Last week, I discouraged a client from using LinkedIn.
She had been seriously considering using her LinkedIn to grow her audience. Here’s what she was hoping would happen by posting on LinkedIn regularly –
– Prospects will engage with her content
– They would start sending her DMs
– They would go and subscribe to her email list
There is a narrative in the market that suggests publishing on LinkedIn would magically increase traction. Not going to happen.
Sure, LinkedIn has some merit.
- A Bottom of the Funnel channel
Almost all your prospects will check out your LinkedIn profile if they are considering buying from you. They would probably check the last few content pieces you have published, as they want a sneak peek into your thought process. As they look at your content, they subconsciously ask themselves, “Is this my kind of guy/gal?”
Almost all my prospects check my LinkedIn profile before they become my clients. Many of them tell me later that LinkedIn played a significant role in reinforcing their desire to work with me.
In a bizarre turn of events, LinkedIn has become a bottom-of-the-funnel channel that builds credibility rather than the top-of-the-funnel channel that we thought it was. LinkedIn may not create much awareness, but it helps build deeper trust with people already in your circle.
- LinkedIn friendships
While bulk awareness may not work, LinkedIn is an excellent channel for building friendships and relationships. When done in a non-sleazy way, with genuineness, you can actually connect with a ton of amazing people. I have made some good friends on LinkedIn, and we talk often, which has opened up new doors and opportunities.
- Testing ideas
LinkedIn is also a great channel for testing your less-than-fully-formed ideas. As opposed to writing a book or recording a 2-hour-long video, you can quickly put out an idea into the wild and see how others are responding to it. If people resonate, there is something worth pursuing and developing that idea further. If not, go back to the drawing board and refine that idea. Quick testing is a feature that not many other channels provide.
Or maybe, I am wrong
It would be dishonest of me not to mention that the world is not black and white. Some people use LinkedIn in the most conventional way as a traffic platform to fuel their funnels. It does work for them. But that path demands you to be on top of the algorithm, spend a lot of time on the platforms, and perhaps use practices that could make you uncomfortable. For me and my clients, I have found this path to be not worth it.
For others, the path is different. The path is about finding a unique perspective you can lean on. A Big Idea that you can call yours. Instead of getting on the platform treadmill and shouting everywhere, you can pull in the right audience with a compelling message.
So yeah, go ahead.
Use LinkedIn.
But don’t expect it to be a magical tactic that fixes your ‘funnel’.