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LinkedIn Content: The Do's, Don'ts, and Things to Test
38 Plays11 months ago
In this episode, Ashley engages with Meredith Farley to discuss LinkedIn content strategies for a broad range of audiences, from executives to lifestyle brands. The conversation begins with the intricacies of creating impactful LinkedIn posts. Then, we chat about a range of topics such as ghostwriting for executives, the nuances of brand storytelling on LinkedIn, and the benefits of consistent engagement on LinkedIn.
Meredith also shares insights on the use of AI in content creation for LinkedIn and offers practical advice for those looking to enhance their LinkedIn presence. Listeners will gain valuable tips on how to optimize their content on LInkedin, strategically engage with their network, and leverage the platform to achieve personal and professional goals.
Subscribe now for your bi-weekly dose of content wisdom, direct from the content marketing experts to your kitchen table.
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Transcript
Building a Support Network on Social Media
00:00:00
Speaker
I think you need to go find about 20 to 30 people whose content that you like, who post near daily, and are people that you feel comfortable supporting, and just put them on a spreadsheet. And then after you post, I don't think you have to do this before, but after you post, just click into all of their profiles, see if they've posted anything in the last day or so, and make sure to go support it, like it, and comment on it.
Meredith Farley on Social Media Expertise
00:00:35
Speaker
Welcome back to Content in the Kitchen, where we gather around the kitchen and chat about content marketing. Today we're slicing into the world of LinkedIn content with someone who knows a thing or two about captivating an audience, Meredith Farley. She's the powerhouse behind Medbury, a social media agency that's all about crafting magnetic presences on LinkedIn and Instagram.
00:00:54
Speaker
She's led large teams, dived deep into content and tech and work with an impressive roster of clients from Kayak to Canva. Now Meredith brings all that expertise to Medbury's clients and shares her wisdom on her podcast, Content People. As we dial into LinkedIn content today, we're tapping into Meredith's world of knowledge to uncover the secret to creating engaging, valuable and connect worthy content on LinkedIn. So grab your favorite cup and let's dive into the conversation with Meredith.
Meredith's Culinary Confession
00:01:30
Speaker
All right, let's do it. So first questions first, which is arguably the most important, is when you're not behind the desk and you find yourself in the kitchen, what are you cooking up? What's your go-to dish to cook?
00:01:41
Speaker
I love that this is the first question. So this was hard for me. I was thinking about it when you sent the question because I hate cooking and I don't cook. I don't like it all. My fiance is he loves cooking. And I feel like if I even step into the kitchen, I'm like in his territory a little bit. But I do have a couple of dishes that are my go tos, like if it's my turn or I need to make dinner.
00:02:06
Speaker
My favorite right now is really simple. It's from Instagram, actually. It was one of those recipes. And it's like a pasta tomato sauce bean dish with a little bit of tomato.
00:02:19
Speaker
creamy white cheese on it. And so, do you want me to, should I give you the recipe? Like how should I explain it? Yes, definitely give me the recipe on this. I'm always curious when pasta and beans are mixed together, like the sauce that really marries them and makes it all delicious. Sorry. So this one, it is thinly slice one shallot and really thinly slice two cloves of garlic, start to saute them, olive oil, butter in the pan.
00:02:49
Speaker
And you take probably like three cups of cherry tomatoes. And it's best in the summer when they're like fresh multicolored cherry tomatoes. Yes, so good. It's like two and a half. Throw them in the pot, really probably like 15, 20 minutes on really low. Let them cook down more into a bit of a sauce. Obviously, pro tip there, watch the garlic and shallots don't burn them. So you've got to put the cherry tomatoes in at the right time.
00:03:17
Speaker
I add one butter at this stage, salt and pepper. Then once they're really like saucy, throw it all into a blender or use an immersion blender to get it really like smooth, creamy. Then a can of cannellini beans. Mix them up and then like probably a pound of pasta.
00:03:40
Speaker
mix it all up, taste it, salt, pepper, butter, whatever you need in there. Then like a little, just a little, like maybe half cup for the whole thing, maybe a quarter even of ricotta just to add the very, add some creaminess to it and then serve it with a lot of really finely chopped basil over the top. So it's pretty simple. You're done in 45 minutes and it's a nice hearty dish. I feel like the beans give it like a little protein, but a little half
00:04:10
Speaker
it's a nice I think it's a really nice summer dish because the tomatoes when they're like like really good cherry tomatoes they're also those yellow sunburst tomatoes work really for it so good I love cherry tomatoes and I love all the variations of tomatoes the system's so good to me yeah I only have a few so I try to make them try to make them good I also this is a good one if you're stressed out because
00:04:34
Speaker
that is just a lot of little cherry tomatoes to chop up. I feel like it's the perfect, slightly meditative, but it's not a big project or anything like that. And it's not onions. We're not crying. We're not having eyes. We're in like, cherry tomatoes are so friendly. Other than being really tall and like almost cutting yourself, there is no risk with cherry tomatoes. Yes, yes, totally, totally. What do you have a favorite dish? Do you?
00:04:59
Speaker
What are you talking about? I have a few. I think my go-to right now is eggplant parmesan, but I do it in a casserole form. So I make eggplant parmesan, and then I layer it like a lasagna with sausage, ricotta, mozzarella, tons of sauce, and then I do another layer. So it's like an eggplant parmesan lasagna, essentially. Oh my God, that's amazing.
00:05:26
Speaker
It's like hours in your whole kitchen. It was thrown upside down. There's flour everywhere, oil everywhere. I'm a very neat cook, and I clean as I cook, but this is that one dish that I cannot keep up with. There's no cleaning as you cook. It's just you got to keep going with cooking five different things at once. Wow. All right. Now, everyone wants something Italian and saucy and cheesy. Yes. That sounds delicious. I'm here to pour that. I was looking for that recipe after this. Yes, yeah. Happy to share. Happy to share.
Medbury's Approach to Executive Branding
00:05:56
Speaker
Speaking of recipes to success, let's talk about LinkedIn. So you do a lot of work creating content for brands and for people on LinkedIn. Can you walk me through what it is you really specialize on LinkedIn and what you do? Yes. So what Medberry does is we
00:06:16
Speaker
We're obsessed with LinkedIn. We do offer Instagram and newsletters, but right now LinkedIn is our hero offering. There's just been so much interest in it because it is a really powerful platform. With LinkedIn, it's almost broken into two separate offerings, but they're connected. One thing that we do is
00:06:35
Speaker
ghostwriting for executives on LinkedIn, but it's more than just dashing some posts together and handing them off for them. We are really helping executives excavate their personal brand, figure out their brand positioning, because it's not always super intuitive. You could have 15, 20 years of executive experience, but still have a bit of a block of
00:07:01
Speaker
how do I package up my experience? Where's the intersection between what I know and what people are really going to be interested in or what's going to resonate with them? We do brand positioning, we optimize their profile. We work really closely with them to be also like a thought partner and a guide, and we create the content for them, but with a lot of involvement from them as much as they want to have really
00:07:30
Speaker
we found for our kickoff process, and then on a monthly basis, we'll actually do recorded interviews, which really helps us play. It's like podcast interviewing, because you've got to ask the hard brass tacks questions, but also some fun things to get a sense of who they are, how they talk, what their energy is. And then we have an incredibly talented team of ghostwriters who've done tons of work for really prominent Fortune 500 execs. We put the content together. And then once it's approved, we
00:07:59
Speaker
really strategically post and then nurture that content on behalf of the clients. But I think something too with Xex
LinkedIn Writing Nuances for Executives
00:08:06
Speaker
is there's the strategy and the copy because what works on other platforms doesn't necessarily work on LinkedIn. You have to write differently for LinkedIn than you do nearly anywhere else, but that does not mean it has to be cringy or embarrassing. There's just like little nuances to make sure it performs well.
00:08:23
Speaker
So we're bringing that expertise as well. But also I think it can be really vulnerable for execs because they know this is powerful. If I want to build my brand, find new opportunities, support the company I work for, attract talent, shout out my teams, there's so much here. But at the same time, there's a lot of advice out there. If you're a freelancer or a new business owner, just post daily, engage all the time. Number one, execs don't have time to do that. But also number two,
00:08:53
Speaker
they really, you can make a mistake. You do have something to lose when you're an exec, and I think having a thought partner who's totally on your side, who you have basically a confidential relationship with, where you can be like, here's what I'm working on for the company I work for, but then for myself, here are my personal goals for the next 18 years, and someone who you trust to vet things before they're posted, I think that can, it seems to be really,
00:09:19
Speaker
powerful. So we're strategists, we're thought partners, we're personal brand experts, and we're helping execs really package themselves to attract the goals and opportunities that they want. And then we also do the same thing for brands, which is really fun. It's different, it's very different writing for a brand page than an exec. Some of the conventions are the same. But really, especially with LinkedIn,
00:09:48
Speaker
We're brand storytelling through social media is the way I've been thinking of it lately where we're not just creating wrote posts and getting them out there and engaging. We're really trying to help brands tell and further their stories on such an incredibly powerful platform. LinkedIn is crazy. It can do a lot for you.
00:10:07
Speaker
Yeah, no, it truly can. Would you think of LinkedIn as a viable option for, say, a personal brand that isn't within that exact space? I think of content. Yeah, we work with a lot of publishers, like individual publishers from food bloggers to lifestyle. And I've been trying to slowly make that encouragement to
00:10:27
Speaker
There's still an environment for you on LinkedIn, even if you're not an executive, to have a voice and to have a brand voice and really establish yourself over there versus the traditional networks that we're used to seeing these kind of creators, which is pretty much Instagram and TikTok. Are you seeing any success with those kinds of niches and that kind of brand on LinkedIn?
00:10:51
Speaker
Yes, I'm so happy that you asked that question because I feel like that's the next big thing for LinkedIn is folks from who would typically think of their audiences somewhere else are getting curious because there's so much buzz around it. And we actually do have one client who is she's so cool. She's the founder and CEO of an apparel brand. That's really big on Instagram. And so our work together was designed to
00:11:18
Speaker
filled up her profile as also maybe more the business side of that type of work. But we've been really pleasantly surprised by on LinkedIn. She's not just getting marketing execs who are like, great job with how you position this. She's getting customers who are chatting
00:11:38
Speaker
with her in her DMs on LinkedIn who are commenting on posts like, I just bought that item. I love the prints. I love the colors. On Instagram, there's such an incredible community for her brand, but we weren't totally sure how will this transfer over. And it's been so cool to see, yeah, a lifestyle brand and someone who's known for this really cool progressive company.
00:12:05
Speaker
on Instagram really does have a space and a voice on LinkedIn and the people are here for it. So I absolutely think that you can reach people that you're not reaching on the other platforms. And there's totally an audience for folks who are, as you say, like more traditional content creators or just people who wouldn't think of as like corporate executives necessarily. Totally.
00:12:31
Speaker
for a very long time has had that personality trait of you go to LinkedIn to look for a job, to post a job or to brag about how good you are at your job. Hasn't been this like safe place to be like, this is who I am as a thought leader and this is who my brand is. And so I love that there is going to be that search and that you're also personally like seeing that switch start to happen and could be what's next for LinkedIn. I'm curious though on,
00:12:59
Speaker
How best to position yourself if you're a brand more so in that lifestyle niche. I feel like it's a little bit more clear for the execs, like how you said your whole process is from doing an interview and understanding like who you are as an identity within this space. It's a little bit more clear to talk about that and it's been expected for so long on LinkedIn. So how can a personal brand or a lifestyle brand
00:13:25
Speaker
make that introduction on LinkedIn. What kind of content should you start posting? I do think it's different for each brand and you got to dig in, have some conversations, do some research. But as you asked that, what came to mind for me was a few things. Number one, I don't actually think it's always that different than the type of things that perform well on Instagram, for example. Interesting.
00:13:50
Speaker
style of, or not even the format of the platform is different. Like on Instagram, for example, right? Like you see the picture first and then you have to click to see the full caption usually on LinkedIn. It's the opposite caption first. So you get like a little bit of a hook or one sentence to entice people to click and then an image. But I actually think right now brands that are doing really cool imagery, that's not the corporate B2B
00:14:17
Speaker
blue and white or some boring imagery, the content performs really well. For this apparel client, we've got pictures of models modeling the clothes and it's popping off. Real people are on LinkedIn and they want to see interesting things.
LinkedIn Success for Lifestyle Brands
00:14:37
Speaker
In some ways, it's not that different. Things that are funny perform. I do think that on LinkedIn there,
00:14:45
Speaker
is a little more of an opportunity to compete with your values. For example, if you're a company that is really into sustainability, if that's one of your core values, you can talk about it from the perspective of if someone is interested in being a fan of yours, a follower, a partner of any kind, or just a consumer. What's the story you're telling them
00:15:15
Speaker
maybe from a slightly more professional perspective. But even as I say that, I'm like, it's a little bit vague. It's not like people go to LinkedIn and they're different people who only want to read business content. It's the same folks everywhere. So just the more different and interesting you are, the better. So I think it's a mistake to think you have to totally come up with a whole new voice on LinkedIn. What's going to work on LinkedIn is the same stuff that works on Instagram. You just have to like,
00:15:43
Speaker
make sure you're positioning it for the platform, optimizing it. Like in some ways it's almost the more technical side of things that you have to figure out because LinkedIn's finicky. If you put a link in a LinkedIn post, it's not going to do that well because the platform doesn't want you to go off of LinkedIn. So you can't just be linking out to articles or blog posts that you wrote. Keep the content interesting. Keep your Vant brand voice can be a little bit edgy and push things a little further.
00:16:11
Speaker
than other brands and you'll probably see some results. Is there something that you should do from a brand audit perspective? Because, you know, resources are always thin. We're always preaching about how there's a million things to do, the to-do list never end. Is there something that brands can do before making the jump to LinkedIn that yes, this does make sense for me to start posting on this platform as well? Like, how do you make that executive decision?
00:16:40
Speaker
Okay. That's a great question. So how do you decide I want to add LinkedIn to the mix basically? Totally. Yeah. I think probably with any brand you want to start with one platform. So I guess I'll presume that LinkedIn isn't where they started. So I'd say it's a great question. I think that almost any brand will benefit from being on LinkedIn. I think Instagram content, if you know what you're doing actually transitions really well.
00:17:09
Speaker
So I think probably first and foremost is like, do you have your brand positioning together? Do you have a content plan that's working really well on one platform? And then this isn't LinkedIn specific, it's just any like second social platform specific. I'd say give it maybe three to six months and figure out what's working, what's resonating, what's not working, because then you're gonna have six months of like,
00:17:37
Speaker
greatest hits posts that you can get in for whatever the platform that you're looking at next is and work with that. So I would say if you're a brand on Instagram, do it for six months and then figure out what were your top 20, 25 posts. And then maybe do, if you can't afford, if it's a, if it's a lean situation and you can't afford to then go work with a LinkedIn expert, get on a consulting call with a LinkedIn expert for an hour.
00:18:06
Speaker
90 minutes, like we do those at Medbury to just help them give you a sense of, okay, you're going to have to tweak the copy a little bit here because of the conventions of the platform or XYZ. But I'd say start with one, figure out what works and then figure out how to reskin it for the others. Now like video though, one thing with LinkedIn that's really interesting is that unlike any other platform, video does not perform very well. Interesting. And so if you're doing all
00:18:33
Speaker
Reels, that's going to do way better on move over to TikTok or vice versa. Don't just try and post a bunch of Instagram reels onto your LinkedIn. The static or image posts are going to do a lot better. So it's just something to be mindful of too. Because of the video component, Instagram and TikTok are a little more interchangeable. And sometimes if brands have invested really heavily in that type of video, like which a lot of B2C brands do, which makes sense, they are going to have to reskin things a little bit for LinkedIn.
00:19:03
Speaker
That makes sense. Let's talk about content because I feel like the content that's on LinkedIn is a bit unique because there are still those just text-based posts that are getting tons of engagement. It makes sense. That video isn't as much just because that's not natively. That's not what the platform was about. It was more on that Twitter aspect to where it is text-based.
00:19:27
Speaker
We're supporting whatever the text was. It was more of this text conversation that everyone should have. So what kind of content mediums are the best on LinkedIn right now? Short form content, long form, bullets, line breaks. Have you found the perfect recipe? Because I'm seeing everyone do a lot of different stuff and even from a thousand emojis to just one emoji. It's a lot right now.
00:19:52
Speaker
It is. Okay. Kavya is that it's always changing. Two, sometimes it's really hard to know. Like video does not perform very well, but I can think of one video post we did for a client that was, that had amazing results. Like it's a, it's atypical. So there's so many different factors. It's not always really easy to say do this, don't do that, but just general best practice emojis. I'm glad you mentioned them. I think two or three years ago,
00:20:22
Speaker
Just to spice up posts a little, LinkedIn became very emoji heavy. And I think I see that kind of, it actually looks a little dated now when I see tons of emojis creating post formatting. For a couple of our clients, we have in their brand brief no more than one emoji per post. But formatting does matter. You want to make it scannable, easy to read.
00:20:45
Speaker
Generally, you want to have one line that some folks might say the hook, but it's the one thing you can see before you decide, am I going to click see more or am I going to keep scrolling past this? So, and I actually had one post that did pretty well. I was talking about the idea that if hooks are not your thing, there's like some gurus who will say,
00:21:04
Speaker
steal these 10 hooks and your posts are going to take off. And it'll be like, I read these eight books on management so you don't have to, or steal my framework for XYZ. And those can perform well. But for a lot of people, they feel uncomfortable and cringe. So you can also just think of your first line as an opportunity to entice, be entertaining, welcome people, or signal what you're going to talk about to try and draw the right people to click see more.
00:21:35
Speaker
in general, long paragraphs don't do well on LinkedIn. You want to have one, maybe two sentences max per paragraph for a couple reasons. One is just legibility, like we like white space. I think also there's something energetic about it. If you're reading a lot of sentences in a row, it can feel dense, but you almost pause a little bit mentally when there's a space down. So because
00:21:59
Speaker
LinkedIn is often info heavy. I think it helps with the rhythm when people are taking stuff in. Here's a thing. And here's another idea. It slows them down. Also the platform is paying attention to how long people spend.
Engagement Tips for LinkedIn Content
00:22:13
Speaker
looking at your post. Is it eight milliseconds or is it 30 milliseconds or is it two minutes? And so it's another element is if people are like spending a little time going a little more slowly, you might get more impressions just because the platform is going to notice, hey, people are taking their time to read this. So that's like some formatting things.
00:22:35
Speaker
And also, people have different styles. Some of our clients are very conversational. It's important to them. It doesn't sound like a copywriter wrote it. But I do think that there is a balance, because at the end of the day, it's copywriting. You're competing with hundreds of thousands of other posts in that person's feed. And there need to be some
00:23:00
Speaker
ways that you're intriguing and drawing the reader forward. And if you're not a professional writer, you're not going to know the nuances of how to do that always. So it's a balance of craft and just being natural and saying what you need and want to say. I would say
00:23:20
Speaker
Posts that are really long every now and then they pop off. But in general, I've found that an interesting thing, which is very shorter, like shorter posts, like one to three sentences, tend to get a lot of likes. If they're interesting, they can get a lot of impressions, but not always. Sometimes they'll get a ton of likes, but not a lot of impressions. Posts that are a little more in the middle, maybe
00:23:45
Speaker
a hundred, 150 words, that can be a sweet spot. If you're like keeping it interesting and moving it along, I think when it comes to imagery, it actually seems like posts that have related imagery. If it's check out this chart below, which blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That can be really helpful. But if you're debating an image and the only reason you'd attach it is just to have some imagery associated with the post.
00:24:13
Speaker
I'd say skip it. That's just what I'm saying. Even in the last couple of months is that images that feel superfluous are not serving the content very well. That makes sense. It's almost like the idea of the delete button is your friend. So when you're trying to come up with those catchy headlines or you're trying to get that right word count between 100, 150 words, like that right mix of everything or adding the image.
00:24:38
Speaker
I just read, I can't remember who it was, but I just read about this on LinkedIn. Someone posted about how
00:24:44
Speaker
the delete button should be your best friend, even if you're not a copywriter. If you're a personal brand or trying to be a thought leader in any space, write what you have to say and then go through and delete as much as you can. So whether it's that hook that you think is a hook, deleting that section, getting to the point, people will then want to click the see more because you already have them engage. You're addressing what it is that they want to know about this. So they're going to
00:25:09
Speaker
Trust that you have something valuable to say click on the see more and scan through it I would assume it's the same for the image idea if the image isn't actually adding value to your post Why include it because this isn't gosh 2015 Facebook to where we have to have images now Yes, totally It's a safe space And even that I do think it's one thing I've been it's funny you say that because I was I think there's a balance in that
00:25:39
Speaker
Definitely anything extraneous. I love what you said like delete button is your friend. Mm-hmm
00:25:46
Speaker
But also, you want to give yourself a little space to breathe and just be a person, because if there's too many super short, concise sentences, it sounds a little like Hemingway. And it's like an emotionally repressed Sun Also Rises vibe sometimes. And that's how you give yourself a little bit of runway or a little joke just in the right spot every now and then. It's like a breath of fresh air where it's like an efficient but real person wrote this comment.
00:26:14
Speaker
So it's such a balance. But yeah, it's funny. We try to have a rule. We do a lot of content in advance, because it's not super, super timely. So generally, we're giving clients content several weeks ahead of the month we plan to post it. But every now and then, something pops up where it's OK. Can we turn this around quickly? And we really try to not write and post something on the same day if we can avoid it. Because sometimes, even just that overnight,
00:26:44
Speaker
Like you sleep on it, you come back to it. You see so many more opportunities to delete like what you're talking about. Like the first time through you're like, but then you look at it with fresh eyes and you're like, this can go boring, not necessary. Yeah. What was I thinking? That was crazy. Thank God we didn't post this. Yeah. So like that even just sleeping on stuff is a great way to help yourself like edit. If you're trying to delete stuff, reduce down and distill ideas.
00:27:12
Speaker
Totally. And by sleeping on it, having that fresh perspective to look at it, you may also think of other things to add to it. So often you can see when content is rushed content and it's published and it's just this like word vomit of things and it's very unorganized. But there is something beautiful about that human element to it of you're right, not deleting too much. And if
00:27:33
Speaker
Not to the point to where we're having misspellings or grammatical errors, but if you have this little bit of flair, you can end up potentially getting followers from that and getting engagement from that because it's, Oh, Hey person behind this brand. Finally. Nice to actually meet you versus this, this corporate image that you've been saying and like being this, you're also now relatable. You're making mistakes. You're making fun of something. And now as a potential consumer, I can trust you a little bit more.
00:28:03
Speaker
by having that relationship. Yes, exactly. Don't waste people's time, but it's okay to be like a tiny bit playful in the right way. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. We're humans, the right word. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Lots of balancing, lots of testing. Cause like you said at the beginning, what works for execs may not work for lifestyle brands or from an e-commerce brand to an affiliate market or like it could look very different. So having
00:28:28
Speaker
time to test and see what kind of content really makes a difference. But thinking
AI's Role in LinkedIn Content Creation
00:28:33
Speaker
of time, I can't not talk about AI, the thing in the room. So AI has this, gosh, perspective with it. Depending upon who you talk to, there is a positive perspective and there could be a negative perspective. How do you feel about using AI for creating content on LinkedIn, whether it's for ideas or actual writing itself? Where do you sit with all of it?
00:29:00
Speaker
I think I'm really open to AI. I don't feel particularly reactive to it. I just think we don't know where it's going to go. I have not found success in getting AI to create content.
00:29:19
Speaker
But I do think sometimes it's helpful. Sometimes we want it to help us a lot more than it does. We'll be like, this is feeling a little messy. Can you refine this post? And it just never really nails it. But I do think sometimes it's helpful where if you wrote something and you're like,
00:29:37
Speaker
This is 70% there and sometimes we'll pop it in and be like, how would you make this better? Sometimes it gives us like really bad advice. That's everything's exclamation points and rocket emojis. But every now and then it'll be like, it'll give you something interesting. So I think like my hope is that over time it becomes almost like a helpful editor or partner. That would be cool. But
00:30:03
Speaker
I actually, do you know who Ryan Holiday is? He's the Daily Stoic. He is his podcast team. I love him. I was listening to an older interview he did last weekend, and he was talking about ... It's a little off top, but I guess it was related to AI in my mind. He was with the Daily Stoic on Instagram years ago. It was a pretty big account, but it was just daily, like a little drawing of a stoic and then a stoic quote over it.
00:30:31
Speaker
then he thought the account was doing really well. But then when he'd write a book or do a talk and pop in to say, hey, is Ryan come to this thing? People were like, who are you? Because he was not really associated with the account. It was almost like a faceless account he was running. And he talked about how that was a little uncomfortable for him. He realized he had to be the human element behind the brand. And he had to work to create a personal connection
00:31:00
Speaker
with the people who are interested in the content he put out and following him. And so I think over time, especially around personal branding, it could maybe, if it gets better, I can't imagine it not getting better in the next five years, could become a good partner. But I don't think, at least right now, I don't feel worried about it overtaking personal branding. And I think the folks who are more willing
00:31:26
Speaker
And brands who are more willing to put founders and execs out there are going to do well because that's going to be the differentiator. Like as AI content gets better and better, your willingness to create a connection with the actual people behind these accounts is going to make a big difference. A hundred percent. It's like this.
00:31:47
Speaker
Great coworker. I've said this a thousand times. AI is an amazing coworker to even go to it and be like, Hey, I'm a thought leader in this space. This is what I specialize in. Here's a brief about me. I'm trying to come up with new ideas to create content on LinkedIn. What should I create LinkedIn posts for? Not like full blog posts, but just LinkedIn content around.
00:32:08
Speaker
And of course, like the first 15 it'll spit out is in the ever evolving world of digital marketing. Okay. Let's refine and then let's refine. And then eventually I may get two out of 20 of those that are like, Oh, this is great. I can write about this and I can actually talk about this. So it'll give me this idea and then I'll go to LinkedIn and craft up a post about it. But it's the brands that are just solely using AI to do the ideation.
00:32:36
Speaker
and write the copy and edit the copy and then just going copy pasta with it. That's where I think you're 100% right. We're just a little too early in the stage to rely on it that heavily for every part of the process.
00:32:50
Speaker
Totally and I don't know I have to say I think maybe I'll have to ask you for your prompt trip your prompt tricks later Cuz I wouldn't call it right now a helpful colleague. I'd call it like a bad assistant Okay, that's trash that's trash that's trash but you're totally free and I don't know if you find this as a content creator But like sometimes me or the folks on the team are working on something and just like we're exhausted
00:33:17
Speaker
And we're like, I just want to pop this into a machine and get a new idea. I just want to feel supported. And sometimes you can do that. And sometimes it gives you something useful back most of the time, not, but it's even just if something can do 10% of the mental heavy lifting when it comes to writing, it can feel like a relief sometimes, but I can't, I don't think that thus far, actually one, one place spot, it did do really good work for us.
00:33:45
Speaker
was it was a specialized consulting product project months ago, but it helped us do some product work for a client and it did a really good job. Okay. Okay. So from the product outline and campaign standpoint, yeah, I could see that it's definitely
00:34:01
Speaker
There's a rabbit hole with AI, 100% and then be like, okay, that hour that I just spent redoing the prompt a thousand times, could I have just sat down with a blank piece of paper and done old fashioned brainstorming myself?
00:34:16
Speaker
110%, but it's that once when it does populate a really good idea and you're like, maybe it'll do it again. Maybe it'll do it again and again, and it's not 100% there yet, but whether it's a good coworker or allows you on that, you have to train it a whole bunch. It's still there. I'm really excited to see what it does years from now. Like you said, that five year mark and
00:34:42
Speaker
how, as thought leaders or even execs, whatever that looks like in a content creation aspect for something like LinkedIn, so that we are able to create better content across whatever platform it is. That would be the dream to be able to have an assistant to get us there. Yeah, totally. That is tricky, though. I don't know. Do you want to read content that you know a machine wrote?
00:35:08
Speaker
Now, unless I just need an answer, a straight black and white answer, what temperature do I need to bake these pork chops at? Oh, cool. That's all I need. But people don't go to LinkedIn for that. People go to LinkedIn to actually learn and to educate themselves on something as well as develop connections, which to develop a connection, you have to build a relationship and rapport. And so that's commenting on people, that's following people, that's understanding what kind of content and what it is they're saying.
00:35:37
Speaker
And so that does take a whole lot more work from the human aspect and machine learning. I don't think we'll ever get to that, but we'll see. Yeah. And I don't know, it is interesting to think about because say we knew we're like, yeah, it's actually getting so good. You can give anyone could be like, here's my voice brief, write me five LinkedIn posts.
00:36:02
Speaker
I think at that point it could really impact the way people think of social media or LinkedIn too. It'd be like, why do I want to go? Even if it's good, if I know a machine wrote it, I don't care. So like it is, I feel like how our perceptions of AI are going to keep changing too. And I think that will also change how we interact with the content as well. I could see it being, I don't know, just like something that eventually we're just like,
00:36:26
Speaker
It's just a bunch of people posting when a machine spit out. And even if it's good, I don't want to spend time on it. It's arguably, it feels like we're in that environment right now. So when you do see a piece of LinkedIn content really take off, really analyzing like what made this work for them? What was it that was so unique about this? And you can see where people have definitely probably used AI for this or people didn't use AI.
00:36:54
Speaker
It really was their voice. Or maybe that's where we see video taking off more because copy becomes all this AI copy. Who knows what this is going to look like? But I think we're definitely in that a little bit of the atmosphere of where people are already like, okay, is this all just written by AI? Oh, it's not. All right. And who are the real people still here? And let's follow them. Let's see what their content strategies are.
00:37:19
Speaker
Yeah, totally. It's funny. I don't think most LinkedIn posts I look at, I think AI wrote. I think you can tell every now and then, but it's so rare that I'd be like, do you though? Maybe I'm missing it. When you go on LinkedIn, are you like, oh, I think that chat GPT wrote that for them. I'd say probably.
00:37:39
Speaker
three to four out of every 10 posts gives the feel. But this is also where it's difficult because if you take a piece of copy that you wrote and you take it through like an AI tool checker to see it, it could say that part of that was written by AI and you're like, I personally hand wrote this.
00:37:59
Speaker
It's hard to say. Sometimes it just gives that feel like you mentioned earlier with the like excessive use of emojis or the rocket emoji or totally the like ever evolving world or digital landscape. There's some of those things that I am aware of because I see chat LGBT do it every time I ask it for anything and it's but I'm not sure everyone would always see those patterns because it depends on how they're using AI entirely. Yeah.
00:38:28
Speaker
That's interesting. Lots to come with where AI and content creation will be, whether for social media or for site content. But as we wrap up, I'd love to hear what is your current secret sauce? What is a new strategy that you just uncovered or tool that you're really obsessed with right now? Yeah, I love this question. It was hard to pick one. I think that if you're someone listening to this and you want
00:38:57
Speaker
your LinkedIn content to perform better, your newish to LinkedIn.
Intentional Engagement on LinkedIn
00:39:01
Speaker
There is a process or tactic I want to suggest, which is engagement really does matter, especially when you're just starting out or if you don't have a lot of followers or a personal brand already behind you. Like this might not make sense for all execs, but it could make sense for a lot of people. And there'll be this advice that's like,
00:39:22
Speaker
Go on and engage 30 minutes before you post and 30 minutes after you post it. And they say it wakes up the algorithm and you have to give to get. And I do think LinkedIn's a very reciprocal environment, but I don't think that just randomly engaged is good advice. I think you need to go find about 20 to 30 people whose content that you like who post near daily and are people that you feel comfortable supporting.
00:39:52
Speaker
and just put them all on a spreadsheet. And then after you post, I don't think you have to do this before, but after you post, just click into all of their profiles, see if they've posted anything in the last day or so, and make sure it goes support it, like it, and comment on it. And LinkedIn is really about community building. And if you've selected people who are posting regularly, also who are commenting back regularly, check their comment activity, and they're people you want to support,
00:40:21
Speaker
and their content resonates with you, they're over time probably gonna clock you and support you back. So it's a way to make sure that you're intentional with your engagement, that you're not just going with the flow of whatever the algorithm sends your way. You're supporting people you wanna support. And generally it is, especially for people who are posting daily, it's a really reciprocal environment. And if someone's giving their content a lot of love, a lot of those folks will make an effort to go support you back.
00:40:51
Speaker
So if you're someone who's, I know I'm supposed to engage and I'm going on and I'm liking and commenting, but I'm just not like feeling like I get anything out of it. That's my kind of secret sauce. And I think it's not a forever tactic and you want to be careful that you're choosing people you genuinely really respect and want to help. But I think that's a little, just a little tactic if you're new to LinkedIn and you want to grow.
00:41:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's amazing advice. I love the spreadsheet idea because so often I find myself on LinkedIn like, all right, I know I'm supposed to be doing the networking part of LinkedIn's a two-way streak. So here's the networking part. And then just going through the feed that LinkedIn gives me and I just feel so lost. So then I start rabbit holing or I'll click on someone's link. So I like the spreadsheet idea because that makes your time very intentional while you're on LinkedIn. Totally. Because a lot of people who are just starting out like,
00:41:44
Speaker
They don't have a ton of time either. And so the idea of spending and also LinkedIn can really take it can take up a lot of headspace. I don't know if you've had that experience, but it can be exhausting, especially in the beginning. You're trying to figure it out. You don't know what works. Just be like, do your post, do your spreadsheet, support your people, sign off and move on with your day. I promise you're going to make some progress.
00:42:05
Speaker
Yeah, no, I love it. And let's definitely end on that because that is perfect homework to go with. So thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing all of your great LinkedIn content advice. No, thank you so much for having me. This was really fun. Thank you.