As anyone who’s spent time on social media knows, the kind of post that goes viral one month might be greeted with crickets the next.

One reason for this is that social media platforms are always tweaking their algorithms. Engineers and end-users are locked in an endless pas de deux, each trying to take the lead. Account-holders alter the way they use social media, the channels follow suit, and vice versa.

As the primary online networking platform for professionals, LinkedIn’s changes are naturally geared towards making it easier for its members to do business. In this post we’re going to unpack the platform’s most recent tweaks to see how they can be leveraged to boost your thought leadership brand.

Suggested posts

How often have you published what you thought was an absolutely brilliant post, full of fire and pithy insights into everything that is wrong (or right) with your industry, only for said post to stop generating views and comments after a couple of days?

Well, gnash your teeth no longer. LinkedIn is determined to make sure that your pearls of wisdom continue to reverberate throughout the ages.

The LinkedIn braintrust calls this new feature “suggested posts.” The idea is that content that trends towards the evergreen—that provides actionable, useful advice, tips or knowledge—will continue to show up in the feeds of users who will find them helpful long after the date of their original posting.

As a thought leader, you can leverage LinkedIn’s emphasis on knowledge and expertise by creating in-depth posts that offer insights as opposed to flashier but ultimately shorter-term content.

“We really try to match content to them when a certain insight would be super valuable to them in that moment,” says Tim Jurka, a senior director of engineering at LinkedIn.

The idea of suggested posts follows the platform’s stated strategy of prioritizing knowledge and expertise over virality. In 2023, LinkedIn implemented tweaks to ensure that your posts are seen by more of your followers and that posts that share “knowledge and advice” rise to the top.

The algorithm decides on which of your posts deserve to be seen by future users through three primary metrics. Are they based on the writer’s core expertise? Do the posts speak to a distinct audience? Do they drive meaningful conversations?

This is another way of saying that leaders should stay in their lane on LinkedIn. If you’re head of a tech company who is sharing stories about monoliths in Wales, you may not reach as many people as if you were offering insights into repercussions of AI to coders, as in the case of entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal.

Prioritizing meaningful comments

The LinkedIn algorithm also sniffs out meaningful comments. Believe it or not, some users were banding together in “engagement groups” to like and comment on each other’s posts as a way of boosting them.

Now the algorithm looks for comments that go beyond “Hey nice work” in favor of adding knowledge or offering insight. For instance, Toast VP Jennifer Pearson Stern adds to Bansal’s conversation about AI with a comment about a coming use case for generative AI.

Custom button

Premium members can now create a small hyperlink that appears in their profile and above all their posts. At the moment, the custom button can only say a small number of phrases such as “Visit my website” (like Dan Koe‘s, below) and “Book an appointment” but more phrases are apparently coming.

Thought leaders will soon be able to point followers towards their memoir, their company’s latest white page, or their SoundCloud DJ sets.

Verified badge

Now that we can do just about anything we want online, no one trusts anyone—including (and maybe especially) on social media.

Thus, companies like Meta and platforms like Twitter/X have stepped in to offer their very own Good Housekeeping seals of approval, i.e. verification.

Now LinkedIn too is offering its own version of “verified badges” for paid members, as per Toast VP Jennifer Pearson Stern‘s (below). Once verified, users get a small grey checkmark badge on their profile. LinkedIn’s Jurka calls this a “trust-builder” that helps users connect with others, although your posts won’t receive any more play.

For thought-leaders a verification badge is now practically de rigueur—all the other CEOs have one, so why don’t you?

P.S. Verification is relatively easy and straightforward. From your profile page, select “Get Verified” and then you’ll need to provide a photo of yourself and a government-issued ID.

Thought leader ads

You can now use your company’s LinkedIn Page (and accompanying ad account) to boost individual posts from other LinkedIn members — from employees, from colleagues, even your own posts.

Unlike traditional ads that appear as company-sponsored content, these ads resemble regular posts from a personal profile. That is, they don’t look cheesy, pitchy, or have a corporate feel. A small note indicates the promotion by the sponsoring company.

The ads also humanize the brand and build trust. When people receive info about your company from real people, like CEOs, CFOs, or other team members, they feel a deeper connection with the individuals behind the brand. Potential clients gain a better understanding of your company’s values, expertise, and unique value proposition.

From inside LinkedIn’s handy ad manager interface, these thought leader ads can be targeted to specific audiences and your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Here you can also allocate a daily budget, monitor performance, and retarget user interactions.

Here’s an example of Tribal Impact’s sponsored ad case study that features CEO Sarah Goodall’s tips for leaders on building their digital presence.

Now is the time to take your thought leadership brand up a notch. Ask what kind of knowledge you can share that will help people today, tomorrow, and even next year. So add a custom button, spin for a thought leadership ad or two, and get that verification badge already.

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