LinkedIn: How to be seen by the right people

LinkedIn has released its most significant update in more than a decade.

360Brew isn't a minor algorithm tweak, but a full rebuild of how LinkedIn understands your content, profile and identity.

If you want the right people to see your LinkedIn content and your profile to work harder than ever, you don't want to miss this!

Topics covered in this session

• The new behaviours LinkedIn is now rewarding (and the ones it's quietly killing)

• How 360Brew reads your profile, headline, About section and skills

• The practical steps to take immediately for higher reach and stronger relevance

About the speaker

Jen Corcoran is a multi-award-winning LinkedIn strategist and mentor on a mission to help driven midlife women in business toot their own horn with confidence and authenticity so they can create positive change in their own lives and in the world.

Her corporate client list includes industry giants like LinkedIn, Amazon, BT, London South Bank University, London Chamber of Commerce and the University of Exeter.

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Transcript

Lightly edited for clarity.

Beth: Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's Lunch and Learn. My name is Beth, and I'll be your host today. For those attending a Lunch and Learn event for the first time, Enterprise Nation is a vibrant community platform for start-ups and small businesses.

I'm pleased to introduce Jen Corcoran, who is a LinkedIn strategist and mentor. In the session, Jen will discuss the new behaviours LinkedIn is now rewarding and the ones it's quietly killing. If you have any questions throughout the webinar, please post them in the chat, and we'll do our best to answer them at the end of the session. Today's webinar will be recorded, and we will send a follow-up email with the recording and further resources later today. So over to you, Jen.

Jen Corcoran: Brilliant. Thanks for having me, Beth, and hi everyone – and hi to everyone watching on replay. If you have a pen, you might want to grab it, because I have a lot of information coming up. As Beth says, you'll get the recording after, so don't worry if you don't get it all.

So this is what you're going to discover today: whether you have a content leak on LinkedIn, LinkedIn's new AI system, which is called 360Brew, what's working in 2026, and boosted posts – that's paid ads – are they worth it? And then hopefully we'll have time for a quick Q&A at the end, and you'll get any relevant links in the follow-up email with the replay.

LinkedIn has got golden opportunities for you, but only if you're strategic and intentional. I want you to ask yourself: do you have a strategy, and do you think you are intentional when it comes to how you're showing up on LinkedIn? Most people have got a lot of spray-and-pray tactics, kind of copied and pasted together, but there's no real system behind how they're using LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has more than one billion members, so how can you not be visible? I'm going to talk about how the AI has changed things and give you tips, because so many people are saying they're leaving LinkedIn – that it's not working, they're not getting any visibility, they're going to Substack. I'm telling you, all of your people are on there. It's just about learning how to use it in a slightly different way.

And if you take nothing away from today but this message – and this is a great book, by the way – LinkedIn's new model is all about relevance. Without relevance on LinkedIn, and that relates to your profile, your content, your comments, your DMs, you risk becoming just another voice in the crowd. With over a billion people there, you really need to be relevant to cut through. A lot of people on LinkedIn think they're super clear and super relevant, but they're actually confusing.

Before I get into this, here's an interesting fact: when it comes to any type of content. On average, when people are on LinkedIn, they spend about 25 seconds each time they scroll, and they usually reach about the 12th post. You need to make sure your topic is instantly clear – it's all about that hook, that first line. Likewise, this applies to your profile: it needs to be instantly clear within those first few seconds who you are and how you can help, and this also pertains to your DMs – you need to get to the point pretty quickly, no fluff, no waffle.

The copywriting principle of AIDA – which stands for attention, interest, desire, and action – applies here. We're living in an attention economy, so you need to grab that attention. We're also living in a trust economy, so you need to have that clear message and that relevance to stand out. There's so much AI content online at the moment, and on LinkedIn, there's a lot of content, but it's very generic and very samey. So you need to be really clear, and you need to be really yourself to stand out.

If you're new to my world, just a quick slide or two about me. I'm Jen Corcoran, a Dubliner based in Devon – I've been in the UK half my life. I'm a woman over 50, and I now live in lovely Teignmouth by the sea with my husband Mike, who is a mental health expert. I've been in business for nine years as a LinkedIn strategist and mentor, and I've won a lot of awards and got a lot of PR.

This might sound braggy, but it's not bragging if it's based on fact. So if you're holding yourself back on LinkedIn, please don't be humble, because you need to really share your expertise to cut through the noise. Think: what have you done, what sets you apart, what are your achievements? Have you got case studies, testimonials, and social proof? Have you worked with big brands or big names? Are you award-winning? Are you accredited? I've personally won a lot of regional, national, and global awards because of my love of connection, and the one I'm probably most proud of is the Enterprise Nation one – most trusted marketing consultant in the UK in 2020. As I said, we're in a trust recession, so that one means a lot to me. I've generated all of these opportunities from LinkedIn.

So on to the content and the algorithm. For about ten years, LinkedIn has rewarded popularity and quantity over quality. Now it's rewarding relevance. You'll have noticed in the last few months that your feed has changed – you're not seeing all of your usual connections. Now, more than a third of your feed, about 31%, will come from second and third degree connections. What LinkedIn is doing now is going through your profile and your content and pushing it out to people they think will find your words relevant – not just because you're connected, not just because of proximity.

A lot of people on LinkedIn only really think of a few different types of posts, but there are a lot of options available. So many people just think of LinkedIn as maybe a text-only post, or a text post with a visual, maybe a carousel, but there are so many types of posts. So if you are one of those people moaning that you're not getting any reach, the algorithm's changed, you're leaving, you're going to Substack – there are other ways to use it. If short-form posts aren't working for you, why not try a long-form post?

I'm going to tell you which types of content are reducing in popularity and which are gaining. Popular at the end of 2025: documents were up by 46% – so carousels, or anything saved as a PDF, including white papers and reports. Newsletters and long-form content are up. Text and image are popular, and I think with the image, it's popular because we're in that trust recession, and it's nice to see human beings. So if you are someone who is currently sharing AI-generated images of yourself anywhere in your profile or in your content, please stop doing that, because people automatically switch off.

Likewise, if you're using completely AI-generated content from start to finish, people will switch off – it could actually have good stuff in there, but we're now so discerning. We can tell whether something's written by AI within about a second. There are certain formulas, certain frameworks – the way the bullet points come, the emojis. People are becoming savvier online and switching off. So if you have authentic images and your own voice, use them.

What's down now is short-form video. Polls have lost their popularity, though they're still good – and if you're someone who likes video, still do it. It's about doing something that works for you; if it's quality, keep doing it. Text-only posts are also slipping in popularity – people like to see a face.

I want to spotlight three types of content that I use again and again, and they get me lots of leads – far more than any short-form content would ever do. Events: I had nearly 900 attendees on one LinkedIn event page. Then there's my newsletter, which has nearly 8,000 subscribers. And whenever I do a live, I get a lot of engagement – a recent one with my client Catherine had 147 comments. So do tinker and try other formats before you think of leaving LinkedIn.

I'm going to give you a rough breakdown of how the algorithm was before and how it is now. The old way was a large focus on quantity – it was all about quick engagement, a zillion comments, a zillion posts, views and impressions, likes, and lots of inane comments like "great post" from your non-ideal client persona, and rewards for frequent posting. That's why people were posting every day, and some were posting several times a day – it was all about vanity metrics. And vanity metrics, we all know, do not pay the bills. You can have the most engagement on a post, but if you don't know how to convert that engagement, it's pretty pointless.

I'm actually quite excited by the change in the algorithm, because people are going to start using LinkedIn the way I've always used it – more authority marketing, that expertise and that relevance. So now I like to say we have sanity metrics as opposed to vanity metrics, where with the new AI, it's all about quality. It's all about meaningful engagement in comments – no silly "great post" comments that add nothing, they're totally generic. When you've got decent, long comment threads, you can extend the visibility of your post for several days, and that's why you're now seeing posts in your feed that are two weeks old and still going because there's quality engagement in the comments.

Quite often, the comments can be way more powerful than the actual post itself. You can get lots of connection requests, leads, and clients through the comments. So if you're someone listening today who's not quite posting on LinkedIn yet, don't worry – start small with comments. Your whole content strategy could be comments.

The rewards for high-quality content now are all about saving posts as opposed to liking them. You get more of a boost if the content is higher quality, and that makes sense – we're all tired of generic fluff online. There's a focus on real connections, with your content being sent to people who are probably interested in the topics you talk about, and that's resulting in discovery calls and DMs with the right people. Less is more – you don't need to be found by everyone on LinkedIn, you just need to be found by your people. Ask yourself: Are you on LinkedIn to become a content influencer, or are you on there to get clients? Because if you're on there to get clients, it's a very different approach.

Thoughtful comments, saves, and profile views are now the indicators of high trust and value on LinkedIn. Each post, when you release it, gets evaluated by four different systems. First, the news team – so if you're sharing any breaking news, make sure it is breaking news, you're not a few days or a week late, and make sure your source is credible; if not, you won't get any reach. The engagement team will look at whether it's an authentic, genuine discussion versus shallow content like "great post." The trust and safety team will evaluate whether it's a human being or a bot. And then LinkedIn, of course, wants you to stay on LinkedIn – it doesn't want you sharing links to your Instagram or your Substack.

I'm not saying you can never share an external link, but use them sparingly. Because if somebody's on LinkedIn, there's a high likelihood they're not on Instagram or Substack or they don't like those platforms – they're on LinkedIn to be on LinkedIn. I know this from nine years: most of my clients tell me they're on LinkedIn because they pretty much hate all other social media, or they just want to go deep versus wide. So if you are somebody who's constantly trying to redirect people to your Instagram, you're shooting yourself in the foot.

With the new system, you want to have a minimum number of topics. If you're talking about all these disparate themes and topics, people won't know who you are, what you stand for, and how you can help. They say three to five topics; I would even say three. Any more than that and you'll start to confuse people, and a confused mind will always say no – clear versus clever.

I'm not going to lie to you and say I'm the biggest geek when it comes to the algorithm – I'm not, it's not my joy. I'm more about the connection side, the human side of LinkedIn, the positioning side with your messaging and your branding. If you want to dive deeper into the algorithm, I totally recommend the algorithm report that is released every year by the wonderful Richard van der Blom. He is a Dutch LinkedIn specialist who's all about the algorithm, and this is where I've got a lot of this content from.

When it comes to boosted posts on LinkedIn, you've probably noticed these in the last year – LinkedIn's becoming a lot more pay-to-play. We're all being pushed towards premium because we can't personalise our connection requests anymore on the free version. So you might find yourself wondering whether you need to boost your posts on LinkedIn to get reach. My answer is: only run ads to boost posts on what is already working organically – otherwise, you're going to be throwing your money away.

If your original post didn't fly for free, boosting it and paying to promote it is not going to do anything. It's the same with paying for LinkedIn premium – if you're not going to use all the premium features, and if you have a poor profile, poor content, and no tracking system, there's no point. As I like to say, you can't polish a turd. So only boost what's already working.

If you've been on one of my webinars before, you've probably heard me mention my PACT framework, which stands for presence, action, connect, and track. I'm going to tell you how this relates to the new algorithm. If we go to presence – and the ultimate presence on LinkedIn is your LinkedIn profile – you need to fix your profile first before you worry about any of your content. The new algorithm is going to read your whole profile to decide who to show your content to; it's all about relevance.

Ask yourself: Is your profile clear? Really look at it as if you're a friend or someone else, because often we're too close to our business – we're stuck in the frame, and it's hard to do it for ourselves. Do try to be objective, or get advice, or speak to a specialist, because so many people think they've got a great profile, but when I look, the positioning is off, the messaging is off, the branding is off, it's not optimised enough, there are not enough keywords, it's not talking to the ideal client. It's showing up like an employee versus a business owner, so try to look at your profile the same way you would look at your website – give it that love and attention.

With the new algorithm, the things that really matter are your headline, your about section, your skills, and your recent activity. This will help the new system know who to direct your content to – these are extra important sections. I would say your banner as well: your banner is going to be reinforcing the message in your headline.

In terms of actions – that's the second part of my framework – a lot of people have been relying on content alone and inbound. You're going to have to actually start networking like an adult on LinkedIn and having conversations in the DMs. Because LinkedIn is, first and foremost, a social network versus a content platform – yes, you can build your personal brand, yes, you can build your business brand, but ultimately it's a social network.

I want to hammer this home because I think so many people on LinkedIn still don't get this. Imagine if you went to a networking event – in person, or online with Enterprise Nation – and somebody came in and just put down their flyers or their business cards, and then walked out of the room. Well, that's what you're doing if you're relying on content alone. The people who are actually having conversations are the ones who are leveraging it and creating opportunities – getting clients, getting enquiries, getting leads – because they're talking to people one to one. So if you're absent or lurking on LinkedIn, you really need to activate that networker in you.

The next part of my framework is connecting. Posting consistently, if you don't have the right positioning, is a complete waste of time – because if you're not clear, it's not going to be relevant and people are not going to know who you're talking to. The algorithm now rewards that unique expertise that couldn't come from anyone else in the world, including ChatGPT. So it has to be completely unique to you. It's clamping down on AI posts and comments – even though LinkedIn is a huge AI platform itself, when it can see obvious ChatGPT frameworks or AI frameworks, it's giving reduced reach.

But there is still the potential to get a lot of reach on your content. I'm spotlighting one of my amazing clients, Dr Susan Laverick – if you want to check her out on LinkedIn, her content is so unique and quite political. Do check her out because she's truly leveraging content, and she's probably one of my most successful clients because she's following my system. Three years on, she has a full pipeline of leads, and she doesn't just rely on content either – even though her content is amazing, she could.

And some good news, if you're not yet at the stage of putting yourself on the home feed and you want to focus on the ultimate content – which is your profile – combined with DMs, you can still get success on LinkedIn. There's never been a better time to go into the DMs because you can stand out as you. This is my amazing client, Laurie, who managed to convert two clients and make 30k when she only had 39 connections. She had no content at all, just a profile, and that willingness to have genuine conversations in the DMs – and I don't mean spam people, I mean properly work the DMs and properly build that relationship.

Tracking is the last part of my framework, and I've never really worked with anyone who's had a proper tracking system for LinkedIn – it's all been a bit spray and pray. Ask yourself: do you have a content leak? There's no point having the best content in the world if you don't have clear next steps. What are people going to do next, and what are you going to do next? Are you going to go into the DMs, or are you just going to leave it? Are you going to be passive and wait for people to come to you? Are you going to funnel people to your email? Because if you don't have some kind of system to follow up with your cold, warm, and hot leads, it's pretty pointless even having amazing content.

I spoke to a content influencer a few years ago who was getting hundreds of comments at the time and was not making any money, because she was not going into the DMs. So don't believe all that you see online. You need to have a clear next step, or else people will engage and disappear. It's all about navigating cold leads, warm leads, hot leads, and pre-qualifying in DMs. I've got all of my corporate clients and my one-to-one clients through LinkedIn DMs – not only DMs, but knowing how to convert.

So, a quick recap. The real reason you're not being seen by the right people on LinkedIn isn't just the algorithm – there are three missing elements for success. Number one: a profile that positions you as the obvious solution for your ideal client. Number two: a repeatable way to grow the right network – do you have that system? Number three: a connection strategy that turns conversations into clients. Do you know how to move the conversation on in DMs, and do you know how to get people off LinkedIn? Because that's the whole goal – to take people offline, not stay on LinkedIn all day.

Remember, your brand isn't measured by those analytics or vanity metrics – it's determined by sales calls. So stop obsessing over views and impressions and likes, and start asking yourself: how many calls did I generate this week, or how many leads have I got in the DMs? That's how you truly measure LinkedIn.

We're going to get time for a few questions now, and hopefully, there are quite a few in the chat. And if I don't get around to your particular question today, you will get the replay. I also want to invite you all – I'm doing a longer webinar, my own webinar in a few weeks, so I'll have more time for Q&A. It's the secret to getting consistent quality leads on LinkedIn. I've got 100 spots, and my webinars are primarily for midlife-driven women. Gentlemen, if you're listening today and you want that, do get in touch, and I will share the replay with you.

So what is the cost of not working with a specialist like me? A lot of people go to webinars and think they know what to do, and then don't take action. If you walk away and don't take action, you're probably going to end up doing what you're doing now – overthinking your content, moaning about the algorithm, posting ad hoc, endlessly tweaking your profile, avoiding DMs, not following up, not having a proper system. LinkedIn will continue to feel like a massive drain, and you'll think it doesn't work. It will stay frustratingly quiet despite everything you're doing. People will land on your profile and click off, going to someone else.

This is what happens when you don't work with an expert – missed opportunities, missed enquiries, missed income, and missed high-value clients. A lot of people say they'll figure it out themselves, but if what you've been doing so far is not working, please consult an expert. It doesn't have to be me. I always think of it as having a leak in your roof – if you have water coming in, yes, you can patch it up yourself, but it's probably going to come through again, and you're going to lose so much time, energy, and money down the line. You could have just got an expert in straight away to fix that roof. Staying stuck is far more expensive than investing in support. So if anyone is like – I can see the opportunities, I want more leads and clients, I want more visibility – do send me an email and I can advise what's best for you.

Beth: Thanks so much for that, Jen. We've only got a minute, so we'll see if we can get at least one question done. We've had a good one in from Catherine – and I know you mentioned earlier about LinkedIn being a huge AI platform itself – Catherine would like to know: LinkedIn offers to edit your draft post using AI.

Jen: Yeah, I totally get it. It's contradictory, Catherine, and I totally get it – it's like they're penalising content reach, and yet if you upgrade to premium, you can use AI. It makes no sense. I actually commented on a post the other day – there have been lots of LinkedIn consultants all saying it makes no sense – and if you connect with me, I'll share the post with you. You'll see there are hundreds of comments from all of us saying this is ridiculous. Don't use it seriously, because you won't get a good profile and you won't get good content – you'll just get generic output – and maybe LinkedIn will get rid of it in the next few months. They're constantly tinkering; features come and go. I think, hopefully, there'll be enough pushback that they'll realise they're actually being hypocritical.

Beth: Yeah, it does make no sense, and it's one of my bug bears as well. Catherine says thanks for answering that. Nadia says excellent presentation, Jen, and has signed up for your summer event as she loves your passion and vibe – so that's great to see. Unfortunately, I think that is all we've got time for. For those questions that I didn't get around to, please feel free to reach out to Jen and sign up for that summer session she mentioned. A big thank you – thanks so much for joining, and we'll be sharing the recording and further resources later today in a follow-up email. I hope everyone survives the afternoon heat. Lovely to see you all, and thanks so much, Jen.

Jen: Thank you, everyone, and don't be shy to connect with me on LinkedIn. Take care, and enjoy the sun. Bye!

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