One of the keys to getting engagement is to increase activity and distribution. LinkedIn provides broader distribution to posts that get early engagement when first posted. One way to do that is to encourage friends and co-workers to comment and engage. One friend I have has fostered a small network of people that post on specific days and times, and they all comment on each other’s posts. This rapid number of comments triggers LinkedIn’s algorithm to provide broader exposure, which begets additional engagement. At the same time, the author responds to almost every comment — which demonstrates to LinkedIn that a conversation is going on.
Conversations are big signals to LinkedIn that something people find interesting is happening, which again drives further exposure.
Linked says it decides which posts to show based on “People you know, talking about the things you care about.”
The home feed is automatically set to display “top content” — in other words, the most popular. Few people change to “recent content” which can increase variety. So, if your content doesn’t rate as top content, it limits distribution.
How do you get distribution to become top content on LinkedIn?
Engagement, conversation, and recency.
LinkedIn says its algorithm takes into account “timely feedback to content creators.” If you don’t get engagement within the first 12-24 hours, it likely won’t get broad distribution.
How do you drive engagement and conversation on LinkedIn?
By soliciting conversation. This happens through:
- Regular posting and reposting
- Applying relevant hashtags and keywords
- Targeting relevant groups
- Tagging specific people and/or companies in posts
- Commenting and replying to comments
- Encouraging conversation: asking questions and soliciting feedback
- Using emotional triggers where appropriate
- Regular interaction with connections
- Increasing your connections and followers
How often should you post to maximize reach and engagement on LinkedIn?
There’s no set answer, but here is what some experts say:
- Influencer Marketing Hub: 2-5 times per week, up to 20 per month.
- Hootsuite: Between 1 and 5 times per day.
- Post Beyond: Once or twice daily at the same time each day.
- RevLocal: 20 posts per month
- Constant Contact: 3-5 times per week
- Sprout Social: 1 time per day
- Buffer: 1 time per day
As you can see, there’s a broad range.
My belief is that you post when you have something to say that you believe is relevant to your connections and followers. I’d rather see one high-quality post that sparks engagement a week than five random ones a day that few people see. If you can post 5 great things every day, great. Few people can do that effectively — even with marketing teams behind them doing the work.