Prepared by Not Vanilla Digitals
Sloane Barbour
LinkedIn 90-Day Audit
What the first 90 days achieved
The positioning is landing
55,901 impressions. 22,677 unique people reached. 61% of followers are Senior, CXO, Director, or VP — exactly the audience the strategy was built for.
The voice is working
The best posts — "ATS is a graveyard," "stop buying anything for 90 days," "exceptional listeners" — read like someone who has been inside these firms. That's the positioning doing its job.
The audience is sticky
413 new followers in 90 days. May held 100 new followers despite a platform-wide algorithm dip — people who found Sloane stayed. That's a sign of genuine authority taking hold.
The ceiling is visible — and high
Three posts in April broke 6,000 impressions each. June's engagement rate is 1.84% and climbing. The foundation is solid. The next 90 days are about raising the floor and testing the ceiling.
Total Impressions
55,901
90-day window
Members Reached
22,677
unique accounts
Total Engagements
771
reactions · comments · reposts
Avg. Eng. Rate
1.38%
vs. ~1–2% B2B benchmark
New Followers
413
ending total: 10,896
Follower Growth
3.9%
over the period
Overview
Executive Summary
The goal for the first 90 days was to establish Sloane as a trusted, expert voice in AI recruitment. The data says that's working. The audience is senior, the engagement on the best posts is meaningful, and the content has found a voice that the ICP responds to. The work now is about unlocking the next level — specifically, one channel that the data shows is significantly underutilised.
April was the breakout month: 30,012 impressions driven by a cluster of high-authority posts on ATS data, recruiting infrastructure, and AI readiness. May saw a dip consistent with the LinkedIn algorithm changes observed platform-wide during that period — not a content quality issue, as the engagement rate held steady. June is recovering strongly, with the engagement rate climbing to 1.84% — the best full month of the period.
The post-level analysis reveals a consistent pattern: the content that performs best is the most specific and the most direct. Posts that name a problem bluntly, anchor it in real experience, and end with a provocation generate 4–8× the impressions of posts that stay at a higher level of generality. That pattern points clearly to what more of the next 90 days should look like — and it points just as clearly to the one format that hasn't yet been tested at full strength.
Performance
Month-by-Month Breakdown
| Month | Impressions | Engagements | Eng. Rate | New Followers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 (9 days) | 3,443 | 73 | 2.12% | 40 | Strong ER |
| Apr 2026 | 30,012 | 335 | 1.12% | 182 | Peak month 3 posts over 6K impressions |
| May 2026 | 10,603 | 145 | 1.37% | 100 | Platform-wide algorithm dip |
| Jun 2026 (20 days) | 11,843 | 218 | 1.84% | 91 | Recovery · best ER of period |
What drove April
Three posts in early-to-mid April — the LinkedIn reach post (6,420 impr.), the ATS graveyard post (7,917), and the "stop buying anything for 90 days" post (8,179) — generated 22,516 impressions combined. 40% of the entire 90-day total came from these three posts. All three are Pillar 1 or 2: specific, direct, written at their sharpest.
The May dip in context
May's drop to 10,603 impressions was seen across multiple profiles during the same window — a LinkedIn algorithm change that suppressed organic reach broadly. The engagement rate held at 1.37%, which means the content continued to resonate with people who saw it. This is a platform issue, not a content issue.
Content
Post-Level Analysis
Performance by post across the reviewed content set. Pillar classification and key patterns.
| Hook / Post | Pillar | Impr. | Eng. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "If I were running recruiting ops… stop buying anything for 90 days" | New Playbook | 8,179 | 47R · 14C | Top reach |
| "Most staffing firms think their ATS is a database. It isn't. It's a graveyard." | Broken System | 7,917 | 39R · 11C | Most comments |
| "LinkedIn just made it harder to reach passive candidates without paying for it" | News | 6,420 | 17R · 1RP | Strong reach |
| "The best recruiters I've ever worked with… exceptional listeners" | Human Side | 4,180 | 69R · 15C · 2RP | Top engagement |
| "The staffing industry in 2030 will not look like it does today" | Signals & Stakes | 1,050 | 6R · 2C | — |
| "I've been thinking about what it means to build something lean" (new parent) | Human Side | 993 | 18R · 1C | ER: ~1.9% |
| "Most recruiting teams don't have a technology problem. They have a measurement problem." | Broken System | 994 | 8R · 2C | — |
| "Culture fit is vibes. And vibes matter." | New Playbook | 822 | 15R · 3C | ER: ~2.2% |
| "A month of posts on ATS data… the 2026 engin report" (CTA) | Report CTA | 852 | 4R · 3C | Link in comments |
| "The job board isn't failing you. Your strategy is." | Broken System | 727 | 4R | Strong hook |
| "Most staffing firms don't have a technology problem" (republished) | Broken System | 572 | 4R | Republish underperformed |
| "Healthcare staffing has had a rough few years" | News | 343 | 4R | Lowest text post |
Standout post of the 90 days
"The best recruiters I've ever worked with had one thing in common that had nothing to do with sourcing. They were exceptional listeners."
4,180 impressions · 69 reactions · 15 comments · 2 reposts — the highest engagement of any post in the set. This is a Human Side post that connects the irreplaceable human element of great recruiting to the AI narrative without being preachy about it. It's the clearest example of what happens when the subject is personal and the insight is specific: the audience doesn't just scroll past, they stop and respond.
The pattern in the top posts
Every post over 4,000 impressions opens with a blunt reframe or a direct provocation — "It isn't. It's a graveyard." / "Stop buying anything." / "They were exceptional listeners." The hook does the majority of the work. Posts that open with context or scene-setting consistently underperform those that drop straight into the problem.
Republishing the same copy doesn't work
The "measurement problem" post was published twice. The second run generated 572 impressions vs. 994 the first time — the same content, delivered to an audience that had already seen it, with predictably diminishing returns. New angles on familiar themes outperform verbatim repeats every time.
Content Mix
Pillar Balance
Broken System is the engine
The top two impression posts and the highest comment post are all Broken System or New Playbook content. This is where Sloane's positioning is sharpest — naming specific pain that staffing executives recognise and haven't heard said clearly before. This pillar should stay heavy.
Human Side is the multiplier
Only ~2 clear Human Side posts appear in the reviewed set, yet both — the exceptional listeners post and the new parent/lean systems post — generated the highest engagement rates of any text content. The strategy requires this pillar at least every two weeks. The data makes a strong case for going further.
Video Content
The Biggest Opportunity in the Next 90 Days
The single clearest finding in the data
When Sloane leads the video — opening it, owning the frame — performance is 2–3× higher. That format is the one to build on.
Six video posts were published across the 90 days — all podcast clips featuring Sloane and his co-host Gavin. The data splits into two clear groups: clips where Sloane opens and leads, and clips where Gavin speaks first or shares significant screen time. The difference in performance is consistent. The strategy called for Sloane speaking directly to his audience as the primary voice. The clips where he does that most clearly are the ones that perform best.
| Video | Who opens the video? | Caption | Closing question | Impr. | Reactions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V3 — "How I Stumbled Into Recruiting" | ✓ Sloane opens & leads | Sloane's voice · personal story | ✓ Implied | 1,535 | 30+ |
| V4 — "Fastest Way to Spot a Serious Buyer" | ✓ Sloane opens & leads | Sloane's voice | ✗ None | 680 | 5 |
| V6 — "Great recruiters don't sell jobs. They surface red flags." | ⚡ Sloane + Gavin split screen | Sloane's voice · strong hook | ✗ None | 533 | 9 |
| V1 — "AI adoption in recruiting" | Gavin opens · Sloane appears later | Brand copy · product pitch | ✗ None | 578 | 12 |
| V5 — "How to survive a recession as a recruiter" | Gavin opens · Sloane appears later | Sloane's voice | ✗ None | 476 | 4 |
| V2 — "When AI can apply to 1,000 jobs in a minute" | Gavin opens · Sloane appears later | Brand copy · product pitch | ✗ None | 419 | 7 |
When Sloane leads: avg 1,108 impressions
V3 and V4, where Sloane opens and carries the video, average 1,108 impressions. V3 — his personal origin story in his own voice — is the best-performing video of the set by a significant margin. It also has the most comments and reposts of any video post. The format works when he's the primary voice from the first second.
When Gavin opens: avg 491 impressions
Videos where Gavin speaks first average 491 impressions — less than half of the clips Sloane leads. Even V6, which has one of the stronger written captions in the video set ("Great recruiters don't sell jobs"), underperforms when the opening frame belongs to someone else. The audience follows Sloane — when they don't see and hear him immediately, scroll-past rates are higher.
What direct-to-camera would likely unlock
The podcast setup in V3 and V4 — where Sloane opens and leads throughout — is already outperforming the Gavin-led clips significantly. The strategy calls for a simpler, more direct format: Sloane speaking straight to camera, one idea, 60–90 seconds, no co-host. Given what the text posts are doing at their ceiling (8,000+ impressions) and what V3 already achieved from a podcast recording where he leads, a direct-to-camera video on a Broken System or Human Side topic has a realistic shot at being the best-performing post of the next 90 days. The only way to find out is to make one.
Timing
Best Days to Post
Average daily impressions by day of week. All posts published at 9am.
Wed
1,099
avg impr.
Mon
757
avg impr.
Tue
740
avg impr.
Thu
623
avg impr.
Fri
648
avg impr.
Sat
225
avg impr.
Sun
226
avg impr.
Wednesday dominates at 1,099 average impressions — 45% above Monday and nearly 5× the weekend average. This validates the strategy's Wednesday anchor. The 9am posting time is working well for this executive audience and should stay consistent.
Audience Growth
Follower Growth
413 net new followers over 90 days, ending at 10,896. The detail that matters most: May held 100 new followers despite the impression dip. When reach dropped by two-thirds, follower growth dropped by less than half. People who encountered the content chose to stay. That's the definition of authority positioning working — growth that doesn't depend entirely on algorithmic reach.
Audience
Who Is Following
Seniority — 61% in target ICP bands
Senior28%
CXO14%
Director12%
Entry12%
Owner9%
VP7%
Industry
Software Development10%
Tech, Info & Internet10%
IT Services & Consulting9%
Staffing & Recruiting8%
The ICP is in the room
Senior, CXO, Director, VP, and Owner combined = 70% of the audience. These are the people engin needs to be in front of. The content is pulling them in. That's the hardest demographic to earn organically and it's being done consistently.
Watch: Staffing & Recruiting industry share
Only 8% of the audience is in Staffing & Recruiting — the primary ICP industry. The majority are in tech and software. This is worth monitoring quarterly. Broken System posts with very specific staffing firm pain points are the mechanism to deepen that cohort. If the share stays flat as overall audience grows, it signals a drift toward broad tech reach over targeted staffing exec penetration.
Strategy Audit
What the Data Shows
The thought leadership goal is being met
The content is doing what the strategy asked. Posts like "ATS is a graveyard," "stop buying anything for 90 days," and "exceptional listeners" are the kind of specific, experience-backed takes that build genuine positioning — not generic LinkedIn noise. The ICP is landing in the audience. The voice is consistent and recognisable.
3× weekly cadence is established and holding
Consistent posting at 9am three times a week across 90 days is the infrastructure everything else is built on. The data shows no significant gaps. The habit is formed.
Wednesday is confirmed as the anchor day
1,099 average impressions on Wednesdays — 45% above Monday. The content calendar logic is validated by the data. Keep it.
Senior audience is established
61% Senior/CXO/Director/VP. This audience doesn't follow accounts out of politeness — they follow because the content earns it. The positioning is working at the level that matters.
Human Side content is being underused
Two Human Side posts in the reviewed set. Both are among the highest-performing content in the 90 days — the exceptional listeners post is the single most engaged post in the set. The strategy asks for this pillar every two weeks minimum. The data suggests it could carry more weight than that.
The closing line is the difference between good and great
The gap between the ATS graveyard post (7,917 impressions, 11 comments) and the "By 2027 two camps" post (978 impressions, 1 comment) on comparable topics comes down to one thing: the closing question. "What's the one data quality issue you keep running into — and keep deprioritising?" invites a specific, personal answer. "Which camp is your firm in?" doesn't. The more specific the closing question, the more it gets answered.
Video is the clearest untapped ceiling
The podcast clips were a solid starting point. The data now shows exactly what works: Sloane opening the video and carrying it as the primary voice. V3 — his personal origin story, led by him from the first second — is the best-performing video in the set and one of the best-performing posts overall. The clips where Gavin opens consistently underperform. The strategy's vision for direct-to-camera content hasn't been tested yet. It's the highest-leverage move available in Q3.
Next 90 Days
Where to Focus
Priority 01 — The one thing only Sloane can do
One direct-to-camera video this month
The written content has built the audience and established the voice. V3 proves Sloane performs on camera — 1,535 impressions and 30+ reactions when he opens the clip and leads it throughout. The one format that takes this further is him speaking directly to camera, solo, with no co-host. Phone propped up, 60 seconds, one idea from the week. The ask is one video. The data will tell us what to do next.
Priority 02 — Immediate policy change
Lead every video with Sloane's voice from the first second
The data is consistent across all six clips: when Gavin opens, performance is roughly half of when Sloane does. The fix isn't removing Gavin from the content — it's ensuring the clip selection and edit always starts with Sloane speaking. If a clip begins mid-conversation with Gavin talking, find the moment Sloane takes over and start there. The audience follows Sloane; he needs to be the first thing they see and hear.
Priority 03 — Rebalance the content mix
More Human Side — at least every two weeks, ideally weekly
The exceptional listeners post is the standout engagement post of the entire 90 days. The new parent/lean systems post has one of the highest engagement rates in the text set. These posts do something the authority content can't: they make Sloane a person, not just a positioning. In an industry where everyone is talking about AI, the founder's humanity is a genuine differentiator. Wednesday is the right slot — highest impressions, and the strategy already designates it for warmth content.
Priority 04 — Sharpen one thing per post
Make the closing question impossible to ignore
Before every post goes out, apply one test to the closing line: is this question specific enough that a staffing exec would want to answer it in the comments right now? "What's the one data quality issue you keep running into — and keep deprioritising?" passes. "Which camp is your firm in?" doesn't. The more specific and uncomfortable the question, the more it gets answered — and the more comments drive algorithmic reach.
Priority 05 — Replicate the April pattern
One "content burst" week per month
April's peak was driven by three strong posts landing in close succession across a single week. LinkedIn's algorithm rewards accounts that generate consistent engagement signals in a compressed window. Once per month, plan three related Broken System or New Playbook posts for Mon–Wed–Fri of the same week. The compounding effect on impressions and follower growth is visible in the April data.
Priority 06 — Watch list
Track Staffing & Recruiting industry share quarterly
Currently 8% of the audience is in Staffing & Recruiting. Monitor this each quarter. If it stays flat as the overall audience grows, increase the frequency of Pillar 1 posts with very specific staffing firm pain points — ATS data quality, job board cost structures, recruiter admin burden. These are the posts that pull in the core ICP buyer.