LinkedIn isn’t just a platform for finding jobs. With over 1 billion users that span across 200 countries and regions worldwide, LinkedIn is a key player in the realm of B2B content marketing. It is the social media platform users look to build their professional networks, explore career opportunities, engage in thought leadership content and discover innovative solutions to market niches.
When brands commit to sharing content that falls under a targeted business focus, they unlock opportunities for increased brand exposure. Understanding LinkedIn’s algorithm is crucial for anyone who wants to maximize their impact on the platform.
Whether you’re a seasoned social media professional or a business owner looking to grow, navigating the ever-evolving algorithm can be tricky. But fear not! This comprehensive guide will equip you with the knowledge and strategies to thrive in today’s LinkedIn landscape.
What is the LinkedIn algorithm?
Based on user analytics and machine learning, the LinkedIn algorithm determines the order of the posts people see when they check their feeds. It’s different from other social media algorithm’s as its specifically designed for content not to go viral. The end-goal of the algorithm is to ensure users are served a feed full of relevant and high quality content so they stay on the platform for longer.
How does the LinkedIn algorithm work?
The LinkedIn algorithm ranks posts according to what it predicts is most relevant to the user, not in a simple chronological order. There are multiple factors it considers, including:- Relevance: The algorithm strives to show members content most relevant to their interests and professional background. It considers factors like profile information (skills, experience, education), groups followed, and hashtags members engage with. Content that aligns with these aspects will have a higher chance of appearing in feeds.
- Member activity: The algorithm prioritizes engagement. Content that sparks conversations, receives likes, comments, and shares is deemed valuable and gets pushed further. You should focus on crafting posts that encourage meaningful interactions rather than just self-promotion.
- Expertise and credibility: LinkedIn prioritizes content that positions your business as a thought leader in its field. Share insights, practical advice, and original perspectives on trending topics. The platform also analyzes the level of engagement your content receives to gauge your expertise.
- Content type and quality: While the algorithm doesn’t favor a specific format (text, image, or video), high-quality content reigns supreme. Ensure posts are well-formatted, visually appealing (if applicable), and easy to understand.
- Timeliness and posting frequency: Staying active is key. Regularly posting fresh content (without spamming) keeps you visible and allows the algorithm to learn your posting style and content preferences.
LinkedIn best-practice tips
Now that you understand the core principles, let’s delve into actionable strategies to craft content that resonates with the algorithm and your audience. Here are some best-practice tips on how to create content that encourages LinkedIn engagement:
- Engage with your engagement: Encourage engagement with a question or prompt (e.g. What are your thoughts on this?). And respond to all comments and questions.
- Leverage relationships: Only tag people or accounts that are likely to respond (e.g. no tagging the Prime Minister)
- Post with intent: Consider the right time to post (find out peak engagement time for your business here) and prioritize original content over shared content
- Keyword optimization: SEO isn’t just for your long form web content. Research relevant keywords in your industry and incorporate them naturally into your posts. This helps people searching for those topics discover your content. Tools like Google Trends or Digivizer’s Search Query Tracking feature can be helpful for keyword research.
- Hashtags done right: Leverage hashtags strategically. Choose a mix of popular and niche hashtags relevant to your content. Don’t overdo it – stick to 2-3 relevant hashtags per post.
- Captivating headlines and intros: Grab attention with a clear, concise, and intriguing headline that accurately reflects your post’s content. The first few lines of your post should be equally engaging to entice readers to continue. Plus, use short paragraphs (improves readability
- Visual appeal: Humans are visual creatures. Include high-quality images, infographics, or videos to break up text and enhance user engagement.
- Data and statistics: Back up your claims with credible data or statistics to add weight to your arguments and establish your expertise.
Remember, don’t just broadcast, cultivate conversations. Ask thought-provoking questions, respond to comments, and actively engage with your audience. This fosters a sense of community and encourages further interaction.
Conversation before sales
As a key player in the B2B marketing space, LinkedIn is a place for thought-provoking and high quality conversations as opposed to being a billboard for straight sales.
When you draft LinkedIn posts for your brand, be mindful of why people are on LinkedIn and make that your content direction. The algorithm favors brand profiles that demonstrate an understanding of their audience’s objectives and relevant content.
According to Statista, 50% of LinkedIn users worldwide are between the ages of 25 and 34. The second largest age group on the platform is users between the ages of 18-24, accounting for 24.5% of the user base. It can be inferred from these statistics that the majority of LinkedIn users are there to acquire learnings and connections that will enable them to advance their careers.
This audience objective calls for brands to create content that is informative, and insightful. When a user reads a LinkedIn newsletter, article, or short-form post, it needs to bequeath them with something new: a new perspective, fact, or insight. Something that triggers a light-bulb moment!
Content themes that perform well on LinkedIn include:
- Discussion of workplace culture and corporate philosophy
- Inside thoughts on an event, conference, industry or company
- Personal experiences that relate to industry focus
- Unique perspectives on industry news and trends
Because LinkedIn is, at the end of the day, another social media platform, content also needs to be created in a way that feels personal to the user. When you draft content, imagine that one person from your target audience is sitting across the table from you. Write like you’re having a conversation with that one person. It will guide you to create high quality content that carries a friendly, engaging and approachable tone.
Your presence goes beyond posts
A robust LinkedIn presence requires more than posts. Give the algorithm more reason to push your content by interacting with other posts and creators on the platform. Interaction includes:
- Comments
- Likes
- Reactions
- Shares
Meaningful interaction exposes your brand to followers of other brands and creators within your industry. The more you actively engage with other profiles (from the brand account), the more likely it is that your brand will reap increased profile views, follows, and engagements. Interaction with other accounts helps place your brand in the center of the conversation.
It also gives you greater exposure to your target audience. It allows you to see how they react and engage with content, the content types that resonate, as well as patterns of conversation across content. Being privy to this allows you to actively profile the needs, values, and pain points of the target audience in the quality content you produce.
When you know your audience and understand how the social network’s algorithm works, LinkedIn becomes a lucrative asset in a brand’s content strategy. But how can you track the impact of your LinkedIn efforts?
Digivizer is ready to lend a hand. When you connect all your accounts to the Digivizer platform, you can enjoy instant access to success metrics across all your campaigns in a single view. This gives you the high-level visibility you need to determine what works and what doesn’t, empowering you to make more astute decisions in digital marketing, including how to increase your LinkedIn engagement.
If you would like to learn more about how Digivizer can help you better optimize your time, resources and digital marketing campaigns, book a demo session today. We want to make it easy for you to grow and scale.