Joel Freund’s Post

Perhaps the most core principle in marketing is knowing your target audience. Once marketers define the audience, all marketing activity is then designed to meet those specific people right where they are. As leaders, we must also meet our people where they are. At base level, we can never assume they are just like us. Their backgrounds, perspectives, and expertise are likely very different from our own. So how does one get to know this extremely key audience? 😎 Observe: Be deliberate in simply noticing how your team members interact with you and others, and how they carry themselves. Body language can speak volumes. 🤝 Make connections: Even with remote employees, find ways to connect. It could be done during Zoom meetings, over Slack, or even in casual social media interactions. This is often where we really learn the nuances of peoples’ interests, backgrounds, and beliefs. ❓ Ask for input: For years, marketers have relied on market research to gain insights from target audiences. Asking our teams for their ideas and feedback regularly (3 x per year in our company) has opened my eyes to some of the best direction that I could never have come up with on my own. 🌎 Be a student of the world: What is happening outside of your business is certainly impacting your people too. Keeping a watchful eye on culture, politics, the economy, etc. is key to understanding what may also be on the minds and hearts of your team. When you truly know your most important audience, you can tailor things like communication, company benefits, policies, and events to better meet their needs. And when you know your people, it’s likely they also know you pretty well too; and this right here is the very thing that trust, loyalty, and stronger win-win relationships are built upon. #leadlikeamarketer

Are you seeing a drop in your LinkedIn engagement and reach? If you’re struggling with this, you’re not alone. So I thought I'd share some of Richard van der Blom's excellent research on the anatomy of a great LinkedIn post and some simple tips that will help improve reach and engagement! 👏 Here are 6 key strategies: 🧡 Clear call to action: Make sure your post has a clear and compelling call to action. 💜 Ask questions: Questions in your posts can boost your reach by 20% and engagement by 35%. 🧡 Simplicity matters: Keep your questions clear and straightforward; avoid overly niche topics. 💜 Engage quickly: Being active in the comments and engaging within the first 60 minutes can increase reach by 40%. 🧡 Consistent formatting: Maintaining consistent formatting can enhance reach by 15-30%. 💜 Ideal post length: Text and image posts should ideally be 900-1200 characters. Exceeding this by 300 characters might reduce your reach by 10%! (This post is 1143 characters!) Which one of these do you need to try? Let me know in the comments below! Sarah 🧡 📙 Author of 'Employee Advocacy on LinkedIn' 📙 🔸 Keeping #LinkedInSimplified for CEOs, corporates and teams 🔸

LinkedIn is a powerhouse for B2B companies hoping to make the most of social media. And did you know that employee-shared posts get 561% higher reach than corporate posts? Why? Because people connect with people. When company leaders and employees share their stories, it opens up opportunities for genuine connections and discussions, making social platforms like LinkedIn not just a networking platform, but a community. Here are some tips for getting your team involved: 1. Lead by Example: Encourage senior leaders to be active on LinkedIn by sharing insights and company news. Their involvement can inspire the rest of the team. 2. Content Creation Workshops: Organize workshops or webinars on creating engaging content for LinkedIn. Cover basics like storytelling, personal branding, and the technical aspects of posting. 3. Content Calendars: Provide employees with a content calendar filled with key company events, product launches, and industry news they can talk about from their perspective. 4. Recognition and Rewards: Recognize and reward employees who actively share and engage with content on LinkedIn. Highlighting their efforts can motivate others. 5. Engagement Groups: Form internal groups for employees to like, comment, and share each other's posts. This can help kickstart engagement and reach. Sure, LinkedIn has a professional vibe to it, but that doesn't mean your posts have to be generic. Be true to yourself—it's what people want to see. What are some of your go-to tips? #marketingtips #creative #socialmediamarketing #success #socialmedia

Meaningful Relationships aren't built by #socialmedia engagement buttons. They are built by Conversations. Make sure you spend most of your time "using the message box" and less time using the "reaction/engagement buttons". Most of the times, not knowing the invaluable power of DMs in connecting with people, we only DM somebody when there is an underlying agenda. If out of 2 hrs on LinkedIn, 1 hr is just going on liking, commenting, reacting to posts and sending friend requests, then your are definitely living in a bubble my friend. #growthhack tools may view the profile and may like some posts on your behalf. But that will lead to no where if we don't connect. Trust me, Communication is Powerful. If we never connected till now and you feel we can. Drop a comment. And let's connect on DM. :-) No Agenda. No Propaganda. I mean every single word above for #linkedin.

Why your employees aren't posting on LinkedIn, and what you can do about it. The problem is that if your employees don't post on LinkedIn regularly, they are invisible to thousands of people every week, and being invisible is a rarely sought-after trait when it comes to sales, marketing, and communications. Here are some of the reasons why people at your company don't post: ___________ 1 - Why? Employees feel they don't have content worth sharing. 2 - Why? They aren't confident in their knowledge or feel they aren't experts in their field. 3 - Why? They are worried about how others will judge them. 4 - Why? The company doesn't prioritise or allocate resources for employee training, or support employees with creating personable content. 5 - Why? There's a lack of understanding of the benefits. 6 - Why? Employees don't prioritise it, so good intentions slide, and before they know where they are, they haven't posted for a month. __________ Potential Solutions: 1. Prioritise training Invest in training sessions, workshops, and courses that educate employees about the many benefits that being active on social media can have for them and their company. 2. Encourage Thought Leadership Organise internal sessions where employees can share their insights, and learn from one another. This promotes an environment of learning and can be a stepping stone for employees to share outside the company. 3. Showcase Success Stories Share stories of employees who have benefited from training or have been active on LinkedIn. Recognise and reward such initiatives to encourage others. 4. Gamify: Consider using each employee SSI (Social Selling Index) in a league table, with prizes for the top score, and biggest weekly growth. 5. Share a content framework: Share with your client facing people the audiences you wish to communicate with, and what topics you would like to communicate to those audiences. It's easier for people to create content from a framework than from scratch. 6. Lead from the front: In our experience, when the CEO posts, it provides motivation for others to follow. Mike and I at Six Sells offer training, consulting or done-for-you services that amplify the quality and quantity of personable content, and touchpoints, created between you and your ideal audiences. #peopleshapedcomms #socialselling #marketing #sales #content #business #leadership

To gain audience engagement on LinkedIn, it's essential to post content that resonates with professionals and adds value to their career or industry knowledge. Here are some important content types to consider: Thought Leadership Articles: Share insightful articles or blog posts that showcase your expertise in your field, provide valuable insights, and spark meaningful discussions among your connections. Industry News and Updates: Keep your audience informed about the latest trends, developments, and news within your industry or niche. Comment on relevant topics to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. Personal and Professional Achievements: Celebrate your accomplishments, milestones, awards, or career advancements to humanize your profile and showcase your credibility and success. Educational Content: Share informative and educational content such as tips, tutorials, case studies, or best practices that help your audience learn new skills, solve problems, or improve their professional capabilities. Engaging Visual Content: Incorporate visually appealing content such as images, videos, infographics, or slideshows to grab attention and enhance the visibility and engagement of your posts. Networking and Collaboration Opportunities: Use LinkedIn to connect with industry peers, participate in relevant groups or communities, and explore collaboration opportunities such as partnerships, events, or projects. Professional Updates and Insights: Share updates about your work, projects, or company initiatives, along with insights, reflections, or lessons learned from your professional experiences. Employee Advocacy and Company Culture: Highlight your company's culture, values, and employee achievements to showcase your employer brand and attract top talent. Encourage employees to share company-related content to amplify your reach and engagement. By diversifying your content strategy and focusing on providing value, insights, and engagement opportunities to your audience, you can effectively build a strong presence on LinkedIn and foster meaningful connections with professionals in your industry. How do you ensure your posts resonate with professionals and add value to their career or industry knowledge? #linkedInengagement #contentstrategy #professionalnetworking #krishvijain

Leading vs Lagging | How do you measure the impact of your employee activity on social media?     Ask anyone who has started a new habit, whether healthy eating or training for a marathon, they'll tell you that results don't happen overnight.   Same goes with social advocacy and digital selling.   When I talk to customers about measuring the impact of employee influence, I refer to Leading & Lagging indicators. Here's why you need both.   𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: These are early signals that tell you if you're going in the right direction. They're monitored frequently and include:   ⌚ Number of content shares ⌚ % of active users (on your EA platform or LinkedIn Sales Navigator) ⌚ Reach/Impressions ⌚ % of employees active on LinkedIn ⌚ Number of lead/account searches (LinkedIn Sales Navigator) ⌚ Number of leads/accounts saved (LinkedIn Sales Navigator) ⌚ Engagement p/share ⌚ Clicks ⌚ Earned media value ⌚ LinkedIn Social Selling Index score   𝗟𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: These are business related metrics that demonstrate the commercial impact of your program. These are monitored less frequently and include:   📊 Number of candidate applications for roles 📊 Attrition rate of new hires 📊 Employee NPS score & engagement scores 📊 Glassdoor category and approval ratings 📊 Number of opportunities in the pipeline 📊 Average opportunity size in value 📊 Contract renewal rates by rep 📊 Total pipeline value and revenue closed by rep 📊 Average deal cycle time by rep 📊 Volume of conversation compared to competitors   𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀: Whether activating sales teams for #SocialSelling, Subject Matter Experts as #EmployeeInfluencers or the wider organisation for #EmployeeAdvocacy, you'll need to identify metrics for each audience. However, three tips remain the same...   1) Know the difference between Leading vs Lagging. 2) Know your baseline metrics so you can set realistic goals. 3) Know the frequency with which you'll measure each.   #EmployerBranding #ExecutiveCommunications #SocialSelling

How to use LinkedIn as a C-level? This is a question I often get asked, while more and more C-suite leaders are posting on LinkedIn (+9% growth y/y). By posting on a regular cadence (at least once a week), C-levels can indeed be the best ambassadors of their company by: ❶ Building their own community: C-suites are telling us that their online presence help them hear signals they would not have easy access to thanks to a direct access to customers, employees, partners or shareholders. ❷ Boosting employee engagement: several CEOs are celebrating their team and employees'successes publicly building a new way to grow employee recognition. ❸ Attracting and retaining new talents: by being more visible, the Executives will also boost their company presence and open an access to an additional, broader and more diverse talent pool beyond HR or direct lines of management. ❹ Building their unique voice as leader: C-levels are often picking 2 to 3 main strategic topics on which they are experts and they want to build their own brand (from industry trends to DEI, AI, Sustainability or leadership skills). The related posts need to be genuinely authentic and our recommendation is to interact in the comments to build a more interactive communication with your audience. ❺ 🆕 Break news on LinkedIn: we are seeing more and more C-levels coming to LinkedIn to share news about their role, their company or their business. Recent example in Europe: the CEO of KLM Marjan Rintel posted about a new Air-Rail Terminal at Bruxelles-Midi https://lnkd.in/d5-UrjMm 🙌 You are interested to know more about our (free) Editorial programs to support your presence on LinkedIn? Let us know here: https://lnkd.in/dn-CQ26q ➡️ Find more interesting tips in this article in Fast Company from the social media consultant Brian Honigman: https://lnkd.in/ddfNb9kA

The main thing thought leaders on LinkedIn do; consistently. And no, it's not post every day. It's all about the engagement baby! Check out my Engagement Framework to establish your thought leadership, expand your network reach, and nurture meaningful connections. → 1. Consistent Engagement - Allocate time each day to like, comment, and share posts from your network and beyond. - Initiate conversations by posing questions or sharing thought-provoking statements. → 2. Content Engagement Boosts - Encourage interaction by ending posts with a call-to-action, inviting opinions, experiences, or questions. - Regularly create polls and surveys that prompt your audience to share their opinions or experiences. This not only boosts engagement but also provides valuable insights into your audience’s preferences 😉 → 3. Personalised Connections - Send personalised connection requests highlighting a shared interest or reason for connecting. - Follow up with a welcome message sharing a resource they might find useful, or doing what I've recently started doing sending video messages to my connections - If you want to hear the benefits & see how to do this I'll post a link to a 3 minute walk through I sent to my email list. → 4. Ongoing Engagement - Regularly check in with your network through comments, messages, and by sharing their content. - Host LinkedIn Live sessions or create groups to discuss topics of mutual interest. → 5. Measuring Success and Iterating - Track likes, comments, shares, and message responses to gauge the impact of different content types. - Monitor profile views and connection requests as indicators of your growing influence. - Adapt your strategy based on engagement analytics and feedback from your network. I consistently tell my clients to focus on meaningful engagement, in order to position themselves as thought leaders and a valuable members of the LinkedIn community. My framework is designed to help you build and strengthen relationships, enhancing your network and amplifying your impact. 🙋🏾♀️ Remember, the key to success on LinkedIn is not just in broadcasting your message, but in creating a dialogue... Have you ever sent personalised video messages to your connections? 🫶🏾 Chelena ✨ Peart ♻️ Share this if it will be helpful to your network...

7-step strategy to increase your post engagement. The first post I made on LinkedIn in Oct '23 had very loud crickets. And I remember thinking that LinkedIn users were mean lol. What I came to realise is that I wasn't writing for LinkedIn So, the algorithm couldn't be bothered with my post. How did I change that? 1) I started making new friends. ➜ Increase your connections. ➜ Follow more people. 2) I started engaging intentionally with my friends. ➜ You receive what you give, right? ➜ Create a spreadsheet. 3) I became intentional with my Hook. ➜ The hook can never be overrated. ➜ Spend time crafting your hook. 4) I studied my target audience. ➜ What are the pain points of your audience? ➜ Create content to solve it. 5) I formatted my posts. ➜ Make your posts visually appealing. ➜ Reduce the length of your posts. 6) I added pictures to my posts. ➜ Use relevant visuals with each content. ➜ Use selfies to connect with your audience. 7) I told more of my story. ➜ I learnt the power of vulnerability. ➜ Let your audience know you via your stories. Increasing your post engagement requires Time and strategies. P.S. Which of these steps resonates with you? -------- Like my content? Join my newsletter (Link in the comments)