LinkedIn is the prime place for hearing inspiring anecdotes about people getting hit by buses and immediately going to their job interviews, only for the interviewer to be...the bus itself. Woah. It just shows that with hard work and dedication, you too can be run over by a bus. 💸😤👌
So, you've got a similar anecdote. Maybe it's involving a tuk-tuk, or a people carrier. But you need the world to see it, of course. With 89% of B2B marketers utilising the social media networking platform, LinkedIn is the place for you.
The TLDR; is: consistency, regularity, and consistency. And consistency.
You can have a limited number of posts, a low level of engagement, but if you post regularly, with no holidays, the LinkedIn algorithm will favour this 'natural' posting schedule. Posts can sometimes even be penalised for appearing at the exact same time every day.
This might mean posting high-quality content frequently, at irregular intervals, including the weekend.
Most of all, content is ranked and displayed based on your account's reputation, how users have engaged before, and what else is being posted.
LinkedIn's algorithm, like many others (apart from Instagram), is a well-kept secret. But, thanks to research, observation, and trial and error, a few key tip and tricks have emerged. We're having to rely on the experiences of companies, who deal day to day with the platform, with entrepreneurs such as Jesse van Doren sharing his company's view of the algorithm changes:
So, let's dive into the process, and ask:
Filter number one. The basics. The algorithm sifts through the feed, and determines what's good stuff, what's bad stuff, and what's straight up spam.
Filter number two. The engagement. Now, your post appears in the feed temporarily. The bots will keep a cyber-eye on how your audience is interacting with the content. If they like, comment, and share, you'll move onto the next round. If they hide it from their feed, or report it as spam, no.1 ouch, no.2 you'll be filtered out.
Filter number three. The frequency. At this step, the algorithm looks beyond the content, looking at your profile and network to decide whether your post is spam. If things go wrong at this stage, LinkedIn can remove your content from the feed, or at least will display it less frequently.
Filter number four. The Learning. Editors will now review your post to determine if it should keep showing, or if they could include it somewhere else on the network, They will also use the case to derive any takeaways, so the algorithm can be smarter in the future.
So, if your content keeps getting engagement, it can stay on people's feed for weeks, something unheard of on Twitter or Facebook.
And does not prioritise:
Let's talk more about video.
While video is still important to the 2021 algorithm, it's not as video-focused as it was in the past. Now, videos have to get good engagement to be prioritised, but they might still have an advantage over static content.
Something else the platform is shaking up in regards to their algorithm, is their approach to mega influencers. LinkedIn de-prioritises content from these mega-influencers, to give users the chance to see less famous posters and creators.
Another update is the factoring in of "dwell time" into the algorithm. This is how long your audience will spend digesting your content. If the number is higher, more people will have your post beamed into their eyeballs.
In the right corner, it's you. In the left corner, it's the unfathomable, constantly shifting, all powerful, constantly learning, LinkedIn algorithm. You'll be fine. Ding Ding Ding.
“I’ve settled into a routine of mostly posting text plus a picture or text plus a document. I get decent views/engagement. And was buoyed to see that LinkedIn recently added a Documents tab in the activity section.”