Five Marketing Predictions for 2025
Jan 2, 2025By this point, most marketers have become accustomed to the never ending whirlwind of change and evolution in the digital…
LinkedIn is no longer the digital CV platform it once was. It’s evolved into a community-led platform prioritising real conversations, over corporate noise. And that is great news for your business if you know how to use it well.
Let’s start with a bit of truth from our very own Social Media Manager, Jade Bird “LinkedIn doesn’t always show all of your business page content. This isn’t a glitch. It’s intentional. LinkedIn knows human content performs better, and they’re doubling down on community.” This theory was backed by a DSMN8 study which analysed LinkedIn feeds and found company page posts made up only around 5.37% of the content viewed.
LinkedIn in its latest algorithm update, is no longer prioritising brand pages the way it used to. It’s putting people at the front and centre, because users want genuine connection, not manufactured corporate messaging.
What does this mean for you and your brand? If your current LinkedIn strategy is all about broadcasting from your company page, you are missing a trick. People engage more with personal profiles because they reflect real people with real opinions. Unlike brand pages, which often feel curated and corporate, personal profiles naturally come with personality and lived experience. They allow for a more flexible, personable and relatable approach to content.
So, what can your business do? Use its humans. When your team shows up on LinkedIn as real people, sharing thoughts, insights, behind-the-scenes moments and expertise, they’re not just building their own brand, they’re boosting yours too.
Internally at Extramile, we’ve been rolling out our own employee advocacy programme. Through this we’ve discovered when your team is empowered to share their voice, they build their audience and amplify your brand at the same time. Everybody is a winner.
Ready to get started? Here’s how we recommend doing it, based on our own experience and a good dose of social strategy:
Start with a few team members who want to build their presence. Don’t force it. The best content is authentic. You’re looking for people who are open to posting and want to grow professionally.
Authenticity beats perfection every time. That’s the golden rule of employee advocacy on LinkedIn.
If your employees feel like they’re being forced into creating the content, it will fall flat. People can spot a scripted post from a mile off, and they will scroll straight past it.
Instead, focus on supporting your team, not scripting them. Provide encouragement and training where needed, but let their personalities shine through. The beauty of employee advocacy lies in its diversity of voices and perspectives.
• Offer inspiration, not instructions. Share content themes, conversation starters or trends they might want to explore.
• Run internal workshops on things like storytelling, personal branding or creating strong visuals.
• Create a space where team members can share ideas or get feedback.
And above all, give them freedom. Allow team members to post about what feels relevant to them. Whether it’s a light-hearted post about office culture or a thoughtful piece on industry shifts.
Trust your team to be the brilliant, interesting, creative people you hired them to be, and you will see the value they bring, to themselves and to your brand as a whole.
Before your team starts posting, make sure their profiles are making the right impression. If their page looks neglected, people are far less likely to stick around or take their insights seriously.
Encourage your brand ambassadors to take some time giving their profiles a proper polish. Here’s what to focus on:
Now it’s time to post content that adds real value and gets people talking.
Don’t overthink it. The most engaging content often comes from spontaneous thoughts, interesting conversations or unique perspectives on everyday things.
Here are some ideas to kick things off:
• Personal thoughts and experiences – Encourage your team to share those random thoughts they have while walking the dog or driving to work.
• Unique industry insights – If someone on your team has a fresh take on a trending topic or sees things differently from the crowd, support them in sharing it. This could be a great way to use case studies on social media to show the real-world impact of your services.
• Behind-the-scenes moments – Day to day moments like project highlights, team wins or fun cultural snippets show the human side of your business.
• Multimedia content – Remind your team to think beyond plain text. Posts with carousels, videos, polls or even memes perform better and feel more authentic. These kinds of posts can also help make your content fit for social, adapting it to be more engaging and relevant for your audience.
Give your people space to be themselves. That’s where the magic happens.
Engagement is the life and soul of LinkedIn. Once your team starts posting, they also need to make time to actively engage with others. That means:
• Responding to comments on their posts
• Commenting on posts from others in your industry or network
• Reposting content they find valuable with their own take
• Tagging people where relevant to increase reach and encourage dialogue
Think of it as a two-way street. The more they give, the more they’ll get in return. Plus, this kind of interaction boosts visibility in the LinkedIn algorithm and strengthens your brand’s connection with the wider community.
Every post won’t be a hit, and that’s okay. The goal is to learn. Look at what’s working, adjust your strategy and keep experimenting. If you’re running an advocacy programme, consider using a platform to track performance and see the impact your team is making.
Want help making it happen? Let’s chat about how we can help you make LinkedIn work for your business.
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