If you’re a LinkedIn user, chances are you’ve heard of engagement pods, but you might not know exactly what they are and why people are using them. I have been meaning to write about them for some time but decided to sit back and watch for any pattern or notable behaviour in some accounts instead. find LinkedIn engagement pods to be a desperate ploy for visibility. I believe that if your content cannot get traction organically then you should probably think about a new content strategy! In this post I have outlined what they are, why people are using them and why *I* {personal opinion} think they’re not be all they’re cracked up to be. Some would even call them a desperate tactic, but is that fair? Read on and find out.
- What Are Engagement Pods on LinkedIn?
Engagement pods are essentially private groups that exist on LinkedIn with the aim of engaging with the content produced by the members of the group. The people in these groups will engage with the content of the other people in the group with the aim of increasing and expanding exposure for those individuals and their content on LinkedIn. In essence, it’s about beating the site’s algorithm.
People are drawn to engagement pods because they get guaranteed likes and comments on their posts. You will no doubt have seen the same people commenting on each others post with comments like “Great point, as always”, “Well explained video”, “Very valid”, “Great post”… the kind of comments that are common place in engagement pods. {I should jump in here and say that not all posts with these kind of comments are involved in engagement pods … I have used these as merely an example}. The idea is that this increased engagement will cause the LinkedIn algorithm to display that content in the feeds of other users. Is it really as simple as that though?
- The Impact on Your Personal Brand
These days, your personal brand matters, and do you really want your personal brand to be tainted by such a desperate tactic? It’s not exactly going to help your credibility if everyone knows that you’re relying on fake likes and comments in order to drive engagement on your posts, is it?
- They Eat Up Your Time
If you’re part of an engagement pod, you have to spend a lot of time liking and commenting on other people’s posts. That’s the nature of being involved in this kind of thing. It’s going to eat up a lot of your time and that’s time that you could have spent on other things. It’s a price that has to be paid.
- Quality Control Issues
When you’re in an engagement pod, you’re guaranteed to have people liking and commenting positively on your content. That can be a problem if you start taking it seriously or you stop putting the effort in. When you know that the feedback is going to be positive regardless of the quality of the content you put out there, it becomes easy to get lazy and that’ll hurt you in the end.
- The Algorithm Knows
Sadly, the LinkedIn algorithm isn’t as easily manipulated as many users seem to think. The people at LinkedIn already know all about engagement pods and they don’t like them. Many believe it’s only a matter of time until they crack down and change the algorithm accordingly. Hallelujah!
- It’s All Artificial & Vain
At the end of the day, all of this is artificial, and it can end up feeling hollow for you. The strategy might make you feel good for a while, but all of that engagement means nothing of it’s all fake and forced rather than being based in genuine positive sentiment.
Engagement pods might have a place in your LinkedIn strategy, but you certainly shouldn’t become one of those people who rely on them too heavily because that only leads to a range of unnecessary problems. And most importantly, it’ll be a waste of your time. Instead, take a more well-rounded and careful approach to your LinkedIn strategy.
Niamh x
You can find me on LinkedIn here.
PS – If you are struggling to understand LinkedIn don’t fret. The platform has most certainly lost the way over the past 12 months but the team at LinkedIn told us at Learn Inbound that changes are coming. Welcome changes in my opinion.
