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Several members of the Fire on the Hill team and I recently attended ‘The New Normal: The Future of LinkedIn,’ organized by TBD Group. The highlight of the event was a presentation by Natasha Ewhe, UK brand marketing manager at the business communications site, who offered insight into what the LinkedIn algorithm is currently looking to promote – and penalize.
Below are some of the highlights, all of which can help Fire on the Hill and others build successful strategies to engage with the platform over the next few months.
Make yourself heard
While many of us consider the composition, scheduling and eventual posting of a LinkedIn post as the key steps in the process, this is in fact just the start. Comments are king on the platform, with the LinkedIn algorithm currently seeing this kind of engagement as the biggest indication of adding value.
This means likes and impressions can, to some extent, be considered secondary, though they still offer insight into what is interesting to your audience. Also, importantly, duplicate or recycled posts can be detected and deprioritized.
Ewhe and LinkedIn are clear on this point. They are focusing on comments, and the more comments you attract, the more you will influence the algorithm to share your content.
Focus on yourself
A second insight is that complete profiles are favored by the LinkedIn algorithm. Those with a profile photo receive three times as many connection requests and twice as many profile views as those without, while a clear, well-written “About” section can drive five times as many connection requests.
Surprisingly, a large proportion of profiles are still incomplete. For spokesperson and social advocacy campaigns, it is important for such individuals to have fully completed their profile, or the content they post risks being seen by a limited audience.
Carousels, polls, videos and images are encouraged
Further insights into how the algorithm works revealed that the following post formats perform best:
A recent, widely shared Forbes article discourages polls. This is an example of why it is important to view advice outside of LinkedIn with a critical eye. Only LinkedIn knows how its algorithm works.
Pure AI content is penalized by the algorithm
LinkedIn confirmed it is actively curbing unedited, inauthentic AI-generated content, particularly video. AI-supported content is acceptable, but only where there is clear human judgement, originality and relevance.
This is an important counterpoint to some growth-focused narratives encouraging mass AI content production. From a reputational standpoint, LinkedIn is signaling that credibility beats scale.
People take precedence over brands
While LinkedIn is investing more in tools for small businesses, several key recommendations remain consistent. Use personal profiles for reach and trust, connect them to company pages for legitimacy, and use your personal profile analytics to measure post success.
People want to engage with people. Brands are secondary.
As always, we recommend testing such a strategy and seeing the real-world results, but LinkedIn has provided some clear steps that can be taken to drive engagement on the platform.
