LinkedIn strategy for publishers is essential for high-value brands in the business and finance sector. For Handelsblatt, one of Germany’s most prestigious daily newspapers, social media is a key lever in its paywall strategy. However, creating the quality content required to drive digital subscriptions is incredibly resource-intensive.
The challenge was simple: How could they execute a sophisticated LinkedIn strategy for publishers — one that provided consistent, high-quality content 24/7 — without consuming the entire editorial team’s time?
😩 The pain point: Quality content vs. manual posting
Handelsblatt shifted to a paywall model in 2018, making the quality of their social content — and their ability to publish it consistently — vital for building brand awareness and attracting paying subscribers.
As Social Media Editor Steffen Meyer put it: “If you want to create quality content, you need time.”
Handelsblatt had previously managed its publishing manually and even tested other solutions, but nothing matched the needs of a major daily newsroom. The manual approach was too slow, and it failed to provide the constant coverage needed. They required a platform that offered intuitive publishing, a clear overview of multiple platforms, and a superior algorithm.
🧠 The game-changer: Full AI automation unlocks time
Handelsblatt chose Echobox, initially testing the intelligent automation (‘Autofeed’) on weekends before granting it a permanent, larger role.2 The team eventually let the Autofeed take care of all posting to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, selecting which articles to share and when.
This was the core of their new LinkedIn strategy for publishers: delegating repetitive tasks to the AI.
The time saved allowed Steffen’s team to focus on strategic, high-value tasks. They now use Echobox Analytics to inform their decisions across platforms: “Echobox Analytics is really helpful to look at what was well-received on Facebook. We can use this knowledge for other social networks. For example, if a post worked well on Facebook, maybe it will work well on Instagram too,” Steffen says.
They also tag high-performing content as ‘Evergreen,’ ensuring that valuable stories can be automatically reshared later, guaranteeing a continuous presence even overnight and on weekends. “We have 24/7 news on the Handelsblatt website, so it’s important to have 24/7 news on our social pages as well,” Steffen adds. Learn more about the technology behind this success at echobox.com/social.
🥳 The big win: Performance spikes and 3.5 FTEs saved
Embracing AI paid off spectacularly, especially for their core business platform:
| Key Performance Metric | The Improvement |
| LinkedIn Clicks (vs. native shares) | Increased by 333% |
| Traffic from LinkedIn | Grew by 58% |
| Editorial Time Saved Daily | 3.5 full-time employees (28 hours) |
The time savings are “just immense,” according to Steffen, amounting to roughly 28 hours of work per day. This allows the team to devote extra time to essential activities like creating engaging native content for each platform and running special subscription offers.
The massive 333% boost in LinkedIn clicks validated their choice and proved the efficacy of their automated LinkedIn strategy for publishers. As Steffen concludes, the biggest advantage is simple: “You’ll have more time to do journalism directly on social media, instead of spending your time posting journalism already done on the page.”
🌟 Ready to achieve a 333% performance increase on LinkedIn?
If your publication is looking to drive subscriptions and reclaim valuable editorial hours, Handelsblatt’s story proves that full AI automation is the most effective LinkedIn strategy for publishers.
Download the full case study for the details on how they use Evergreen tagging, and all the insider info on how they achieved their phenomenal growth!
