The Agency Profit Podcast Get Reach and Results on LinkedIn, with Marcus Murphy – Episode 33
About Marcus:
A recognized instructor and speaker at LinkedIn, Marcus Murphy cares deeply about the flourishing of fellow sales experts and entrepreneurs.
Currently, he’s Head of Partnerships at DigitalMarketer.com, which arms its ‘insiders’ with strategic insights from industry experts, while also providing templates, tools and swipe files to help you become a better marketer.
Marcus previously worked for Yelp in San Francisco, going from start-up to multi-billion dollar giant. He’s also honed his expertise at Infusionsoft as Global Partner Development Manager. There, he developed and broadened new international markets through strategic partnerships.
When not at work, he’s either spending quality time with wife, Gina, and his daughters – or he’s working out!
So, Why LinkedIn…?
What makes LinkedIn such a unique opportunity right now? The answer to that is – basically – there are 675 million people on the platform.
Additionally, organic reach across other social platforms is essentially dead, while LinkedIn still excels at this. Why? Because its algorithm loves engagement.
Start having conversations on there to up your engagement, and the platform will show these posts to more people. This, in turn, motivates yet more users to get involved in your conversation.
If your content is not starting the right conversations with potential connections, then it’s just noise, a distraction, a therefore a waste of your time.
In short… content is King.
Optimize your LinkedIn Profile to Start Conversations
The three initial motivators for people to connect with you and your brand on LinkedIn are: your profile picture, your header image, and your byline/title. So, make them count.
You have a unique opportunity in your profile photo right away. If possible, invest $50 in the headshot. Do it 60% of the frame against a clean background.
More importantly, Marcus says…
“Make sure you’re not Catfishing people with your 1989 headshot… It’s tough to have integrity built and trust built into that.”
If potential connections see your photo and what you have positioned yourself as – plus, if you ask a question in your ‘Summary‘ – then there’s your conversation starter.
Always remember…
- Everything on your profile should be driven to start conversations
- Get a good professional headshot that takes up 60% of the frame
- Optimize your headline to start a conversation – and be specific
- Use your Summary to hook the visitor; sell your story, share what you’re about / what your mission is
- Put a call to action in your Summary, invite people to join your journey
If you do those things, then you’re better prepared to be part of the massive growth that’s happening on LinkedIn right now.
Personal LinkedIn Profile and Brand Page Relationship
Chances are, if you’re an agency owner on LinkedIn, you have both a personal profile and a business page. Now, how can you actually leverage and create momentum by using both? As Marcus says…
“You gotta have a business page, you have to have a showcase page, and you have to have a website as a business – because everybody wants to see that you are who you say you are. They want to have those integrity pieces and something to anchor to.”
Below is a strategy behind utilizing those assets together.
- Use your business page as the anchor
- The business page is designed to inform what your business is about
- Post content and updates, but don’t expect it to drive organic growth
- Pay to boost content that is doing well organically
- Your personal page will drive the growth of your business page
Your personal page should be used to generate ‘reach’, while your business page will provide conversion (i.e. website visits) and build buyer confidence.
Optimizing Content for Organic Reach on LinkedIn
Let’s talk core strategies to consider when trying to optimize the content you’re posting on LinkedIn to obtain organic reach / drive results.
Every piece of content Marcus generates is put through the lens of who Digital Marketer is as an organization. You need to create a ‘Character Diamond’ highlighting what your agency excels at, and then what balances that. Or, to put it another way…
“No one would like Superman if there was no Kryptonite and he wasn’t a nerd – because none of us can fly, and we’d think he’s an asshole – ‘Oh, he’s flying again, well, screw that guy!’ We are marketing savants at Digital Marketer, but we are also highly irreverent and that’s a good balance; it helps people to go ‘Oh, these guys are really smart – but they’re human beings’.”
In order to optimize your content for organic reach on LinkedIn, and therefore boost your ‘connections’ above 500 and beyond…
- Be authentic with your content; don’t be too staunch on LinkedIn
- Build a Character Diamond for yourself and your personal brand
- Ask yourself how your content can start conversations…
- Comments trump ‘likes’, and are heavily weighed in organic reach
- Responding to comments is tremendously important
- Consistency and quality content is key
- Engage and comment on posts written by people who have a big following
Again, it’s advantageous to have more (and more) people engage with, and comment on, the post as it takes it so much further.
Specific LinkedIn Tips for the Agency Owner
So, you’re running an agency, you’ve got a small team, and looking at LinkedIn as the next channel you want to double down on. What’s the execution plan?
- Have a client profile. Who’s your ideal? Ask yourself where they live, what do they care about?
- Ensure clarity about who your audience is and what kind of content they would get value from
- Try decipher/preempt the issues that ‘your people’ are trying to solve, then go create content to resolve said issues
- Nail your strategy for LinkedIn, and then productize that strategy for your clients – do it for them
- As an agency owner, you should be exceptional at this so you can advise your clients
By way of summary; it’s great to be professional on LinkedIn, but also bring it down to a human level.
Take a “buyer first” approach and simply try to be helpful; the million dollar question for a potential client is usually something simple like “What can I help you with right now?”
Lastly, don’t be afraid to connect them to someone who may be a better fit!
Want to see more of Marcus? Follow him @…
Did you learn anything new from this episode? If so, let us know in the comments below – we value your feedback! Our next instalment of #APP, on May 27th, will see us chat with Alex Glenn. To view our previous blog with Chris Badget, make your way here…
Agency Profitability Tool Kit
If you’re looking for more resources to help you improve your agency’s profitability, then check out the Agency Profitability Tool Kit – it’s full of the same templates and checklists we’ve used with consulting clients to help them improve their profitability by over 100% in under 60 days.