Don’t Blame the LinkedIn Algorithm

I see people complaining all the time that “the Linkedin algorithm” prefers shallow content over educational content.

Motivational quotes, HR sob stories, people posting selfies from their home office, always seems to get 100s of likes while a 7min video that actually teaches people something gets 5 likes.

Why?

It’s not because the LinkedIn algorithm “prefers“ shallow content but because it just applies to more people than deep subject matter expertise (SME) content where you break down a technical thing.

Sometimes, people see that their SME content gets 4 likes and personal content gets 100 and stop posting SME content, which is a mistake.

Doing only the wide, personal, shallow type of content works if you sell a B2C product (e.g., info products).

It’s because the amount of trust you need to build with someone if you sell a $20 course is much less than if you’re selling a $20,000 b2b service.

You need to build a much deeper type of trust with them.

I notice this myself:

When @David Riggs talks about websites, I don’t usually watch their video when I see it on my feed because it’s not currently relevant to my business priorities.

But by just seeing that he can have 3, 5, 7-min long videos where he breaks down a technical nuance about something on websites, you BET I’m going to reach out to them if it ever becomes relevant to me.

And I will recommend them to anyone who happens to tell me that they are currently struggling with their website or advertising.

So, what type of content do you need to put out?

Both.