72,000 Linkedin Posts Analyzed - Most People Are Ignoring a 30% Engagement Boost

You're spending hours on your Linkedin content strategy. Perfecting your hooks. Testing carousel formats. Obsessing over posting times. Studying what goes viral.

But there's a good chance you're ignoring the single highest-ROI activity on the entire platform: replying to the comments on your own posts.

New research from Buffer analyzing 72,000 Linkedin posts across nearly 25,000 accounts reveals something most creators are missing. When you reply to comments on your posts, you see an average 30% lift in total engagement compared to posts where you stay silent.

Even more striking? 83% of accounts showed positive performance improvements when they engaged with commenters. This isn't a small edge case. This is a consistent pattern across the vast majority of Linkedin users.

And yet, based on the data sample, only about 7.8% of posts had measurable reply activity. That means more than 90% of Linkedin creators are leaving a massive engagement multiplier on the table.

Let's break down what the research actually found, why it matters, and what you should do about it.

What the Research Found

Buffer's analysis used fixed-effects regression models to compare each account's performance to itself over time. This methodology is critical because it isolates the true impact of replying, rather than just comparing high-engagement accounts to low-engagement ones.

Here's what they discovered:

The Engagement Numbers:

• Posts where creators replied to comments: median of 32 total engagements

• Posts where creators didn't reply: median of 25 total engagements

• Net difference: 30% engagement lift from simply participating in your own comment section

The Consistency Factor:

• 83% of individual profiles showed positive Z-score differences when they replied to comments

• The median per-profile difference was 0.87 Z-score points in favor of replied comments

• This wasn't driven by a few power users - it was a broad pattern across accounts

The Platform Comparison: Linkedin's 30% engagement boost from replies ranked second among all major social platforms:

• Threads: 42% lift

• Linkedin: 30% lift

• Instagram: 21% lift

• Facebook: 9% lift

• X (Twitter): 8% lift

• Bluesky: 5% lift

Linkedin is uniquely rewarding conversational engagement right now. The algorithm clearly values back-and-forth interaction.

Why This Makes Sense (And Why Most People Miss It)

Linkedin's algorithm has been shifting for years toward prioritizing "meaningful interactions" over passive consumption. That's why you've seen:

• Posts with high comment counts getting more distribution

• Thoughtful, discussion-sparking content outperforming clickbait

• Conversation threads staying visible in feeds longer

• Linkedin now showing impression data for individual comments

When you reply to a comment, several things happen simultaneously. You're adding another comment to the post (increasing comment count, a key engagement signal). You're extending the lifespan of the conversation (keeping the post active in the algorithm). You're often prompting the original commenter to respond again (creating a thread). And you're signaling to Linkedin that this post is worth showing to more people because actual dialogue is happening.

But here's why most creators don't do it: it doesn't feel like content creation. Replying to comments feels like an administrative task. Something you do after the "real work" of posting is done. It's reactive, not proactive. It doesn't give you that dopamine hit of publishing a new piece of content.

So it gets deprioritized. You post, you check the initial engagement, and then you move on to crafting tomorrow's post. The conversation you started gets abandoned.

The Opportunity Cost You're Not Calculating

Let's put this in practical terms.

Say you're a B2B sales leader posting on Linkedin 3 times per week. Each post gets an average of 20 engagements (likes, comments, shares). Over the course of a month, that's:

• 12 posts × 20 engagements = 240 total engagements

Now let's say you start replying to every meaningful comment on your posts. Based on the research, you'd expect to see:

• 12 posts × 26 engagements (30% lift) = 312 total engagements

That's an extra 72 engagements per month without creating a single additional piece of content. You're simply having conversations about the content you're already creating.

But the real value isn't in the vanity metrics. It's in what those conversations unlock.

Every comment is someone raising their hand and saying "I found this relevant enough to engage with." When you reply, you're acknowledging that signal and deepening the relationship. You're learning what resonates. You're building rapport with potential customers, partners, and industry peers. You're giving the algorithm more reasons to show your next post to that person.

These are warm conversations, not cold outreach. And you're getting them for free, just by participating.

What the Data Doesn't Tell Us (And Why That Matters)

The researchers were transparent about the limitations of this study. The most important caveat: we can't definitively prove causality.

The data shows that posts with replies perform better, but it doesn't conclusively prove that replying causes higher engagement. It's possible that posts which naturally generate more engagement also happen to get more replies from their creators. The direction of causality could run both ways.

Additionally, the sample size for posts with reply data was relatively small (5,600 out of 72,000 posts), and the engagement metrics included comments themselves, which creates potential measurement coupling.

But here's the thing: even if the causality is bidirectional, the pattern is clear. Posts with active engagement from their creators perform better. Whether replying directly boosts the algorithm or simply correlates with other success factors, the action remains the same: participate in your comment section.

The 83% consistency rate across profiles suggests this isn't just noise. Something real is happening here.

What to Do About This Right Now

If you're leaving engagement on the table by ignoring your comments, here's how to fix it:

Immediate Actions (This Week):

Go back through your last 10 Linkedin posts. How many comments did you leave unanswered? Make time today to reply to those comments, even if they're a few days old. Thank people for engaging. Ask follow-up questions. Continue the conversation.

Systematic Changes (This Month):

Build comment reply time into your content workflow. Instead of "post and ghost," schedule 15 minutes after each post goes live to respond to initial comments, then check back 24 hours later for stragglers. Treat comment engagement as part of the content creation process, not an afterthought.

Set a personal standard: reply to at least 80% of substantive comments within 24 hours. Not just "Thanks!" but actual engagement. Ask questions. Add context. Continue the discussion.

Strategic Shifts (This Quarter):

Start creating content specifically designed to spark conversation. Instead of making declarative statements, pose questions. Instead of comprehensive answers, share partial frameworks that invite people to contribute their perspectives. The easier you make it to comment meaningfully, the more comments you'll get to engage with.

Track your engagement rates before and after implementing a consistent reply strategy. Document the difference. Use that data to convince your team that comment engagement isn't optional—it's one of the highest-leverage activities you can do on Linkedin.

If you're managing a team of Linkedin creators (sales reps, executives, subject matter experts), make comment engagement a tracked metric alongside posting frequency. The data suggests it matters just as much, if not more.

The Bigger Picture: Engagement Is the New Distribution

This research aligns with a broader shift happening across social platforms. Broadcast-style content—posting without engaging—is declining in effectiveness. Conversational content is winning.

Linkedin is rewarding creators who stick around after they post. Who participate in the discussions they start. Who treat their content as the beginning of a conversation, not the end.

This makes sense when you consider Linkedin's business model. They want people spending time on the platform, not just checking in to post and leave. Active conversations keep people engaged. Threads keep people reading. Back-and-forth replies keep people coming back.

For B2B professionals, this creates a massive opportunity. Your competitors are likely still in "post and ghost" mode. They're optimizing for content volume, not conversation depth. They're measuring success by post frequency, not engagement quality.

Meanwhile, you can be building actual relationships in your comment section. Having real conversations with prospects, customers, and industry peers. Turning passive content consumption into active dialogue.

And getting a 30% engagement boost in the process.

The Action You Should Take Today

Here's what you should do right now, before you close this tab:

Open LinkeiIn. Find your three most recent posts. Look at every comment you haven't replied to yet. Reply to all of them. Ask questions. Continue conversations. Show up.

Then make it a habit. Reply to comments as they come in. Treat it like email triage, not an optional activity. Block 15 minutes after each post specifically for engagement.

The research is clear: most Linkedin creators aren't doing this. And the ones who are see consistently better results.

The algorithm is telling you what it values. The question is whether you're listening.

About the Research: This analysis is based on Buffer's study of approximately 72,000 LinkedIn posts from nearly 25,000 accounts, published in January 2025. The full methodology and findings are available in their research report.