Listen here:
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/1152937886/episodes/The-LinkedIn-Nightclub-and-the-Boring-Tax-e3on4eo
The LinkedIn Nightclub
As horrendous as that phrase might sound, a nightclub is the best way to understand what actually happens when you run paid social ads.
Your target audience opens the app and steps straight onto the dance floor. The music is playing, drinks are flowing, and people are having a good time. Naturally, every advertiser wants inside to get in front of that crowd.
Standing between them and the room is the algorithm. In this setup, the algorithm is the bouncer.
Outside, there is no polite queue. You have a mob of advertisers waving stacks of cash, all shouting at the door. The common assumption is that whoever has the biggest pile of money automatically wins the auction.
The bouncer doesn’t just look at cash, though. He’s doing fast math at the velvet rope.
Managing the Vibe
The bouncer evaluates two things: how much you are willing to spend, and the vibe you bring into the venue.
“Vibe” is platform-speak for relevance, interest, and engagement. It’s measured through dwell time, likes, comments, shares, and how much of a video someone actually watches before scrolling on.
At first, the bouncer doesn’t know who you are. He lets you in for a quick test run with a small pocket of the audience to see how you behave.
If you immediately corner people, tap them on the shoulder, and start hard-selling until they actively ignore you, the bouncer takes note. You are actively ruining the party.
If people want to talk to you, react, and share what you’re doing, the venue views you as an asset to the room.
Paying the “Boring Tax”
When the test phase ends and the doors open to the broader crowd, the auction math kicks in.
If an advertiser with a dull, generic ad is standing next to an advertiser with something genuinely interesting, the interesting ad can cut the line and pay less to get in. The platform is constantly weighing the bid against the expected user experience. They cannot afford to let the feed become a wall of sleep-inducing corporate pitches, because users will simply leave the club.
Entertaining, distinctive creative isn’t just about brand recall or warm sentiment. It is a direct cost-saving lever.
Framing creative work to leadership as “making fun videos” often gets dismissed. The commercial reality is much simpler: when your ads are dull, your competition gets into the feed cheaper than you do. You are paying an avoidable “boring tax” on every single impression, burning ad budget simply because nobody wants to talk to you at the party.