Top 24 LinkedIn post types (and when to use them)

A post type is the structural vehicle that carries your content. It defines how a post delivers its message, not what the message is about, not the tone, and not the format it is packaged in.

Almost every marketing post has a point of view baked into it. That is what makes content worth reading. But a POV on its own is just an opinion. The post type is the vehicle you choose to deliver that opinion.

Take one POV: most B2B companies target too broad an audience. You can deliver it as an Anecdote (a client narrowed their ICP and doubled pipeline), an In the Wild (a company that did it well), a Coin Post (naming the problem "spray and pray marketing"), a Playbook (steps to narrow your ICP), or a THIS/THAT (old way versus new way, line by line). Same opinion. Five completely different posts.

How to tell a post type from a technique

Ask one question: does the post collapse if you remove the structure?

• If yes, it is a post type. A Letter stops being a Letter without the direct address. A THIS/THAT stops working if you strip the paired contrasts. A Meme is nothing without the cultural reference. The structure is load-bearing.
• If the post still works without it, it is a technique or a formatting choice. Reversals, co-creation, timelines, and lists can be applied across post types without changing the underlying structure.

Post types apply to marketing content only. Personal branding posts (founder stories, vulnerability moments) and company branding posts (event promos, team photos, funding news) are defined by what you are sharing, not how. There is no repeatable structure worth naming.

The 12 proven post types

These are tried and true. They should make up the majority of your post type decisions. If a post does not seem to map onto a type, it is very likely a standard POV post with an interesting hook or visual, not a new type.

1. POV

The default. The author shares a take and backs it up with reasoning. Use it when the idea is strong enough to stand on its own and does not need a story, proof, or a gimmick to carry it.

Example: Your brand doesn't need more content. It needs better content. Most B2B companies publish 3-5x per week and none of it resonates with their ICP. Volume isn't a strategy. Relevance is.

2. Anecdote

A first-hand story is the main vehicle for a lesson, POV, or question. Use it when the insight lands harder as a scene than as a claim, and when you want the reader to feel the moment before they hear the point.

Example: Last year I sat across from a CMO whose team produced 40 pieces of content a month. I asked how many drove pipeline. She went quiet. The problem was never output. It was alignment.

3. Playbook

Executable, step-by-step instructions the audience can go do. Use it when you want to be saved and shared, and when your credibility comes from showing the mechanics rather than describing the outcome.

4. Case study

Your own customer's success, used to signal effectiveness or demonstrate a recommended approach. Use it when the post needs proof, especially further down the funnel where the reader is evaluating whether you can actually do it.

Example: Our client was spending $180K a year on parts they already had in stock at other plants. We cleaned the master data, found 4,200 duplicates, and connected inventory across 6 sites. Result: $320K saved in year one.

5. In the Wild

A real-world example, made by someone else, that proves your POV. Use it when you want third-party evidence without pitching, and when praising a good example is more persuasive than arguing for it.

6. Mental Model

A structured way of thinking about something. Not tactical steps, but a reusable lens. Use it when the audience keeps making the same mistake because they lack a framework to sort the decision.

7. Timely News

Your POV inserted into a headline that is currently dominating attention. Use it when you can add the angle nobody else is taking, and only while the news is still hot.

8. Debrief

A report back from a firsthand conversation with an external person. Use it when privileged access is the value: you heard something the audience cannot hear anywhere else.

Example: Had coffee with a Head of Procurement at a Fortune 500 manufacturer. He said: "We don't have a spare parts problem. We have a trust problem." One sentence explains billions in wasted spend.

9. Conversation

A scripted dialogue between roles that illustrates a point. Use it when the tension lives between two functions, and hearing both sides is funnier and clearer than narrating it.

10. Curation

A collected list of tools, resources, articles, or people worth knowing. Use it when you want to build goodwill and reach by pointing attention at others rather than yourself.

11. Lead Magnet

The entire post exists to deliver or tease a downloadable resource. Use it when you have something genuinely valuable to give away and want to convert attention into a list or a conversation.

12. Meme

A borrowed cultural reference redirected at your audience. Technically experimental, functionally common. Use it when the shared frustration is so recognizable that a caption would ruin it.

The 12 experimental post types

These are less proven. Test them, watch the results, and handle them with care.

13. Coin Post

You name a phenomenon that is relatable, validating, or novel. Use it when the audience already feels the thing but has no words for it. Naming it makes you the owner of the idea.

Example: I keep seeing the same thing across B2B marketing teams. I'm calling it "content debt." Every low-effort post borrows against your future credibility. Eventually the bill comes due.

14. THIS/THAT

Paired contrasts, line by line: old versus new, before versus after, wrong versus right. Use it when you are arguing that the standard approach is outdated and the delta is easy to see.

15. Letter

Written directly TO a specific person or persona, not about a topic. Use it when one archetype is causing the problem and addressing them by name gives the post its charge.

16. Scorecard

You evaluate or grade real things against criteria, playing judge publicly. Use it when you have done the work at volume and the aggregate finding is the story.

17. Pop Quiz

You test the audience's knowledge with a question they have to answer. Use it when the answer is counterintuitive and being wrong is the lesson.

18. Open Mic

An open-ended question to spark discussion, with the value living in the comments. Use it when you genuinely want the answers, not when you are fishing for engagement.

19. AMA

You invite the audience to ask you anything, flipping the dynamic from push to pull. Use it when you have enough audience and enough earned authority for questions to actually arrive.

20. Remix

You build on, challenge, or extend someone else's content publicly. Use it when you agree with a popular take but can add the layer it is missing.

21. Demo

You show something working in real time instead of explaining it. Use it when the claim strains belief and watching it removes the doubt.

22. Assignment

You give the audience a specific task to go do and report back on. Use it when the realization only lands if they check their own numbers.

Example: Go look at your last 10 posts. For each one ask: would my ICP screenshot this and send it to a colleague? If the answer is no for more than 7, your content is built for the algorithm, not your buyer.

23. Reversal-led types

Not a type on its own, but worth calling out: flipping a Playbook into "what not to do" or an Experience post into "why doing it right failed" changes how the same material reads. Layer it onto any type above.

24. Co-created posts

Same caveat: bringing another person in via video, quote, or screenshot is a technique, not a structure. It works on top of Case Study, Debrief, Remix, and In the Wild, and it borrows the other person's credibility and audience.

How to choose

When building a content calendar, start with the POV you want to communicate: the insight, the argument, the lesson. Then choose the type that will deliver it most effectively.

Some POVs are best served by a story (Anecdote). Some need proof (Case Study, In the Wild). Some are best delivered through structure (Mental Model, THIS/THAT). Some are about sparking participation (Open Mic, Assignment, Pop Quiz).

Post type is a creative decision, not a formula. The goal is variety, intentionality, and making sure each post earns attention through a vehicle that fits the message. The type decides what the post accomplishes once someone reads it. Whether they read it at all is the job of the hook, and whether the topic is worth writing about at all is a question of content-market fit.