Algorithms. Constantly changing how brands are shown in the world of social media, and constantly on the radar of marketing professionals, whether we like it or not. But what exactly is an algorithm, and how can it be utilised for business needs?
Social Media Algorithms are a way of sorting posts in a users feed based on relevancy instead of publishing time. Social networks prioritise which content a user sees in their feed first by the likelihood that they will actually want to see it.
“Without social media algorithms, sifting through all of the content online on an account-by-account basis would be impossible. Especially for users following hundreds or thousands of accounts on a network, so algorithms do the legwork of delivering what you want and weeding out content that’s deemed irrelevant or low-quality.”
LinkedIn is known as the professional social media network, with over 675 million monthly users. To put that number in context, Instagram currently has 1 billion users, Facebook has 2.5 billion and Twitter reports around 330 million. LinkedIn is used predominantly for B2B interactions for brands and as a networking/sharing platform for individuals. It’s also the main hub for recruiters to post their job roles and in recent years has become one of the most powerful acquisition tools for new business. Which brings us to our obsession with improving our SSI scores and seeking our tips for cracking the LinkedIn Algorithm.
Here’s 9 top hacks for cracking the algorithm:
#1 SHOW US YOUR PERSONALITY
Authenticity is key. While LinkedIn is mainly a professional platform, too much corporate jargon can scare people away. Whatever brand you are, humans are behind it, so it’s important people are reminded of that. Genuine conversation and an approachable brand voice will allow a more substantial audience connection.
Netflix have managed to identify one of our biggest pet-peeves, buzzwords!
Here are some of our favs:
- Pivot
- Ground breaking
- Low-hanging fruit
- First-to-market
- Customer-centric
This post from Netflix speaks to us because we can relate and they have created an opportunity here for us to see a little personality and engage with them.
#2 USE NATIVE VIDEO
The key here is to know your audience inside out. Research the demographics of your ideal customer, their interests and behaviour online. This will help you be consistently relevant on their LinkedIn feed. In edition to speaking out on a subject that is relevent to your audience you should also be considering the formats of your content. Never underestimate the power of video. Overall LinkedIn videos earn three times more engagement than text-only posts.
To post ‘natively’ make sure you upload it directly to LinkedIn rather than pasting in a link to YouTube or another video site.
Native videos – that’s videos uploaded directly in the LinkedIn app or via the browser version of LinkedIn – perform much better than external videos.
LinkedIn native video details:
- Maximum length: 10 minutes
- Maximum file size: 5GB
- Maximum resolution: 3840×2160 pixels (4K)
Lets compare format types:
SpaceX has 1,215,241 followers, yet this text only post (with #1 hashtag) only managed 44 comments and 1818 reactions.
Compare that with a video post they shared a few months later…
(Why did they choose their female focused post to go live without an image or video, yet their celebration of 1 year since the Crew Dragon launch mission got a snazzy video??? We’ll have more to say on this in a future blog post).
#3 Promote Your Posts
Using keywords strategically can make a big difference in the copy itself, but a major mistake is when Brands forget to share certain content outside of the platform. If posts are of interest to employees or customers, then share with them via private messenger, and email campaign or utilise other social platforms.
NIKE chose to share a YouTube video on LinkedIn, many of us would think this is a way to sink our posts on LinkedIn (as native is usually better), but we must ask our selves, what is our objective?
NIKE have been able to tag in the 32 students benefiting from these scholarships (which is not possible on YouTube) which provides the following benefits:
If you are tagged by NIKE, would you share that post? Doh!
NIKE have leveraged their LinkedIn audience (and those tagged) to drive to their core social media account: YouTube
They have drawn attention from their Corporate Partners to their ‘CSR’ work
We know, we know… this is an example of driving traffic away from LinkedIn but it’s included in this list to provide an example of how to promote social media posts across networks (and remind you that, have the end goal in mind).
To go one step further, you can also embed your LinkedIn posts on your website or blog. This is great for repurposing content and driving more engagement on your posts.
#4 ASK FOR ENGAGEMENT
Posts that inspire conversations are LinkedIn’s favourite types of content. Ask your following to share their opinion on a particular matter, including questions or polls is a great way to engage them and encourage them to get involved in your content.
Polls are so great for collecting data but also give your audience a nice easy way to engage with you. Sometimes, we are busy and don’t have time to think about how to comment on a post, giving your audience a multi-choice response is great way to encourage engagement. And if you’re super brave… why not throw in a curveball to get some traction in the comments too!
If your primary goal is to improve your reach, get in front of more people and establish yourself as a thought-leader then comments are very important in achieving this. Once your contact comments on your post it will become visible to their entire network, if someone in their network comments, it then becomes available to their network… see how quickly you can grow your influence with comments?
The magic number for LinkedIn’s current algorithm is 15 comments & 15 reactions within the first 60-min of your post going live – in much of our testing, once this is achieved you are 70% more likely to begin trending for your hashtag and be given ‘free’ visibility to individuals outside of your network.
#5 BE BOLD
LinkedIn has directly said they see better conversations around niche ideas. Firstly, be sure you know who you’re looking for and the keywords that relate to them. LinkedIn has robust search tools to help you find your ideal client to build better connections – use it!
To get great engagement on LinkedIn we must stand out from the crowd, be adventurous, take risks and be bold.
We love this post from Uber during the Covid-19 Lockdown, it’s bold because it goes against their commercial strategy. The brand have actively encouraged people NOT to use their service, it’s a savvy move as consumers praised the brand for putting people over profit.
#6 TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Even though it isn’t one-size-fits-all, we have found success on LinkedIn by posting Tuesday through Thursday, typically between the hours of 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. depending on your time zone. The worst time to post is on weekends or outside of business hours, which are usually 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Keep this in mind when scheduling in advance, but also do some research into your industry as audience engagement will differ slightly by industry and also between LinkedIn profiles and LinkedIn Pages.
#7 BUILD YOUR NETWORK & ENGAGE
Whether it’s a personal or professional account, you need to keep your profile updated, as outdated content does not go down well on any social platform. Search for connections that are relevant to help build a robust network of like-minded people that are likely to engage with your content.
Encouraging employees to interact with you / your brand can spread content organically, and if they indicate the company they work for, then the brand awareness also builds naturally. Giving and receiving recommendations are also encouraged to build confidence and trust with potential clients. Promoting your LinkedIn page on other platforms is also very beneficial, obvious ones being website, email signatures and business cards.
#8 TAG IN ACCOUNTS
Tagging companies or members in your posts will drive engagement and awareness by merely mentioning them in your post. Tagging relevant companies or certain individuals in the copy itself makes the post more of a story, more appealing to read about and more likely to get a reaction from your audience.
#9 USE LINKEDIN ANALYTICS
You can monitor how existing posts are doing in terms of performance. The analytics tool can help you see if the content is working well for the brand or not, allowing you to adjust your content plan. If you are trying new graphics, formats or adjusting your brand voice, it’s a great tool to determine changes that need to be made. Beyond this, you can assess the days and times to see if they are performing well or not and make changes to your scheduling as a result. If posts are’t performing on a Sunday, ditch the Sunday posts!
These nine tips are a solid start to getting your LinkedIn content out there, and to the right people. Keep an eye out for algorithm changes though, as they’re famous for secretly mixing it up!
If you are seeking support with your social media content, reach out to the Brandlective team to discuss our Kickstarter Packages, we will know the best ways to give your content and big bold prod into the limelight and get you trending in your sector.
