Quick answer
Yes, companies can see if you unfollow them on LinkedIn. When you follow a company page on LinkedIn, you become one of their followers. LinkedIn provides companies with analytics about their followers, including data on followers gained and lost over time. So if you unfollow a company, they will see their follower count drop by 1 and will know someone unfollowed them.
How companies track followers on LinkedIn
LinkedIn offers companies detailed analytics about their company page followers within the LinkedIn Analytics platform. This includes:
- Total number of followers
- Followers gained/lost over time
- Follower demographics like job role, industry, seniority level
- Content metrics like post impressions and engagement
So when you unfollow a company by clicking the “Following” button on their page, LinkedIn registers that action. The next time the company checks their LinkedIn Analytics, they will see a small decrease in their follower number if just you unfollowed or a more significant drop if multiple people unfollowed within a certain timeframe.
While they won’t know the identities of who unfollowed, they will see the quantifiable impact of losing some followers. LinkedIn Analytics makes it easy for brands to monitor follower growth and churn rate as key metrics for their LinkedIn strategy.
Why you may want to unfollow a company on LinkedIn
Here are some common reasons why you may decide to unfollow a company on LinkedIn:
- Their content is no longer relevant to you
- They post too frequently and clog up your feed
- You no longer want to work for that company
- You don’t like the messaging or brand image they post
- You’re doing a social media cleanse or trying to reduce clutter
Unfollowing a company doesn’t mean you’ll never see their content again. Their posts can still appear in your feed through likes, comments, and shares from your network. But unfollowing does reduce their reach and visibility to you as an individual follower.
How unfollowing impacts your LinkedIn experience
Unfollowing companies on LinkedIn can improve your experience in a few ways:
- See more relevant, interesting content from other sources
- Avoid overwhelming your feed if a company posts too much
- Customize your feed to focus on companies you want to follow
- Reduce noise and clutter in your feed
- Focus your feed on content related to your career interests
Being selective about which companies you follow makes your LinkedIn feed more useful for your specific needs and preferences. It removes content that is no longer helpful or relevant to you as your career interests evolve.
Downsides of unfollowing companies on LinkedIn
Here are some potential downsides to unfollowing companies on LinkedIn:
- You may miss important company updates, news, job postings, or content
- It could signal disinterest if you want to work there in the future
- Reduce your understanding of the company’s products, services, and culture
- Miss opportunities to connect with company employees
- Lose touch with former colleagues if you unfollow their employer
Evaluate if you still want exposure to the company’s LinkedIn presence for career opportunities, industry news, product updates, or connecting with current employees. If so, you might reconsider unfollowing them.
Limitations of LinkedIn data on unfollowers
While LinkedIn does provide unfollower data, there are some limitations companies should know:
- You can’t see who specifically unfollowed – just the aggregate change
- Data refreshes only when you actively check Analytics
- Hard to pinpoint exact cause if multiple unfollow around same time
- No info on their reasoning for unfollowing
- Easy to overreact or misinterpret meaning of unfollows
The data is most useful for identifying larger trends and informing content strategy. But it shouldn’t be overanalyzed at a micro level when making business decisions.
Can you re-follow a company after unfollowing them?
Yes, LinkedIn allows you to re-follow companies that you’ve previously unfollowed. To do so:
- Go to the company’s LinkedIn page
- Click the “Follow” button near the top of the page
- Confirm you want to follow them in the pop-up
You can repeat this process to follow and unfollow any company as you want. Each time you re-follow a company, their follower count will increment by 1 again.
There is no limit to how many times you can follow or unfollow a company. LinkedIn views this as you curating the content you see in your feed as your interests change over time.
Do companies get notified when you follow them initially?
No, LinkedIn does not proactively notify companies when someone follows their company page. The company would only know by actively checking their Analytics data and noticing an increase in followers.
Some social media platforms will send notifications when you follow a brand page. But on LinkedIn, brand pages have to actively monitor their own analytics.
Conclusion
In summary, companies can see when you unfollow their LinkedIn page through the follower analytics provided by LinkedIn. It allows them to track gains and losses in followers over time. While they won’t know who specifically unfollowed, they can view the aggregate impact.
Unfollowing companies that aren’t providing value can improve your LinkedIn experience and focus your feed. But weigh the pros and cons, as you may miss out on relevant updates. You can always re-follow pages later on. Overall, being intentional about who you follow reflects your unique professional interests and goals.
