Hi fellow writer,
It’s good to see you again.
I’m writing today’s edition while enjoying a cup of tea whose name I’m unable to pronounce while listening to deep techno (sorry, Hans Zimmer fans).
Last week, I did perhaps the silliest thing I’ve done as a writer, when I walked into a stationary shop to find the ultimate pen.
It was stupid.
While I scrutinised over 30 pens, I must’ve looked like a 17th-century British aristocrat inspecting various kinds of tea.
In either case, I just as I found my best pen (Unipin Fineline 0,1mm) for writing in my journal…
…Richard van der Blom found the best practices to use the LinkedIn algorithm to your advantage.
One week ago, his company published the Algorithm Research 2022, where they break down everything that’s changed on LinkedIn the last year.
The 57 pages of pure gold (and ill-plugged advertisements) a great read.
That is, if you have 60 minutes spare.
Except…
IN OUR INDUSTRY, TIME IS MONEY
So, without further redo & silly jokes from my side, let me break down the main insights, and, more importantly, the exact changes you could make to your content to perform better on LinkedIn in 2023.
8 key insights in 60 seconds
Likes don’t matter, really.
If someone likes your post, you are 30% likelier to appear in their feed, whereas if they comment, you are 70-80% likelier to appear in their feed. If they DM you, that’s 85%!
Hidden metrics matter.
If people save a post from you, your content will be prioritised in their feed. Also, one “see more” click will boost your post’s reach 4x more than a like.
Posts grow in 2 phases
The first 90 minutes of engagement determine how much your post will grow the first 8 hours. The engagement you receive after 90 minutes & before 8 hours determines the post’s reach the next few days.
For every comment you get, the reach of your post increases by 4% in your network, and by 3% in the commenter’s network.
Format matters a LOT
The same content could perform vastly different in a document format (2.2 to 3.4x more reach) than an article format (0,1x-0,2x of average reach).
Here’s the breakdown illustrated: (grey = margin of error)
Creator mode ON
Creator mode users receive 15%-35% more reach (though it wasn’t specified if this is causation or simply correlation). Also, a small “follow” button bumps up next to your name on all posts. The featured section is powerful.
Negative engagement
Just as positive engagement boosts your growth, some actions slow down your growth on LinkedIn. When people:
Unfollow you
Report / block you
Disconnect with you
Remove a mention you made
So, stay nice! (Or just never connect with people you don’t like)
Only the first engagement action counts.
This was the most mind-bogging to me. If you like my post, and immediately after comment on it, the latter hardly has any influence anymore. Combine this with the earlier facts on what engagement matters. If you want to support a creator, don’t like - comment.
LinkedIn remembers
“The Algorithm remembers the relevance (by engagement, dwell time and clicks) of your last 10 - 15 posts. Publishing multiple posts in a row with poor engagement rates, makes LinkedIn reduces the reach of the next Post.”
8 steps to take action on these insights
Optimise for comments, not likes.
When looking into your analytics to optimise your content, don’t look primarily at views & likes. Look at the posts with the highest comment-per-impression ratio (and a decent amount of views).
This will help you create content that people really care about.
Also, entice longer comments, as comments shorter than 12 words have half the impact on reach.
Ask real questions, be curious & open.
Learn to write better hooks and focus on educative content.
I don’t have data on this but I personally save 99% of my bookmarks because they are educative. Educative content is saved more. To get more “see more” clicks and overall reach, improve your hooks. I use AuthoredIn (free and not affiliated) to optimise my hook preview.
Engage, wait, engage
For maximum reach:
Reply to all comments the first hour after posting = 20% more reach
Every “comment on comment” between 1-24 hours after posting will give up to 10% extra reach
Reply to comments 4-8 hours after posting
Use document posts / carousels whenever you have time
Even if they take twice as long to create, they can be up to 3 times as effective.
In document posts, include images of yourself.
Put that Creator mode on
Do I have to say anything more?
If you really want to support a creator, comment first, then like.
I have yet to crack the code of how I get my followers to NOT like my content first, but I will share my insights with you whenever I can.
If you’re reading this and want to support me, please DON’T like my LinkedIn stuff… Comment instead :D
Stay consistent - don’t exhaust yourself
Posting multiple times a day WILL increase your maximum reach but lower reach per post.
With that said, if you don’t have great content in abundance, don’t post twice a day.
Quality over quantity
Don’t post “just to post”. As the algorithm remembers your performance, putting out sh*tty posts to fill the void will hurt the reach of your great ones.
What my gut tells me about LinkedIn in 2023
That was the analytical & heavy stuff up there.
Basically:
Learn how to write hooks
Solve a painful problem
Engage with your audience
Stay consistent
Know your reader
Don’t take yourself too seriously
And you will win on LinkedIn in 2023.
Anything I forgot to add?
Wishing you an awesome week, fellow writer.
Feedback to the edition is, as always, appreciated!
Best,
Nils
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PS. I’m launching a swipe file with the top 10 posts of LinkedIn’s top 50 creators soon. If you want early access, reply to this email with “Swipe File”