Mastering LinkedIn Engagement in the Summer: How Seasonality Shapes Your Strategy

Seasonality impacts more than just the weather – it influences our social media habits, too. LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking platform, is no stranger to these seasonal shifts. Understanding such dynamics can empower businesses and professionals to optimize their content strategies and maintain engagement even during usually slower periods.

During the summer months, LinkedIn engagement tends to fluctuate quite noticeably due to changes in user behavior and priorities. Here are some changes you can expect:

⬇️ Reduced daily activity. During the summer, people tend to spend less time on LinkedIn and more on leisurely activities, which leads to a daily decrease in activity and overall engagement on the platform.

📝 Shift in content themes. Posts usually gravitate more towards lighter, personal topics, as professionals may want to share more about their summer plans and achievements outside of work, reflecting a more relaxed atmosphere.

🤝🏻 Lower connection acceptance rate. Connection acceptance rates typically drop since many people are less active in their inboxes and the whole platform itself.

⏰ Slower response time. People prioritizing outside-of-work activities affect communication, which is why response time could be slower.

What shifts in engagement can be expected on LinkedIn during the summer?

Such seasonal changes in LinkedIn engagement throughout the summer emphasize how users prioritize leisure and personal interests. This results in reduced platform activity, a shift towards more relaxed content themes, and slower communication (see the image). Understanding these behavioral changes is essential for adjusting strategies accordingly.

Many people take advantage of the pleasant weather and school breaks in the summer to take some time off for vacations, resulting in a shift of engagement on LinkedIn, as the platform is widely associated with professional activities.

Additionally, the relaxed atmosphere of summer often causes a mental shift away from professional focus into prioritizing leisure activities instead. This shift can result in lower engagement rates, making it more difficult for content to reach its target audience.

However, this seasonal change does not need to be a setback! Perhaps it might even be easier to thrive during this lull than in other busy seasons.

• With fewer notifications to respond to and fewer people looking you up – update your profile and make sure its quality matches your professional accomplishments and ambitions. Use a LinkedIn Personal Branding course to take this step to the next level.

• You can use the less noisy time on your feed to focus on developing relationships with your already existing network, engaging more with other people’s posts, and increasing your visibility, while others in your field might be less active.

• The cost of advertising on LinkedIn typically decreases by 11% in the summer, which means that advertisers pay less for each click on their ads compared to other times of the year. The reduced Cost Per Click (CPC) is an excellent opportunity to run more cost-effective campaigns and reach your audience at a lower expense.

• 31% of LinkedIn members who engage with summer-related content are senior-level decision-makers. This means that a significant portion of the audience interacting with your content holds influential positions within their organizations. Therefore, it is wise to maintain an active presence and share relevant content that resonates with this influential demographic.

• Your Relevance Score on LinkedIn, which affects how often your content is shown, can change over time based on user interaction. If you stop posting, your score can drop significantly, causing the algorithm to show your content less frequently. This means you could lose the progress you've built up over the past year and need to start from scratch again. Remember that staying active is crucial to maintaining your visibility and engagement on the platform!

• Despite the overall decline in engagement that tends to happen during the summer, certain types of content can still perform well on LinkedIn. Instead of taking a step back with the rest of the crowd, look at the summer breeze on LinkedIn as an opportunity to post different types of content.

Why do engagement shifts in the summer tend to happen on LinkedIn?

Keeping your audience engaged during the summer with soft content

With summer in full bloom, engaging your audience on LinkedIn can definitely be challenging. Crafting compelling soft content that resonates with people who may be mentally checked out or enjoying their vacation is key to maintaining connection and engagement during this unhurried season. Here’s how you can adjust your strategy to keep your audience interested and engaged during the summer:

💡 Light and engaging content can resonate with your audience, who may be in a more relaxed and vacation-focused mindset during the summer. This could include:

◽️ Personal stories. Sharing personal achievements, summer plans, or how you’re balancing work and free time can resonate well with people, as they make your content more relatable and help to create a personal connection

◽️ Employee spotlights. Highlighting team members’ accomplishments and personal stories can humanize your brand and keep the audience engaged. Fostering a sense of community during a season of going out and about could resonate well with a broader audience.

🚀 In times of low engagement, eye-catching visuals and interactive content grab attention more effectively. Some options are:

◽️ Pictures, videos, and infographics. These formats can quickly capture attention and are more likely to be shared, increasing reach. Utilizing engaging visuals to tell compelling stories or share insights would be a more digestible format.

◽️ Polls. Interactive content can encourage engagement even when users are less active. Polls not only gather valuable feedback but also significantly boost interaction rates, making it a win-win.

🎓Valuable educational content could stand out during a more relaxed summer season. A few possibilities are:

◽️ Tips and advice. Offering valuable insights, career advice, or industry news can keep your audience informed and engaged and position you as a thought leader in the industry.

◽️ Webinars and virtual events. Hosting virtual events can attract professionals looking to upskill during their spare time, especially since it can be done from an unprofessional setting as well.

🔔 Keeping your audience hooked means sharing timely updates that keep them engaged with your content. Examples might be:

◽️ Industry Trends. Sharing updates on industry trends and how they may impact businesses post-summer can help to provide valuable insights to your network and keep engagement high.

◽️ Company News. Announcements about new products, services, or significant company milestones will update your network and help boost the community feeling.

Understanding LinkedIn’s seasonal characteristics and adapting your content strategy accordingly can help maintain and even boost engagement over the summer!

Take a look at some examples of people implementing soft content during the summer 👇

1. Adjust Your Posting Schedule. Consider reducing the frequency of posts but focus on maintaining quality. Match your audience’s summer habits and optimize engagement.

2. Leverage Analytics. Use LinkedIn's analytics tools such as Whatagraph or Shield to monitor which types of content perform best and adjust your strategy accordingly.

3. Engage with Your Network. Take the time to comment on and share others' posts. Actively engaging with your network can create mutually beneficial interactions while also increasing your content’s reach.

4. Plan Ahead. Prepare your summer content in advance to ensure a steady flow of posts without overwhelming your team. Planning allows for a consistent content strategy, even when team members are on vacation.

5. Diversify your content. View the summer lull on LinkedIn as an opportunity to stand out, capturing attention with fresh and innovative posts that resonate with your audience.

Top 5 tips for maximizing LinkedIn engagement during the summer:

Paid LinkedIn content - how about it?

The ability to adapt to different times of the year can make the difference between success and a missed opportunity. This adaptability is crucial, especially in LinkedIn Ads campaigns, where every click counts and every season presents unique opportunities.

Standard strategies that work well year-round often need sensitive adjustments to make the most of seasonal peaks.

Here are our top recommendations when running LinkedIn ads during the summer season:

◽️ Use targeted creative and copy. Tailor your ads with content focused on the season. Summer is a great time to incorporate vibrant visuals and themes that resonate with the relaxed, sunny vibe of the season.

◽️ Try out less promotional ad goals. From our work with clients, we've noticed that instead of focusing on website visits or conversion goals, it's better to aim for engagement or thought-leader advertisements. This approach can help build stronger connections and keep your audience engaged even when they're in a more leisurely summer mindset.

◽️ Don't be afraid to test out new ideas. Summer is the perfect time to experiment with different messaging and targeting options. Testing different approaches can provide valuable insights and help you discover what resonates best with your audience during this season.

"During the summer we might see a dip in engagement, but it's actually a great time to test running ads. With less competition, your cost per click could be lower, maximizing your budget's effectiveness. So, don’t avoid running summer campaigns; they can offer an opportunity to reach your audience with less noise and potentially higher returns on your advertising investment.”

Inesa Sinelnikė, CMO @ Linkedist, draws from her experience working with various companies on LinkedIn and highlights that it is possible to achieve good results even during more challenging seasonal periods.

Mastering LinkedIn engagement during the summer involves adapting to seasonal shifts in user behavior and preferences. By focusing on soft content that resonates with a relaxed audience and utilizing all of the platform’s attention-grabbing tools, it can be easier to sustain and even enhance engagement on your profile while at the same time fostering meaningful connections during the pleasant summer season.

If you need more guidance, dive into our expert-led courses to maximize your LinkedIn results this summer!

PS: Please note that insights shared in this blog post are based on our experience in the field.

Let’s wrap it up!