An open letter to LinkedIn.“ Reach is down.” I keep seeing this in posts and hea
By Guystrijbosch · October 10, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
An open letter to LinkedIn.“
Reach is down.” I keep seeing this in posts and hearing it in conversations. But do we need more readers, or more relevant readers?
Two real-life examples:Think of a young Dutch LED lighting business wanting to reach installers in Germany. Or a manufacturer of machinery for sustainable packaging, wanting to reach packaging decision-makers at consumer brands.
Different subjects. Different audiences.
When posting from a personal profile, we can choose [Anyone], [Connections only] or [Group]. Could we add [Preferred audience], with options for role, industry, location and language, including combinations?
Simply a way to say: “This is who I’ve written this for.”
LinkedIn already tries to work out who will find a post relevant. My suggestion is to let authors help by stating who each post is intended for. The same person can write for different audiences on different days.
Why not use that information alongside readers’ interests? Pages already offer audience targeting. Could personal profiles have a practical version too?
With more than 1.3 billion members, attention is limited. For many authors, 200 relevant readers could be more valuable than 2.000 people with little interest in the subject.
When the match works, the author reaches relevant people and the reader finds useful content. LinkedIn benefits because both have more reason to stay active. Ultimately, it’s about satisfaction for all three.
I understand the value of targeting in paid campaigns. But falling organic reach won’t make everyone advertise. Some may stop posting, while others may spend less time on LinkedIn.
Readers should keep control, with options to switch off these recommendations. A preferred audience would guide relevance, not guarantee delivery. And [Anyone] should remain an option.
Ora Levit, Rishi Jobanputra, Sam Corrao Clanon, could this be worth testing with members?[The image shows how this proposed option could look]