LinkedIn shipped 4 features in a month. Here's what to do with each one.
LinkedIn for the past years hasn’t given us anythinggggggg. People asked for better analytics, organized inboxes, a search bar that actually works. Features never come, tests disappear, and half the platform stays the same for years.
And then this month happened. A new analytics metric, a rebuilt search bar, the vertical video feed back from the dead, and paid 1:1 calls inside the app. All at once.
I spend all day on this platform between my own content and client accounts, and even I'm struggling to keep up. So here's everything they launched, and what I'm doing with each one.
1. We can better see who's actually seeing our posts
There's a new metric in your post analytics (discovery section, under impressions) that breaks down in-network vs. out-of-network reach.
Your out-of-network percentage tells you how well the algorithm understands your content. The new system matches posts to people by topic, not network size. So when a post travels out of network, it means the algorithm got what you were talking about and pushed it to strangers who care.
Great way to score your growth posts. If you know you know ;)
Go look at your last 10 posts and note your baseline. The posts that spike above it are the ones the algorithm can categorize. Make more of those when strategizing growth posts.
2. Search works now??
LinkedIn search has been a running joke. You knew exactly who you were looking for, and LinkedIn would hand you everyone except them.
I got the message about the new search while I was deep in creator research for a client, so the timing was perfect. You can now search in plain English. "Founders of B2B SaaS companies posting about AI." That's it. No keyword guessing, no stacking five filters and praying.
This solves the question I got most in the LinkedIn Flywheel Bootcamp: how do I find the right creators to engage with? How do I find my ICP? The answer used to be a clunky mix of filters and luck.
Now: describe your ICP in one sentence, search it, pull 20 to 30 people worth commenting on consistently. Ten minutes for something that used to eat an afternoon.
Note: As I mentioned I’m still currently testing it out as I’m doing research for a client, fingers crosseeeed cause this one would be a GAME CHANGER… please LinkedIn do this one right.
3. The vertical video feed is back
LinkedIn launched it, killed it, and left video creators posting into a platform that half-supported them. Even when I went to LinkedIn’s office in London, their team told me they really struggled with video and when they first launched it, it was literally just humans HAND PICKING what went viral.
It's back. I have it, some people I've asked don't yet, so it looks like a beta test.
But I’m honestly still just getting some really random TikTok type videos…
But a dedicated feed means LinkedIn wants video badly, and platforms reward the formats they need. If you haven’t played around with video yet, start getting the hang of it. But I don’t think they’re nailing it any time soon.
One thing I noticed: almost everything performing in that feed is 9x16 portrait, not LinkedIn's native dimensions. Format for the feed they're pushing, not the one they used to have.
4. You can get paid ON LinkedIn now
This one I genuinely didn't see coming.
It's called Advice Sessions. Paid 1:1 calls, offered straight from your profile. Booking happens on LinkedIn. Payment happens on LinkedIn. The actual video call happens on LinkedIn. No Calendly, no Stripe, no Zoom.
For years we built audiences here and monetized everywhere else. They watched all that money leave the platform and finally decided they want it in-app.
LinkedIn is slowly turning into the full stack: profile, audience, booking, payment, delivery.
It's rolling out to Premium Business subscribers in the US this month. If you sell consulting or advisory time, turn it on the second you get access. New LinkedIn features usually come with a distribution bump for early adopters, and a paid call button on your profile is the shortest funnel that has ever existed.
So why all of this now?
My theory: the algorithm rebuild forced their hand. I broke down the AI slop crackdown last week (if you missed it, the CEO confirmed on video they're building classifiers to suppress generic AI content).
You can't suppress slop without giving real creators a reason to stick around. So they're making the platform worth staying on for more people. Better data, better search, a home for video, money in-app.
They're finally handing us some tools.
About time.
Talk soon,
D.