I’ll admit it. My engagement on LinkedIn TANKED this year. I thought it was because of the usual stuff. Timing. Hashtags. A weird posting week.
Except none of that matters anymore.
LinkedIn’s new algo - 360Brew - isn’t an algorithm refresh. It’s a reasoning engine that judges your thinking, your consistency, and who you associate with. And most people still believe they can out-hack it the way they used to.
But here’s what everyone misses: what’s killing your visibility isn’t your content. It’s your context.
(Share that line with someone who still uses posting pods. They may feel personally attacked.)
People assume engagement dropped because “LinkedIn is glitchy” or “everyone’s tired of content.”
Data shows something else.
360Brew reads your posts the way a human does and ranks your content based on whether it understands your topic, your expertise, and your network. Not volume. Not hacks. Not dwell time. Not pods.
And if your network is filled with people irrelevant to your current expertise (like mine - especially after my pivot), then the system treats your content - well - like spam.
That’s the tension: almost everyone’s network is a mess.
But here’s what everyone misses…
Your visibility has less to do with writing better posts and more to do with pruning the wrong people, stopping the wrong comments, and signaling your expertise with precision.
Most creators don’t want to hear that. They want quick wins.
360Brew doesn’t care what you want.
It cares about alignment.
Reality Check:
Most people think posting more will fix their engagement.
Your data and my experience say the opposite: content misalignment punishes you harder than inactivity.
Insight Stack:
• Small win: clean up your network.
• Medium insight: fix your engagements.
• Big revelation: treat every post like the output of a prompt you’ve been training for years.
Let’s make it practical.
The 360Brew Alignment Playbook
(Do this over the next 7–10 days)
Step 1: Audit your headline in 5 minutes
Goal: Tell the model exactly who you are and who you serve.
Ask yourself:
• Can a stranger tell in one glance who I help and how?
• Does my headline use real language instead of cute labels?
• Is there anything in there that belongs on a vision board instead of a profile?
Quick fixes:
• Remove vague words that could apply to anyone.
• Add: who you help, your main outcome, and your domain of expertise.
Example format:
“I help [who] get [specific result] using [method/topic] | [Role/Title]”
Step 2: Front-load your About section
Goal: Make the first 2–3 paragraphs do the heavy lifting.
In the first screen of your About, answer:
• Who do you work with now?
• What specific problems do you help them solve?
• What topics do you want to be known for?
Then put everything “interesting but less relevant” (old roles, side quests, long origin stories) below the fold. Humans can scroll. The model usually doesn’t.
Step 3: Fix your “last 20 comments”
Goal: Stop training the model on the wrong topics.
For the next week:
• Only comment on posts that match your current niche, industry, or audience.
• Skip posts from friends and clients that are totally off-topic for you. Support them on other platforms instead.
• When you comment, add 1 clear sentence that signals your expertise, not just “Love this” or “So true.”
Think of each comment as a mini-proof of what you want to be found for.
Step 4: Warm up the feed before you post
Goal: Send a clear pre-signal for 10–15 minutes.
Before you publish a post:
• Spend 10–15 minutes commenting on content about the topic you’re about to post on.
• Engage with people you’d actually want as clients, collaborators, or peers.
• Aim for 5–10 thoughtful comments, not 30 one-word drive-bys.
You’re basically telling 360Brew: “This is the room I belong in. Now show them my post.”
Step 5: Write posts that sound like an expert, not a slogan
Goal: Replace vague inspiration with specific reasoning.
For each post, check:
• First sentence: can someone guess the topic and audience from this line alone?
• Body: did you share at least one concrete example, workflow, or decision rule?
• Ending: did you invite a specific type of comment, not just “Thoughts?”
Bad opener: “AI is changing everything.”
Better opener: “Here are 3 AI workflows women 50+ can use to cut 5 hours off their consulting week.”
Step 6: Trim your network on purpose
Goal: Make your graph match your future, not your past.
Over a few Netflix sessions, start removing connections from LinkedIn:
• Start with obvious mismatches: people in industries you don’t serve and never plan to.
• Remove retired, inactive, or completely irrelevant contacts who never engage.
• Say yes to new connection requests only if they fit one of these:
– Ideal client
– Peer in your space
– Relevant collaborator or media contact
You’re not being rude. You’re training the system.
Step 7: Set a simple weekly cadence
Goal: Consistency without spam.
Try this rhythm:
• 2–4 posts per week
• 1 newsletter or long-form piece every 1–2 weeks
• Daily comments on aligned posts (even 10 minutes counts)
You don’t need to post every day.
You do need to show up consistently in the same lane.
Future Glimpse:
In 2025–2026, the people who win on LinkedIn won’t be the ones who shout the loudest. They’ll be the ones whose profiles, posts, and engagements all say the same thing:
“This is who I serve. This is what I know. This is how I think.”
Everyone else will keep blaming “the algorithm” while training it against themselves.
Serve your readers. Serve your sharers.
If you share this, you’re not just helping people “beat the algorithm.”
You’re giving them a way to stop leaking authority in public.
One takeaway worth quoting:
You’re not posting to an algorithm anymore. You’re negotiating with an AI that mirrors your clarity back to you.
Status Upgrade:
You’re not just a creator trying to survive another shift.
You’re the person who understands how reasoning models surface expertise.
You’re not just a LinkedIn user.
You’re a strategist of your own signal.
