Are you a LinkedIn Lurker, Stalker or Maestro?

When you are building your professional network – especially when you are self-employed, LinkedIn really is the platform to be. But how can you get the algorithm to work for you rather than against you? And how do you make sure people engage with your content rather than unfollowing you because you fill their feeds?

Lurker vs. Stalker vs. Maestro: which one are you?

The Lurker:

• Likes a few posts here and there.
• Reacts to connections rather than proactively sending requests.
• Posts infrequently.

The Stalker:

• Posts excessively, thinking more is better.
• Shares repeated or duplicated content.

The Maestro:

• Finds the right balance by posting engaging content and commenting thoughtfully.
• Builds meaningful connections and creates discussions.

How to make the LinkedIn algorithm work for you

We know that the algorithm likes you to be active, and that doesn’t mean just posting or reposting. It means engaging with other people’s posts because you can’t expect people to engage with yours if you don’t engage with theirs. It’s the ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back’ method. Reacting to posts is okay, commenting is better, commenting on something somebody else comments on is even better!

LinkedIn content: quality over quantity

It’s that simple. Or is it? This is where the stalker aspect comes in. You’d think the more you post, the more you get seen, but nope. The algorithm will actually downgrade you if you post duplicate content; it prefers high-quality content over high quantity. It absolutely hates repeated content, so if you post the same worded posts as before, LinkedIn will consider your posts to not be as valuable and show them to fewer people.

The LinkedIn lurker trap

If you flip the coin over to being a LinkedIn Lurker, that means liking a few posts here and there, being reactive with connections rather than proactively sending connection requests, and only posting once in a while. Well, the algorithm will punish you for that too, meaning when you do start to post, you’ll be way down in the rankings and get very little engagement. It’ll take quite a while to get your visibility up.

Hitting the sweet spot: become a LinkedIn maestro

You have to hit the sweet spot! Posting three to five times per week and no more than once in any 24 hours is the general advice (but algorithms are funny things, so keep an eye on it). Now you might be thinking, “Three to five times per week? That’s a lot!” And you’d be right. When you are going into it cold turkey, finding five insightful or interesting things to post about (which are appropriate for LinkedIn) can be a bit of a struggle. Start with one or two posts a week and go from there – take the pressure off yourself.

LinkedIn posting: planning and preparation

You need to have a plan, and you need to prepare. This is where having a marketing plan, and ideally a marketing strategy,for the year can really help. It doesn’t have to be anything super fancy, but it must consider your customers, your messaging and the all-important ‘why’. You can then craft your content and LinkedIn posts consistently and with purpose. With the top-level stuff sorted, having a basic spreadsheet calendar can really help with scheduling your content and comms, as you can plan when posts will go out and what they will say.

Participants of the Booster Package receive a social media calendar towards the end of the first month. This calendar helps you plan your campaign and track engagement rates, which helps you see which posts and content resonate with your followers and which don’t.

Crafting the perfect hook for your LinkedIn post

Still, you need to decide what to say because you can’t post anything or repeatedly talk about the same thing. LinkedIn’s algorithm will reward original content and content that sparks discussion. It wants people to remain engaged on the platform, so consider this when posting.

When you go fishing, you need to bait the hook. Social media is quite similar in this way; you need to start your posts with a hook. If your followers use their mobile phone, they may only see the first sentence of your post, so you need something juicy to reel them in and make them want to hit the ‘see more’ button – this is also rewarded by the LinkedIn algorithm.

Here are our top five tips for baiting the hook:

1. Start with a question: “Ever wondered why some training programmes achieve higher engagement than others?”
2. Use a bold statement: “The key to effective learning isn’t just great content – it’s impactful delivery.”
3. Share an interesting fact or statistic: “Did you know 70% of learners feel more engaged with interactive training sessions?”
4. Create a sense of urgency: “If you’re not updating your training materials this quarter, you’re missing out on crucial client opportunities.”
5. Begin with a personal anecdote: “When I first started as an L&D freelancer, I created a workshop that flopped. Here’s what I did to turn it around.”

How much is too much?

We’ve already established that you should post – or repost – once within 24 hours; otherwise, the algorithm will kill your reach. But what about commenting? What about liking? What about connecting?

Well, you can pretty much do as much of this as you want, but… you have to remember the golden rule: You need to create useful and compelling content, and this includes comments.
Just think about it: if you just comment ‘agree’ on somebody’s post, what engagement will you get from that? If you post ‘agree, because of X but have you thought about Y?’ this is much more likely to create engagement from the author and their followers. If you know somebody who could add their insights to the post too, tag them in your comment. Getting somebody to comment on your comment is the goal here.

Trawling through LinkedIn for hours looking for something to comment on is a lot of hard work; that’s time you could be spending writing articles or your own posts. You don’t need to become a LinkedIn stalker to get maximum engagement. Having a few great comments which drive engagement is better than 50 ‘agree’ type comments.

Find your balance

Finding the right balance between lurking and stalking is key to leveraging LinkedIn’s algorithm. Be strategic, be engaging, and most importantly, be consistent. By doing so, you’ll build a stronger network and see greater engagement on your content. Strive to be a LinkedIn Maestro – someone who masters the art of meaningful engagement and quality content, creating a lasting impact on their professional network.

But don’t stop there! It’s crucial to keep up to date with LinkedIn best practices. The platform’s algorithms and user preferences are always changing, so staying informed can give you a significant edge. A fantastic resource for this is the Measure of Marketing podcast. Itoffers valuable insights and tips on effectively using LinkedIn and other marketing tools.

Sources:
https://www.socialpilot.co/blog/linkedin-algorithm
https://www.socialpilot.co/blog/linkedin-statistics
https://influencermarketinghub.com/linkedin-stats/
https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/linkedin-benchmarks/
https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/linkedin-statistics

Some great inspiration: A Measure of Marketing Podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/2gwareSTRCKtnI43FK0imZ