Merinda Hillier's AuthorDNA
The writing patterns that make your content uniquely yours
What is AuthorDNA?
AuthorDNA is a hidden linguistic profile - the subconscious patterns and habits unique to how someone writes. We analyze posts across 243 style metrics specific to B2B social content and compare them to thousands of other authors.
These are the markers most people don't even notice - but they're what makes writing sound authentic.
Does More Of...
Patterns you use more often than typical LinkedIn authors
Whether the post starts with an emoji
23x more signature
See example from 08 Dec 2025
Percentage of lines containing at least one emoji
7x more signature
Number of emoji in the opening hook
7x more signature
Percentage of emoji that are neutral/functional
5x more consistent
See example from 08 Dec 2025
Emoji count relative to sentence count
8x more distinctive
Average emoji per line of text
6x more consistent
Count of positive/celebratory emoji
10x more distinctive
Does Less Of...
Patterns you use less often - that's part of your style too!
Whether CTAs include hashtags
rarely consistent
CTAs phrased as questions vs statements
rarely consistent
Ratio of lines starting with punctuation
rarely consistent
Percentage of auxiliary/helper verbs
2x less Closing length relative to total post
1.3x less Hook length relative to total post
1.2x less Where LinkedIn's 'see more' cuts off
1.2x less Signature = unique to you
| Distinctive = stands out from average
| Consistent = reliable pattern
Your AuthorDNA Profile
You probably didn't realize, but you start your LinkedIn posts with an emoji 23 times more often than the average creator. Not just a sprinkle, either - your opening hook packs in 7x more emoji than most, and nearly every line is marked by those tiny visuals, 7x more than the norm. It's not just decoration. It's a fingerprint. The data shows you use neutral or functional emoji 5x more than others, almost like they're punctuation.
Why does this work? Readers instantly recognize your posts in the feed - you’ve built a visual rhythm no copywriter could fake. Try briefing a ghostwriter: "Begin every post with an emoji, make sure every line feels like a text message, but keep it professional." They’d stare blankly. This isn’t a style guide - it’s instinct, muscle memory, something even you couldn’t reverse-engineer on purpose.
And here's the kicker - you’re posting less than once a week, but your signature stands out every time. This is exactly what Drumbeat captures - the patterns you can't articulate but your audience feels. Your company's message, in each team member's authentic voice, at scale.
Signature Phrases
Your most frequently used words and phrases
Posting Consistency
14 Jan 2025 - 20 Nov 2025
0.3 posts/week avg
12/45 active weeks
33 inactive weeks
Deep Dive
Explore all 17 categories of writing style
Call-to-Action Patterns 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| CTAs using command verbs (Click, Share, Comment, etc.) | 24% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs are concentrated at the end of the post | 7% | HIGH | VARIES |
| CTAs phrased as questions vs statements | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether CTAs include hashtags | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Average position of CTAs in the post | Upper half | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs include emoji | 7% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any call-to-action exists | 64% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Emoji Usage 38
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average emoji per line of text | 61% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average number of emoji appearing together in clusters | 22% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Balance between positive and negative emoji | 29% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of neutral/functional emoji | 0.6 - 4.3 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Count of positive/celebratory emoji | 0.0 - 2.7 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Emoji count per 1000 words | 0 - 56 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Emoji count relative to sentence count | 72% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji density in CTA sections | 0 - 94 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Emoji density in the hook section | 8 - 45 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji usage in the middle section of the post | 0 - 135 | HIGH | VARIES |
| How consistently emoji pair with specific words | 3% | HIGH | VARIES |
| How often the same emoji repeats across the post | 14% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Largest group of adjacent emoji | 22% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of different emoji types used | 0.0 - 3.8 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji clusters (groups of adjacent emoji) | 0.0 - 0.4 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji in call-to-action lines | 0.1 - 1.4 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the opening hook | 0.8 - 2.3 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are neutral/functional | 71% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are positive/celebratory | 29% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Percentage of lines containing at least one emoji | 56% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of emoji appearing in clusters | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of emoji that appear multiple times | 11% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Total count of repeated emoji across the post | 0.0 - 2.2 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Total number of emoji in the post | 0.0 - 4.8 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Variety of different emoji used (unique/total ratio) | 56% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether any emoji are used in the post | 64% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the post starts with an emoji | 67% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average distance between repeated emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of negative/warning emoji | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Emoji used to replace words entirely | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| How consistently the same emoji is used for bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of bullet point lines using emoji as markers | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are 'corpspeak' type | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are negative/warning | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of lines that contain only emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of different emoji used as bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether emoji are used as bullet point markers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of emoji bullet indentation | 0% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Formality & Tone 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ratio of negative to positive contractions | 71:1 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of negative contractions used | 7% | LOW | VARIES |
| Count of positive contractions used | 14% | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of different contraction types | 21% | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are contractions | 15% | LOW | VARIES |
| Total number of contractions | 21% | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of negative contractions (don't, won't, can't) | 7% | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of positive contractions (it's, I'm, we're) | 9% | LOW | VARIES |
| Variety of different contractions used | 14% | LOW | VARIES |
Function Words 21
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage of 'of' per 1000 words | 0 - 50 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'who' per 1000 words | 0-10 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'a' per 1000 words | 0 - 26 | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'as' per 1000 words | 0-6 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'but' per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'by' per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'if' per 1000 words | 0-2 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'is' per 1000 words | 0-12 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'on' per 1000 words | 0-7 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'that' per 1000 words | 0-9 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'which' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Overall grammatical word usage | 148 - 243 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'and' per 1000 words | 14 - 46 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'at' per 1000 words | 0-13 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'because' per 1000 words | 0-2 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'for' per 1000 words | 1 - 29 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'so' per 1000 words | 0-8 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'the' per 1000 words | 16 - 69 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'to' per 1000 words | 11 - 61 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'with' per 1000 words | 0-19 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variety of function words used | 43% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Hashtag Usage 12
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average character length of hashtags | 7 - 15 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags in ALL CAPS | 8% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags in the opening | 33% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags placed at the end | 67% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags using CamelCase | 92% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the opening line contains a hashtag | 33% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Hashtag density per 100 words | 0.0 - 3.9 | LOW | VARIES |
| Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags woven into the text | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of inline hashtags to end hashtags | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether any hashtags are used | 21% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Total number of hashtags | 0.0 - 6.1 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Opening Hooks 14
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of emoji in the hook | 0.0 - 1.7 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the hook contains emoji | 57% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether there's a blank line after the hook | 36% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Use of 'you/your' in the hook | 1% | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the hook contains a question | 7% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the hook starts with a conjunction | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| ALL CAPS words in the hook | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Character count of the hook | 136 - 370 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Character position where the hook ends | 136 - 370 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook length relative to total post | 61% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook lines relative to total lines | 55% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Negation words in the hook | 0.0 - 1.0 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Where LinkedIn's 'see more' cuts off | 61% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether there's a clear opening hook section | 43% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Line Structure 18
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average lines per text block | 0.0 - 5.0 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with ALL CAPS | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with numbers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with punctuation | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with quotes | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average characters per line | 75 - 175 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average spacing between blank lines | 0.0 - 2.9 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Average words per line | 13 - 29 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Blank lines per 100 total lines | 4 - 45 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Lines containing exactly one sentence | 45% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of visual text blocks | 1.0 - 6.1 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of single-word lines | 1% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of very short lines (<5 words) | 8% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Predictability of line length pattern | Very consistent | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Proportion of blank space | 24% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Spacing between content-rich lines | 0.5 - 2.1 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in block sizes | 43% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variation in line lengths | 12 - 377 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
List Patterns 15
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average items per emoji list | 29% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji bullet list sections | 0.0 - 0.3 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Variety of emoji used as bullets | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether emoji bullet lists are used | 7% of posts | HIGH | VARIES |
| Average items per dash/bullet list | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of emoji bullet indentation | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of numbered list formatting | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Nesting depth of numbered lists | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of dash/bullet list sections | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of numbered list sections | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Use of fraction-style numbering (1/, 2/) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether dash/bullet lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether numbered lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Use of inline enumeration | 1% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether any list structure is used | 7% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Vocabulary & Phrases 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length of longest repeated phrase | 0.5 - 3.7 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Common idioms and expressions per 1000 words | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of idiomatic expressions | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of words used only once | 23 - 97 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often three-word phrases repeat | 0.0 - 3.0 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| How often two-word phrases repeat | 1 - 10 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of unique words used | 25 - 125 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words used only once | 84% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Ratio of meaningful words to grammatical words | 5% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Unique words divided by total words | 79% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Sentence Openings 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of sentences starting with -ing verbs | 0.0-0.6 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with There is/It is | 0.0-0.6 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with adverbs | 0.0-0.8 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with discourse markers | 0.0-0.3 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with pronouns | 0.0-2.8 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with subordinate clauses | 0.0-0.8 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with time words | 0.0-0.3 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with 'There is/are' or 'It is' (%) | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with -ing verbs (%) | 7% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with Actually, Basically, etc. (%) | 48% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with subordinate clauses (%) | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with And, But, Or, So (%) | 48% | LOW | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with conjunctions | 0.0-0.3 per post | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with adverbs (%) | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with pronouns (I, You, We, They) (%) | 0 - 29 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with time words (%) | 48% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Closing Patterns 11
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of emoji in the closing | 0.0 - 1.9 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the closing has emoji clusters | 7% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes emoji | 50% of posts | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes hashtags | 21% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| ALL CAPS words in the closing | 4% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Character length of the closing | 81 - 423 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Closing length relative to total post | 58% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the closing has a signature phrase | 21% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the ending has a call-to-action | 36% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the ending is a question | 14% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether there's a clear closing section | 93% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Paragraph Structure 13
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average change in length between paragraphs | 0.2 - 1.9 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.2 - 2.6 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.2 - 2.6 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Closing paragraph length vs body average | 70% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Consecutive long paragraphs | 14% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Consecutive short paragraphs | 0.1 - 6.1 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How frequently new paragraphs start | 26 - 75 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How much paragraph length varies | 95% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Length of your longer paragraphs (80th percentile) | 1.3 - 4.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Opening paragraph length vs body average | 1% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total number of paragraphs | 1.2 - 7.6 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical paragraph length (median) | 1.0 - 2.4 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in length changes between paragraphs | 69% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Parts of Speech 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of auxiliary/helper verbs | 2% | LOW | STEADY |
| Balance/distribution of different word types | Moderately varied | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adjectives | 9% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adverbs | 3% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are determiners | 7% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are nouns | 15 - 28 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are prepositions | 8 - 14 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are pronouns | 7% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are verbs | 9 - 14 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Post Basics 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average word complexity (syllables per word) | 1.5 - 1.8 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Count of complex words (3+ syllables) | 4 - 30 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How easy the text is to read (higher = easier) | 37 - 71 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of complex words (3+ syllables) | 9 - 21 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total sentence count | 2 - 10 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total syllables in the post | 47 - 291 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total word count of the post | 25 - 182 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Punctuation Style 17
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Em dash (—) usage per 1000 words | 0-10 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Hyphen usage per 1000 words | 0-58 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Quotation mark usage per 1000 words | 0-19 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Semicolon usage per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ellipsis (...) usage per 1000 words | 0-1 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Mixed punctuation clusters per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Multiple exclamation marks per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Multiple question marks per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Parentheses usage per 1000 words | 0-9 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences trailing off with ellipsis | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Question marks per 1000 words | 0-16 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Colon usage per 1000 words | 0-43 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Comma usage per 1000 words | 0-71 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| En dash (–) usage per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Exclamation marks per 1000 words | 0-38 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with a question | 5% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with exclamation | 3 - 38 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Quotes & Narrative 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use of story transitions | 17% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Lines starting with quotation marks | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Presence of dialogue attribution patterns | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average length of quoted passages | 0 - 135 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Lines using past tense | 34% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of narrative/story signals | 0.6 - 2.7 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of quotation blocks | 0.0 - 1.2 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total characters in quoted content | 0 - 135 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the post contains quotations | 50% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the post tells a story | 50% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Sentence Rhythm 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of sentences under 8 words | 18% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average number of clauses per sentence | 1.5 - 3.1 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average number of words per sentence | 9 - 24 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per sentence | 9 - 24 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How much sentence length varies (normalized) | 45% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often paragraphs contain just one sentence | 39% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your longer sentences (80th percentile) | 11 - 36 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your shorter sentences (20th percentile) | 5 - 16 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Overall sentence complexity | 9 - 77 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Parenthetical breaks per 1000 words | 0-14 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences over 20 words | 27% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Typical sentence length (median) | 9 - 22 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in clause count across sentences | 0.0 - 3.8 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variation in sentence lengths | 2 - 13 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of shortest sentence | 2 - 15 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of the longest sentence | 13 - 41 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
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