Busy on LinkedIn Doesn’t Build Credibility

People say, “You should be commenting on LinkedIn.”

Here’s what they’re missing: you should be commenting strategically, not randomly.

People say, “Post more.”

But posting more only works when it’s deliberate and coherent. Not just to stay visible, but to be understood.

I see a specific pattern over and over:

When people are asked about their strategy, what they describe is their tactics.

Tactics without strategy is pointless activity.

It’s like working on a puzzle without the picture on the box. You can be busy for hours without knowing what you’re actually building — or why.

Why Tactics Feel Productive (and Still Fall Short)

In a world that rewards motion, tactics are the easiest way to prove we’re doing something. A tactical plan gives us something concrete to point to. It documents activity. It feels productive. It’s the marketing equivalent of pressing the “easy button.”

But tactics without strategy are a short-term fix.

It’s like taking a loaded gummy to deal with a real life problem. You might feel better for a bit, but when the high wears off, the problem is still there.

Unchanged. Unresolved.

So what do I actually mean by strategy?

Strategy is deciding who you’re for, what problem you help solve, why they need to solve it, and how you can help them solve it... before you decide what to post, say, or promote.

Bottom line, you need to understand your customer.

The Missing “Yes, And…”

This tension came back into focus for me after reading Richard van der Blom's recent analysis of LinkedIn’s 360Brew update. It was a great reminder that strategy isn’t just about buyer research and alignment with business goals.

There’s a “yes, and…” component that too many people skip.

What makes this moment different is that LinkedIn is no longer treating strategy as an abstract idea — it’s encoding it into the platform itself.

Stick with me here.

LinkedIn Now Evaluates Meaning

For those who just entered the theater, 360Brew is LinkedIn’s internal LLM for how content is evaluated and distributed across the platform. A shift Richard van der Blom has been closely tracking.

At a high level, 360Brew looks at how well your entire presence works together — not just individual posts. It connects the dots between your profile, your content, your comments, and your network behavior to determine whether you’re clearly understood and consistently relevant.

In other words, LinkedIn is no longer asking, “Will people like this post?” It’s asking, “Does this person make sense over time?”

The Shift LinkedIn Is Enforcing

Most people are seeing a precipitous drop in reach since 360Brew was released. But understand, the new system isn’t punishing you. Its goal is to make better decisions on who a post is “for.” It’s about rewarding clarity. And now, your post is more likely to reach the right people instead of random people.

It’s about your credibility and authority. It’s asking the question, are you an expert or a poseur?

The system is now looking for consistency and continuity across your entire LinkedIn ecosystem:

• Your profile

• Your posts

• Your comments

• Your network behavior

In other words, LinkedIn isn’t just evaluating what you say. It’s evaluating whether everything you do backs it up — whether your posts, comments, and profile all reinforce the same story. It’s attempting to evaluate your credibility.

These are the new rules of findability and connection:

• Clarity of purpose

• Reasonable consistency

• A cohesive continuum of relevant content

Today, your actions speak as loudly as your words. Everything has to harmonize.

When the "Easy Button" Breaks

There’s another force accelerating this shift: the increased use (and abuse) of AI.

As content becomes cheaper and easier to produce, the temptation to game the system grows. We’ve seen this before.

Search engines went through it years ago. As SEO matured, bad actors tried to exploit shortcuts. Keyword stuffing. Link farms. Thin content. Tactics designed to manipulate for visibility without delivering real value.

Over time, platforms learned to spot the patterns and adjusted accordingly.

The same dynamic has been playing out on social platforms.

As generative tools make it easy to mass‑produce plausible‑sounding posts and synthetic engagement, LinkedIn (and Google, for that matter) are working out how best to distinguish credible experts from noise, automation, and surface‑level expertise.

The signal they’re leaning into isn’t volume or velocity. It’s coherence.

Strategic Engagement On LinkedIn, Reframed

In LinkedIn’s new paradigm, clarity seems to have become a ranking signal.

That means you have to be able to answer a few crucial questions:

• Who are you actually for?

• What do you reliably talk about?

• How do your posts, comments, and profile reinforce a recognizable point of view?

Going forward, random acts of activity won’t build authority. Likes and comments without continuity don’t build credibility. Attention without context just won't cut it.

What works now is clarity people can recognize over time. Clarity that builds trust.

A clearly defined lane. A consistent point of view. Stories and insights that unfold and reinforce each other.

Now more than ever, capturing the voice of your customer isn’t enough. You also have to commit to telling a coherent, compelling story — and stick to it.

You have to say what you stand for, and then stand by it.

Or colloquially:

That’s my story — and I’m sticking to it.

For Candyce's take on 360Brew, check out "LinkedIn Algorithm Reset: Why Views Dropped and How to Fix It in 2026."

About The Author: Phil Donaldson is a creative strategist who helps B2B professionals make genuine connections on LinkedIn. As the Chief Operating & Creative Officer at PropelGrowth, he blends creativity with strategic thinking to guide brands in building authentic relationships and elevating their presence in the marketplace.