Don't blame the algorithm for poor engagement. Truly compelling content, like a major company announcement, still breaks through and achieves massive reach. The platform rewards exceptional content, not just consistent posting.
The primary reason new LinkedIn content gets no traction isn't poor quality, but a lack of an initial audience. Before focusing on content creation, prioritize building a relevant network through connection requests and engagement to ensure people actually see your posts.
Modern algorithms can surface any single piece of content to a massive audience of non-followers, regardless of past performance. This means marketers are always just one breakout post away from significant reach, making consistent experimentation more important than ever.
A text-only LinkedIn post with low engagement but a strong problem-solution focus can generate significant sales pipeline. This is because it targets a niche audience with a specific pain point, making vanity metrics like likes and views misleading indicators of business impact.
LinkedIn's algorithm now favors comments. By commenting with value-add content (like memes or insights) on popular posts, a company page can gain more impressions and followers than from its own feed posts. This "post within a post" strategy is highly effective for growth.
Contrary to a popular myth among marketers, a Senior Director of Product at LinkedIn stated that adding an external link to a post does not inherently reduce its reach. Poor performance is caused by low-value, self-serving content that users ignore, not the link itself. Valuable content with a relevant link can perform very well.
Don't dismiss LinkedIn as just for B2B. Its organic reach is powerful and underleveraged. Users are in a business-focused mindset, making them receptive to a different style of content than on entertainment-driven platforms, creating a unique opportunity for brand distribution.
Simply posting content and leaving—or 'posting and ghosting'—is ineffective. LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes posts that generate conversation. Engaging with comments, especially within the first couple of hours, is critical for signaling value and maximizing your content's reach.
LinkedIn actively suppresses the reach of users who accumulate large, unengaged audiences via mass connection requests. The platform algorithmically favors smaller, highly engaged networks over large, passive ones, making audience quality more important than sheer quantity for content visibility.
When social media reach and engagement decline, it's easy to blame the platform's algorithm. However, the more productive mindset is to see it as a reflection of your content's declining quality or relevance. The algorithm isn't hurting everyone, it's hurting those who aren't good. The solution is to improve your craft, innovate, and adapt to cultural trends.
LinkedIn now lets users see how many people save a post or send it in a private DM. These are strong signals to the platform's algorithm, indicating high-quality content. Focusing on creating content that encourages these actions can significantly boost organic circulation beyond simple likes and comments.