In July I did an experiment.
I posted daily on LinkedIn to see what would happen.
My mission? To answer questions about content creation:
- What content is most engaging, or valuable, for serving my network?
- How can I increase the quality of my network through content creation?
- How will content creation enhance my personal brand?
On Saturdays, I posted weekly interim reports. Questions people asked as a result:
- What content works best?
- What’s the optimal posting cadence?
- What’s the impact of the LinkedIn algorithm change?
WHAT THE DATA SAYS
Key Metrics for July
- Content impressions (onscreen displays) up 371%
- Content engagement (reactions, comments, reposts) up 229%
- Followers increased by 118
- Profile views up 102%
Top Performing Posts
- Don’t Apply for Stuff: 22,030 impressions, 133 engagements
- LinkedIn Experiment Weekly Update #1: 2,574 impressions, 61 engagements
- Is the American July the New European August? 2,335 impressions, 48 engagements
Why did “Don’t Apply for Stuff” do so well? It was a contrarian view on the job search. The statement was an attention grabber. It offered knowledge and advice. People engaged with the post by commenting and reposting right away. LinkedIn seems to reward early engagement, in the first hour, with more impressions.
And along those lines, it’s okay and even advisable to like your own posts and comment on them. You can add more info in a comment. It’s also good to reply to as many comments on your post as possible, to foster dialogue. Include a question to keep the conversation going.
WHAT THE DATA MEANS
During the first half of the year, I posted monthly or less. Impressions were higher, in the range of 3,500 to 10,000.
The LinkedIn algorithm did change in mid 2023, to reward posts that share knowledge and advice.
But because my posts have always shared knowledge and advice, that may not be the reason impressions are lower in July, generally in the range of 250 to 2,500. Perhaps my content quality isn’t high enough. Or maybe posting daily has resulted in fewer impressions per post.
Logically, that means I should post less frequently.
BUT, this data suggests otherwise:
- More comments on my posts from people I haven’t heard from in a while
- More DMs from people in my network who are reaching out to reconnect
- More connection requests from interesting people I want to know better
The quality of my relationships and conversations on LinkedIn have dramatically improved in July. And that speaks to my goals of serving people through my content, improving the quality of my network, and enhancing my personal brand.
ADVICE FOR YOUR CONTENT
- Pick a posting frequency to fit your life and goals. It may be monthly, weekly, daily, or somewhere in between. You get to choose.
- Share knowledge and advice. This makes your content unique. It’s what only you can share. It’s also what the current algorithm rewards.
- Don’t repost content. It won’t achieve a high level of impressions. Instead, start a new post and tag the person whose idea you want to credit.
Lastly, don’t give up. It takes time to build a professional reputation through content creation.
Briana Sharp expressed it beautifully in a comment on one of my posts. She wrote: James Clear in his book Atomic Habits references the period when nothing seems to happen but is, citing the example of “Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it builds extensive root systems underground before exploding ninety feet into the air within six weeks.”
What root systems are you building with YOUR content?
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