that information for tagging.
In Linked Helper, you can retrieve organizations related to your audience from the list of visited leads. For example, a list of CEOs or salespeople that you have visited to gather information and for future tagging can be converted into a list of organizations using the provided instructions.
Explore more about scraping companies in our blog post.
How to tag a company in a LinkedIn post
Quick how-to tutorial on tagging companies on LinkedIn:
Step 1: Log in to your LinkedIn account.
Step 2: Go to your homepage and click on “Start a post.”
Step 3: Start typing “@” and enter the name of the company you want to tag.
Step 4: Select the correct company from the suggestions.
Step 5: Complete your post and click “Post” to publish.
You will see that the tagged companies appear in bold font, making them stand out in your post.
Troubleshooting: Why can’t I tag someone on LinkedIn?
Tagging someone on LinkedIn is a useful feature that allows you to mention and involve specific individuals in your posts, comments, or articles. However, there are several common issues that may prevent you from tagging someone on LinkedIn. Let’s explore these issues and discuss potential solutions:
Privacy settings of the person you want to tag
One of the primary reasons you may not be able to tag someone on LinkedIn is due to their privacy settings. LinkedIn offers users the ability to control who can tag them in posts and comments. If the person you want to tag has restricted this option, you will not be able to tag them. In this case, it’s important to respect their privacy preferences.
Solution: If you encounter this issue, you can reach out to the person directly through a private message or email to discuss the content or request their permission to tag them. It’s always good practice to communicate and obtain consent before involving someone in a public post.
Connection status: Not being connected with the person
To tag someone on LinkedIn, you usually need to be connected with them. If you are not connected with the person you want to tag, LinkedIn may not provide their name as an option for tagging.
Solution: To tag someone who is not in your connections, you can send them a connection request. Once they accept your request and you become connected, you will be able to tag them in your posts and comments.
Company tagging restrictions
LinkedIn provides company pages where organizations can showcase their brand and engage with their audience. However, some companies may have specific tagging restrictions in place. These restrictions can limit who can tag the company page or its employees.
Solution: If you are unable to tag a company or its employees, it’s advisable to review the company’s tagging policy or reach out to the company’s page administrator for clarification. They can provide insights into the tagging restrictions and help you understand the appropriate way to engage with the company on LinkedIn.
Other technical issues and potential solutions
Occasionally, technical glitches or temporary issues on LinkedIn’s platform can affect the tagging functionality. These issues can include slow loading times, server errors, or bugs within the platform.
Solution: In such cases, it is recommended to wait for some time and try again later. LinkedIn’s technical team typically resolves these issues promptly. Additionally, you can also try logging out and logging back into your LinkedIn account, clearing your browser cache, or using a different browser to see if the problem persists.
How to tag someone on LinkedIn if their name doesn’t come up
If you are unable to find someone’s name when attempting to tag them on LinkedIn, there are a few possible reasons:
a. Check your connection status: Ensure that you are connected with the person you want to tag. If you are not connected, send them a connection request.
b. Verify your spelling and search parameters: Double-check the spelling of the person’s name and make sure you are using the correct search parameters, such as first name, last name, or company affiliation.
c. Expand your network: If you are unable to find someone in your network, it’s possible that they have different privacy settings or are not actively using LinkedIn. In such cases, you can try expanding your network by connecting with more professionals in your industry or reaching out to the person directly outside of LinkedIn.
Best Practices: Tag someone in a LinkedIn post
#1 Make interview announcements
When you announce an interview on LinkedIn and tag relevant individuals or companies in your industry, it serves as a great opportunity for networking. By tagging the interviewees, you increase the visibility of your post to their network, potentially reaching a larger audience. It also demonstrates your professional connections and can generate interest from others in your industry who might be interested in the interview topic or the individuals involved. This can lead to new connections, collaborations, and further networking opportunities.
#2 Engage and reach a diverse audience
In the example provided, the post showcases a great way to organically combine tags of people, companies, and hashtags. By mentioning Designblok, Prague International Design Festival, and Benedict Hobson (co-CEO of Dezeen), the post connects multiple relevant entities in the design industry. This approach enables the post to reach a diverse audience, including followers of the mentioned individuals, supporters of the festival, and those interested in design-related content. By using tags sparingly and purposefully, you enhance the discoverability of your post and maximize its potential reach.
#3 Engage in top threads and tag relevant users
On LinkedIn, you can find top threads in your Home feed or within specific groups. These threads often revolve around trending industry topics, news, or discussions. By actively participating in these threads and tagging relevant users in your comments, you can enhance the conversation and engage with like-minded professionals.
When you tag relevant users in the comments of a hot thread, it serves multiple purposes. First, it draws the attention of those users to your comment, increasing the likelihood of them noticing and responding to it. Second, it shows that you value their expertise or opinion on the topic, which can lead to meaningful discussions and knowledge-sharing. Additionally, other users who come across the thread may find the information shared by the tagged users valuable, further expanding the reach and impact of the discussion.
#4 Recommend someone on LinkedIn with tags
Tagging someone in a recommendation on LinkedIn helps to amplify their visibility, credibility, and networking opportunities. It showcases their expertise to a wider audience, increases their chances of attracting new clients or opportunities, and provides them with valuable recognition for their exceptional work.
Final advice: Remember to tag users who genuinely contribute to the conversation and can provide valuable insights. By doing so, you foster a supportive and engaging environment, where users feel valued and eager to participate in the discussion.
