Authority Building

Authority Building

LinkedIn Strategy

LinkedIn Strategy

The LinkedIn Algorithm Actually Hates Your Executive Brand

The LinkedIn Algorithm Actually Hates Your Executive Brand

An executive-focused breakdown of LinkedIn's newer ranking system, what appears to be changing, and how tech leaders can adapt their content strategy.

An executive-focused breakdown of LinkedIn's newer ranking system, what appears to be changing, and how tech leaders can adapt their content strategy.

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Last month, one of my tech exec's LinkedIns got hammered. Impressions fell off a cliff. Reach flatlined. Growth, dead. Same posting cadence. Same niche. Same hooks and frameworks. 

Meanwhile, the rest of my execs? Still crushing. Still getting inbound ICP profile views. Still getting weekly saves, shares, and reposts. 

So what the hell happened? 

Short answer: There’s a new brain running your LinkedIn feed. And it does not love pattern-based, “I read one growth thread” content. 

It’s called 360Brew. 

What Actually Changed (In Plain English)

Old LinkedIn was a bunch of smaller systems glued together: 

One system ranked posts 
Another suggested connections 
Another recommended jobs   

They worked side by side, but not as one brain. New LinkedIn is different: 

One big AI model that reads your content like a human and remembers what you usually talk about.  
This means: 

The feed is more selective. It knows when you just used AI. 
Each post is shown to a smaller, more relevant slice of your network 
“Spray and pray” visibility is shrinking fast (along with everyone of your LinkedIn dreams) 

If you were relying on templates, hacks, generic thought leadership, or that kid in comms, you probably felt this update the hardest. 

“But I’m Doing Everything Right…”

Nope, not anymore. 

He was posting inside the right niche, researching ICP pain point questions on LinkedIn and Reddit. 

Hooks were strong, especially the sub-hooks 
Content was informative, strategic, not all rosey 
Audience was engaging, even leaving thoughtful comments 

On paper, everything looked good. But his reach cratered, while mine and the rest stayed healthy. 

The culprit? Format patterns. 

One account was leaning too hard on: 

The same carousel structure 
The same layout 
NEVER showing their own face 

The same posting format, over and over 

For months, this worked. Until 360Brew showed up and basically said: 

“Cool template pack. Now show me you’re a real human.” 

Didn’t matter that the content was legit. The pattern was loud enough to drown out the value. 

The rest of my tech exec clients, on the other hand: 

Supported the approach of mixing it up with quote cards, carousels, video 
Didn’t repeat the exact same template endlessly 
Kept their well-researched content pillars on rotation 

The algorithm had way less pattern data to penalize. 

How 360Brew Evaluates Your Executive Content

  1. Can it clearly understand what your post is about? 
    If your core message is: 

    Ever says "At (my company)," [most salesy line ever] 
    Buy my sh*t 
    Look how awesome I am 

    …you’re making it harder for the AI to classify you. 

    For tech execs, that’s brutal. If the system can’t reliably tell “this is platform strategy” or “this is DevEx leadership,” it can’t match you with the people who actually care. 

  2. Does the topic match your established expertise? 
    360Brew looks at: 


    Your profile: Are you trying to sell too many things? 
    Your past posts: Have you only been using Stanley (Your Content Coach), with no human element? 
    Your recurring themes: Did you show your underbelly, what irks you in your line of work? 
    Then it asks: 
    “Is this consistent with what this person is known for?” 
    If you’re a CTO who posts: 

    Platform strategy on Monday (Good start) 
    Sales tactics on Tuesday (Probably not as good as you think they are) 
    Crypto memes on Wednesday (funny or not) 
    …you look inconsistent. Inconsistent = lower reach. The algorithm doesn’t hate you. 
    It just doesn’t know where to put you. 


  3. Is your audience engaging in a meaningful way? 
    Fast likes and “🔥🔥🔥” comments are now dime store signals. 

What actually seems to move the needle:

Thoughtful comments from credible people in your niche (not the same ones every post) 

Real discussion with tech peers (Use Extrovert for your comments, trust me. I did 40 VERY high-quality comments within my ICP and other big influencers in 20 minutes last week) Give it a try, you won't regret it.  

Saves, shares, reposts (Show's actual thought leadership, that you're teaching). 

For tech execs, this is good news. You don’t need hype. You just need to start telling ChatGPT, Stanley, or whatever AI program you use to be at least 4/10 sassy. It works! 

This is all perfectly aligned with Fit Rich Happy marketing psychology for you: 

Fit: You're not selling iron pumps, skip this one 
Rich: What you're peddling actually makes people money 
Happy: Saves people time, helps put their worries at ease so they can focus on their job. 

How Tech Execs Should Adapt Right Now

Here’s how I’d adjust if you’re a CTO, VP Eng, CPO, or technical founder using LinkedIn for leverage: 

1. Fix your format mix 
Aim for something like: 

Plain text posts (skip, don't be lazy) 
20–30% single-image posts (one visual, clear copy in the caption) 
10–20% carousels/PDFs used to clarify complex ideas 

Always put repost or Save bottom right instead of your company logo... biggest turnoff ever 

2. Tighten your topic lanes 
Pick 2–3 core lanes that map directly to the roles and rooms you want: 

Platform / architecture bets 
DevEx / engineering culture and systems 
AI/ML, data, or security as it ties to revenue, risk, or runway 

Then ask of every post: 

“Would a CEO, board member, or strategic buyer see this as part of that lane?” 
If not, sharpen or skip it. If it reads like corporate 💩, it probably is. 

3. Rewrite your first lines 
Before you publish, upgrade your opener: 

Tell your AI tool to summarize the whole post in a punchy way for the hook 
Encourage people to read more by telling your AI tool to reference Jasmin Alić-style sub hooks. Seriously, overnight difference maker.  
Make your target audience stop and think: “YES. Thank **** someone said it.” 

These tactic ALONE get the worm. 

4. Audit your last 10 posts 
Hook your profile up to Stanley to figure out what posts are performing best. Then have it write new ones with the prompts: 

Do not make this salesy 
Do deep Reddit research on what influencers are saying and advising in my niche 

 
Follow this format structure: 

1. The hook 
2. The re-hook 
3. The problem 
4. The solution
5. The signpost 
6. The body 
7. The power ending 
8. The comment-provoking CTA 

There's no further advice here. Thank me later. 

The Silver Lining 

Your impressions can't get lower (probably?). But for tech execs and founders, 360Brew might actually be the best thing that’s happened to your LinkedIn strategy: 

  • Less BS, more things you actually want to read from template farms 
    More weight on real expertise and that little overused word on LinkedIn... clarit 

  • Stronger signals to the people who control budget and opportunities "Hey, she actually knows what she's talking about!" 

The game changed.  

If you want LinkedIn to reflect your actual leadership and open higher-leverage doors, this is your nudge to change with it. 

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