In this Q3 LinkedIn experiment, I tested whether sharing other people’s posts with added commentary could boost engagement compared to creating only original content.

Over three months, impressions rose 4.6%, engagements increased 8.3%, and reach jumped by 54.2%- but the spikes didn’t line up neatly with the sharing phase.

The experiment revealed something unexpected: focusing on a posting quota changed how I approached my content altogether.

The results are in for the Q3 LinkedIn experiment- and they weren’t what I expected.

For three months, I posted twice a week. In the middle month, I added shared posts from other people twice, each with my own commentary. The idea was to test whether resharing valuable content could boost engagement or visibility.

Here’s what happened:

• Engagements were up by 8.3%

• Impressions increased by 4.6%

• Members reached rose by 54.2%

Those are solid results overall, and I wasn’t unhappy! … but there wasn’t a clear spike during the sharing phase itself. Instead, there were two distinct peaks- one before the experiment began (linked to an Atomicon post I shared about Geoff Ramm’s session), and another at the end, possibly from the compound effect of consistent posting.

The truth is, there wasn’t enough data to confirm whether sharing posts truly boosted engagement. I’d need a deeper test with more posts and more frequent sharing to draw firm conclusions. Still, sharing remains valuable for building connections and strengthening relationships within your industry- even if it doesn’t directly drive your own growth metrics.

What I didn’t expect to uncover was how focusing on a amount of posts changed my mindset. I needed to stick to two posts a week to keep the permeameters of the experiment… but I found myself saying things like, ‘I’ve already posted twice this week, so I can’t share that,’ or swapping out relevant posts to hit my set number. The experiment made me realise how easily the focus can shift from what matters to your audience to simply how much you’re posting.

My biggest learning from this experiment…
Consistency is important, but relevance is essential.

Your content should serve the conversation, not the calendar. Some weeks that might mean two posts, other weeks it might be five. The key is staying visible in the moments that matter most to your audience.

How I can apply it to my business… I recommend to clients that they don’t pay ‘per post’… but now I have this beginning data to share my why. I intend to re-run this again at a later date with daily posting, so that I can get some clearer data!