_{What’s actually working right now on LinkedIn?}

Honestly?

Nothing really unless it’s truly educational.

And I think that’s a good thing for a ‘professional platform’. I don’t mean that in the stuffy corporate Colin sense but from the perspective that other social media platforms (Instagram and ‘X’ for example) are far better set up to show people your highlight reels or begin a divisive conversation.

Sure, the odd Procurement cheerleading style post will get some hollers and likes. But people rarely share or repost these so you’ll trudge your way very slowly towards an increased following.

Further, the posts about your personality and what you like doing (I still try the odd one about my running) will resonate with a small section of LinkedIn.

But they won’t compel someone to join your newsletter, nor give you the credibility that sharing truly helpful or educational content will.

2024 has been the year of cheat sheets (I’ve got a feeling that will change) and sharing helpful ‘how to’ posts.

These for me have taken over in terms of reach, traction and newsletter sign ups.

And why wouldn’t they?

Giving someone access to your inbox is in itself a trusting contract between two people who don’t know each other and will unlikely ever meet.

There has to be an unwritten contract that you’ll teach them something, they’ll gain from you or that you’ll help them bridge gaps in their confidence.

Of course, videos are taking off too.

Not just because of the way LinkedIn now displays them in your feed (randomly I should add) but I’ve a feeling in the world of ChatGPT generated content and comments, more readers are drawn to the indisputable authenticity of a video made by you.

The Importance of Staying ahead in the game

Most people I see getting stuck on LinkedIn, well, they get stuck.

This is nothing to do with consistency.

It’s the way they follow rather than lead.

I know I’m geekily obsessed with analytics (I’ve always been this way with numbers) but there’s logic in approaching life in this way.

Unless you understand the numbers and trends, you’ll always be playing catch up.

Let me explain and give you two examples:

Carousels

In 2022 Carousels exploded on LinkedIn. I mean the whole place was swamped by them as the platform Gods promoted them as a visual and educational tool.

The problem wasn’t the carousel, it was the fact that everyone defaulted to them and there were carousels being created that should have been posts.

I loved creating them (I still do sometimes publish them) but I know since early 2023 the algorithm dramatically changed so that carousels are no longer actively promoted in the feed.

It’s about effort versus reward. Surely in a world where time is such a precious commodity, you want to be putting your time into the content that will gain you most traction?

(and if you’re not bothered about traction or reach I’m not entirely sure of the purpose of creating your content)

Hashtags

are dead as a dodo.

But people still use them! I know, crazy right?

Honestly I still see it. There was a limited period with the installation of Creator Mode when ‘allegedly’ using three hashtags that matched the hashtags in your bio would help increase the reach of your posts.

I have to say there were allegedly stats that supported this but I never saw any tangible difference with my own content.

This was almost three years ago now but people in my feed still use hashtags and I find it kind of crazy.

There is growing evidence that using any hashtag in your post actually hurts the reach of your post (it certainly kills the look of your copy).

Companies and business pages are the worst for this.

I’ll never understand it.

How Personalisation will be the differentiator in 2025

Justin Welsh has written a brilliant piece about this recently in relation to e-mail acquisition strategies.

It’s possible you joined my newsletter because I gave you access to my cheat sheets, some high level PDFs or perhaps a deep insights article.

But let’s face it, there’s only so much room you have in your inbox for people like me.

Generic PDF lead magnets, and spray-and-pray approaches are becoming less effective.

Because we’re inundated with the stuff.

This is why I’m going to focus far more in 2025 on quality over quantity.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to have a cadence and for you to trust I’ll show up every week but I’m going to double down on all the things you really want to learn more about.

I want to give you access to free webinars about certain Procurement topics I’m passionate about, and carry on creating content hubs like the ones I’ve been building on notion.

In a world where ChatGPT is dumbing down content too, I plan to make this highly personalised by asking you what you want to read about and deliberately tailoring my content to what you tell me (creating a segment for what you like reading).

We’ve not been thinking about this enough in 2024 but as the Creator economy becomes saturated, the way to stand out will be to move away from the generic and for me to deliver the things you really want from me .

In short, I don’t plan to stand still, nor get left behind.

I plan to stay ahead and so should you if you want to leverage the power of social media and community building in 2025.