LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 722 million users worldwide. As a platform built to connect professionals, LinkedIn offers valuable insights into topics and content that are currently trending and engaging its broad user base. For marketers, business owners and recruiters, knowing what content resonates on LinkedIn can inform content strategies and provide ideas for future posts and discussions. Fortunately, LinkedIn provides several easy ways to identify trending topics and content on both your homepage feed and across the wider LinkedIn community.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll outline actionable tips to find out what’s trending on LinkedIn, including:
- Checking personalized trending content on your LinkedIn homepage feed
- Using LinkedIn’sTrending Hashtags and News features
- Leveraging LinkedIn’s search bar to identify trending keywords
- Analyzing LinkedIn’s daily and weekly newsletters
- Exploring trending content published by influencers and companies
- Using LinkedIn’s analytics to identify your own top performing content
- Tracking industry publications and events
- Monitoring LinkedIn posts sharing the same link or content
- Following hashtags related to your industry
- Conducting LinkedIn polls to crowdsource trending topics from your network
Equipped with these tips, you’ll be able to capitalize on trending LinkedIn content and align your own content strategy with the conversations happening in your industry. Let’s explore each of these tactics in more detail.
Check Your LinkedIn Homepage Feed
The best place to start uncovering trending content on LinkedIn is your own homepage feed. LinkedIn’s algorithm uses your profile data, content engagement and network connections to serve a personalized feed of content it predicts you will find interesting. This means posts trending among your connections and industry are likely to appear near the top of your homepage news feed.
Specifically, look out for posts that have high engagement in terms of likes, comments and shares compared to others in your feed. You can also filter your homepage feed by selecting “Top”, which specifically surfaces the most popular content from your network. Notice any common themes, topics and types of content (video, articles, images etc) that are consistently getting high engagement. This is a strong indicator of the content resonating on LinkedIn for your target audience.
As a pro tip, be sure to actually engage with posts you find valuable by liking, commenting, sharing and saving them. The more you actively use your homepage feed, the better LinkedIn gets at serving you relevant trending content over time.
Follow LinkedIn Trending Hashtags and News
Beyond your personal feed, LinkedIn provides dedicated sections to showcase the broader topics and conversations trending across the platform.
The Trending Hashtags module on the LinkedIn homepage scrolls through real-time hashtags gaining the most traction. Simply click on any hashtag to view a feed of all public posts using it. Monitor this section to quickly identify viral trends across industries, current events driving discussion, and popular emerging memes/topics on LinkedIn.
Similarly, the LinkedIn News section curates the latest trending business, technology and career news stories being widely shared on the platform and the wider web. This offers a great way to discover the news and articles currently resonating on LinkedIn that you can ride trends with relevant commentary and content.
Note down any hashtags, publications and headlines that come up repeatedly as clear indicators of trending LinkedIn content in your sector.
Leverage LinkedIn’s Search Bar
LinkedIn’s search functionality allows you to enter any keyword or phrase and see search volume and results. You can leverage search to identify topics gaining momentum.
Try searching for your main industry, profession or product keywords. Sort results by date to surface the most recent and filter specifically for blog posts. Look for new topics and angles that are being published about frequently.
You can also enter generic trending terms like “trends”, “2022”, “tips”, “advice” or “guide” into LinkedIn search to uncover commonly discussed subjects. Pay attention to headlines and themes that come up high in search results and read the related articles to get a sense of current talking points.
Again, take note of topics that rank prominently to inform your understanding of trending LinkedIn discussions so you can align your own content.
Review LinkedIn’s Newsletters
LinkedIn sends regular customizable email digests summing up popular content from your network, industry and the platform at large. Subscribe to LinkedIn newsletters related to your interests and scan them to identify trends.
For instance, the LinkedIn Daily Rundown aggregates top news and articles shared by all users daily. Meanwhile, the LinkedIn Weekly newsletter curates personalized popular posts from your connections and industry.
Look for repeated subject lines, publications, hashtags and keywords featured across editions of these newsletters to pinpoint broader trends on LinkedIn. You can also reference the “Top Posts From Your Network” section.
This data allows you to create relevant posts about hot topics while they are peaking in popularity.
Track Influencers and Company Pages
Follow leading voices and brands in your industry to stay on pulse with trending content in your niche. Monitor posts from their LinkedIn pages that receive high engagement and watch for new articles or projects they are discussing frequently.
See what thought leaders and companies are talking about more right now compared to past posts. Look for them to organically mention and discuss subjects that are currently trending in your sector.
You can even turn on notifications for posts by specific influencers or brands to be alerted when they publish new content. This allows you to ride the coattails of their followers and engagement.
Check Your Post Analytics
Analyze your own company or personal LinkedIn page’s analytics to identify your historically best performing posts. Specifically, review stats on impressions, engagement rate and clicks to pinpoint topics and post types that resonate most with your target audience.
Are certain post categories like video or link sharing getting higher engagement? Do posts on certain subjects like industry news or career advice stand out in their reach? Use these insights to create more content around those trending areas.
You can further leverage LinkedIn’s analytics to A/B test variations of headlines, images, text and calls to action to optimize your posts. Try posting about trending topics but with different variations to see what performs best.
Follow Industry News and Events
Actively keep up with the latest developments, news reports and events related to your profession or industry outside of LinkedIn. Key launches, policy changes, data releases, conferences and more are great opportunities to create trending content tied to real-world happenings.
For example, a new survey report on remote work trends allows you to discuss data-driven insights on a hot industry topic. Or the upcoming launch event for a highly anticipated tech product presents angles for analysis on consumer demand.
Tie your content creation strategy to the real-world news cycle rather than random guesswork. Monitor niche publications, event calendars, company announcements and influencer commentary for inspiration.
Track Content Sharing Trends
Pay attention when the same content—articles, videos, white papers—get repeatedly shared by multiple connections in your LinkedIn feed around the same time.
This is a signal of content gaining traction and provides a blueprint for the type of content resonating right now. You can even click to see all public posts sharing that same link to analyze why it’s trending.
Republishing and adding your commentary to trending third-party content is an easy way to tap into those pre-existing sharing trends.
Follow Relevant Hashtags
Curate a list of niche hashtags related to your profession, industry, region, skills etc and keep an eye on their feeds. As you scroll through real-time posts using those tags, make note of common topics, links, images and headlines that come up frequently.
This allows you to identify what’s trending in your specific professional community on LinkedIn. You can then create content aligned with those conversational trends.
Some hashtags to follow might include:
- #Marketing
- #SaaS
- #Leadership
- #SanFrancisco
- #GrowthHacking
Experiment to find the niche hashtags most relevant to your target audience and goals.
Conduct LinkedIn Polls
LinkedIn Polls allow you to survey your connections and followers around a multiple choice question. This presents a unique opportunity to directly ask your network about the topics they want to see covered.
Some poll question examples:
- What content format is most helpful for your career? (Video, Article, Whitepaper etc)
- What’s your biggest challenge related to [industry]? (remote work, hiring etc)
- Which social platforms do you use most in your job?
- What #hashtag describes your current career goals?
The answer with the most votes signals reader interests. You can then produce content catered around those preferences straight from your target audience.
Polls provide on-demand data to inform your content and align with real-time LinkedIn trends.
Conclusion
Creating high quality content informed by trending LinkedIn topics will boost engagement. This guide outlines pro tips to identify current trends, discussions and news stories resonating across LinkedIn.
Remember to check your homepage feed, follow influencers, leverage newsletters and search to spot emerging topics. Connect content to real-world happenings. Analyze your own top performing posts for insights into your audience’s preferences.
Most importantly, actively engage with and listen to your target community on LinkedIn. Let trending hashtags, links and keywords guide your content strategy, alongside direct feedback from polls and conversations.
Staying on pulse with your industry ensures your LinkedIn presence and content strategy aligns with trending interests. This results in higher visibility, sharing and engagement.
So try these tactics and get ahead of the curve with trend-focused content that improves your LinkedIn performance and thought leadership.
Table Summary of LinkedIn Trend Tracking Tactics
| Tactic | How To | What To Look For |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage Feed | Scroll feed and filter by “Top” | High engagement posts with common themes |
| Trending Hashtags & News | Monitor dedicated sections | Emerging hashtags, publications, headlines |
| Search Bar | Keyword search + filter results | Frequently discussed topics and keywords |
| Newsletters | Subscribe and scan editions | Repeated subject lines and keywords |
| Influencers & Companies | Follow and analyze posts | Popular new articles and projects |
| Post Analytics | Review top performing content | Well-engaged topics and formats |
| Industry News | Monitor external news and events | Real-world happenings to discuss |
| Shared Links | See all public posts sharing a link | Content being widely shared |
| Relevant Hashtags | Follow niche community hashtags | Common topics and keywords |
| LinkedIn Polls | Survey your network’s interests | Direct feedback on desired topics |
Key Takeaways
- Check your homepage feed and “Top” filter for high engagement posts
- Monitor LinkedIn’s Trending Hashtags, News and newsletters
- Leverage search to identify frequently discussed topics
- See what influencers and brands are posting about more recently
- Analyze your own top performing content for insights
- Connect content to real-world industry news and events
- Pay attention when the same links get shared across your network
- Follow niche hashtags to identify what your community is talking about
- Ask your network directly through polls to learn what content they want
By tapping into LinkedIn’s wealth of data and feedback loops, you can constantly pinpoint and ride the coattails of trending content. This allows you to craft relevant posts aligned with hot topics and discussions within your industry. Stay on pulse with what is engaging your audience and leverage trends to boost your own content performance.