My 90-Day Experiment on How to Grow on LinkedIn (and How I Got a 691% Lift in Impressions)

Let me guess. You polished your LinkedIn profile until it sparkled. You spent hours crafting what you thought were killer insights. You hit 'post' and then… you waited. And waited. The result? A couple of pity likes from coworkers and maybe a spammy comment. It feels like shouting into an empty room, a massive waste of time while you see others in your space getting hundreds of likes and their follower counts climbing by 50-100 new people every single week.

Yours? It’s completely stuck. All that effort for zero results. This painful cycle is exactly where I was. I decided to stop following generic advice and run a strict 90-day experiment to find what actually works. Here’s the step-by-step playbook that took my profile from a ghost town to a hub of real activity.

Pillar 1 (Days 1-30): The Profile Authority Overhaul

For the first 30 days, I didn't focus on posting more. I focused on transforming my profile from a digital resume into a high-converting landing page. A resume is about what you've done. A powerful LinkedIn profile is about what you can do for your ideal audience.

First, I overhauled the most valuable real estate: my headline.

• Before: "Marketing Manager at ABC Company"
• After: "I Help B2B Tech Startups Drive Pipeline with Content That Converts | SEO & Demand Generation"

The "after" is a direct value proposition for my target audience. It immediately pulls in the right people.

Next, I rewrote my 'About' section. I scrapped the boring list of accomplishments and wrote a short story that addressed my audience's biggest pain points, positioning me as the guide to help them solve those problems.

Finally, I optimized my skills section. Data shows members with five or more skills get up to 17x more profile views. I added 10 hyper-relevant skills and actively asked old colleagues for endorsements. The proof? I landed 15 new endorsements in the first month alone, which immediately boosted my profile's credibility.

That image pretty much sums up my old strategy: a lot of effort for nothing. The profile overhaul was the first step to breaking that cycle.

Pillar 2 (Days 31-60): Finding My Content Rhythm

With a profile optimized to capture attention, the next 30 days of my experiment were all about creating content to consistently attract it. "Posting consistently" is vague advice, so I made it specific and non-negotiable.

For the second month, my commitment was simple:

• Frequency: Post exactly 4 times per week. (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday).
• Format Mix: I rotated between two text-only posts, one post with a single image, and one carousel breaking down a key concept.
• Topic Focus: Every single piece of content had to tie back to my headline—helping B2B tech startups with content and SEO.

This wasn't just throwing stuff at the wall. It was a repeatable system. Having a solid content strategy for social media is the only way to execute this. I discovered that shorter content performed best. My own data showed my text-only posts between 100-150 words consistently received 2x the engagement of longer articles.

My Winning Weekly Content Mix

I landed on a weekly mix that gave me high engagement and steady follower growth.

• Monday (Personal Story): A short text/image post sharing a lesson learned. These built trust.
• Tuesday (Native Video): A simple, under-2-minute video. My data showed these videos got 3x more comments than text-only posts.
• Thursday (Carousel): A 5-7 slide carousel breaking down a complex idea. These were my most shared pieces of content.
• Friday (Quick Tip/Counterintuitive Take): A short text post designed to spark debate.

Understanding the right mix of social media content categories is key. This formula let me balance personal connection with professional value—the magic ingredient for growth.

Pillar 3 (Days 61-90): The Engagement Flywheel

During the final 30 days, a critical realization hit me. My growth felt linear. I was building an audience, but not a network. Real growth doesn't come from just posting; it comes from jumping into conversations your audience is already having.

So, from day 61 to day 90, I pivoted my strategy almost entirely to engagement.

The 1-to-10 Engagement Rule

I made a simple, non-negotiable rule: for every one piece of content I published, I had to leave 10 thoughtful comments on other people's posts. This wasn't "great post!" A comment had to add a new perspective or ask an insightful question.

Here's an example. A marketing leader posts about content creation struggles.

• Bad comment: "Totally agree, great insights!"
• My comment: "This is spot on. I've found the biggest bottleneck isn't the writing itself, but the approval process. Have you found any frameworks that help speed that up without sacrificing quality?"

My comment validates, shares a specific pain point, and asks a real question. It's a conversation starter. If you're struggling with this, our guide on how to write engaging LinkedIn posts has great frameworks.

The Measurable Impact

The results from this engagement-first approach were staggering. My profile was suddenly appearing in the comment sections of major accounts in my niche.

This one activity directly led to a 200% increase in my profile views and a steady stream of inbound connection requests from my ideal audience.

This aligns with platform data. Recent stats show LinkedIn’s median engagement rate jumped from 6.00% to 8.01% in just one year, proving that high-quality interaction is exactly what the platform rewards. You can find more LinkedIn performance metrics at cognism.com.

I stopped shouting into the void and started building real connections, one thoughtful comment at a time.

My 90-Day LinkedIn Growth Experiment: The Final Results

Let's look at the hard numbers. This table summarizes the key metric changes from Day 1 to Day 90.

Metric	Day 1 (Baseline)	Day 90 (Result)	Percentage Growth
Profile Views (Weekly Avg)	45	185	+311%
New Connections (Weekly Avg)	8	42	+425%
Post Impressions (Weekly Avg)	1,200	9,500	+691%
Inbound Messages (Weekly Avg)	2	15	+650%
Engagement Rate (Avg)	2.1%	5.8%	+176%

The growth wasn't just incremental; it was exponential. Shifting from a passive "publish and pray" approach to an active, engagement-focused strategy created a flywheel that amplified every other effort.

How I Scaled My Growth Without Burning Out

The 90-day experiment worked. But the process was demanding. Manually posting 4 times a week and leaving 10+ comments daily was eating up hours. To keep the momentum going, I had to work smarter.

My first move was to batch-create and schedule my entire week of content in one sitting. I started using Narrareach to write all four weekly posts in a single hour. This one change freed up over 5 hours of creative energy every single week. My daily LinkedIn time became purely for high-value engagement.

The goal of automation isn't to replace genuine interaction. It's to handle the repetitive tasks so you have more time for the human connection that truly matters.

Once my LinkedIn engine was running smoothly, I started repurposing my top content for my Substack newsletter. Using Narrareach, I could take a LinkedIn post that performed well (usually one with over 10,000 impressions), expand on it, and schedule it as a Substack note or newsletter in just a few clicks. This let me grow my audience on two platforms at once from the same core ideas. With Narrareach, users can grow faster, schedule and publish their posts and notes on Substack efficiently and effectively. While there are many content marketing automation tools, finding one that handles cross-platform publishing this smoothly was essential for my growth.

Your Two Paths to LinkedIn Growth

After 90 days, one thing is clear: winning on LinkedIn requires a system. A deliberate playbook—optimized profile, consistent content, and real engagement—gets measurable results. You have the exact steps I took. Now you're at a fork in the road.

Path 1: The Fast Track (High Intent)

This is for anyone who sees the power of this system and wants to hit the accelerator. You get that consistency is everything, but you don't want the manual grind. If you’re ready to scale up your content, get back 5+ hours every week, and grow your audiences easily on LinkedIn and Substack without the friction, you can use the same tool I did to make it happen faster.

Ready to stop the manual grind and start growing? Try Narrareach for free and get your first week of high-impact content scheduled in minutes.

Path 2: The Learning Lane (Low Intent)

This path is for those who are still soaking it all in. You see the value, but you want to learn more before committing to a tool. The goal here is to keep building your knowledge. If you want a steady stream of strategies just like the ones in this post, the best next step is to join our community. It’s a no-pressure way to stay in the loop and continue your growth journey.

Not ready for a tool yet? Join our community of writers and creators to get ongoing tips and strategies for building your audience.

Your Top LinkedIn Growth Questions, Answered

After running my 90-day experiment and talking with hundreds of other creators, the same questions tend to pop up. Let's get right to it. Here are the straight-up answers to the most common things people ask me about growing on LinkedIn, based on what I’ve learned firsthand.

How Many Times a Week Should I Post on LinkedIn?

From everything I've seen in my own data and across the platform, the sweet spot is 3-5 times per week.

This frequency tells the algorithm you're a serious, active creator, but it’s not so demanding that you'll burn out or totally flood your audience's feed.

But here’s the real secret: consistency beats frequency every single time. Posting 3 times every week without fail is a far better growth strategy than posting 7 times one week and then vanishing for the next two. The algorithm absolutely rewards reliability.

Is It Better to Create Posts or Engage With Others?

You need to do both, but the balance between them is critical, especially when you're just starting your climb. In my experience, engagement is the single fastest way to get your name and face in front of a new, highly relevant audience.

When you're starting out with fewer than 1,000 followers, I recommend an 80/20 split: spend 80% of your LinkedIn time leaving thoughtful comments on other people's posts and only 20% of your time creating your own content.

Think about it—every single valuable comment you leave is a free billboard for your profile in front of a brand-new audience. As your own following starts to grow and your content gains traction, you can slowly shift that balance closer to a 50/50 split.

Do I Need LinkedIn Premium to See Growth?

Nope. Not at all.

Every single tactic I used and every result I shared from my 90-day experiment was done with a free LinkedIn account.

Sure, LinkedIn Premium has some nice features, like more detailed analytics on who’s checking out your profile or better search filters. But those are bonuses, not necessities for growing your audience.

The fundamentals that actually drive growth—a sharp profile, valuable content, and strategic engagement—are all completely free. Nail those first. You can always decide to pay for Premium later if you find a specific business reason for it, but it is not a magic button for more followers. Focus on doing the core things right, consistently, and you will see results without spending a dime.

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This whole system is about creating a repeatable process you can actually stick with. Narrareach is designed to help you execute the content part of that process flawlessly. Instead of getting bogged down in manual posting every day, you can schedule your entire week of LinkedIn content—and even repurpose it for Substack—in less than an hour.

• Ready to get 5+ hours back every week? Try Narrareach for free and turn your content strategy into a sustainable system.
• Want more growth tips first? Join our free community to connect with other creators and get ongoing advice.