Did LinkedIn Algorithm Change?
Yes.
But what’s so unique about the latest algorithm update? LinkedIn updates its algorithm all the time, right?
Well, yes, but here’s the thing.
This update is a big deal for business owners who rely on LinkedIn content marketing to stay visible in the competitive marketplace.
This algorithm change can either make or break their businesses, but more on this later.
Let’s first talk about how LinkedIn is now showing your posts.
LinkedIn Posts: How The Algorithm Used to Work
Once upon a time (back in early August 2021), the lifespan of a LinkedIn post was pretty short. You’d create a post, and viewership skyrockets and hits a peak within a couple of hours. After that, you wouldn’t see a lot of change in the number of views.
The statistics in the above graph show that I reached about 2898 views on the same day I posted. After that, my viewership numbers didn’t grow as much anymore.
Two days later, my views for the same post only went up by about three hundred views.
All of that is now in the past.
LinkedIn Posts Are No Longer as Short-Lived
I first suspected this when more of my European and Asian contacts started commenting on my posts. I was as confused as I was delighted by this since my target audience is from all over the world.
After looking into my post data trends and consulting some of the greatest LinkedIn experts in my network, this is what I found:
After the update in late August 2021, older posts don’t get subdued by newer ones significantly.
Instead, views can keep increasing for the next two weeks (read on to learn how your business can ride this momentum!).
As shown in the graph above, my LinkedIn post views are still growing a week after posting it. I also posted new content throughout the week, but that did not stop my views from increasing.
Previously, my view count would skyrocket and reach its peak within 4-6 hours. With my posting schedule and how the LinkedIn algorithm worked initially, only my American contacts tend to see my content.
However, it’s a different story now. LinkedIn is making posts appear slower on newsfeeds, but it is also retaining posts there for an extended time. It’s why I now typically receive close to equal engagement from my American, European and Asian contacts.
And what I’ve come to realise is that not many people are aware of this awesome algorithm update yet.
But you?
You’re now one of the few exceptions who do, and you’re about to learn how you can use this algorithm update as your business’ ace in the hole.
The Current Dilemma for B2B Business Owners on LinkedIn
Remember when I mentioned that this update could make or break your business?
Well, do you know how much content creation on LinkedIn had increased in 2020?
According to the official statistics by LinkedIn, content creation grew by a whopping 60%.
Couple with the fact that LinkedIn is now showing your posts to your audience more gradually and over a longer time, it means two things:
- You have more chances of getting discovered because of your posts’ longer lifespan.
- On the flip side, you now have more competition whose posts also get promoted for longer, which cancels out the above advantage!
That said, you can beat the LinkedIn algorithm and stand in front of your target audience before your competitors do.
Are you ready to find out how your business can win over the increasing competition?
Let’s get started.
Your New Key to Visibility: Slow-Burn Engagement
The engagement you receive in the first few hours after posting content is like the first trigger for LinkedIn to promote your content to a larger audience.
But what if you can trigger the algorithm to do the same thing a few more times?
That’s right; it means you’d reach more people, or at least have better odds of reaching your target audience!
In the graph I’m about to show you, you’ll see that my organic reach would keep increasing over the week because of the three engagement boosts (more on this later) I received throughout.
There’s no impressive growth in reach on the first day, but that changes over time with the additional engagement.
All in all, you only need around 15 comments throughout the span of a week.
This organic amount and consistent flow of engagement are enough to create a ripple effect that will grow your reach and generate more leads for your business. With free tools like Hashtag Analytics in the market, you can easily optimise your content to receive another stream of engagement from hashtag followers who follow topics in your niche.
🚀 Skyrocket Your Business Growth
Watch Your Reach Grow Over a Longer Period
Getting enough initial engagement is one thing, but how can you ensure that enough engagement keeps rolling in throughout the week?
Gradual engagement.
Receiving engagement at fixed intervals throughout a week’s time allows your visibility to keep growing for a longer time.
After running a pilot test involving many top B2B owners and benchmarking the results, we found that that is vital to keep driving up business momentum for B2B businesses on LinkedIn.
In the next image, you’ll see that one of our top, long-time members managed to reach over 8000 people with his content.
And here’s a graph of his client’s LinkedIn post:
There was a large leap in views a day after he posted his work, and the views only keep rising even though it’s already been a week.
He recently emailed me this graph, telling me that both he and his client are convinced about the need for gradual engagement.
And here’s one from a LinkedIn expert:
It’s also a very recent post. His view counts will only keep climbing in the next few days!
