Last week saw a spike in the number of posts on how to use LinkedIn well. One woman was responsible for this increased social media awareness – Stacy Havener was in town!
For those of you who aren’t aware of Stacy – have you been living under a rock? – she helps boutique fund managers to raise investment capital. And offers a master class in how to do LinkedIn well.
She encourages investment managers to move away from data and towards the power of the personal. She emphasises the importance of narrative and how effective LinkedIn can be at building a brand.
These concepts are endorsed by Moore Squared Communications! We have built our network using similar concepts and use them to build curiosity about our brand.
We tell our clients how much more cost-effective a well-planned digital marketing plan can be than sponsorship and advertising. But there is an art and a science to doing LinkedIn well.
The power of the personal
People buy from people. That’s why it’s much easier to build connections and a create following for an individual rather than for a company page.
We build relationships with others by creating emotional connection – narrative is vital to create curiosity from potential clients via LinkedIn. This is why a personal angle to any business story will garner high levels of engagement.
It’s also why you should look to document your business life and share it. That means posting photos of yourself at conferences, award ceremonies and events.
The power of the personal is the reason reposting doesn’t work.
A bland repost about your company’s latest research leaves people cold. Getting traction requires a well-written and pithy post with a link and a good photo.
Think like a magazine editor
The clue is in the name – LinkedIn is a social media platform. You get the most out of it when you treat what your posts like a media source. You should think like a magazine editor.
Printed magazines might not be fashionable today but they hold good lessons for anyone wanting to use LinkedIn to build a following.
A magazine has a well-established layout. Let’s take Conde Nast Traveller magazine.
Every month there is a letter from the editor, a celebrity’s guide to a city and how to spend 48-hours in particular location. There are also the features commissioned just for that issue.
Your time line should have a similar variety of features.
That should include photos of you at external events, thoughtful posts about the latest research produced by your organisation, appearances on panels and podcasts as well as commentary on news stories.
Some of these posts will be scheduled and proactive and others will be reactive – for example, your take on a breaking news story that’s of importance to the sector.
But the variety is key. If all posts are personal, over time your feed will lack depth and start to look self-obsessed. It won’t help you to build curiosity and trust with target clients.
Organisational support
It’s not reasonable, however, to expect individuals to produce this variety of posts. You need to work with your marketing team to identify the right mix of posts for you and build a content pipeline.
This is also where the magic of LinkedIn happens to build client connection.
By identifying your target clients’ needs, you can produce a content pipeline that will create curiosity and start to build trust. Delivering this through individuals’ rather than the company’s page is the secret sauce.
Ensuring your LinkedIn content is also mirrored by your email marketing campaigns – and the use of flows and drip campaigns – will amplify your messaging and brand.
If you would like to talk to Moore Square Communications about how to do this, get in touch!
