One minute you think you understand LinkedIn, the next the algorithm has changed again, and for some reason you’re seeing dozens of photos of cats, dogs, children and essentially anything unrelated to work. This is the challenge facing recruitment marketers who are trying to keep their posts and content relevant – and visible - in a landscape that’s changing at a rapid pace.
LinkedIn isn’t the only platform to change its algorithms; anyone who still uses X will be all too familiar with its setup, where liking anything – even once – will mean your timeline is inundated with similar content for the next few weeks at the expense of things you actually want to see. However, LinkedIn gets more negative press because it is designed to be a work-related platform, not one for sharing personal information, or the same post on ‘What X taught me about X’ written in 400 different ways.
Nonetheless, LinkedIn is a necessity for all agencies largely because of the scale of its user base, and it's better to be here reluctantly than not to be here at all. As a result, recruitment marketers need to play the game and adapt to survive. But what is new with LinkedIn in 2026, and how can agencies use it to their advantage?
LinkedIn in 2026
We won’t go over the principles of how LinkedIn works at a practical level, but it’s fair to say that the way it weighs content has become far more nuanced. Where a few years ago the platform focused on demoting overt “engagement bait” and deprioritising outbound links, today the system evaluates content on authenticity, conversational depth, and whether a post keeps members on the platform in ways that deliver genuine value.
Those familiar with earlier iterations of the platform's algorithm will recognise that it continues to reward posts from people you know, content that sparks substantive back-and‑forth debate, and signals drawn from the pages, hashtags and groups you follow. These signals then, in theory, help the platform decide what appears in individual feeds by matching relevance and likely utility rather than raw popularity.
Latest updates
However, the past year has seen several additional changes which have been the driving factors behind the preference for different and varied content types. These include:
Favouring natural conversation: The platform prioritises posts that lead to thoughtful comments and several rounds of replies and, increasingly, short reactions are noticed but do not replace long-form engagement, and tend to be less visible.
Contextual relevance over format: Native formats such as short video, carousels, documents and newsletters hosted on LinkedIn, benefit from being consumed within the ecosystem because time spent in-platform is a strong relevance signal.
Label the AI: Posts that rely on large-scale AI generation are now flagged for transparency, whereas original perspectives and clearly stated human authorship receive preference in distribution.
Manipulation prevention: The algorithm more actively demotes patterns that look like manipulation, including serial mass-tagging, repetitive copy, and coordination intended solely to increase reach, meaning it’s much harder to manipulate the system to the user’s advantage.
Bin the hashtags: Hashtags have died a fairly slow and drawn-out death, but the latest update has confirmed they now have little value in categorising a post, with the algorithm now gauging topic and area of focus in a far more nuanced way.
Tips for mastering LinkedIn in 2026
But with these shifts in mind, how can recruitment agency marketers capitalise?
There are several practical steps to follow. The increasing weight placed on natural conversation means that prioritising authentic opinion and practical detail rather than announcements dressed up as calls to action can give marketers and their brands an advantage. This could take the form of telling a story about a hiring problem you actually encountered, explaining the experiments you ran and the results you measured, then asking a single, specific question that makes it easy for people to contribute a short, useful response.
In addition, keep the first experience native to LinkedIn where you can; carousels, PDFs and in‑platform articles keep readers on the site and let you control the message, while short captioned video works best when it adds context and invites a reply instead of acting as a broadcast.
Do not attempt to ‘game’ the system, as LinkedIn is far more aware of blunt engagement bait, such as asking for likes or follows, and be sparing with mentions and tags so you do not trigger spam controls or annoy the people you hope will join the conversation. If you really have to use AI, then admit it and find a mechanism to show the human judgment, evidence or nuance you applied; as honesty protects credibility and reduces the risk of distribution penalties. Similarly, to avoid being seen as a potential AI spammer, vary posting times and cadence. This also has secondary benefits as audience routines vary by sector, seniority and geography, meaning greater variety can extend reach. This can be gauged by running short tests and using the results to refine when and how often you post.
Dig deeper to find the value
Finally, think about the content being shared as a conversation starter, not as a way to chase impressions. Measure more detailed metrics such as saves, shares and the quality of replies rather than raw reaction counts, and favour formats that reward time on post and drive thoughtful responses. These include short discussion‑led case studies, carousels that encourage readers to swipe through, native newsletters and documents that build habitual readership, 30 to 90-second micro videos that end by asking for peer experience, and quick polls followed by a thread or document to explain the choices, for example, which are all practical approaches that work in 2026.
While the algorithms change, audiences do not, and people still respond to clarity, relevance and honesty. While LinkedIn is not to everyone’s tastes, it offers the best platform for agencies, but to deliver maximum ROI, marketers must be able to understand the content it favours in order to engage with target clients and candidates more effectively.
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