LinkedIn Content Strategy: Achieving Sustainable Growth  ## Metadata - Author: [[Social Media Marketing Podcast]] - Full Title: LinkedIn Content Strategy: Achieving Sustainable Growth - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/e2046a3e-dd0f-489b-b988-6d639e426e32 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **LinkedIn's Unique Business Reach** - LinkedIn uniquely blends business intent with an algorithm that still distributes content broadly. - Use LinkedIn because its audience is business-focused and primed for relationships and revenue. Transcript: Gus Bhandal LinkedIn content strategy well? Particularly when it comes to LinkedIn and particularly when it comes to a content strategy, I think the important thing is that it still has one of the best algorithms out there in terms Of pushing our content to a variety of people. Arguably, it's the world's only business focused platform as well. And it's one of the world's largest. So I believe Facebook has about 4 billion members. Instagram has about 2 billion. LinkedIn has just passed the 1.2 billion mark. So it makes it, it's kind of, it puts into the top four or five kind of social media platforms in the world. However, that 1.2 billion people are specifically business focused people. The reason people join LinkedIn is either to find jobs or put out their CVs or talk to fellow professionals, et cetera. And I think particularly for business owners, executives, professionals, so on and so forth, it's a prime platform to make money, build relationships, get clients, et cetera, and Really amplify their business and help it to essentially create sustainable success. Michael Stelzner So when it comes to redeveloping or enhancing your content strategy, for those of us that have been on LinkedIn for a while, and maybe we're just doing what we've always done, what's The upside to really dial in our content strategy? Gus Bhandal I think particularly with a content strategy, I think the thing is it's comparatively easy to reach a lot of people, but particularly when it comes to content strategy itself, it's Easy to create a variety of content. So most platforms are very kind of single focused. Most platforms try to be all things to all people, but ultimately they're single focused. So Instagram is images. Pinterest is images. Snapchat is kind of, you know, sure content. Twitter and Threads and Blue sky are very kind of, you know, sure form text content, etc. On LinkedIn, we can kind of create a ([Time 0:07:01](https://share.snipd.com/snip/dc3688d8-ed2d-45ff-bf46-ae92d68715e4)) - **Journal Your Week** - Journal your week publicly to create authentic, regular content only you can provide. - Use those diary-style posts to humanize your brand and attract opportunities like podcast invites. Transcript: Michael Stelzner And you had an example of somebody who was making human resources a little bit less boring, and maybe we could talk about that too. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Gus Bhandal So particularly people who are early on in their kind of content journey, or if they have been on LinkedIn for a while and they want to kind of mix up their strategy, what I normally say Is to journal your week, like either on a Friday, most likely on a Friday, tell the world what you've been up to this week. So for example, Monday, I saw a new client and Tuesday, I went networking or Wednesday, I ran a workshop. And, you know, Thursday, I bought pizza for everybody in the office. You know, it's that kind of journaling of the week. And as much as I love AI, as much as I use AI, etc, the only person that can ever journal your week is yourself. You can use AI and other tools to kind of obviously polish that up. But the only person that's had your experiences is you. And when you create that content on LinkedIn, it kind of resonates with others. And particularly the case of the HR specialist that I work with. He essentially came to me and said, I want my ([Time 0:10:50](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f4fd2f0e-1c40-469b-8320-5179373ea281)) - **Pin A Pinned Intro Post** - Create an introductory post that mixes personal and professional details and pin it to Featured. - Update it periodically so visitors immediately understand who you are and what you offer. Transcript: Gus Bhandal Absolutely. For anybody that follows me or kind of will follow me, you'll see in my featured section, as it were on LinkedIn, there's essentially a post that talks all about me. And my post talks about my professional life and my personal life. So it basically says, I support the Liverpool FC soccer team. One of my favorite artists is George Michael. I love, you know, Mexican food, et cetera. But also I've got almost 30 years of marketing experience. I've got loads of letters after my name. I've trained thousands of people on LinkedIn, et cetera, et cetera. So it's the personal and the professional. And with that, I've added a selfie like of me because, you know, selfies work on LinkedIn because people love looking at other people's faces. And then essentially what you do to be very technical is once you've published that piece of content, you click on the three dots in the corner and it will say add to featured. And then you add it to your featured section, which then sits at the top of your profile on a permanent, well, I say on a permanent basis until obviously you choose to take it down and obviously Add another post in there. Now, your LinkedIn profile generally should be comparatively professional. ([Time 0:18:34](https://share.snipd.com/snip/94ebcb93-dc22-4764-b448-759b81ae4477)) - **Use Case Stories As Soft-Sell** - Share testimonials and case studies as a soft-sell to show value without overt pitching. - Let client stories prove your competence and attract prospects who trust social proof. Transcript: Gus Bhandal The next track I always talk about is the ballad. I call it the soft sell, as in it's the selling without selling. And it's the very soft, the easy track that just eases people into your world. So you've already had the introductory track in terms of this is who I am, this is what I do, etc. And the Ballad is normally, for example, if you liken it to a track, it's something like Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra. So it's very much the testimonials, the case studies, the reviews, the social proof, etc. Essentially telling the world how great you are without actually saying, I am great. It's all the stuff that it's very kind of selling without selling. It's the soft sell where people come into your world and they slowly but surely learn more about you without you having to say, please look at how great I am. It's lots of other people saying how great you are, which then drives, again, it drives traffic to you. ([Time 0:24:13](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7005c036-71b3-4ea5-a64a-bcd93ea12136)) - **Celebrate Wins Without Bragging** - Celebrate wins (clients, milestones, launches) to create shareable, engaging posts. - Keep specifics optional; readers will applaud the achievement without financial details. Transcript: Gus Bhandal Right? So we go into, for example, the Back in Black by ACDC or Paranoid by Black Sabbath. It's those rousing tracks where we celebrate our wins. And it's very different to testimonials and case studies, et cetera, particularly in this kind of context. It's where we create content that obviously gets people to listen to us, to celebrate our wins, to play air guitar with us, et cetera. So I've kind of made some notes here in terms of the rock tracks are celebrating our wins, new clients, getting a speaking gig, hitting income targets, or even talking about, you know, Particular kind of work milestones. You know, we've been in business for this long, or I've created a new event, or I'm hosting a networking event, or I've been on this podcast, etc. It's basically that track where it's the rock track where people can celebrate us. You know, when we go to a rock gig, whether it's Black Sabbath, or ACDC, or Motley Crue, or whoever it may be, we kind of watch them and think, oh, you know, I really want to be Tommy Lee in Some cases, you know, for example. But it's kind of listening to that music where we're like, I want to play along with these guys. I want to celebrate these guys. I want to clap along with these guys. I want to applaud their, you know, they're great, etc. So it's the kind of content we create where we celebrate ourselves without kind of being too arrogant, etc. ([Time 0:28:40](https://share.snipd.com/snip/73642e07-6793-429c-8b32-15b82c4abe61)) - **Run Regular Pattern-Interrupt Experiments** - Schedule experimental posts as pattern interrupts: video, polls, or document carousels. - Treat experiments as playgrounds to discover formats or topics that can become regular tracks. Transcript: Gus Bhandal Yeah. So the next track, so I always talk about the experimental track, which I liken to. So for example, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Oh, I love that song. A very long song though, right? Yeah. A really long song. Yeah. But to start with, nobody liked it. It didn't reach the top 40. It didn't get into the charts. Everybody hated it. Everybody said, why are Queen doing this, et cetera. However, we have to try things, right? Many years later,, hit number one and all the really, on top of the billboard charts and all the rest of it. But I talk about experimental tracks. And particularly in this case, the example is using, so it's a pattern interrupt. So it's creating content that is different to the rest of the content that we create. So the content that I create is very much text-based content. So I get people, I tell stories, I get people to read the content, to get to the end of my content, to get to a particular point. But a pattern interrupt would be me creating a video or me doing a poll or me adding a document post, which is essentially like a carousel. So it's that pattern interrupt where people say, oh, how come Gus is posting something like this, for example? And I think everybody should have this experimental track. So kind of write it into our content planning in terms of, here's who my ideal clients are. Here's the audience that I've curated. Here's the kind of content that I create on a regular basis. ([Time 0:37:14](https://share.snipd.com/snip/d0411c4f-ed93-4ed4-8a7d-d24a545096ff)) - **Post Relatable Engagement Triggers** - Post relatable 'floor filler' stories (setbacks, socials, events) to invite audience interaction. - Use these posts to generate residual engagement that boosts future reach. Transcript: Gus Bhandal So the final track that I talk about is what I call the floor filler. So, you know, we're in a nightclub and, you know, et cetera. And we want to dance with people. We, you know, we get on the dance floor first and we want people to follow us, you know, whether we are John Travolta or, you know, whoever it may be kind of thing, we want to get on the dance Floor first. The track that I compare this to is Less Dance by David Bowie. And it's a track that genuinely gets people to dance. Michael Stelzner You just got that tune stuck in a bunch of people's heads. Just by saying, just by saying, let's dance, you know, put on your red shoes and dance the blues. Okay. So keep going. Sorry. Absolutely. Gus Bhandal No, no, good. I'm going to, I'm going to head to Spotify straight after this. Listen to a whole album, obviously, but you know, it's the content that resonates with an audience. So in terms of the notes that I've made here, so it's about, for example, personal stories, business setbacks, hosting events, things that can resonate with others. And it's where they can partake in the engagement. So, for example, if I write a post where I say, oh, you know, my old boss was somebody I hated or disliked, as it were, or, you know, I've had this business setback where I haven't hit my income Goals or I failed in this or I created this business and it failed or, you know, whatever it may be, you know, my tech stack failed or I didn't get a gig or my proposal wasn't accepted and All that kind of stuff. It resonates with people. Just to be clear, it doesn't have to be bad news stories. It can also be good news stories like I'm hosting this event or I'm running this thing or here's something that I'm doing. Are you doing anything similar and all that kind of stuff? I was on a podcast or I hosted this or et cetera. It's content that resonates with others where they then want to come along with you for the ride, where they get on the dance floor with you. So essentially, they hold your hand, they get on the dance floor and they engage with you. ([Time 0:40:36](https://share.snipd.com/snip/64e4bf47-e72a-4be0-b856-91378e0f099b)) - **Think Of Content As An Album** - Mix content types like an album to reach different audience segments and stages. - Varying tracks prevents fatigue and matches diverse audience motivations. Transcript: Gus Bhandal So in terms of the introductory post, in terms of like, like when we start with the introductory, but the opening track, et cetera, that should be roughly around 10% of your content in Terms of, cause that's an evergreen piece of content, but you don't need to introduce yourself every week, right? Because, you know, hopefully most of your audience knows you. So I recommend that's something that you would kind of publish every three months or so. Like on a regular basis, just do an introductory post of, you know, this is who I am, et cetera. The ballot, so in terms of the content that where we're creating, where people, you know, where we share testimonials case studies etc i normally say that would be roughly around another 10 okay so we're 20 so far keep going so for example the three left will be rock track the experimental trunk and floor filler now for me the experimental track should be roughly about 20 of your content okay so that you know in terms of here's something that's of the box. So, you know, it's a fifth of your content. So for example, let's say you post a couple of posts per week, for example. So every couple of weeks, every two to three weeks, you're posting something that's different. That's a pattern interrupt to everything else that you're creating. And so therefore the floor fillers and the rock tracks, the tracks that really get people to engage, either they celebrate you or they jump on the dance floor to celebrate with you, I Would say they're about 30% each. ([Time 0:44:09](https://share.snipd.com/snip/23c614b5-42eb-4fd2-9712-ea15db852e17)) - **Refresh Your Evergreen Intro Quarterly** - Keep your evergreen introductory post updated roughly every three months. - You don't need to reintroduce yourself weekly; refresh the pinned intro periodically. Transcript: Gus Bhandal Post, in terms of like, like when we start with the introductory, but the opening track, et cetera, that should be roughly around 10% of your content in terms of, cause that's an evergreen Piece of content, but you don't need to introduce yourself every week, right? Because, you know, hopefully most of your audience knows you. So I recommend that's something that you would kind of publish every three months or so. Like on a regular basis, just do an introductory post of, you know, this is who I am, et cetera. ([Time 0:44:10](https://share.snipd.com/snip/239108e9-a817-432a-8d2f-b54912a1e635))