When scrolling through LinkedIn, you may have noticed a difference in the way that preview images on organic posts appear on your feed.
You’re not alone. A recent update to the platform has resulted in a change to the way that third party links on organic posts are viewed. Preview images now appear shrunken, while sponsored posts remain at their usual (larger) size, appearing more eye-catching and visually appealing in comparison.
In this blog, we’ll take a look at what this could potentially mean for your LinkedIn strategy, and how to navigate these changes to ensure you don’t suffer a detrimental impact.
The shift in organic posting
Put simply, the reduction of the size of preview images on organic posts that share third party links aims to encourage users to create content natively.
In other words, LinkedIn will reward posts written directly by users, for users, on the platform – rather than content that has been shared from a third-party source, and transports users away from the site.
As part of a twofold method, the visibility of sponsored posts has subsequently increased, as their image sizes remain unchanged (and therefore, more eye-catching to the scroller).
This change may result in more brands paying for sponsored posts, in order to retain their larger, more attractive, link previews.
Implications for users
While the promotion of native content, in theory, will provide a more streamlined experience for the browser (and forms part of the “feed simplification” rollout that was announced by LinkedIn several months ago), for some businesses, it could prove to be costly.
Many brands rely heavily on external sources for their content. This could be due to wanting to remain active on the platform, yet struggling to find the time to write their own posts.
Now, as sharing third party content results in a shrunken preview image, these brands potentially risk losing some of their visibility against the larger, more attractive sponsored link posts, or posts that contain native content.
What does this mean for my business’s reach on LinkedIn?
In order to ensure you’re still receiving the maximum impact on the platform (without paying for sponsored posts), prioritise high-quality content written by you, or an employee of your company.
Craft engaging articles, or post videos that show your followers who you are, and why they should be investing their time (and money!) in you. The update means that users’ LinkedIn feeds can become a more personalised place, so where possible, create your own compelling content that encourages and nurtures interaction. From there, you can sit back and watch as your organic following grows.
At Engage Web, we write compelling blog posts and campaigns for our SEO clients. If you’re short on time, yet want to feel the benefits that truly engaging content can bring, why not get in touch?
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