Kim Costello'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
Percentage of emoji that are neutral/functional
7x more signature โ faded
See example from 04 Dec 2025
Percentage of lines containing at least one emoji
6x more signature โ faded
Number of emoji in the opening hook
4x more consistent โ faded
Proportion of hashtags using CamelCase
4x more Number of emoji in call-to-action lines
5x more consistent โ faded
Average emoji per line of text
5x more consistent โ faded
Character count of the hook
1.6x more consistent
Does Less Of...
Patterns you use less often - that's part of your style too!
Use of 'you/your' in the hook
3x less consistent
Ratio of meaningful words to grammatical words
1.3x less consistent
Unique words divided by total words
1.1x less consistent
Percentage of words used only once
1.0x less consistent
Signature = unique to you
| Distinctive = stands out from average
| Consistent = reliable pattern
Your AuthorDNA Profile
You probably didn't realize, but you use functional or neutral emoji 7 times more than the average LinkedIn author - and you pack 6 times more emoji into your lines overall. Even in your opening hooks, youโre 4 times more likely to drop an emoji than your peers. Itโs not just flair - itโs a signature: your posts are punctuated with visual signals that most people barely touch.
It works because every emoji turns a bland scroll into a visual handshake - a stop sign or a breadcrumb, making your posts instantly recognizable and impossible to skim past. Now try briefing this to a ghostwriter: โI need 7x more neutral emoji, but not too expressive, and always in the first line.โ Theyโd stare at you blankly. This isnโt a style guide - itโs muscle memory. Even if you tried, you couldnโt force it.
You post less than once a week (0.2 times, to be exact), but when you do, your style is unmistakable. This is exactly what Drumbeat captures - the patterns you canโt articulate but your audience feels. Your companyโs message, in each team memberโs authentic voice, at scale.
Style Evolution
How your writing has changed (Jan 2022 - Nov 2025)
Recent 11 posts since Dec 2023
vs
Earlier 31 posts before Dec 2023
Opening hashtags Declining (29% โ 9%)
Less
Emoji usage Stopped (was 16%, now rarely)
Stopped
Style patterns based on 42 posts. Recent trends may differ from overall averages shown above.
Signature Phrases
Your most frequently used words and phrases
Posting Consistency
19 Jan 2022 - 18 Nov 2025
0.2 posts/week avg
38/201 active weeks
163 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.) | 19% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs include hashtags | 17% of posts | HIGH | VARIES |
| CTAs phrased as questions vs statements | 4% | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs are concentrated at the end of the post | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average position of CTAs in the post | Near top | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs include emoji | 12% 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 | 51% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Count of neutral/functional emoji | ~1.0 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji count relative to sentence count | 27% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji density in the hook section | 11 - 16 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji used to replace words entirely | 17% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji in call-to-action lines | 0.4 - 1.2 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the opening hook | ~1.0 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are neutral/functional | 100% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of lines containing at least one emoji | 51% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average distance between repeated emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average number of emoji appearing together in clusters | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Balance between positive and negative emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of negative/warning emoji | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of positive/celebratory emoji | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Emoji count per 1000 words | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| Emoji usage in the middle section of the post | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| How consistently emoji pair with specific words | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| How consistently the same emoji is used for bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| How often the same emoji repeats across the post | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Largest group of adjacent emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of bullet point lines using emoji as markers | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of different emoji types used | 0.0 - 0.5 | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of emoji clusters (groups of adjacent emoji) | ~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 emoji that are positive/celebratory | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of lines that contain only emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of emoji appearing in clusters | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of emoji that appear multiple times | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Total count of repeated emoji across the post | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Total number of emoji in the post | 0.0 - 0.5 | LOW | VARIES |
| Variety of different emoji used as bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether emoji are used as bullet point markers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the post starts with an emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of emoji bullet indentation | 0% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Emoji density in CTA sections | 5 - 25 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variety of different emoji used (unique/total ratio) | 14% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any emoji are used in the post | 14% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Formality & Tone 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Variety of different contractions used | 43% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of negative contractions used | 5% | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of negative contractions (don't, won't, can't) | 8% | LOW | VARIES |
| Count of positive contractions used | 57% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of different contraction types | 62% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are contractions | 78% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Ratio of negative to positive contractions | 24:1 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total number of contractions | 62% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of positive contractions (it's, I'm, we're) | 70% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Function Words 21
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage of 'as' per 1000 words | 0-22 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'the' per 1000 words | 27 - 67 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Usage of 'because' per 1000 words | 0-1 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'but' per 1000 words | 0-5 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'if' per 1000 words | 0-6 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'is' per 1000 words | 0-21 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Overall grammatical word usage | 196 - 271 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'a' per 1000 words | 6 - 32 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'and' per 1000 words | 15 - 46 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'at' per 1000 words | 0-19 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'by' per 1000 words | 0-7 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'for' per 1000 words | 2 - 27 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'of' per 1000 words | 5 - 37 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'on' per 1000 words | 0-22 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'so' per 1000 words | 0-7 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'that' per 1000 words | 0-15 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'to' per 1000 words | 21 - 63 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'which' per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'who' per 1000 words | 0-7 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'with' per 1000 words | 0-17 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variety of function words used | 47% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Hashtag Usage 12
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average character length of hashtags | 5 - 14 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags in ALL CAPS | 13% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags in the opening | 28% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags placed at the end | 69% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags using CamelCase | 67% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether any hashtags are used | 71% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the opening line contains a hashtag | 33% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Hashtag density per 100 words | 0.3 - 4.1 | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags | 19% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags woven into the text | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Ratio of inline hashtags to end hashtags | 0 - 178 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total number of hashtags | 0.3 - 3.4 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Opening Hooks 14
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Character count of the hook | 235 - 480 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Character position where the hook ends | 235 - 480 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether there's a blank line after the hook | 43% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji in the hook | 0.0 - 0.3 | LOW | VARIES |
| Use of 'you/your' in the hook | 1% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains emoji | 7% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the hook starts with a conjunction | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether there's a clear opening hook section | 19% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| ALL CAPS words in the hook | 2% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Hook length relative to total post | 76% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook lines relative to total lines | 60% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Negation words in the hook | 0.0 - 0.6 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Where LinkedIn's 'see more' cuts off | 76% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains a question | 12% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Line Structure 18
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average characters per line | 97 - 338 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average words per line | 15 - 57 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Variation in line lengths | 0 - 1458 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with ALL CAPS | 1% | LOW | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with numbers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with punctuation | 1% | LOW | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with quotes | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variation in block sizes | 12% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average lines per text block | 0.9 - 1.2 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average spacing between blank lines | 94% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Blank lines per 100 total lines | 15 - 46 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Lines containing exactly one sentence | 51% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of visual text blocks | 1.3 - 4.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of single-word lines | 1% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of very short lines (<5 words) | 12% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Predictability of line length pattern | Very consistent | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Proportion of blank space | 30% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Spacing between content-rich lines | 0.8 - 2.4 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
List Patterns 15
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use of inline enumeration | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Average items per emoji 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 - 0.2 | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of emoji 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 |
| Variety of emoji used as bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether any list structure is used | 2% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether dash/bullet lists are used | 2% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether emoji bullet lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether numbered lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Average items per dash/bullet list | 14% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Vocabulary & Phrases 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common idioms and expressions per 1000 words | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of idiomatic expressions | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of words used only once | 34 - 73 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often three-word phrases repeat | 81% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| How often two-word phrases repeat | 0.0 - 7.9 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Length of longest repeated phrase | 0.2 - 3.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of unique words used | 39 - 92 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words used only once | 82% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Ratio of meaningful words to grammatical words | 3% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Unique words divided by total words | 78% | 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 | 0.0-0.4 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with pronouns | 0.2-2.8 per post | HIGH | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with subordinate clauses | 0.0-0.6 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with time words | 0.0-0.4 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with 'There is/are' or 'It is' (%) | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with pronouns (I, You, We, They) (%) | 11 - 56 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with subordinate clauses (%) | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with time words (%) | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with adverbs | 0.0-0.5 per post | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with conjunctions | 0.0-0.4 per post | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with discourse markers | ~0.0 per post | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with -ing verbs (%) | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with Actually, Basically, etc. (%) | 0% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with And, But, Or, So (%) | 1% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with adverbs (%) | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Closing Patterns 11
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Character length of the closing | 231 - 568 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the ending has a call-to-action | 50% of posts | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes hashtags | 71% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the closing | 0.0 - 0.4 | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the closing has a signature phrase | 10% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the closing has emoji clusters | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the ending is a question | 5% | LOW | VARIES |
| ALL CAPS words in the closing | 2% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Closing length relative to total post | 84% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the ending includes emoji | 12% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether there's a clear closing section | 74% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Paragraph Structure 13
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average change in length between paragraphs | 0.1 - 2.3 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Opening paragraph length vs body average | 2% | HIGH | STEADY |
| How frequently new paragraphs start | 15 - 54 | LOW | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.0 - 3.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.0 - 3.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Closing paragraph length vs body average | 74% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Consecutive long paragraphs | 12% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Consecutive short paragraphs | 0.5 - 3.7 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How much paragraph length varies | 0.0 - 4.1 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Length of your longer paragraphs (80th percentile) | 1.2 - 4.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total number of paragraphs | 1.3 - 4.2 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical paragraph length (median) | 0.8 - 2.9 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in length changes between paragraphs | 60% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Parts of Speech 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance/distribution of different word types | Moderately varied | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of auxiliary/helper verbs | 6% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adjectives | 8% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adverbs | 4% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are determiners | 8% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are nouns | 14 - 25 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are prepositions | 9 - 15 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are pronouns | 9% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are verbs | 9 - 15 | 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) | 7 - 25 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How easy the text is to read (higher = easier) | 34 - 62 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of complex words (3+ syllables) | 12 - 25 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total sentence count | 2.2 - 6.6 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total syllables in the post | 72 - 214 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total word count of the post | 45 - 131 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Punctuation Style 17
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| En dash (โ) usage per 1000 words | 0-5 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Colon usage per 1000 words | 0-26 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Ellipsis (...) usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Em dash (โ) usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Exclamation marks per 1000 words | 0-24 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 | 0-6 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with a question | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences trailing off with ellipsis | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Question marks per 1000 words | 0-5 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Quotation mark usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Comma usage per 1000 words | 20-53 per 1k words | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hyphen usage per 1000 words | 0-23 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with exclamation | 0 - 45 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Semicolon usage per 1000 words | 0-2 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Quotes & Narrative 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average length of quoted passages | 0 - 162 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Lines using past tense | 62% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Use of story transitions | 20% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the post tells a story | 62% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Lines starting with quotation marks | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Presence of dialogue attribution patterns | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of narrative/story signals | 0.8 - 2.7 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of quotation blocks | 0.0 - 1.1 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total characters in quoted content | 0 - 178 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the post contains quotations | 55% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Sentence Rhythm 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length of your longer sentences (80th percentile) | 20 - 46 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Length of your shorter sentences (20th percentile) | 5 - 20 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Overall sentence complexity | 24 - 87 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences over 20 words | 44% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Parenthetical breaks per 1000 words | 0-6 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences under 8 words | 12% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average number of clauses per sentence | 1.8 - 3.2 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average number of words per sentence | 14 - 28 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per sentence | 14 - 28 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How much sentence length varies (normalized) | 55% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often paragraphs contain just one sentence | 50% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical sentence length (median) | 13 - 27 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in clause count across sentences | 0.0 - 4.4 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variation in sentence lengths | 5 - 17 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of shortest sentence | 2 - 17 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of the longest sentence | 22 - 47 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
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