LinkedIn algorithm updates for Q2: what recruitment marketers need to know

There is no doubt that LinkedIn's algorithm saw some big changes recently. But while the goalposts may have moved, the fundamentals remain the same. Quality, relevant content still wins. What's changed is how reach is earned and how recruiters need to change their mindset on what they are measuring. Here are the key takeaways anyone working in recruitment needs to think about when building out a LinkedIn strategy this quarter.

Good content still beats a good prompt

Recent research indicates that 30% of short-form and 41% of long-form LinkedIn content is written by AI -12/11. And LinkedIn is starting to fight back, deprioritising what it thinks might be AI-written content and offering users the ability to report slop on the platform.

AI tools are genuinely useful for a first draft or for helping to refine a message. But copying and pasting generic posts straight from ChatGPT is increasingly going to leave you out in the cold.

In short, AI is fine as a starter, but if you are looking to generate reach it's time to get personal.

Personal branding works because it brings personality, opinion and experience into what would otherwise be generic content. How they do it, and the personality behind it, is.

Measure the objective, not the vanity metric

A thousand likes and 10,000+ connections mean nothing without knowing what those likes actually produced. The right metric depends entirely on the objective. Businesses building top-of-funnel awareness should measure reach and impressions. Businesses trying to convert an already-engaged audience should measure meetings booked, not likes. Your personal brand activity should be no different.

Play to your audience

Ask any band, and they'll tell you they'd rather be playing a packed tiny venue of superfans than an afternoon festival slot where they're competing for attention with the queue for the beer tent, the barrier hoggers set up for tonight's headline act and the novelty group on the other stage. A big crowd doesn't mean a super-engaged one, and we're seeing that on LinkedIn now.

The advice on audience is blunt: less is more. Start to curate your connections and be picky about who is in your network. Make sure it's made up of the people you want to reach. It's quality over quantity more than ever.

This makes writing relevant content so much easier; you're not trying to please everyone. And this helps expand your reach further, because LinkedIn tests a post with a small slice of a network before deciding whether to push it further. A cleaner, more relevant connection list makes that first test more accurate.

Basics over boosting

LinkedIn increasingly prompts users to pay to boost individual posts, and reach has become noticeably more unpredictable without it. But boosting only works if the fundamentals are already right.

Start with your profile. It's a genuine signal to LinkedIn about who to show your posts to, boost or otherwise. A lot of recruiters have theirs set to "staffing and recruiting" by default. But that isn't the industry your clients and candidates work in (unless you're Rec2Rec, love you guys), meaning it is less likely that they will see your posts. It's time to dress for the job you want to place a candidate in and set your LinkedIn industry to the one you specialise in.

Next up, make sure you are posting regular, relevant content a couple of times a week. This is going to start building the organic reach.

Now it's time to hit the boost button, because you've maxed out the opportunity for organic reach AND you're hitting your audience with content that's relevant, from a profile LinkedIn deems relevant. This often means boost costs will also be cheaper.

This approach also pays dividends for InMails. Profiles that post regularly, with relevance to the recipient, typically see better response rates.

Want the full detail behind each of these points? Watch the recording below for the complete session.