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The Massive LinkedIn Opportunity and How to Take Advantage of It
Aaron Agius of Growth Mapping, one of our fave podcasts, is a LinkedIn master. He wields a black belt on leveraging the platform and gets winning results some users only dream about. Lucky for us, he’s generous with his knowledge, dishing his tactics and learnings in today’s Listen.
LinkedIn has gained a footing as a popular social network — one where you need to be vulnerable to make valuable connections. Aaron and his co-host dive deep into how to make these connections. It all starts with publishing natively-created content because LinkedIn’s goals, above all, is to keep people on LinkedIn. The platform’s algorithm heavily favors content that does this.
Below are some highlights and strategies that have helped Aaron find and build an incredibly-engaged audience.
- (2:17) The power of status updates. LinkedIn gives you 1300 characters of spaces, which means you can craft a significant and impactful story. If you focus on not providing any links out, the reach the algorithm gives you is astonishing.
- (4:48) Create your status updates with an emotional cliffhanger, so your audience is curious enough to hit the “see more” button.
- (6:09) Use LinkedIn’s targeting to create a group and use it almost like an email list. Except these groups are better than email lists.
- (7:54) Tactics of getting an audience together and a smart direct message strategy. Hit ‘em with a great piece of content, then eventually you can hit them up for an “Ask” and build a strong relationship. Kinda like a drip campaign, but you know your audience straight out the gate.
- (9:44) Write your status update like a story with a single lesson at the end. Providing just one specific lesson makes your post more compelling and powerful.
- (11:44) Get in early to a network and build a following.
- (12:39) How LinkedIn’s algorithm sends posts to a sample audience. If there is engagement, LinkedIn will show it to a wide range of people. Boost engagement early on by asking for help from friends, family, and coworkers.
- (14:04) Native video on LinkedIn is gonna be lit and has potential for huge reach. So hop on it.
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Everything You Need to Know About Psychographic Marketing
Here’s a phrase we haven’t talked about yet: psychographic marketing. Psychographics are kind of like demographics…but on steroids.
Demographics are the “who” of your customers. Psychographics are the “why” of them. Psychographics cover things like lifestyle, beliefs, interests, goals, fears, etc.
This stuff matters because the brands that have figured out the psychographics of their audiences are usually the companies that win in business. More often than not, a brand that you’re passionate about has figured out the psychographics of you.
If you can understand your audience’s psychographics, your blogs perform better, your ads will convert better, and your website traffic will increase. And really, what more could you want?
A few ways you can figure out the psychographics of your audience:
- A/B Testing. What kind of language resonates with your audience more?
- Social listening. Look at Facebook Groups, follow Twitter hashtags, sort through Reddit to understand the language your audience uses and what resonates with them.
- Product Reviews. Go to Amazon and look at the 3-star reviews of products similar to yours. 3-star reviews are best because they aren’t too positive or too negative.
- Ask your audience! A simple survey will do the trick.
- Dig through blog comments.
Pro-tip: Make a spreadsheet with every comment you see that relates to psychographics.
Today’s Read has a ton of awesome examples of brands who have figured out psychographics.
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Total Eclipse of the Ads
Did you peep the solar eclipse yesterday? With protective eyewear, we hope! Seems like everyone wanted a piece of the solar-lunar action — and for good reason! If you were anywhere that witnessed the total eclipse, the sky and atmosphere were surreal, awash in the midnight blue of nightfall.
As such a momentous occasion, it’s not any wonder brands across the country wanted to cash in on the opportunity to advertise alongside the eclipse. Adweek rounded up a few examples of brands that really put their heart and solar into quirky, eclipse-centric ads — from “moonchkins” and “mooncakes” to a disobedient dancing banana.
“An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.”
Bill Bernbach
