The Most Important LinkedIn KPIs

LinkedIn KPIs: The Most Important Info at a Glance

1. Define upfront what success means to you.
2. Follower counts alone say very little.
3. The engagement rate is your most important metric.
4. In-depth posts reach fewer people, but the right ones.
5. Check your numbers regularly and adjust accordingly.

Introduction & Our Experience

More and more people are (finally) posting on LinkedIn, but how well is it actually working? In this blog post, we explain how you can measure that. We focus in particular on which metrics you should check regularly and which ones tend to be overrated.

Our experience is based on around two years of LinkedIn consulting and building various personal brands and company profiles. During this time, we have tested a lot, published countless posts, and developed best practices that work best for us and our clients.

What Does Each KPI Tell You?

Followers

Let's start with the basics. The follower count is, at first glance, a relatively simple metric, since the name already tells you what it measures: the number of followers. Ideally, you should check regularly how this number is developing.

Here comes the but:
‍If you wanted to, you could have 10,000 followers on LinkedIn within a short period of time. All you would need to do is sit there all day and send out connection requests.

That is exactly the problem with this metric. There are profiles with large follower counts built precisely through such tactics. At first glance, you might think: "Wow, that's a big profile." Unfortunately, appearances are often deceiving.

What matters on LinkedIn is an active following, meaning a network that actually interacts with your posts and your profile. If you have over 10,000 followers but only 10 likes, something is going seriously wrong. This is always a good way to check whether a follower count actually reflects a strong profile.

Impressions

There are profile impressions and post impressions. Both show how often your profile or post was displayed to someone. It is also possible for the same person to see a post multiple times.

Reach

Shows how many members have seen your post.

Engagement

Shows how often people have interacted with your post (likes, reactions, etc.).

Engagement Rate

This one you generally have to calculate yourself, and there are two versions:

1. Engagement Rate based on Reach = (Reactions + Comments + Shares) / Reach
2. Engagement Rate based on Impressions = (Reactions + Comments + Shares) / Impressions

The engagement rate is one of the most important metrics for us. It shows how many of the people reached actually interacted with the post, which reflects how relevant the post is and how well it fits the audience. That makes it the best indicator of a strong post.

Good KPIs Alone Are Not Everything

In content marketing, there are various KPIs that can give you a sense of whether your posts are performing well or not. Before diving in, you should define exactly that for yourself: what does success on LinkedIn mean to you?

Because in our view: good KPIs are great. But what matters more are the leads you generate and whether you are actually reaching your target audience.

Not every post needs high numbers. In-depth, specialist posts often reach fewer people. In those cases, look at who you are reaching: industry, seniority level, geography.

A Tool That Simplifies LinkedIn KPI Analysis

We use and always recommend the tool AuthoredUp. It gives you a clear, simple overview of your most important metrics in one place.

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A Few Final Words

If you want to succeed on LinkedIn, in our sense meaning building a strong personal brand, you should check your metrics regularly. Knowing how your posts are landing helps you steer your content more effectively. Check whether your topics are reaching your target audience, and if things are already going well, bring more of exactly that kind of content.

About the Author

Hightide, founded by Hendrik and Caro, is an agency dedicated to helping startups and entrepreneurs gain more visibility. We combine LinkedIn Marketing and strategic Website Design as the two most important B2B channels. We are also happy to support SMEs and other B2B experts on their journey.