Should you boost your best-performing LinkedIn posts with paid?

Summary

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MarTech Podcast ™ Episode Summary

Episode: Should you boost your best-performing LinkedIn posts with paid?
Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Adam Rich (CEO of Known for; founder of Thrillist)
Date: May 26, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the evolving dynamics of building LinkedIn authority in B2B marketing, particularly examining whether marketers should boost their high-performing LinkedIn posts with paid promotion or trust in organic reach. Host Benjamin Shapiro and guest Adam Rich explore brand vs. personal reputation on LinkedIn, the nuanced perception of promoted content, and strategies to maximize reach while maintaining authentic engagement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Shift from Brand to Personal Authority on LinkedIn

• Background: Adam Rich introduces his expertise in helping executives leverage content on LinkedIn, emphasizing how authority is increasingly person-centric—not just about brands (01:15).

2. Should You Boost Your Best-Performing LinkedIn Posts?

Adam Rich’s Perspective (03:10)

• Brand Consideration:
  • Promoting personal posts can “feel a little sleazy” if you want to maintain a certain professional image.
  • "If you at all feel like you have your brand to protect, boosting is a little bit of a sleazy look."
• Professional Nuance:
  • It's more expected for “certain kinds of professionals, depending on what they're doing.”
  • For CEOs engaging authentically, boosting may seem odd or inauthentic, but for practical/solution-focused content, promotion is more accepted.

Benjamin Shapiro’s Counterpoint (03:45)

• Platform Behavior Distinction:
  • On YouTube, boosting kills organic reach, but on LinkedIn, paid boosts can actually increase organic impressions by sparking engagement.
• Frequency Over Function:
  • Benjamin stresses the importance of avoiding over-saturation: "I don't have a problem seeing promoted posts. What I do have a problem with is seeing the promoted post 27 times."
• Strategic Promotion:
  • Paid boosts can be useful for amplifying content to your target audience without diluting authenticity—if done in moderation.

Practical Experience (05:06)

• Benjamin’s Own Approach:
  • Sees strong benefits from boosting personal posts:
    • "When I don't [boost], I get 600 impressions... if I give LinkedIn 50 bucks, then all of a sudden I get 6 times the amount of impressions."
  • Happy to accept the cringe for the sake of reach: "Call me shameless. I told you I do cringe worthy things on LinkedIn."
• Adam Rich’s Rebuttal:
  • For prominent CEOs or thought leaders, boosting can seem manufactured, but for solution-based posts, it aligns better with audience expectations.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Adam Rich on protecting personal brand (03:10):

  "If you at all feel like you have your brand to protect, boosting is a little bit of a sleazy look."

• Benjamin Shapiro on promoted content frequency (03:58):

  "I don't have a problem seeing promoted posts. What I do have a problem with is seeing the promoted post 27 times... now you're just cluttering my feed and then I start to be more aware of the posting."

• Benjamin Shapiro on marketing pragmatism (05:06):

  "Call me shameless. I told you I do cringe worthy things on LinkedIn. I proud."

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:15: Introduction to Adam Rich and the ‘Known for’ approach
• 03:01: Lightning round: “Should you boost LinkedIn posts?”
• 03:10–03:45: Adam Rich discusses the brand perception of boosted posts
• 03:45–04:35: Benjamin Shapiro contrasts LinkedIn vs. other platforms and discusses frequency issues
• 05:06: Benjamin shares his own metrics and rationale for boosting LinkedIn posts
• 05:42: Episode closing

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Episode Flow & Tone

• Conversational, frank, and insightful—with both host and guest candidly discussing their personal philosophies and real-world experiences about balancing authenticity with amplified reach.
• Adam is wary about ‘sleazy’ promotion and highlights nuance; Benjamin is candid about pragmatic self-promotion for impact.

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Key Takeaways

• Boosting LinkedIn posts can increase reach, but comes with reputational considerations.
• Context is king: For pure thought leadership, boosting may feel disingenuous; for value-driven or solution-based content, paid promotion feels more native.
• Moderation matters: Over-frequent promotion can backfire by irritating your audience.
• LinkedIn’s paid algorithms differ from other platforms; paid content often gets more organic lift.

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Recommended for: Marketers, B2B professionals, and executives looking to strike the right balance between authenticity and effectiveness in their LinkedIn strategies.

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Transcript

[Podcast Announcer]

The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iheareverything.com.

[Adam Rich]

From advertising to software as a service to data across all of our programs

[Benjamin Shapiro]

and clients, we've seen a 55 to 65% open rate.

[Adam Rich]

Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs better than TV advertising.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

Typical lifespan of an article is about 24 to 36 hours. We're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action.

[Adam Rich]

Then it's just a matter of timing.

[Podcast Announcer]

Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world class marketers that you use technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's the host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro

[Benjamin Shapiro]

I'm Benjamin Shapiro and today I'm joined by Adam Rich, the CEO of Known for, which turns professional expertise into consistent executive content using an expert in the Loop editorial system. Adam was also the founder of Thrillist, which he scaled to 300 million monthly users before its acquisition by Vox Media. And today Adam is going to explain why LinkedIn authority in B2B marketing is shifting from brands more to people.

[Shift Paradigm Sponsor]

Today's interview is brought to you by Shift Paradigm. Marketing today is buried in complexity. You've got the tech, you've got the tools, but moving the needle feels harder than ever. And the last thing us marketers need is another consultant pitching digital transformation. Enter Shift Paradigm Shift is an integrated team of experts who help enterprise brands turn complexity into traction. Their work is insight led and strategically grounded, designed not to sell you a service or a piece of tech, but to actually solve real business challenges. What makes them different? Well, they're AI enabled but not AI dependent. They're human first, but plugged into the latest tools and models in the moments those models need to go through to prove themselves. They get techy without losing sight of the real person behind every click. And they don't just hand you a deck, they build the blueprints and stay to develop, deploy and run the engine. Growth isn't one size fits all, so stop settling for strategies that collect dust and start working with a team that actually builds for you. Visit ShiftParadigm.com to see how they can help you connect meaningfully with your audience. That's ShiftParadigm.com all right, I want to

[Benjamin Shapiro]

move on to our lightning round where I'm going to ask you a couple of Martech related questions about activating your professional network and some of your previous experience. Are you ready?

[Shift Paradigm Sponsor]

Let's go.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

All right, first question. We're going to start off with a little bit of LinkedIn. Should you boost your best performing LinkedIn post with paid or let organic do the work entirely?

[Adam Rich]

I think that that is another brand question. I think it's not a great look to have your post coming out with like a little promoted thing there, but I think that it's sort of expected for certain kinds of professionals, depending on what they're doing. And you know, I think also take it with a grain of salt because again, people are very distracted and I would bet you that most people the little promoted tag, especially if they're on mobile. But you know, I think that if you at all feel like you have your brand to protect, boosting is a little bit of a sleazy look.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

You know, it's funny, I think of it a little differently on LinkedIn as opposed to other platforms like YouTube. YouTube, you give them a dollar, they take away all your organic. It seems like with LinkedIn, when you start promoting your content, they actually give it more visibility and maybe it's I boosted this somebody engaged and that engagement then goes and drives more organic traffic. I don't have a problem seeing promoted posts. What I do have a problem with is seeing the promoted post 27 times. I think there is a time duration or a frequency that really matters. So you can take a post and you could push it and make sure it gets out there. But I don't want to see your same post for three weeks in a row now you're just cluttering my feed and then I start to be more aware of the posting and that's my personal opinion.

[Adam Rich]

Well, and I think that there's also a little bit of an intent thing where, you know, if, if we're talking about the CEO of some company with a thought on an important issue, that's sort of an organic message. If I saw that boosted, that would feel kind of weird and I would wonder what his handlers are trying to do with his, with his profile. Whereas if it's somebody basically talking about like, hey, we're going to help you with your, with financing your small business. That's a message where I see that that's promoted and it's like, well, yeah,

[Benjamin Shapiro]

of course it is. Yeah. I don't know. I, I promote a lot of my personal posts mostly because when I don't I get 600 impressions and I'm promoting it to my first party audience, right? People I already have connections with. But if I give LinkedIn 50 bucks then all of a sudden I get 6 times the amount of impressions to the audience that I want to reach. I don't care if it has the promoted tag. Call me shameless. I told you I do cringe worthy things on LinkedIn. I proud all right Adam, great to have you on the podcast. Thanks for coming on and being my guest. And that wraps up this episode of the Martech podcast. Thanks to Adam Rich, the CEO of Known for, for joining us.

[Shift Paradigm Sponsor]

A special thanks to Shift Paradigm for sponsoring this podcast. Shift is an integrated team of experts who help enterprise brands bridge the gap between strategy, data and customers. Human first, AI enabled and execution led. They build the blueprints, then stay to develop, deploy and run the engine you need. So stop settling for decks that collect dust and start working with a team that actually builds for you. Visit ShiftParadigm.com to see how they can help you connect meaningfully with your audience.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

If you'd like to get in touch with Adam, you could find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on martechpod.com you can always visit his website, which is getknown4.com and if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed now next week. All right, that's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy.

[Podcast Announcer]

Thanks for listening to the Martech podcast and I hear everything. Production Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iheareverything. Com.