By: RSPA Marketing Community
At a recent RSPA Marketing Community meeting, members shared their experiences, observations, and challenges related to LinkedIn marketing and the platform’s ever-changing algorithm.
The discussion explored what types of content generate engagement, whether LinkedIn suppresses posts with external links, the effectiveness of paid promotion, and how marketers can build credibility and visibility through social media.
Discussion takeaways and insights include:
- LinkedIn Suppresses Posts That Contain External Links
Several members agreed that LinkedIn appears to reduce the reach of postscontaining links that take users off the LinkedIn platform. A common workaround discussed was placing the link in the comments rather than the original post. - NativeOriginalContent Consistently Outperforms Shared Content
Participants noted that LinkedIn strongly favors content uploaded directly to the platform. Videos uploaded natively tend to receive more engagement than links to YouTube videos, and resharing someone else’s post often generates dramatically lower visibility than creating an original post. - Simple, Authentic Posts Beat Polished Marketing Content
One of the strongest themes was that candid photos, trade show snapshots, and casual updatesfrequently outperform carefully designed graphics, reports, and promotional materials. Multiple attendees shared examples of spending significant time creating content only to see a simple photo receive far more engagement. - Engagement Comes from Relevance, Not Production Value
The group repeatedly emphasized that people engage with content they care about, regardless of howelaborately it is produced. Posts addressing industry issues, current events, or common questions tend to perform better because they are immediately relevant to the audience. - Paid LinkedIn Promotion Produces Impressions, Not Results
Several members reported disappointing experiences with boosted posts and paid LinkedIn campaigns. While paid promotion increased impressions and surface-levelactivity, it often failed to reach the right audience or generate meaningful engagement and business outcomes. - Social MediaIs More About Credibility Than Clicks
A key insight was that social media often serves as “digital street cred.” Even when posts don’t generate significant engagement, a consistent presence helps establish expertise and credibility when prospects research a company or individual. The content acts as proof that the organization is active and knowledgeable. - Consistency Matters More Than Viral Success
Participantssuggested that regular posting is often more valuable than chasing high-performing posts. Maintaining a steady presence keeps a company visible and top-of-mind, even if individual posts don’t generate exceptional results. Visibility itself creates brand awareness. - Quality Content Still Wins in the Long Run
While algorithms matter, marketers should focus on producing useful, high-quality information that genuinely helps their audience. Sustainable engagement comes from delivering value rather than relying on tricks or gimmicks. - The Best Content Often Starts Somewhere Else
Several participants highlighted that valuable social contentcan originate from other sources such as podcasts, industry experts on X/Twitter, trade show observations, or customer conversations. The opportunity is not necessarily creating something new every day, but sharing useful insights in a way that resonates with your audience.
Overall takeaway: The group largely agreed that LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards native, authentic, audience-focused content. Marketers are seeing less success with external links, paid promotion, and highly polished marketing assets, while simple, relevant, and consistently posted content continues to perform best.
About RSPA Marketing Community
RSPA Communities are a unique opportunity for members to get involved, share their expertise and help to make the association even stronger. The RSPA Marketing Community meets every 6-8 weeks to discuss RSPA marketing efforts, marketing best practices, and share marketing challenges or tips. If you would like to get involved in the Marketing Community, please email RSPA Sr. Marketing Communications Manager Ayana Scriven at AScriven@GoRSPA.org.
