How to Stay Connected on LinkedIn Now That the Algorithm Has Changed
The LinkedIn algorithm has seen some big changes in the past year.
One of the biggest shifts affects who sees your posts.
It used to be that, when you posted on LinkedIn, people in your network had a good chance of seeing what you had to say.
That’s no longer true. Now LinkedIn studies you, your interactions, and your posts with the goal of showing you posts that align with your interests. These might come from people in your network, but more often than not, they don’t.
On the one hand, this change gives you the opportunity to reach a bigger audience and make more connections.
On the other hand, it doesn’t serve nearly as well to build relationships and name recognition among your connections… and that was kind of the point for a lot of freelancers like you and me.
So… what does this all mean for how you should be using LinkedIn going forward?
Attending to Your Network
Today, I want to focus on how these changes affect how you grow relationships on LinkedIn, not on how you grow your audience. (That’s a topic for a different day.)
Before these changes, you could expect — at least to a degree — that your posts would show up mostly for people who were already connected with you… and that much of what you would see were things your connections were writing about. Nurturing your network — getting to know those people better — was baked into the model.
Not so much anymore.
Now, you have to be deliberate about putting yourself in front of your connections.
And that’s what we’re going to dig into here.
Step 1 – Decide Who You Want in Your Network
I’m not suggesting in any way, shape, or form that you limit your network to people with a certain niche or job title.
What I am suggesting is that you know who your ideal client is and work deliberately to bring more of those people into your network.
Who do you want to work with? What role are they in? What industry? Are they working at a small company or a big one? What kinds of marketing does their company use? Are they a growth company, a mission-driven company, or a company focused on employee well-being? Do they serve a specific community? What kind of culture does their company have?
You don’t need to have answers to all these questions, but having an idea will help you zero in on who you want to serve, and that will guide you when deciding who to proactively connect with.
Once you know who you want to connect with, start sending more connection requests to those people. LinkedIn now drastically limits the number of connection “notes” you can send a month (if you have a free account), so be selective about which connection requests you add a note to.
To find “your people,” you can use several methods:
- Go to your own network page and see who LinkedIn is recommending.
- In your feed, watch for posts by people who are clearly writing to your audience and then get active in the comments. Make a thoughtful comment on the post and pick a few of the comments in the thread to reply to, as well. When someone responds or reacts to one of your comments, send them a connection request.
- Do a LinkedIn search for people in the industry you want to work in.
- Choose a few favorite companies you’d like to work with, visit the company pages, and then do a people search for Marketing and connect with folks on the marketing team.
- When you make a new connection, if they don’t have the option turned off, visit their connections page and see if anyone who matches your ideal client profile is there. Then, you guessed it, send them a connection request.
LinkedIn does limit the number of connection requests you can send in a seven-day period, so don’t feel like you have to go nuts. Plan to send five to 10 connection requests a day, and you should stay on LinkedIn’s good side while steadily growing your network.
Step 2 – Welcome New People to Your Network
I do this once a week. I don’t automate the process, nor do I recommend that. Nothing leaves a bad taste faster than receiving an immediate message when you accept a connection request. The recipient knows it was automated, that it’s not really you reaching out… and that’s not really in the spirit of social media.
Instead, once a week, send a quick note to your new connections thanking them, introducing yourself, and asking them to respond. You can be direct and let them know you’re open for work, or you can just summarize what kind of work you do. You can ask them what they’re looking forward to, what got them into their industry, or what they most enjoy about what they do.
Keep it natural, don’t be pushy, and make it open-ended. This is how you get conversations started, and conversations teach people to know, like, and trust you.
Step 3 – Follow Up With New Connections
For the people who reply to your initial welcome message, make sure you respond. Keep that conversation going. Maybe invite them to have a quick half-hour, getting-to-know-each-other call or suggest they sign up for your newsletter.
For people who don’t respond, plan to follow up with them in a week or so. This time, consider asking them their opinion on an issue affecting the industry. (An easy way to get people talking is to ask them how AI is affecting their business.)
Again, if that opens the door to a conversation, keep it flowing.
If it doesn’t, send a third message asking them what a good referral is for them and sharing what a good referral is for you. (Actually, asking about what makes for a good referral is a good message to send to your warm connections, too.)
Step 4 – Deliberately Nurture Your Network
For folks who respond and start conversations with you, add them to a “warm” list. Try to message them at least once a month.
Don’t make it complicated.
Just ask them how things are going… if they have anything new happening that they’re excited about… if they’ve read a specific article and what they thought about it… or if they need or know anyone who needs your services.
Don’t make an offer every month, but do make one every three or four months.
Also, for folks on the warm list, each day, take a look at two or three of their profiles to see what they’ve posted recently and comment on their posts. This keeps you top of mind and it helps their posts do better… so it’s a win-win.
Step 5 – Continue to Reach Out to Non-Responders
For the next four to six months, continue to send a monthly message to your non-responders, too. I’d recommend a couple of helpful messages followed by an offer. And then repeat that again before you stop sending regular messages.
If someone does respond, move them to your warm list and keep connecting and commenting.
LinkedIn Is a Long Game
LinkedIn doesn’t have to be a long game — sometimes you might end up with work offers within the first few weeks of deliberately connecting — but it’s best if you treat it that way.
If you continue growing your network, focusing on people who fit your ideal client profile, and then nurturing those connections with a mix of conversational messages, helpful information, and direct offers, you’ll find that LinkedIn can become a solid source of client work.