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Marketing Academy · Field Work●Social Media Marketing
All projects·From: LinkedIn Playbook
CoreTeardown· 30 minutes

Teardown: Diagnose Why 5 LinkedIn Posts Underperformed

Freshworks

Objective: Given 5 realistic LinkedIn posts with their actual reach numbers, apply the lesson's algorithm rules to identify the specific defect suppressing each post's distribution, and tell it apart from a plausible-looking non-defect.

You're reviewing Freshworks' last month of LinkedIn posts before the team plans next quarter's content calendar. Reach has been flat despite steady posting.

Read each post's text and reach number, diagnose the exact rule it broke against the lesson's 4-stage algorithm and formatting rules, and don't flag a distractor as the real defect.

Before you start

What you'll need

Free path (everything below is enough to finish)

Google Sheets
FreeLog each post's text, reach number, and diagnosed defect for the final memo

Free, sufficient for a 5-row diagnostic log

The process

Specimens to review

This post reached 340 impressions against a 2,100 average. What's the defect?

Sample output
"Excited to share our new integration guide! Read the full breakdown here: https://freshworks.com/blog/integration-guide-2026 Let us know what you think."
Reach: 340 impressions (company page average: 2,100)

Specimen: synthetic, realistic

This post used 10 hashtags and got the lowest reach of the batch. What's the defect?

Sample output
"3 tips for better customer support this quarter. #CustomerSupport #SaaS #B2B #CX #HelpDesk #Support #TechTips #Marketing #GrowthHacking #Leadership"
Reach: 190 impressions

Specimen: synthetic, realistic

This post's opening two lines are shown above. What's the defect?

Sample output
"I've been thinking about customer retention lately and wanted to share some thoughts on what's been working for our team this quarter."
Reach: 410 impressions, 2 comments in first 60 minutes

Specimen: synthetic, realistic

This post explicitly asked for shares and reach dropped after the first hour. What's the defect?

Sample output
"This framework changed how we do outbound. If you found this useful, please share it with your network!"
Reach: 280 impressions, reach declined after the first hour

Specimen: synthetic, realistic

This post is the strongest performer in the batch. Confirm there is no defect, and name the one factor most responsible for the 3.5x-style distribution boost.

Sample output
"We closed $83,000 in pipeline from 3 LinkedIn posts last quarter. Here's the exact framework, no paid ads, no DM spam.

[short paragraphs, numbered steps, ends with a question]"
Reach: 12,400 impressions, 9 comments within 60 minutes

Specimen: synthetic, realistic

Final deliverable

A 5-row diagnostic log naming the specific defect (or confirming none) for each post, with the lesson rule cited for each.

See a reference example
Sample output
Duolingo LinkedIn post teardown (excerpt)

Post: "Check out our new course! Link: duolingo.com/courses"
Reach: 210 (avg: 1,800)
Defect: link in post body, ~40% reach penalty

Post: "We hit 500M downloads. Here's what surprised us most."
Reach: 8,900
Defect: none, strong hook + no link + comments within 60 min

Success criteria

You're done when you can:

  • Correctly diagnoses the specific defect for all 4 flawed posts
  • Correctly identifies post 5 as defect-free rather than flagging a distractor
  • Cites the specific lesson rule for each diagnosis