If you spend time on LinkedIn, especially on a desktop, you’ve probably noticed a sidebar perched on the right side of your feed: LinkedIn News. It’s where the platform curates trending stories, surfaces “top perspectives,” and, for many SaaS PR pros, quietly offers one of the fastest earned visibility opportunities on the internet.
My thoughts made it into two LinkedIn News commentary roundups over the last two weeks. And while I didn’t get a commemorative t-shirt (a missed opportunity, LinkedIn), I did gain something useful: insight into how to reliably increase my odds of being featured.
Here’s the deal and what PR teams can take away.
The #1 Factor for Getting Featured: Speed
LinkedIn displays roughly 10 trending stories at any given time. Each one shows the publish time and the total number of readers. When a story is fresh, the LinkedIn News team scans early reactions and selects a handful of posts, typically fewer than 10, to highlight as “top perspectives.”
If you work in PR, you probably already understand this, but timing is everything.
To be considered, aim to publish your commentary within the first hour of that story appearing on the sidebar. Not two hours later. Not after lunch. Not “once the team signs off.” Within an hour.
And one crucial nuance: Write a net-new post. Don’t just click “Share.” For reasons unknown to me, LinkedIn appears to discard shares into a digital void.
What Should You Say? Bring Value or Energy (Preferably Both)
Here’s the encouraging part: You don’t need to be a Fortune 500 C-suite executive to get included. My posts are coming from a director-level account with ~1,500 followers, and most of my content gets a modest ~300 views.
So if you’re thinking, “But I’m not an influencer like you?” — first, thank you for noticing. Second, you don’t have to be.
You just need three things:
- A point of view. Even if it’s shaped by curiosity rather than authority.
- A sense of the bigger picture. Why this news matters for a particular industry, profession, or theme.
- The confidence to post quickly. Imposter syndrome is the enemy of timeliness. And obsessing over perfection on the internet is silly.
One of my favorite quotes on imposter syndrome goes: “You can’t all have imposter syndrome. Some of you are just bad at your jobs.”
It’s a joke. If you’re reading this, you probably are good at your job. shake off the self-doubt and hit publish.
Also: Add a couple of relevant hashtags and tag the editor curating the topic. I often aim for two of the most relevant options, or what I’m already seeing used in the published “top perspectives.” It doesn’t guarantee anything, but my understanding is that it cues the algorithm and the people searching for specific topics.
Where SaaS PR Teams Struggle: The Approval Bottleneck
For PR pros, this may be where things get tricky. You see the trending story. You have the right angle. You even drafted a great response.
But getting a CEO or spokesperson to review and approve it fast enough? That’s where the opportunity often dies.
By the time you’ve drafted, polished, pitched, secured approval, refined, reworded, and finally posted…the topic’s no longer trending. The train has already left the station.
The solution? Set expectations early. If LinkedIn News commentary is something you want your executives to participate in, take these steps:
- Educate them now on what it is and why it’s valuable (visibility, authority, authenticity).
- Help define the exec’s social media voice, tone and perspective.
- Determine what types of news they’ll respond to.
- Obtain a pre-approved voice and message direction.
- Secure a commitment to urgent, timely review.
The dream scenario: Getting pre-clearance for your team to post on their behalf when appropriate.
Without this advance planning, you may end up with a great post that’s unlikely to be included. Yes, I still think you should post it anyway.
Manage Expectations: Visibility Isn’t Guaranteed
Even with perfect timing and solid commentary, not every post will take off. Trending stories can disappear as other breaking news pops up, or your POV may simply not get picked.
My own examples:
- My first inclusion on Disney’s CEO succession, garnered over 3,500 views.
- My second, OpenAI and AI-driven productivity, delivered around 500.
Both were “wins,” but very different wins. And candidly, I’m surprised that there wasn’t more longevity with the OpenAI news.
The Bottom Line
LinkedIn News isn’t just a curiosity box on your feed. It’s a lightly competitive, high-speed visibility opportunity that rewards fast thinkers, fast writers, and fast approvers. For brands, executives, and PR teams willing to embrace LinkedIn comms strategies with rapid response, it can be a surprisingly effective way to build authority and participate in cultural or industry conversations in real-time.
That’s even better than a free t-shirt! Inspired to give this a try? Have a question? Say hello on my LI page.