📈 Become A Content Scientist

Read time: 4 minutes

I often get asked how I grew so fast on LinkedIn.

The answer is really simple:

I iterated really fast.

Most creators post for a month, see rubbish results, and give up.

But here's what they don't realize:

You're not a content creator.

You're a content scientist.

And scientists don't quit after a few experiments.

The Content Scientist Mindset

In February last year, I posted my first post on LinkedIn.

For the next month, I was getting 2,000-4,000 views on most posts.

They were a mess. Look at these gems:

• I was treating LinkedIn like my diary → 2,085 views

• My Crypto investing tips (not financial advice) → 4,239 views

Last month, I got 10.9 million impressions.

And the way I got there was treating every post like an experiment.

Failed post = data point 
Successful post = hypothesis to test again

Just last month, 43% of my impressions (4.7 million views) came from just 6 posts.

Those weren't lucky breaks. They were iterations of concepts I'd tested many times before.

How to Think Like a Content Scientist

Traditional Creator Approach:

• Post fails → "This topic doesn't work"

• Post succeeds → "Great, time for something new"

• Result: Random performance, mixed results

Content Scientist Approach:

• Post fails → "Hmmm, what variable can I change?"

• Post succeeds → "Yay, people like this. What worked? How can I do more of it?"

• Result: Predictable growth patterns

My 3-Step Iteration Process

1. Launch experiments (3-5 posts/week minimum) You need volume for valid data. One post isn’t enough.

2. Identify patterns in winners Save every post that gets 2x your average impressions and 2x your average leads. Study what made it different.

I often drop my post into Saywhat’s writing assistant and say: “why do you think this post performed well and what can I use in future posts?”

3. Run variations of what works Change ONE variable at a time:

Same visual style, different topic and content:

• How to fix work conversations → 8,158,965 views

• What great leaders say under pressure → 4,213,758 views

• How to disagree well → 2,416,995 views

Same topic, different visual:

• Leadership styles of top performers → 1,700,702 views

• Ways to speak like a great leader → 712,180 views

Same topic and visual style, different content:

• Job interview cheat sheet 1 → 8,645,959 views

• Job interview cheat sheet 2 → 5,076,474 views

• Job interview cheat sheet 3 → 691,431 views

And obviously not all experiments work.

In fact most don’t.

But the important principle to take away is, as soon as something works well, just do more of it until it stops working (as long as it is brand aligned).

Start Your First Experiment This Week

Step 1: Look at your last 20 posts
Step 2: Find your top performer
Step 3: List 3 ways to remake it
Step 4: Test one variation
Step 5: Compare results

That's it. No complex strategy. No magic formulas.

Just fast iteration based on real data.

Remember content is a long game. Your first 50 posts will probably suck.

But if you iterate fast enough, post 51 could be more successful than the first 50 combined.

Your audience is already telling you what works.

You just need to listen.

See you next time,

Will

P.S. In case you’re curious, I track all my experiments in Saywhat's analytics dashboard and write with Saywhat’s writing assistant, Collab..

Will McTighe

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