Hey there - most CEOs on LinkedIn post 2-5 times per year: a major milestone, press release, or another announcement.

This frequency, however, is insufficient to:

1. Gain top-of-mind relevance with their network

2. Grow an audience as a thought leader

This week, I sat down to look at what the data says about how frequency of posting impacts growth on LinkedIn.

Why don’t executives post more frequently on LinkedIn?

I’ve spoken with over 200 executives this year about their activity on LinkedIn. Although nearly all of them recognize the value of being active on LinkedIn, they’re hesitant to post on a weekly (or even monthly) basis.

Here are some reasons they give to explain their silence:

1. They don’t want to “talk too much.” No one wants to seem like they love the sound of their own voice, or to be someone who “just won’t shut up.”
   

2. They don’t have the time. They are understandably time-starved and, despite their best intentions, cannot publish content frequently.
   

3. They “don’t understand LinkedIn.” Read: they don’t want to invest the time to understand how to utilize this platform.

Let’s address the first concern: not wanting to be too outspoken on LinkedIn. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. LinkedIn only shows your content to a fraction of your network: when you publish content, LinkedIn only shows it to a small percentage of your network. If people engage with your post (especially in the first hour) it then goes out to more people in your network.
   

2. Not everyone is on LinkedIn every day: many people in your network are not active on LinkedIn every single day. They may entirely miss your posts.
   

3. People fatigue from self-promotion, not value-addition: if your content is always about your accomplishments, people tend to tune it out. If your content teaches a skill, shares insights, and adds value…most people are open to more content like that.

How does frequency impact engagement?

To answer this question, I looked at our clients who initially started publishing content 2-3 times per week, and increased to 5 times per week.

Here’s what I found:

Doubling the number of posts per week led to a disproportionate increase in both views and likes. Specifically, increasing from 2-3 posts per week to 5 posts per week lead to a 3.5X increase in monthly views and 3.7X increase in monthly Likes.

The takeaway?

Provided that your content is high-quality, there is no downside to publishing more frequently on LinkedIn.

Two final pieces of advice:

1. Consistency is key. If you only have enough time to publish one post a week…publish one post a week. It’s better to consistently publish content than it is to have a flurry of activity for a few weeks and then drop off. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.

2. Don’t cannibalize your post’s performance. You can post multiple times per day (if you’ve got that much time and energy), but we advise our clients not to post within 8 hours of previous post. Doing so tends to disrupt the performance of both posts.

Want to go deeper?

Check out our free publication, The State of LinkedIn, which includes 9 other insights based on this same data set: https://www.executivepresence.io/state-of-linkedin

Have a great week,
Justin

Justin M. Nassiri | Founder & CEO
M: 650.353.1138 | E: [email protected]
250 Fillmore St Suite 150, Denver, CO 80206
www.ExecutivePresence.io

We specialize in helping top-tier executives boost their visibility, activate their network, and position themselves as thought leaders via our premium, fully-managed LinkedIn service.

Our unique process involves ex-McKinsey, BCG, and Bain consultants conducting monthly hour-long interviews with our clients, and turning them into impactful daily LinkedIn posts to establish their unique voice and authority. On average, our clients see a 500% bump in engagement in their first 30 days with us. Data is continuously analyzed to improve engagement and identify impactful messaging that you can use for conferences, podcasts, and internal communications.