Hello Flourish friends, I am the strategic content director here at Flourish. I do a lot of work on our social platforms including research, analysis, and creation. I love discovering new trends on social media — and this week I am doing just that.
Have you ever wondered why your content seems to be dropping in reach and engagement? Well, you are not alone. I did a little digging so you don’t have to and I read up on the latest algorithms for each platform. Let’s start with some fresh trends on LinkedIn!
This is a platform that has laid in mystery for me for years. Mostly it serves as a business networking, job finding (found this job there, hello!), and professional development channel. LI is unique in that its algorithm prioritizes your network’s interactions, and dampens business and organizational posts.
Try it out, next time you get on your LI feed scroll down a few times and check how often you see a post from a business. Is it because someone in your network has engaged with it? Or possibly it is a promoted post popping in to say hi. And lastly, you might see an organization’s post, if it is from a page you directly follow. Knowing this is key to understanding how to create a post that will generate traction.
According to Hootsuite* there are 11 ways to master the LI algorithm, I’m just going to highlight the three I found most eye opening…
1. Encourage Engagement
Yes this should be obvious but this goes beyond asking someone to comment. Thinking about provoking conversation rather than just informing is possibly something I’ve taken for granted as a social media creator.
While you always want to get someone to click on your site or go subscribe to your newsletter, this tip helped me realize that people are still curious. And, if you give them nothing to be curious about, then they will keep scrolling. So ask challenging questions (not leading questions), and encourage some genuine curiosity.
“Encourage some genuine curiosity.”
2. Avoid Outbound Links
Naturally all platforms want to keep you on their site. They will boost posts that don’t have an outbound link, and LinkedIn is no exception. So if all you are doing is posting outbound links, try to repurpose this content into a post that can stay on the platform.
If that doesn’t work for your content, then link it in the comments. This includes events; try creating a LinkedIn event page that corresponds with your upcoming event with a link to tickets on that page. Then you can push the event page on your feed rather than having people go straight to the tickets page.
If it’s a blog, come up with a catchy conversation starter. Think of it as a precursor to your blog by creating some curiosity around the subject. And of course include a link in the comments directing people to your page if they are interested!
3. Build a Strategic Network
Okay this is your driving factor. If the only chance for people who do not follow you to see your content is by a paid promotion or engagement from their network then make sure your network is engaging with your posts and updates.
In general you should be inviting everyone you know to follow your business but more specifically make sure to invite the people that are true supporters. Be sure your profile is complete so when someone lands there they will want to click follow and to check out your website.
**Extra tip**
Last but not least, be active. Posting consistently will guarantee that your followers will see your posts. Finding the right time to post is crucial for the initial engagement, and to help boost your posts lifespan. Do a few tests based on your analytics and see how many engagements you get based on the time of day. Generally, LinkedIn says the best time to post is early in the morning when people are starting their day or during lunch time.
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I hope you’ve found this helpful in demystifying the LinkedIn algorithm. Drop us a comment below if you have any LinkedIn tricks up your sleeves or questions you want us to look into. Stay tuned for our next blog all about fresh trends on Instagram and Facebook.
*And if you want to read the full article on LinkedIn’s algorithm that I am referring to, head here.
Check out these blogs for more resources on brand resilience.
