#31 - Richard van der Blom

Hey all,

This week I sat down with Richard van der Blom, a LinkedIn consultant who publishes one of the strongest marketing reports in the game: the Algorithm Insights Report. 

Published annually, this report is a deep-dive on what's actually happening underneath the platform. He's been doing it for six years, and it's built on three independent data sets, over two million posts, and about 6,000 contributors who send him their LinkedIn analytics every month.

Nobody at LinkedIn will tell us how the algorithm works, but Richard’s report is the next best thing.

What’s changed

The first thing Richard and I talked about was a major algorithm change that LinkedIn made last year.

In the past, when you posted something, it was shown primarily to your connections and followers. This is a network-based cluster model.

But in the middle of 2025, LinkedIn shifted to a system called 360Brew, which is an interest-based cluster model.

Instead of pushing your content to your connections, the algorithm more heavily weights people who’ve demonstrated interest in the topics you cover. And it determines those topics by scanning your profile, engagement, and posts for keywords.

Why it’s a good thing

Over the last year, LinkedIn creators have been feeling like the platform took a nose dive. Richard told me that his average view-per-post went from 40,000 views down to 15,000, and his report found that 96% of users saw less reach, impressions, and engagement.

Since the 360Brew algo change, Richard says he has seen his content performance improve. I have noticed the same trend on my own content, and on the content of several of our clients at Good Content. 

This is obviously anecdotal, but even if the effects were neutral in the short term, I think this should inspire longer term confidence in the health of Linkedin’s feed.

An interest-based feed should—in the long run—create more aggregate demand for content on the platform. Users are served whatever is most interesting to them, not just the celebratory job announcements from former colleagues.

That’s why platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, phased out network-based algos years ago. In theory, creators get rewarded for writing credible, focused content, and readers get a feed full of topics they’re interested in. Users stay on the platform for longer, making more space for creators, and the cycle continues.

"Once the feed becomes more interesting, people spend more time on LinkedIn. And when your content reaches new people who actually care about your topic, they're far more likely to engage, because it's the first time they've seen you."

The last two years have seen an explosion in the supply of content on LinkedIn…more people posting, more people posting more often, and AI dropping the cost of posting to the floor. 

Demand for content is LinkedIn’s primary constraint right now. An interest-based model is a solution.

Even though I think this is a positive strategic step forward for the platform right now, I can’t help but mourn the loss of the network-based feed.

LinkedIn was the last respite of what social media used to be because it continued to prioritize content from your network. If someone followed you or connected with you, that meant something. They would actually see your content in their feed.

Now, the Tiktok-ification of everything has finally reached LinkedIn. You may not see that job announcement from your old colleague anymore. A ‘Follow’ no longer means ‘follow.’ It’s instead just another bite of signal we feed the algorithm.

But if it works, you may find yourself spending more time on the LinkedIn feed.

What to do now

My conversation with Richard was extremely tactical, with tons of takeaways for this new era of LinkedIn. Based on everything Richard shared, here's what's worth doing sooner rather than later:

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• Audit your profile. If it’s been more than a year since you’ve updated it, it’s worth taking another look. Cut anything that doesn’t reflect what you’re doing today: old jobs, unrelated skills, outdated featured articles. Your profile will feed the algorithm context on your credibility and subject matter.
  
  

• Stay on topic. Richard recommends that 80% of your posts relate to your core focus. The algorithm is building a picture of who you are, and scattered content makes that picture blurry.
  
  

• Quit taking shortcuts. Engagement bait, AI-written comments, and engagement pods are even less effective than they were before the shift to 360Brew. Any time spent on cutting corners is better spent on substance.
  
  

• Measure the right things. Reach and likes are easy to watch but often misleading. The most important signals are inbound DMs and connection requests from people in your ICP. At Good Content, we actually measure the % of engagement coming from our clients’ ICP pools.
  
  

• Be proactive. Richard made a strong point that good content won't close the loop on its own. Follow up on comments, send connection requests to target accounts, and don't wait for the funnel to fill itself. And don’t underestimate the value of patience.

"You're almost there. You're building a legacy of authority, but the conversion just isn't there yet. If you keep going, eventually you'll get a message saying: 'I've been following you for six months. I think you're the best person to help us with our challenge.’"

Richard's next Algorithm Insights Report drops April 29th. It’s full of stats and tactics you can use to keep improving your LinkedIn presence.

Grab it (and get the previous two updates included) at richardvanderblom.com.

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