New LinkedIn Features Aim to Drive Engagement

In the last few months, you may have noticed some changes to the LinkedIn platform. Recently, LinkedIn has introduced some new engagement features with the goal of improving user experience and encouraging engagements.

One of the biggest changes was an algorithm adjustment. According to LinkedIn, viral actions such as likes, comments and shares are increasing more than 50% YOY, but those gains are attributed almost exclusively to the top content creators. In an effort to help out the little guy, the algorithm was adjusted to ensure that high quality posts from smaller creators received more attention. LinkedIn’s engineers describe how they did it here: worth a read if you are interested in how algorithms are fine-tuned! LinkedIn noticed that when people received more engagements, they posted more – helping smaller creators get in front of an engaged audience helps generate more content and more engagement!

Audience Applaud Clapping Happines Appreciation Training Concept

Another update, reported by TechCrunch, noted that LinkedIn is testing Facebook-style reactions & Stories for the platform. Currently, LinkedIn only offers likes, comments and shares as engagement options on a given post. The proposed new options include: clap, insightful, hmm, and support. No doubt LinkedIn is hoping that giving people a larger range of reactions will help encourage more actions on posts; we’ve all been there when just a “like” doesn’t seem right.

AdobeStock_171787428 [Converted]-01

Finally, LinkedIn has recently revamped its Company Pages (now just called “Pages”) to include more post types for page managers. Pages can now post PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, and Word documents. With a larger variety of post types, page managers can publish their top-performing content types in the hopes of seeing more engagement. Allowing page admins to post and interact from the mobile app was also released, making real-time publishing and engagement easier.

business lady with mobile phone, on the table a cup of coffee

It’s clear that LinkedIn is working to improve the platform for its users and advertisers. We’ll keep an eye on further updates – in the meantime, if you need help developing LinkedIn content, contact us here.



Ignite Social Media