For the past couple of years, I’ve helped manage social media for a national organization. A few weeks ago, I was reviewing its LinkedIn engagement numbers when I noticed something strange – the numbers had gone down significantly compared to the week before.
Keeping an eye on it, I noticed this pattern continued the week after, and the week after that. All told, this company’s engagement stats dropped
by about two-thirds compared to less than a month ago.
I knew something was up and began researching to see if the LinkedIn algorithm recently changed. Well, my hunch was right – other social media experts were noticing the same thing.
For small- and medium-sized businesses, this means it is now more difficult to get views for your organic (i.e., non-paid) posts. Though LinkedIn (and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google) don’t share much information about how their algorithms work, there are things you can try to get more current and potential clients seeing your posts again. Keep reading to learn a few things you can start doing right away.
Create posts that encourage commenting
Think of posting on LinkedIn like having a conversation. Would you rather chat with someone that is speaking AT you or TO you?
Whether by posting a thought-provoking question, making a poll, or telling a story, posts that make your followers want to leave comments longer than “congratulations!” or “awesome!” do two things:
- Tells the LinkedIn algorithm people are interested in your content.
- Makes posts your followers comment on appear on their connections’ feeds.
Boost your dwell time
Dwell time is a little-known, yet useful way LinkedIn determines whether people find your content engaging or if they skip right past it and onto the next post. According to LinkedIn, it considers two types of dwell time:
“First, there is dwell time ‘on the feed,’ which starts measuring when at least half of a feed update is visible as a member scrolls through their feed. Second, there is dwell time ‘after the click,’ which is the time spent on content after clicking on an update in the feed.”
In short, the longer people read/engage with your posts, the more likely they are to appear on other’s feeds.
Share content natively
Instead of sharing external links, upload your photos and videos directly to LinkedIn. If you have a company blog, consider
publishing one blog post on LinkedIn as a test and see if that makes a difference for your engagement numbers.
Post “naturally” and consistently
Posting regularly can potentially do great things for overall engagement. But, do not post at the same time every day. Mixing it up may, over time, help you determine when your audience is most active and expose your posts to different followers if they use the
‘Recent’ Sort By filter on their feeds.
Turn employees – and yourself – into ambassadors
While company pages are there to reach current and potential clients, consider sharing engaging content from your business on your personal LinkedIn page and encourage your employees to do the same. Becoming ambassadors for your company means reaching an audience larger than the one that follows your company page.
Takeaway
If you have noticed your company’s LinkedIn engagement numbers decreasing, do not be discouraged. Think of this as an opportunity to experiment with new posting techniques and strategies, rethink what and when you are posting, and turn your employees into champions for your business.
Contact us if you’d like
help with your social media strategy.
