Influent blog
The best place in the universe to learn about LinkedIn
Strategy, data, and playbooks on LinkedIn thought leadership, executive content, and paid amplification for B2B marketing teams.
Best LinkedIn and thought leadership agencies for cybersecurity in 2026
Security buyers are skeptical, technical, and allergic to fear-based marketing. Here are the agencies worth considering for cybersecurity thought leadership and LinkedIn in 2026, and how to test them.
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How LinkedIn actually works
Distribution, the algorithm, new formats, and how the content you publish ends up inside AI answers.
Insight15 min read
Everything you know about the LinkedIn algorithm is wrong
Most executives waste years on LinkedIn because they assume it works like every other platform. It doesn't. Here is the correct mental model.
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LinkedIn news6 min read
LinkedIn rebuilt the feed with LLMs: 7 changes and what they mean for you
LinkedIn's engineering team published how it rebuilt the feed around large language models. Here are the seven changes that matter, and what each one means for how you write and distribute.
Read article- LinkedIn news
9 min read
LinkedIn algorithm and platform updates in 2026
A running log of LinkedIn's product and algorithm changes, with the part most coverage skips: whether it changes anything about how you should run your program.
Read article - LinkedIn news
6 min read
LinkedIn product updates: September 2026
Everything LinkedIn shipped or opened for testing heading into September 2026, translated out of release-note language into what it means for a B2B program.
Read article - LinkedIn news
4 min read
LinkedIn product updates: August 2026
Two August changes mattered more than everything else combined: the "For you" feed test, and the first measurable distribution penalty on AI slop.
Read article - InsightInsight
8 min read
AEO and GEO for B2B: how LinkedIn shapes AI answers
Buyers are asking ChatGPT and Perplexity who the best vendors are. The content those models cite is being written right now, and a surprising amount of it starts on LinkedIn.
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Insight11 min read
Why LinkedIn has games: the news strategy behind it
LinkedIn's daily puzzles aren't a quirky engagement experiment. They're a signal that LinkedIn is quietly becoming the newspaper of professional news.
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Content and advertising tactics
Hooks, topic selection, and amplification: the craft of posts that earn attention from the people you sell to.
- PlaybookPlaybook
9 min read
Top 24 LinkedIn post types (and when to use them)
Post types are the structural vehicles that carry your point of view. Here are the 12 proven types, the 12 experimental ones, and the situation each is built for.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
8 min read
How to write scroll-stopping post hooks on LinkedIn
The hook is the text before the See more cut. This is the internal system we use to write them: how to signal relevance, the three hook types, and the subtypes under each.
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Playbook7 min read
Content-market fit: the framework behind every post worth publishing
Content-market fit is the overlap between what an executive can speak to with depth, what the ICP actually cares about, and what points back to a commercial problem. Here is how we validate it.
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Playbook9 min read
The Thought Leader Ads playbook: our full post amplification strategy
This is the strategy deck we walk clients through, written out. What Thought Leader Ads are, why organic alone cannot reach your buyers, and how we target, measure, and activate them.
Read article- PlaybookPlaybook
6 min read
Trade marketing is coming to LinkedIn
Somewhere at Kroger right now, a category manager is deciding which brands get on the shelf next year. She's on LinkedIn. Almost no CPG brand is reaching her there yet.
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How to run a LinkedIn program
Who should post, what they should own, how to operate across a leadership team, and how to measure the pipeline it creates.
Insight12 min read
The LinkedIn-first CMO: 7 traits of modern B2B marketing leaders
LinkedIn-First CMO sounds like a niche specialization. In a few years, it will simply be called a CMO. Here is what that role looks like.
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Insight10 min read
The LinkedIn-first comms leader: a new B2B PR playbook
LinkedIn is now a media company with a social network attached. The comms function at most companies was designed for a very different world.
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Playbook7 min read
Multi-executive LinkedIn strategy: the 3-vector framework
Most B2B companies default to one executive voice on LinkedIn. That is a mistake. Here is a three-axis framework for selecting who should post, and why.
Read article- InsightInsight
7 min read
Should CEOs post on LinkedIn? The earned-silence myth
The most admired CEOs post almost nothing, and executives love to cite them as proof they can stay quiet too. It is the wrong comparison, and here is why.
Read article - InsightInsight
7 min read
LinkedIn executive content benchmarks: 2026 data from 21 real programs
Engagement rate, impressions per post, follower growth, and connection acceptance, measured across 21 client programs, 25 executive accounts, and 1,709 posts published in 2026.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
7 min read
How to measure category ownership in B2B marketing
Everyone wants to own their category. Almost nobody can say whether they do. Here is a three-stage measurement model: share of voice, citation, and association.
Read article - InsightInsight
8 min read
Why LinkedIn programs fail: the $70K lesson in distribution
Six figures of ghostwriting, a year of consistent posting, and no pipeline. The problem is almost never the content. It is the missing distribution and signal layer.
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LinkedIn program examples (good and bad)
Programs that worked, and public moments that show what happens when executive content goes wrong.
Case study11 min read
Vibe.co's LinkedIn strategy: the $1.4B acquisition playbook
Walmart acquired Vibe.co for a reported $1.4 billion. A breakdown of the three-part LinkedIn motion behind the run, pulled entirely from public data.
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Case study8 min read
Why CEO thought leadership backfires: the McDonald's lesson
Picking the CEO as the default thought leader despite an obvious audience-fit problem is the most common reason executive content fails.
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How to find the right partner
How agencies differ, what a complete program costs, and the questions that reveal what a vendor actually operates.
- PlaybookPlaybook
10 min read
Best LinkedIn agencies for CEOs and leadership teams in 2026: 10 firms compared
LinkedIn agencies for CEOs and executives sell very different services under similar names. Here are ten worth considering in 2026, how we scored them, what each costs your time, and who each one actually fits.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
9 min read
Best LinkedIn content agencies in 2026 (and how they differ)
LinkedIn content agencies all sell writing, but they buy you very different things. Here are the main types of firm, who each one fits, and what to check before you sign.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
8 min read
Best LinkedIn agencies for B2B SaaS in 2026: how to pick one
B2B SaaS has long sales cycles, buying committees of six or more, and a product story most writers get wrong. Here is what a LinkedIn agency needs to handle SaaS, and how to test for it.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
7 min read
Best LinkedIn agencies for CPG and trade marketing in 2026
CPG brands spend heavily to reach shoppers and almost nothing to reach the buyers who decide shelf space. Here is what a LinkedIn agency needs to run trade marketing, and how few can.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
11 min read
How to choose an executive LinkedIn agency: the 8 capabilities a complete program needs
Most agencies sell one or two pieces of an executive LinkedIn program. Here are the eight capabilities a complete program connects, and the questions that reveal which ones an agency actually operates.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
7 min read
How to choose a LinkedIn agency: a 10-step evaluation checklist
Most LinkedIn agency decisions are made on vibes and portfolio screenshots. Here is a repeatable evaluation process, the questions that reveal real capability, and the red flags worth walking away from.
Read article - InsightInsight
7 min read
LinkedIn agency vs in-house hire vs freelancer: which one fits
The same LinkedIn program can cost $3,000 or $25,000 a month depending on how you staff it. Here is the real cost of each option, what breaks in each, and the switching points.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
8 min read
LinkedIn agency pricing: what it actually costs in 2026
Retainers run from $1,500 to $50,000 a month and the range is not arbitrary. Here is what each pricing model buys, what drives cost up, and how to tell when you are overpaying.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
12 min read
How much does an executive LinkedIn program cost in 2026?
Executive LinkedIn programs run from under $2,000 a month to over $100,000. Here is what each pricing model buys, realistic ranges by capability, and when hiring internally becomes cheaper.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
11 min read
The best LinkedIn marketing agencies in 2026
A practical shortlist of the LinkedIn agencies worth a call in 2026, what each one is actually good at, what they publish for pricing, and the five questions that tell you which one fits.
Read article - PlaybookPlaybook
8 min read
What KPIs should a LinkedIn ads agency actually report on?
Impressions, CTR, and cost per lead are the metrics agencies report because they are easy. Here are the numbers that tell you whether LinkedIn advertising is moving your buying committee.
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