LinkedIn's Algorithm Change: Playing By the New Rules (Again?)
If you’re a financial advisor who relies heavily on LinkedIn as a part of your digital marketing strategy, this one’s for you *cheers*. We’re breaking down the changes to the algorithm as of October 2023.
Platforms are like tools – each one has a specific purpose and design. If you understand how the makers want you to use it, you’re likely to have much better results. A hammer is a bad screwdriver, but it’s a great hammer. You know what we mean?
At Evergreen, over 75% of our leads come from LinkedIn content marketing, including a combination of our company page as well as Dan’s personal page.
With our clients, those FA’s who target industry-specific or company-specific niche’s also heavily leverage LinkedIn for lead gen with a similar method.
Today, we’re dropping a quick update on the new algorithm changes so you can adapt. Play the game right, and reap the rewards of a platform-supported advantage.
What changed in the algorithm?
Why did LinkedIn make these changes?
What are the best types of posts for visibility and engagement?
Reward Professional Content Over Personal Content
The Facebook-for-business reputation of LinkedIn is more than just who uses it. During Covid, LinkedIn saw a much higher rate of personal posts versus professional content – advice, tools, strategies, etc. These posts often got more engagement than their business-focused counterparts (not surprising). The result? LinkedIn started promoting personal content over professional content.
While that doesn’t sound like the worst thing, LinkedIn is NOT interested in becoming another Facebook or Instagram. They have a specific identity to preserve with an emphasis on growing as professionals.
So in this update, the same incentives will no longer be granted for content that is not professionally focused, especially those that are obviously meant to “game the system”.
If you only have 30 seconds, read this section… (More specific changes below)
As LinkedIn re-doubles its focus on professional content, what kinds of content are algorithm-friendly? What do you need to do to increase your engagement and impact as you use the platform?
Advice + Authority is LinkedIn Gold
Raw engagement isn’t the name of the game anymore. LinkedIn is looking to prioritize posts that:
Focus on usable advice and education
From experts with established, engaged audience
But how does LinkedIn decide which replies merit the label of expert insight? They apparently are looking to move beyond comments as a good measure of engagement (especially for those trying to game the system).
They’re now looking for comments that engage on a higher qualitative level – both praising the original post as well as dialoguing with the content. The reach of your article may also be increased by providing a more detailed response to comments made on your updates.
Connections + Followers Are Prioritized
LinkedIn users have informed the company that the most helpful updates are those that come from their direct connections and from people that they follow. As a result of this feedback, LinkedIn has improved it such that more of these types of updates show in users' feeds. The postings made by direct contacts on LinkedIn are being given greater importance.
Why Did LinkedIn Make This Update to Their Algorithm?
In recent years, the number of people using LinkedIn has increased at a phenomenal rate. The company asserts that between the years 2021 and 2023, there was a 42% rise in the amount of content exchanged, a 27% increase in the volume of information viewed, and the number of users joining up climbed to three each second.
During the course of the pandemic, the level of intimacy in users' posts on LinkedIn increased by a substantial amount as the lines blurred between work and home. People started uploading images of themselves and their families, mirroring the behavior that they may have shown on Facebook in the past.
Then, some users resorted to activities that are now prevalent on social media, such as participating in algorithmic "games" to increase their popularity and the number of people who follow them on the platform.
This resulted in an influx of users filing complaints. People weren’t seeing much of what made LinkedIn so valuable – ideas and advice that helped them professionally.
As a result, LinkedIn determined that its feed needed to move beyond engagement alone as the best measure of value. Did it work? Since the modifications were applied, LinkedIn says that the number of complaints about postings in users' feeds that are irrelevant to the topic has fallen by 80%.
What Post Types Are Best on LinkedIn?
Content offering "knowledge and advice" is now more prevalent than ever in all contexts. At the moment, LinkedIn's algorithm analyzes a post's content, looking specifically for information and direction. If it does, the post is then shown to the users who are most likely to profit from it.
Since the improvements were applied, around 40% more LinkedIn users have been searching for and consuming information based on the knowledge of people not in their network. (That’s the sweet spot for us… Inbound discovery, courtesy of the algorithm!)
What Kind of Content Helps Me Expand My Audience on LinkedIn?
For financial advisors, most people don’t trust you with their life savings the first time they hear about you. It takes time to nurture trust before they drop you a line. In the meantime, an audience that isn’t growing is like a stagnant pond. You need to consistently expand your audience and get in front of the right people at scale. Here are a few ways LinkedIn wants you to do that.
Address Specific Audiences with Content
The algorithm used by LinkedIn is now examining postings to determine who the audience is. Does this mean you need to niche your entire brand? No, although niched targets have a huge advantage here. It does mean stopping to consider “Who is this post for?” and tailoring your individual posts to specific audiences if you want LinkedIn to get the memo and make introductions.
Experiences, Not Just Ideas
Remember we just said LinkedIn is looking to downplay personal posts? That doesn’t mean stop telling stories. Far from it! LinkedIn’s algorithm is more likely to distribute your post to a broader audience if you write on a subject with previous professional expertise.
Engage in “Meaningful Comments”
In the past, LinkedIn would draw attention to posts based on the quantity of comments. This is the first time the website will highlight posts that have received "meaningful comments." This suggests that people are really responding to the content of the message, as opposed to just entering a response such as "great!" or "so true!" and clicking the "post" button.
This is also true in how you respond to comments – focus on meaningful dialogue when replying to help boost your algorithm-friendly exposure.
AI is Judging You – Weird, but Ok.
LinkedIn is attempting to use AI to analyze posts to classify them according to several categories, such as whether they give advice or opinions. The algorithm partly graded the postings based on whether they give general knowledge, which receives a lower grade, or unique insight, which receives a higher grade.
Algorithm Aside, What Actually Matters for LinkedIn Marketing?
If you ask us as marketers, “Does the algorithm really matter?” The answer is yes. More than you realize.
BUT – more than you may expect, the top reasons for zero ROI on LinkedIn are not algorithm-related.
Do you know the top reasons financial advisors get nothing from their LinkedIn presence?
Lack of Consistency – you don’t build relationships showing up once a month. Relationships fuel your engagement, so be diligent in building them.
Lack of Originality – the advisor world is dominated by pre-written marketing, which we affectionately call “Canned Content.” People connect with people. If you don’t have people in your marketing, it’s like always sending your prospects to voicemail.
Lack of Strategy – Showing up isn’t enough anymore. It’s REALLY hard to accomplish lead gen without a clear marketing strategy + funnel.
These three have nothing to do with the algorithm, but they’re where most financial advisors, RIAs, and other brands fail. If you’re ready to leverage LinkedIn for all it’s worth, you need to make a decision – commit to these three things or partner with someone who will.
If you pick the second one, let’s chat. This is how we’ve built our business, and it’s how we help financial advisors identify and engage with high-value niche audiences. And we’re really good at it.
