I just read all 123 pages of Just Connecting’s 2024 LinkedIn Algorithm report. Here’s what you need to know…
The LinkedIn algorithm is ever-changing, ever-evolving, and pretty damn hard to keep on top of.
The good news? Whether you’re a Salesperson, Agency Owner, Startup Founder, or anyone trying to use LinkedIn to build new relationships and drive more revenue, you can do so without knowing exactly how the algorithm works.
But here’s the thing… if you’re investing time and energy writing LinkedIn posts, sending out connection requests, engaging with other people’s content, and sliding into your prospects’ DMs, why not make sure you’re doing so as effectively as possible?
Last year, Just Connecting published a comprehensive 123-page report with a tonne of incredible insights for individuals and businesses trying to grow their pipeline through LinkedIn. And in October, they released some key updates ahead of 2025.
After reading the report, the team at Botdog used Just Connecting’s research to tweak our LinkedIn strategy and saw phenomenal results. Now, we want to share a snippet of Richard Van Der Blom’s research with you so that you can reap the same rewards.
Without further ado, let’s delve into the key takeaways for anyone trying to grow their business or pipeline through LinkedIn in 2025.
Part I: The most important part of a LinkedIn content strategy is to get started.
“Everyone’s posts seem to be going viral… except mine!”
Since 2022, the visibility of content posted by Top Creators rose from 15% to 31%, while the visibility of posts from Other Creators (like us!) dropped from 57% to 28%.
As a result, you’re far more likely to see posts from Top Creators than from other people like you, which, to be honest, can be intimidating (and a bit soul-destroying).
Maybe you’ve seen a Top Creator hit 500 likes on a “Good morning LinkedIn!” post, or perhaps you’ve seen a viral post full of spelling mistakes that didn’t even slightly resemble the “viral post” format you’ve been told to follow.
Remember that engagement doesn’t necessarily equal revenue. Any post can go viral, but if the audience engaging with that post is outside the Creator’s ICP, they probably won’t make a dime from it. So, unless you follow another Creator with exactly the same target audience as you, never compare statistics. It’s the thief of joy!
“If I post about the same topics over and over, won’t my LinkedIn connections get bored?”
There are now more than 1 billion LinkedIn members, yet only 7.1% posted at least once in the past three months. That means if you post several times a week, you’re doing more than hundreds of millions of others - kudos!
While you might be familiar with other Creators in your network, don’t forget about the “silent community." There are 570 million LinkedIn members who read posts but never engage, which is another great reminder that you never know who’s watching!
Plus, mobile and desktop LinkedIn users spend just 19 minutes and 24 minutes scrolling every month. In each session, they view 14 and 11 posts. So, don’t worry about posting about the same topics over and over. The chance of one person scrolling past every single one of your posts is very slim, let alone the chances of them actually reading and engaging with them.
Part II: Using engagement to drive performance.
“Very few people are seeing my posts. How can I become more visible?”
When you connect with someone new, LinkedIn shows you each other’s content prominently for around two weeks. If you engage with each other’s posts during that time, it’ll be extended. So, every week, you should send out as many targeted LinkedIn connection requests as possible and engage with those people once they accept.
On all LinkedIn Premium accounts, the limit is around 150 per week, but don’t just spam anybody and everybody - invitations are precious! Instead, build a list of relevant people you’d like to target and add them all one by one, week-by-week.
Don’t have time for that? With Botdog’s Search Export feature, you can tell us who you’d like to target, and we’ll do the legwork. Our Automated Sequences will mimic human behavior to send out invitations (personalized or unpersonalized - it’s up to you), schedule follow-up messages, and automatically clean up any pending requests after 30 days.
If a prospect replies to one of your DMs, LinkedIn's algorithm makes it 70% more likely that they’ll see your next post. So, don’t just connect and ghost. Nurture your prospects, thank them for connecting with you, and be curious by finding out what kind of value they’d like to gain from reading your posts.
Don’t have time to send a personalized message to every new connection? With Botdog’s Automated Sequence feature and pre-made message templates, you can build a campaign that sends personalized messages to your first-degree connections every once in a while to keep the relationship fresh. You can read more about this in our article LinkedIn Cold Message: Tips & Templates to Boost Responses.
“When should I post on LinkedIn? And how often should I be posting?”
The vast majority (90%) of all LinkedIn activity happens between 7:00am and 9:00am. So, if you post in the morning, you’ll likely get more exposure and a whole day’s worth of engagement opportunities.
If you’re posting a text post with an attached image (e.g., a carousel), it’s best to post between 8:00am and 10:30am on a weekday. If you’re posting text-only content, aim between 10:00am and 12:00pm Monday to Friday.
Following these guidelines could help you drive engagement and increase your chances of virality, but remember that if you’re trying to engage and convert prospects, the best time to post is when your target stakeholders are online. You can read more about this in our article How To Generate More Leads On LinkedIn in 2025: A Complete Guide.
Whatever you decide to do, do it consistently. Posting several times a week is far better than posting once and going silent.
The optimal number of weekly posts actually depends on your follower count:
- 0-1,000 followers: 4+ posts per week will boost reach +20%.
- 1,001-5,000 followers: 3+ posts per week will boost reach +35%.
- 5,001-10,000 followers: 4+ posts per week will boost reach +20%.
- 10,000-25,000 followers: 4-5 posts per week will boost reach +35%.
- 25,000+ followers: 3-5 posts per week will boost reach +25%.
“What can I do to boost my content after posting it?”
The LinkedIn algorithm loves reciprocal engagement. If you comment on someone’s post, and they comment on yours, you’ll both see each other’s content more often in the future.
LinkedIn shows your content to people in this order:
- People who have your notifications turned on.
- People who regularly interact with your posts.
- New followers and connections.
- Existing (active) followers.
- Existing (active) connections.
After posting, use the following guide to help boost its performance:
1. Immediately after posting, interact with 5-10 relevant posts from your connections. Leave valuable comments that provide additional insights, summarise the takeaways, ask questions, share emotions, or offer constructive criticism. Leaving 10 quality comments daily for a month boosts profile visits by +40%, and comments of 15+ words have twice the impact of shorter comments.
2. In the first 60 minutes after posting, respond to as many interactions as possible. Reply to comments and initiate discussion (ask them a follow-up question; don’t just comment, “Thanks for your comment!”).
Then, DM everyone who liked and commented on your post to help the algorithm push your post further. With Botdog, you can easily import a list of everybody who liked or commented on one of your posts, enroll them in a campaign, and message them all at once. (You can even do this with your competitors' posts to steal their audience!)
After 6-8 hours, repeat this again. And after 24 hours, repeat one more time.
3. Once engagement starts to die down, you have two options: post a brand new piece of content and start the process again, or use the “Instant Repost” feature to share your post with a fresh segment of your audience. On average, 80% of these viewers will be new!
There are a few things to be wary of…
- Do not use AI to generate comments on your or other people’s posts - LinkedIn will punish you.
- Avoid joining “engagement pods.” While you may initially get extra views, this will plateau. When LinkedIn recognizes that the same people engage with every post, it will focus on showing your future content to them instead of a wider audience.
- There’s no need to guess if your posting strategy is working. Using Botdog’s Reports feature, you can track and adapt your LinkedIn activity with accurate data. Watch your invitation acceptance rates evolve, figure out where leads are getting stuck, and run A/B tests to optimize your messaging techniques.
Part III: How to craft the “optimal” LinkedIn post.
“What style of content should I be posting?”
Polls are the top performers in terms of views. The “optimal” poll is a one-week poll with three answer choices, one of which is “other, see comments.” Ask a broad question that appeals to a wide audience, and add a short text post explaining the context and purpose of the poll.
If you’ve got something valuable to say, text-and-image is the most effective format. Keep your text between 900-1500 characters (every additional 300 characters decreases reach by -10%), and keep sentences short and sweet to boost readability. Adding a relevant (vertical) image to the post boosts reach by +15-20%, adding a relevant selfie boosts reach by +30%, and using a GIF that’s less than 6 seconds long can actually increase performance more than a static image.
In October 2024, research suggested that posting a carousel of 3-5 infographics, relevant selfies, or flowcharts was optimal. That said, remember that posting more than three consecutive text-and-image posts can decrease reach by +20%, so selfies every day may not be the best idea! Therefore, we recommend mixing it up with a text-only post every other day.
In October 2024, the ideal text-only post was found to be between 600-1200 characters. Adding white space throughout the post can increase readability and performance by +25%, while ending with a strong closing statement or thought-provoking question can increase engagement by +20-40%.
“What should I talk about on LinkedIn?”
A good rule of thumb is to separate content into three categories: valuable, personal, and reliable.
Valuable Content is anything that benefits your target prospect and addresses their pain points. By offering valuable how-to guides or industry-based insights, you’ll naturally establish authority as a thought leader. So, when you DM a prospect, and they scroll through your profile, they’ll be reassured that you know what you’re talking about!
💡If you’re an Agency Recruiter, break this down into two sub-categories: Valuable Content for Candidates and Valuable Content for Clients. This also applies if you’re a Salesperson with several different target stakeholders.
Reliable Content refers to posts that show readers how reputable you are. While this could be a success story or testimonial, it doesn’t always need to be so direct. Simply writing about a deal you were proud to close or a customer that touched your heart can be enough. Be careful not to actively promote yourself too often. If LinkedIn detects that you’re selling something or trying to guide readers toward an external link, the algorithm will decrease your reach by up to 70%.
Personal Content refers to posts that are borderline appropriate for Facebook. Maybe you write about your career journey so far, your hobbies, challenges you’ve faced in your personal or professional life, or holidays you’ve been on. Not only do personal posts boost engagement, but they remind prospects that you’re human! You’d be surprised how many times a “Wow - we’ve experienced the same thing!” comment can turn into a deal!
Try to balance your posts strategically. Personal posts might bring you the most engagement, but they’re unlikely to close deals by themselves. Aim for a 2:1:1 ratio between Valuable, Reliable, and Personal posts so that when a prospect scrolls through your LinkedIn page, they can see that you’re a knowledgeable, reputable, and approachable professional.
“How can I write a LinkedIn post that will convert into sales?”
One of the most important metrics on LinkedIn is “dwell time.” Simply put, the algorithm measures how long people spend looking at or reading your post. Then, it uses this to decide whether to show them your content in the future.
Creating valuable and engaging content is the easiest way to increase dwell time. Here are our top tips…
- Start with a strong hook. Grab the reader’s attention and force them to stop scrolling with a 3-line hook that’s thought-provoking and encourages them to click “see more…”.
- Focus on value and depth. Write about a timely, relevant, and niche-specific topic. Short, snappy, simple posts might go viral and gain more likes, but they probably won’t convince prospects to buy from you. Instead, write well-structured posts that offer depth, too.
- Don’t be too formal. Keep your posts authentic and conversational, and use slightly more complex language to establish authority.
- Avoid relying on ChatGPT. LinkedIn prioritizes unique content and recognizes common AI-generated hooks and vocabulary. Copying and pasting from ChatGPT will result in 30% less reach and 55% less engagement.
“Is it worth making videos?”
Video content is still up and coming, so you can get ahead of your competitors. Plus, by the time everybody else latches on, you’ll have had plenty of time to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
In 2024, the “optimal” strategy was to post one high-quality vertical video per week with an accompanying text post of less than 500 characters. The video should be 1 to 2 minutes long with short, snappy editing, a good thumbnail, and a strong hook to capture the viewer’s attention in the first 8 seconds. Oh, and don’t forget to add subtitles, too, because 35% of LinkedIn users watch videos without the sound.
Videos shorter than 60 seconds may increase,” engagement, but they’re not great for delivering complex messages and won’t increase “dwell time," so viewers might not see your content again.
Part IV: Key takeaways.
1. Engagement isn’t everything. If your audience doesn’t match your ideal customer profile (ICP), viral content won’t convert to sales. Focus on reaching the right audience rather than chasing numbers.
2. Consistency is key: Only 7.1% of LinkedIn’s 1 billion users post regularly. By posting several times a week, you’re already ahead. You’re unlikely to bore your audience, as most users only view 11-14 posts per session, so don’t be afraid to repeat topics.
3. Spend time on engagement. Engaging with new connections within two weeks boosts visibility, and sending personalized DMs and interacting with your audience can increase their chances of seeing your future posts. Botdog’s features can automate this process, helping you maintain consistent engagement without the manual effort.
4. Follow a post-posting schedule: After posting, engage with 5-10 relevant posts and reply to all comments within the first 60 minutes. Reciprocating engagement helps the algorithm prioritize your content. Using Botdog’s tools, you can automate outreach to people who interact with your posts, driving more visibility.
5. Try to craft “optimal” content. Polls are top performers, followed by text-and-image posts under 1,500 characters. Carousels and selfies can also boost reach, but mix in text-only posts to avoid algorithm fatigue. Writing engaging, well-structured posts that hold attention is key to ensuring LinkedIn shows your content to more people.
6. Diversify your content: Aim for a mix of valuable, reliable, and personal posts. Valuable content addresses pain points, reliable posts build credibility, and personal stories humanize you. A balanced mix increases engagement while establishing your authority.
7. Don’t ignore video: Video content is growing on LinkedIn, so there’s a huge opportunity to get ahead. Post one high-quality, vertical video per week, under two minutes, with strong hooks and subtitles to engage viewers effectively.
Part V: Conclusion.
Unsurprisingly, the LinkedIn algorithm is complex, but the secret to success may be simpler than you think.
With consistency, authenticity, and strategic engagement with your target audience, we’re confident you can turn your LinkedIn posts into lead magnets.
Plus, with the help of Botdog, you can automate the leg work and give yourself more time to speak to prospects and develop the relationships that matter most. If you’re ready to take your LinkedIn sales strategy to the next level, try our 7-day free trial to find out if we’re worth the hype!
We’d like to extend our gratitude to the Just Connecting team and Richard van der Blom for their efforts to compile such comprehensive Algorithm Reports over the years. To access the full report, check out Just Connecting’s Algorithm Insights 2024, their October 2024 Update, and follow Richard van der Blom on LinkedIn for the latest updates.
