LinkedIn Marketing

If LinkedIn feels harder work than it did even a few weeks ago, you are not imagining it. 

In this episode, Victoria uses a very real comparison from home life to explore what happens when you only use a fraction of what a platform can actually do. 

As LinkedIn goes through one of its biggest shifts yet, she breaks down why doing what used to work is no longer enough, what has fundamentally changed behind the scenes, and why understanding those changes matters far more than posting more, chasing trends or trying to keep up with everyone else.

Learn how to use LinkedIn in 2026 here

Grab free templates, checklists and guides at allstarmarketingclub.com/resources - everything you need to market smarter, not harder.

About Victoria: Marketing Coach & Trainer Victoria Vickery serves up marketing advice with fewer buzzwords, more belly laughs, and stories you’ll never un-hear... because memorable marketing starts with memorable lessons.

For More Tales, Tips & Tangents: @victoriav1ckery

Transcript

LinkedIn has changed hugely. What you were doing even a month ago may no longer work. Now. This does not mean you need to post more, it does not mean you need to dance on video. It doesn't mean you need to chase all of the trends that are going on. But it does mean you need to understand what has changed if you want to make an impact. My kids think I'm pretty sad. With my iPhone. I can use the basics like WhatsApp, things like calling people. I can use notes, I can get on duolingo, I can take photos. That is about where my enthusiasm for, for the iPhone ends. They, on the other hand, seem to use their phone they, on the other hand, seem to use their phones like a control panel for life. They can create and edit videos with transitions, with captions, with effects, and apparently without planning or any stress whatsoever. They can send voice notes and listen to them at double speed, which already feels like quite aggressive to me. They can use airdropping. So they're airdropping photos, videos, videos, school projects in seconds while I'm there thinking, well, did that even send? And they're searching TikTok like it's Google and somehow they get better answers than I can. They're using emojis, they're using stickers, and they're using it like it's a complete language, even with things like tone, sarcasm, emotion. They use voice search for everything. It's crazy. They sit there with their homework situation, searching with voice, and clearly they think that typing is just too much of an effort. They will sit on group calls with their friends whilst gaming, all shouting at once. It's absolutely bedlam in our house when that's going on. And they seem to still know what's happening despite all of this noise. They're jumping between WhatsApp, FaceTime and all of their messages without losing the thread of what's going on. And one of my sons is filming something all the time, editing it, captioning it, posting it before I've even decided what lighting is acceptable for my videos. And they're running these multiple group chats and all of this is going on and I'm feeling actually quite pleased that myself, I'm navigating duolingo. I'm managing to get into my apps with face recognition and pay for things on my phone without actually having to take my purse out. For me, that is progress. That is, you know, doing quite well on my iPhone. To them, I'm using just a tiny fraction of what that device can actually do. And honestly, they're not wrong. So what's that got to do with marketing? That is exactly what I'm seeing with marketing in so many B2B businesses right now. Business owners are doing what they know, they're doing what perhaps used to work, or they're doing what quite frankly fits around a really busy workload. Which means, for example, they're posting the same type of content, they're using the same structure, they're following the same advice that they picked up months or even years ago. And perhaps that's advice from someone who really doesn't know. And then there's those same business owners wondering why their results are low. And I know it's not because they're lazy. And it's usually because, for example, they do not have the time to learn or even relearn social media. And all of the platform changes that are going on. Marketing might actually not be the top priority for that week with everything else they've got to do, the many hats that they wear, the clients that they've got to serve. And some business owners feel like with marketing, they've tried it once, it didn't work and it's put them off. And there's many people out there, especially right now, thinking it's just the market, no one is buying, so there's little point in doing the marketing anyway. But here's the thing I know for sure. Marketing is changing every single day. I don't think it's changed quite so much ever as it has done recently. And one of the biggest changes I've seen for B2B businesses is LinkedIn. And these changes in LinkedIn will massively impact what you do in LinkedIn in 2026. These LinkedIn changes are huge. What you were doing even a month ago may no longer work. Now, this doesn't mean that you have to post more. It doesn't mean you need to dance on video, it doesn't mean you need to chase trends. But what it does mean is that you need to understand what has changed. Because without that understanding, you may be putting a lot of effort into into activity that is just being ignored and most certainly not getting seen by the right people in your network. So let's go into what actually has changed on LinkedIn. I'm going to take you through these key changes, but I really do advise that you grab a copy of my LinkedIn briefing paper that is available on allstarmarketingclub.com/resources now. The biggest shift, LinkedIn now uses a single AI driven foundation model to assess everything on LinkedIn that you do, it looks at it all together with this one key algorithm. So previously, what would happen is your profile would be ranked separately. Each post you put out there would be ranked separately and judged on its own merits. Things like hashtags, things like keywords, they were all very, very helpful. So when you had fast likes and quick reactions to posts, also that would be a good indicator to LinkedIn that your post was good and it would bump it up. And also previously, the frequency that you posted was quite important. And what that frequency would allow you to do is actually mask poor relevance of your post. So you could pretty much put anything out there, and if you got good traction with that, then you would win. So things like posts of your dogs or your cats or something like that would do pretty well, but they've changed that. And I think that's going to make LinkedIn a lot better for everyone, given that it is a professional platform. What's going to happen now is that every action you take will contribute to one ongoing story about you. Your profile, your posts, your comments, and how you engage with people on the platform, or will all be connected. And the AI algorithm is going to be asking things like, is this person actually relevant? Do they show real experience, authority, expertise? And they're going to be thinking whether or not there's depth and meaning in how people are engaging with you and how you are engaging with others in your community. So that means you really need to think carefully about your profile. You need to think really carefully about the kind of content that you're putting out, and you've also got to really think about the interactions that you're having and certainly the interactions that you want as a result of the posts that you're putting out there and the content that you're putting out there. So that's the first thing to know all about the algorithms. Secondly, we talked a little bit about it already, but I want to talk about the move from hashtags and keywords into meaning. Now, hashtags and keywords, they are no longer the main driver of traffic or visibility, because what LinkedIn is now focusing on is natural language and semantic understanding. So what that means is it's looking at the meaning behind your posts and your content, it's looking at the intent, and it's most certainly now looking at the patterns over time. It's not asking, did they use the right hashtag? It's asking, well, what is this piece actually about and who is it? For now, this means that clarity matters more than ever, and it is going to matter way more than you being clever about your posts. So, in my case, my keywords may previously have been things like marketing and marketing training and marketing coaching, but now it's much more advanced than that. I can talk about related things and it's still going to understand the fit. So, for example, I can now talk about launches, campaigns, products and offer development and it's going to understand that that's still true. To me, this semantic understanding kicks in so you can ditch hashtags and personally I find them really, really spammy now when I see them in content. So you can get rid of those and instead we want to focus on superb content that is useful and showcases your authority and your expertise in your market. And I would also advise that you don't start tagging in lots and lots of people. This is not just new to the algorithms recently, this has been going on for some time now. But if those people don't actually respond when you tag in, that's going to have a detrimental impact on your results. Next up is recognition. Over time, content is no longer ranked post by Post in isolation, LinkedIn is going to be watching what you consistently talk about. This means we need a few key themes that we can each stick to. So have a little think about what that might be for you. For example, if you're a charity, your key things might be the impact that your charity has. It might be all about fundraising, it could be all about sponsorship or even awareness of who you help. Similarly, if you're an HR consultant, you might have, for example, HR compliance and legal. So staff development and tricky HR situations, those are the key themes and you can come back to those again and again. Random content, even if it performs once, does not build momentum and it really will not help you in the long run. So start now and you'll see the difference in your overall performance over the next few months. So now let's look at engagement. Right now, depth of engagement beats speed. Quick likes are the weakest signal. So LinkedIn now values comments that you get, saves that you have discussion that's going on your feed and that leads to time spent reading and time spent watching you. They are indicators of you being a good egg and a good part of the community. The longer and deeper people are engaging with you, the stronger the signal. That's why some posts right now resurface days later and then suddenly gain traction again. Your content now has more of a shelf life and if it's got substance behind it, it's going to stick around. That's really important to know. So treat your content like it's an asset, because if you do that and you're treating it like it means something, you're going to produce much better content. And that is, as I say, going to stick around. Now, there's plenty more to understand, but instead of overwhelming you right now on this episode, I'd like you to start with the key areas that I've outlined today. But do make sure you go ahead and get my LinkedIn briefing. It's available at allstarmarketingclub.com/resources so that you understand the full extent of these algorithms and what they're doing. It's key that you think about these changes and also know that, for example, engagement pods or post parties know longer work automation and mass duplication is going to be flagged by LinkedIn and it's going to negatively impact you. And if you have content that is of this nature, it might even shut you down. Now, another thing to realize is clickbait content without substance, that's going to fail as well. And just posting for the sake of it, just for presents, will probably harm you more than anything else. And finally, one thing to watch out for. Using AI is going to be noticed by LinkedIn. So use a tool like Zero GPT to make sure your content doesn't seem robotic and it's good enough and feels human. Now, LinkedIn is not harder now, it's just different. You do not need to do more, rest assured. You need to do it just with more clarity, with more relevance and with more intent. And know this, if you want a clear breakdown of what has changed and what to focus on, get that LinkedIn briefing because it's going to walk you through all of the details. So head over to allstarmarketingclub.com/resources and if LinkedIn feels like it has quietly stopped working for you, this is your sign. Stop guessing. Start adjusting. I'll see you back here. Next time on what's that Got to Do With Marketing.