In this blog, we discuss:
- LinkedIn’s role in extending the life and reach of stories beyond their initial coverage
- How LinkedIn’s algorithm influences distribution, visibility and engagement
- And the role of repurposed content, senior voices and integrated paid promotions has in giving PR activity measurable momentum
Owned, earned and paid media form the PR and communications trifecta, but the real value isn’t just bringing them together, it’s making each one work as hard as it can.
LinkedIn is one of the few platforms where they come together and give your stories the critical mass they deserve.
And, when you understand how the platform works, its nuances, functionality and capabilities, you can plan how LinkedIn can act as the vehicle which keeps it moving.
Why LinkedIn is built for momentum
If momentum in PR depends on reaching the right people, earning their trust and staying visible long enough to influence decisions, LinkedIn is uniquely positioned to do that.
The platform combines three critical factors: scale, seniority and trust.
LinkedIn now has more than 1 billion members, including around 180 million senior-level influencers, 63 million decision-makers and more than 10 million C-suite executives. Four out of five LinkedIn members are involved in business decisions.
LinkedIn’s audience is not passive – what that audience consumes translates into commercial outcomes; LinkedIn-influenced opportunities are 39% more likely to close, and its audience has twice the buying power of the average web audience.
Buyers are three times more likely to choose a vendor recommended by someone they trust, and 87% prefer content from credible, informed sources. This proves decisions are shaped by peers, so when many of those peer conversations happen on LinkedIn, your presence there needs to work hard.
When you understand how the platform works, its features and mechanics, you’re in a much better position to maximise the momentum of your PR stories. At Whiteoaks, our approach starts with one simple principle: work with the platform, not against it. That means understanding what the algorithm rewards.
Understanding the LinkedIn algorithm
Quality and relevance first
LinkedIn filters out low-value or overly promotional content, but if your posts offer a unique perspective or insight, they’re far more likely to keep travelling. This means you should lead with a clear, informed perspective which adds value to your sector conversation.
Early engagement matters
Posts are initially shown to a small part of your network, but if people start commenting or interacting early, LinkedIn will take that as a signal to expand distribution. Therefore if you can coordinate early engagement from your network, it will help signal relevance.
Conversation carries more weight than reactions
Post likes are always welcome, but think about creating content which prompts comments to get more reach.
Attention is a signal
If your content makes people stop to read, watch or engage, it will travel further and continue to be surfaced over content people have scrolled past. When you’re planning your content, structure posts so they open strongly and make ideas easy to absorb.
Relevance determines who sees it
LinkedIn prioritises showing posts to people who are likely to care about the topic based on their activity, interests and connections. Make sure you define your intended audience before posting and tailor it to their specific priorities.
People as well as pages amplify reach
Activity from senior leaders, employees and partners expands distribution because their networks create additional engagement signals. That’s why it’s important to have a strategy in place to encourage amplification.
That’s also how the kinds of outcomes we explored in the first blog happen in practice:
- A founder resharing coverage leads to a DM from a target buyer
- A report’s data point becomes a standalone post and sparks new use cases in the comments
- A strong quote attracts a journalist and leads to a new media opportunity
Those outcomes can be mapped to the actions which LinkedIn rewards. This then allows themes to land more than once, giving them time not only to reach different segments of your audience, but also allow your messaging to sink in.
The material for momentum
PR stories should never be single-use. A piece of coverage can be broken down and reused in multiple ways. You don’t change the facts, but you do in the way you present them.
When you repurpose content, it allows your message to reach different segments of your audience at different moments and in ways that won’t feel repetitive.
Repurposing content may be what gives you the raw material but momentum comes from how you release it. If you were to publish all of your planned, repurposed content at once – sure – you’d get a big spike, but afterwards activity would be quiet.
However, when you space content out, a story has room to breathe and each angle has the opportunity to spark discussion again and again. People also dip in and out of LinkedIn, so a sequenced content release more accurately reflects how people use it.
Momentum in practice
Each year, our client InterSystems hosts the UK & Ireland Data Summit, a major two-day event bringing together customers, partners and community members. As its social media and content partner, we delivered on-the-ground support to amplify the programme, capturing content live, bringing in partner voices and posting consistently to maximise reach and impact.
Video clips, image posts and commentary from speakers and attendees created a steady stream of material which helped impressions, interactions and follower growth to increase week on week.
Crucially, some of the content captured continued to be used in the weeks which followed, helping to sustain engagement well beyond the two days themselves. As a result, InterSystems were able to achieve a 263% increase in engagement week-on-week and 149% increase in impressions.
Measuring momentum
Which metrics are the ones which indicate your story is travelling?
LinkedIn’s native analytics can tell us how content is performing, and third-party tools add another layer of detail if you need deeper reporting.
The key signals to watch include:
- Reach and impressions show how many people are viewing and seeing your content
- Comments and discussion, indicate whether it is prompting engagement
- Shares and saves, suggest people see value in passing on or returning to the content
- Profile visits and follower growth, show rising interest in your brand
Boosting PR momentum even further
LinkedIn should help to give your message scale, but organic distribution on its own can’t always be relied on to deliver it consistently.
Part of the reason is structural. Social platforms regularly adjust their algorithms, and over the past year many LinkedIn users have noticed changes in how many people their posts are reaching.
That’s why the most effective Performance PR campaigns treat paid social as part of the strategy from the outset. Paid social brings precision which strengthens the overall plan as distribution can become more targeted and closely aligned with the audience segments you really want to influence. It also helps you to reach decision makers who would be unlikely to encounter your content organically.
If you’re not making the most of LinkedIn, speak to us to see how we can help boost your media coverage with the momentum it needs to meet your business goals.
Next in the series, we’ll be looking at the role of consistent posting and engagement and how they help keep stories travelling on LinkedIn.
