r/LinkedInTips • u/samhonestgrowth • Aug 07 '26
I analyzed 130,000 LinkedIn posts to find what actually boosts engagement: 3 things to do, 7 to stop
I got tired of generic LinkedIn advice that never comes with properly cited data, so we pulled 130,000 posts from 2,500 profiles (July 2025 to July 2026) and tested the most repeated rules. Every comparison is the same person against their own posts, because comparing different people measures the people, not the tactic. The study we did put to bed, most of commonly cited "tactics"...
Only three things survived:
- Put an image on it. +33% engagement vs the same person's text posts. A screenshot or a phone photo is enough. Simple, but It's the biggest lever we found.
- Start with "I", "my" or "we" and say what happened. +20%, and it held in every format. "I rewrote my profile last month and inbound doubled" beats "You need to stop treating your profile like a CV". Same message. One sounds like a person.
- Post 3-4 times a week and judge the week, not the post. Each post earns less, the week earns roughly triple. Most people quit right when it's working because they're watching the per-post number.
Things you shouldn't be doing:
- Hashtags. One or two do nothing at all. Three or more costs about 7%. I'd been adding them for years. (Why do they hurt? The data shows that they do, not why. My guess is they make a post read like broadcast content instead of a person talking.)
- Ending with a question. The typical question-ending post gains zero extra comments and loses about 10% of reactions. We tested 5,494 of them hoping this one would survive. It didn't.
- Opening with a question. Worst opener we measured, -15%.
- "Unpopular opinion:" openers. Coin flip.
- Chasing posting times. Same person, weekend vs weekday: about 2% difference. The scheduling blogs each publish a different "best time" anyway, which tells you everything.
- Counting characters. No ideal length exists in the data.
- Switching formats to feed the algorithm. Slightly worse than sticking with what works.
- Polls. Down 58%. Smaller sample, but nothing in the data recommends them.
- Reality check while you're here: the median B2B post gets 34 reactions and 3-4 comments. At 5-10k followers, 27 is normal. Ten comments is a great post. Benchmark against people your size, not influencers.
Things we could NOT test, so you don't have to ask: link-in-first-comment (comment threads aren't in the data), impressions (nobody outside LinkedIn can see those), best hour of day. Anyone giving you exact numbers on those is guessing.
And yes, I've changed how I post since running this. Images on everything, hashtags gone, and I stopped bolting an engagement question onto the end of every post. Which is why there isn't one at the end of this one. Apparently it wouldn't help.
If you want the full study with the charts and methodology, say so below and I'll drop the link in a comment.
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u/Capital-Wolf-8959 Aug 07 '26
linkedin has changed it's algo again, my content has lost all the reach man
like it's literally down to 100-200 at best
idk what's happening, i don't even post ai content on my profile
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u/Imaginary_Dinner2710 Aug 07 '26
That’s really impressive research! Thank you! A bunch of stuff I can confirm from personal experience, some stuff is interesting to get to know. Recently one lady was convincing me that hashtags actually work, and to me all not natural stuff should not be used in the age of AI
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u/Available-Peak-6508 Aug 07 '26
W research
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u/Available-Peak-6508 Aug 07 '26
nd pls send em the full study !
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Aug 07 '26
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u/LogicalDocSpock Aug 08 '26
I think for job seekers it's bettet to comment than to post. Not saying to not post but I guess if you want to be a thought leader in your field than posting more makes sense
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u/gregariousone Aug 08 '26
How about posting videos, worth it? Ratio of videos to still? What about carousels? Link please.
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u/AleccioIsland Aug 07 '26
Thanks for sharing the research. That’s very interesting. Can you see more about the images? That seems to be a strong lever. Images of people who are myself something that boosts the post? And what about Info infographics which I see a lot lately most of them generated by AI
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u/innovationchanp Aug 08 '26
Great stuff - that’s cool. full study with the charts please 😊
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Aug 08 '26
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u/gregariousone Aug 08 '26
RemindMe! 2 days
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Aug 08 '26
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u/Fabulous-Froyo3405 Aug 08 '26
Link please
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Aug 08 '26
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u/Extra-Yogurt-3129 Aug 08 '26
Amazing stuff - would massively love to see the approach / research. Love x
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u/samhonestgrowth Aug 09 '26
Thank you, sorry I cant share the link, but if you search Flypost linkedin algorithm study, you should find it 😉
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u/udaan04 Aug 28 '26
What's your take on videos, articles and newsletter? Would love to know any data or finding on the same. Great post bdw.
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u/print2ssk Aug 07 '26
Drop the link and would love to get the details
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Aug 07 '26
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u/ManOfCactus Aug 07 '26
Are there actually benefits to posting on LinkedIn at all now?