Every day there’s a new social media trend alert, algorithm shift or someone promising an easier, faster way to get amazing results. It can be hard to sort through what’s wishful thinking, data-backed trend tracking, and the hype machine in overdrive, which is why we often test drive new recommendations before taking them to our clients.
As LinkedIn has evolved as a platform, broadening its focus from a job search site to a well-rounded professional networking and social site, it’s embraced video, graphic and text-only content. The addition of LinkedIn articles and newsletters have rounded out the selection of on-site content types.
When we read a few seemingly valid claims that fewer LinkedIn brand page posts combined with a monthly LinkedIn newsletter and article would increase reach and engagement, we had to see for ourselves.
The LinkedIn brand account we chose to test, averaged 46 LinkedIn brand posts per month or between 11 – 12 posts per week, for the first half of 2025. In July, we dropped to one post a day and then decreased further to five posts a week for August and September. What we expected to see was an increase in average post impressions and engagement. What actually happened was shocking.
Our Results
These results were alarming. We strive for between 10 – 15% engagement rate on brand LinkedIn accounts. To see it plummet like this was disheartening, however one month does not a pattern make.
August showed promise with a slight increase in engagement rate and a large increase in total engagements, however the decrease in organic impressions was concerning. When looking at the individual posts, 64% of August engagements were from that month’s singular LinkedIn article. The article itself saw a 32% engagement rate. September was primed to tell the story one way or the other.
Well folks, we can safely declare this rumor debunked! With three months of reduced posting frequency, the engagement rate dropped from an average of 12.75% to 3.57% and the monthly average organic impressions decreased by 18%. But the experiment threw some curve balls, too.
What Worked
Two analytics defied the trend and warrant a closer look:
1. New LinkedIn follows increased even as the engagement and impressions took a dive.
2. The LinkedIn newsletters thrived!
Prior to the experiment...
The LinkedIn newsletter grew exponentially: the engagement rate increased month-over-month by 2% (going from 4% to 8% over three months), impressions increased by more than 3X, and article views increased by 5,200%! Newsletter subscriber demographics revealed another benefit. The newsletter had better penetration of key sectors and a higher percentage of C-suite professionals than the brand page followers.
It’s been a wild ride and the takeaways are clear: the LinkedIn newsletter is a must for brand pages, as is a more robust posting frequency. A monthly LinkedIn article is a key piece of the content mix.