Some accountants have a love–hate relationship with LinkedIn. Some largely ignore it. Others get frustrated by it. And a few see it for what it really is: a superb online business networking platform. It’s not just another social media site. So, if you want to get real benefits from being on Linkedin you need to do things differently to how you do them on social media sites.
Yes, LinkedIn shares some features with social media, and yes, some people – including some accountants – treat it as if that’s all it is. But it’s so much more. Used well, it can boost your credibility, expand your influence, strengthen your connections, and lead to more referrals, recommendations, and conversations with your ideal clients. In fact, when you know what you’re doing, LinkedIn can even short-cut the whole networking process.
That’s why I often say LinkedIn can be a brilliant tool for accountants – especially those with clear objectives and a defined audience they want to impact and influence. Used ineffectively, however, it can quickly become a frustrating waste of time, full of false starts and repeated disappointments.
Here are 20 of the most common mistakes I see accountants making on LinkedIn:
1 – Thinking there’s some hidden benefit to having a dormant account with an incomplete profile
It’s like leaving a half-painted shop sign outside your office – not exactly inviting.
2 – Keeping a boring headline that simply describes their role instead of engaging prospects
“Accountant at Bloggs & Co” doesn’t exactly grab attention or spark curiosity.
3 – Leaving an out of date or unrecognisable photo on their profile
A logo, formal suit or overly casual party image won’t contribute to a creating a positive first impression.
4 – Allowing a marketing agency to copy their cookie-cutter blog posts onto LinkedIn
These posts look identical to hundreds of others, so they rarely spark interest. Even if they cost nothing (extra) they may well do more harm than good. (Feedback on my popular Linkedin post about accountants who do this was quite enlightening).
5 – Believing the hype that you “need” to post something (anything) every day
Chasing activity for activity’s sake often results in bland filler content and rarely contributes to you achieving your ‘real’ objectives.
6 – Focusing on reach, impressions and visibility numbers in isolation
There is little point in chasing such vanity numbers given they invariably include random strangers from around the world
7 – Accepting every connection request – including scammers, salespeople and strangers with no relevance
There is no etiquette that requires you to do this and there is no benefit in doing so either. If you reject their connection requests they will still be ‘following’ you on the site, just not able to spam you.
8 – Misunderstanding generic advice about the “best day” or “best time” to post
Any research that purports to have identified such ‘answers’ will not be relevant to UK accountants. Nor will it take account of YOUR audience and their habits on the site. The only ‘best time’ to post advice that is always true, is ‘when your target market is awake’. Beyond that, you’ll only know for certain if you have the time to constantly test YOUR own results.
9 – Assuming that consistently posting fresh content is a good way to attract prospects and interest
One of the key points I make in my Linkedin masterclasses is that there are better, more focused and more successful ways to pursue your objectives on Linkedin without regularly posting fresh content.
10 – Thinking that all their connections and followers see each of their posts
This is feasible only when someone follows just a handful of people. Most follow hundreds or thousands. Who has the time to scroll to the end of their home feed to see all the posts from everyone they know?
11 – Copying people who have different objectives, audiences or measures of success
What works on Linkedin for a marketing consultant, a linkedin coach or a dog trainer will rarely have the same impact for an accountant. And those accountants who appear to be doing well may have very different ideal clients to you or may not even be attracting clients at all – just a lot of engagement from friends, associates, other accountants and strangers around the world.
12 – Believing the hype about clever ways to “beat” the LinkedIn algorithm
There are multiple algorithms and they are constantly being tweaked and updated to limit the potential for anyone to game the system through ‘tricks’ and shortcuts. This means that techniques that worked well last month may no longer work at all. In any event, most of these ‘hacks’ are intended to boost the extent to which posts get seen by more people around the world – rarely by more of someone’s target audience.
One popular misconception relates to the inclusion of selfies in every post. The first ones MAY help ‘stop the scroll’ as they stand out. But once the novelty wears off, recurring selfies may hinder your efforts to reach your target market – especially when it’s clear your selfie has no bearing on the content of your post.
13 – Overloading their posts with hashtags that make their content look desperate
A wall of #hashtags is more off-putting than engaging. Linkedin stopped encouraging hashtags in 2022 and now treats multiple hashtags as an indicator of a spam post, or one that’s been copied from insta or other social media platforms, and then limits their exposure.
14 – Talking only about themselves or their firm – rather than showing empathy for clients’ issues
Endless “we, we, we” updates feel like sales pitches rather than conversations. They may engage friends and fellow accountants but are unlikely to engage strangers/prospects
15 – Reposting content without any comment
This idea is based on the misconception that people will appreciate being directed to someone else’s content. Maybe they will, but the person reposting it gets no credit and is rarely even noticed.
16 – Never commenting on other people’s posts – then wondering why no one engages with theirs
It’s like going to a networking event and standing in the corner, just watching everyone else – but still expecting them to come and listen or talk to you.
17 – Writing in long paragraphs with dense text that no one has the patience to read
LinkedIn is skim-read on phones, not studied like a textbook.
18 – Connecting with competitors more than with potential introducers, clients, or influencers
It builds a network, but not necessarily one that helps grow your practice.
19 – Believing that LinkedIn success is about “likes” instead of conversations that matter
It’s easy to chase vanity metrics and forget the real purpose of networking – online or offline.
20 – Wasting money on a premium account in the hope this will boost views of their profile and posts
I have never found a Linkedin expert who believes this happens. It’s a common misconception that is not borne out by experience. It also makes no sense that Linkedin would prioritise lower quality profiles and content (because someone is paying for a premium account) when they are constantly looking to prioritise the better, more relevant and reliable content.
None of these mistakes are fatal on their own. But when you pile them together, they explain why so many accountants say LinkedIn “doesn’t work for me”.
The truth? It can work brilliantly – if you avoid the myths, ignore the hype, and focus on using LinkedIn in ways that actually resonate with the people you want to reach. So your starting point should be deciding WHY you want to be on Linkedin.
If you’d like to avoid these pitfalls (and discover what does work), my LinkedIn masterclass for accountants will help. It’s practical, myth-busting and built on what really works for accountants – not generic social media advice that leaves you frustrated.
