LinkedIn Posts' Scheduling: Impact on User Interaction?
In the world of digital marketing, there's been a lingering question about the impact of scheduling LinkedIn posts on engagement. A common belief suggests that using LinkedIn's built-in scheduling tool or third-party platforms like Buffer or Hootsuite might negatively affect post engagement. However, recent findings indicate that this is far from the truth.
Engaging with posts when they go live, posting consistently, and timing your posts correctly are the key elements that boost reach on LinkedIn. Consistency is crucial for building momentum with your LinkedIn audience. Scheduling tools help maintain regular posting without burnout, enabling you to "stay visible without being online 24/7" [1]. This suggests scheduling is beneficial rather than harmful.
Posting at the best times identified by analytics or AI tools improves the likelihood of engagement. Scheduling tools can facilitate this by allowing content to be queued for optimal time slots [1][3]. The LinkedIn algorithm favors meaningful engagement, such as thoughtful comments and relevant interactions, over superficial or spammy activity [3]. Scheduling itself does not impact this; the content and interaction quality do.
Scheduling tools enable planning content in advance, helping creators maintain a steady content flow that keeps their network engaged and recalls their brand [2]. Native platform features and ensuring your content fits LinkedIn’s ecosystem are also important for engagement, regardless of whether scheduling tools are used [3].
It's worth noting that LinkedIn does not discriminate against scheduled posts, whether they are scheduled through their own tool or a third-party platform. There is no clear evidence that using LinkedIn's built-in scheduling tool negatively affects post engagement. Instead, factors such as content quality, timing, consistency, and meaningful interaction are the main drivers of engagement on LinkedIn.
Manual posting is preferred for timely responses to sudden events. For instance, content strategist John Espirian scheduled all his posts for a month and saw an increase in engagement [4]. However, scheduling posts increases the chances of reaching an audience when they are online, which is particularly beneficial for those with busy schedules.
In summary, LinkedIn post engagement is mostly driven by content relevance and quality, timely posting, interaction, and consistency. Scheduling tools are simply a means to help ensure these factors are consistently applied and do not inherently harm engagement [1][2][3]. So, whether you prefer scheduling or manual posting, remember that the key to success on LinkedIn lies in creating engaging, timely, and consistent content that encourages meaningful interaction.
References:
[1] Sprout Social. (2021). The Complete Guide to LinkedIn Marketing. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/linkedin-marketing/
[2] Hootsuite. (2021). LinkedIn Marketing: The Ultimate Guide. Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/linkedin-marketing-guide/
[3] Buffer. (2021). The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn Marketing. Retrieved from https://buffer.com/library/linkedin-marketing
[4] Espirian, J. (2021). LinkedIn Posting: How to Schedule Posts for a Month and Increase Engagement. Retrieved from https://johnespirian.com/linkedin-posting-how-to-schedule-posts-for-a-month-and-increase-engagement/
- Scheduling tools can help maintain regular posting on LinkedIn, thus ensuring visibility without causing burnout.
- The LinkedIn algorithm values meaningful engagement over superficial or spammy activity, regardless of whether posts are scheduled.
- Planning content in advance with scheduling tools allows creators to keep their network engaged and recall their brand effectively.
- Native platform features and making sure content fits LinkedIn's ecosystem are important factors for engagement, whether scheduling tools are used or not.
