Want to go viral

on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn has a message for you
“do that somewhere else”
And how do 11 successful
content creators respond to
that message?
Yesterday Jason Feifer
published an insightful article on the
LinkedIn algorithm based on an
interview with Dan Roth (LinkedIn’s
Editor in Chief) and Alice Xiong
(director of product development).

LinkedIn has updated the way

its feed works, emphasizing more
on quality and relevance rather
than virality.

Here are the main takeaways...

1. Viral content is not
celebrated on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn's Editor in Chief,
Dan Roth, stated that viral content is
usually a red flag, indicating a need
for inspection.

LinkedIn aims to foster quality over

quantity in its content sharing.

Bye Bye off-topic selfies, Tiktok

videos and copying viral posts from
other platforms!
2. LinkedIn has updated
its feed to prioritize posts
that share "knowledge
and advice"
The company has seen a 10% increase
in people viewing posts from people
they follow and a 40% increase in
people viewing content that is grounded
in knowledge from people out of their
network since these changes.

Followers are prioritized over

connections, as they are more
likely to engage
3. LinkedIn now values
'meaningful comments'
more.
Rather than just amplifying
posts with a high number of
comments, LinkedIn now rewards
posts that generate substantive and
relevant discussions.

Less to no impact on growth for

“Great post” and “Thanks for
sharing” comments
4. The system also
evaluates the author's
authority on the
subject matter.
LinkedIn wants to ensure
the posts are coming from people
who are knowledgeable in the area
they are talking about.

Bye-bye hijacking a subject that

you are not an expert on
5. A post that has a
perspective is seen
more favorably.
LinkedIn appreciates content
that is drawn from the writer's
perspective and insights, as opposed
to generic information.

Bring your own opinion,

perspective and tone of voice
So what do the
“real” experts on
quality and viral
content think
about this?
"No point trying to 'hack' the system.
Because the system will always change.

Instead post about what interests you

and make an effort to build a
community of people that is interested
in that too. Content, Comments, and
conversations online and off."

Ash Rathod
"You don't have to go viral. Virality is
vanity. It's like a meme. It's a short
outburst of attention for a piece of
content. Not you.

Building authority can't be

built upon virality."

Ruben Hassid
"It only puts more emphasis on
becoming a better content marketer by
doing your research on your target
audience, then writing content they will
find valuable.

Like the idea of content creators being

rewarded for writing more educational
and more thought-through content."

Matt Barker
"The article references 2 major
headlines:

1) More of your followers will see your

content
2) Your followers want knowledge and
advice.

Therefore, this should be the final

gauntlet drop on ANY fear you have
regarding 'niching down.' It's now more
important than ever to be:

"The person, who serves the

(insert niche), with (insert
your service).

Ryan Musselman
"For me, the LinkedIn algorithm has
always been the exact same. I follow
my Big 3 Framework, which is about
looks, hooks, and applicability.

First, write content that is well-

formatted visually. Then, make sure
your content is actually interesting to
others.

Finally, it is crucial that your advice

can be immediately applied by others"

Jasmin Alić
"My game plan has never been virality.

I simply try to create as much depth

about whatever problem I am solving
for myself at the moment, If the
audience resonates that's awesome.

These changes will help legit creators

more rather than the "post a meme
video" crew who flood our timelines
with Instagram material.

This is a step forward in LinkedIn

becoming a credible
platform for digital
creators."

Luke Shalom
"For a post to be valuable to your
network, you need to focus on creating
something that leaves the reader
better than when they arrived
at your post.

Value is subjective, but viral is empty

unless it’s relevant to your business
and brand."

Lea Turner
"It's actually very good news for people
who provide value and not emotional
clickbait.

I remember last year, the biggest

complaint about LinkedIn content is
that it was essentially becoming
Facebook, and I'm glad to see them
proactively challenging that notion.

By "go viral" in this article, they clearly

mean cheap clickbait rather
than true value."

Sam Szuchan
"This article is based on the changes
they made last November is my guess…

I'm just curious about the hand model

choice, to be honest"

Luke Matthews
"Caring about algo changes is a losing
battle for everyone. I like living by this
one quote from Jason Vana:

"create for your ideal customers -

optimize for the algorithm"

No point worrying about something

no one can control.

Control your content, test new ideas,

improve everyday and win"

Lara Acosta
"Write for your audience. Focus on your
best client when writing post, what
would they find valuable, to help them
think differently.

This will resonate with similar personas

to them. Write from a position of
authority in your subject area and stay
within that.

Make sure your skills section reflects

what you write to, too."

Alexander Low
And for me...

The algorithm should benefit the

reader, not the writers.

Our feed has become polluted with too

many Ads, Sponsored Posts (interest of
who?) and people trying to go viral with
posts that only serve one goal
“virality”.

Any attempts from LinkedIn to increase

the quality of our feed is one step in the
right direction.
However, that - at least in my opinion -
does not align with bringing AI tools to
the platform as this will bring more
“lazy, copy-paste” content to our feeds.

Wondering how the audience will

respond to that!

Yours truly,
Richard van der Blom
Conclusions

Write for your audience

Be authentic and show your

own perspective

Always deliver value on your

topic of expertise

Make it actionable,
show people how to use it

Virality is not a goal!

 I am Richard. LinkedIn and
Social Selling is my passion
"What do you think of the insights shared?”
Leave your thoughts in the comments
or send me a DM.

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