1 00:00:00,049 --> 00:00:03,719 Be honest, are you confident that your LinkedIn Company Page is 2 00:00:03,730 --> 00:00:05,090 headed in the right direction? 3 00:00:05,310 --> 00:00:08,319 Or are you literally just posting and praying and hoping 4 00:00:08,319 --> 00:00:09,549 that something will work? 5 00:00:09,780 --> 00:00:13,359 Good news, in today's episode we're gonna get that confidence back. 6 00:00:46,696 --> 00:00:47,446 G'day, listeners. 7 00:00:47,446 --> 00:00:50,736 It's Michelle J Raymond here, and I hope you're having a wonderful week. 8 00:00:51,086 --> 00:00:53,566 I have been watching all of the posts on LinkedIn talk 9 00:00:53,576 --> 00:00:55,286 about Cannes, or is it Cannes? 10 00:00:55,346 --> 00:00:57,046 I don't know, potato, potato. 11 00:00:57,436 --> 00:01:00,536 But here in Australia, it's a bit miserable. 12 00:01:00,536 --> 00:01:01,706 The weather's cold. 13 00:01:01,746 --> 00:01:03,596 Meanwhile, the rest of the world is melting. 14 00:01:03,596 --> 00:01:06,786 So if you are on the other side of the world, enjoy that sunshine for 15 00:01:06,786 --> 00:01:09,226 me because I'm certainly missing it. 16 00:01:09,846 --> 00:01:15,466 Listeners, you know that LinkedIn company pages are a big part of what I talk 17 00:01:15,476 --> 00:01:19,226 about on this podcast, and I've been thinking about how I can help you more. 18 00:01:19,546 --> 00:01:25,316 And so one of the great ideas that I had was coming up with a miniseries of 19 00:01:25,356 --> 00:01:30,386 at least five podcast episodes, short ones that you can action, that are tied 20 00:01:30,386 --> 00:01:34,886 together so that you can get more out of your LinkedIn company page because 21 00:01:35,276 --> 00:01:38,946 there is a crisis of confidence going on out there with the people that I'm 22 00:01:38,946 --> 00:01:42,606 talking to because Let's be clear, there's been so many changes on LinkedIn. 23 00:01:42,636 --> 00:01:46,686 It's my full-time job to try and keep up with it all and report back to you. 24 00:01:46,716 --> 00:01:50,456 So if you are feeling like this, you are not alone. 25 00:01:50,466 --> 00:01:53,866 There is so many people out there that are reaching out with questions. 26 00:01:53,866 --> 00:01:58,116 So I thought this miniseries is the way that I can most help people. 27 00:01:59,116 --> 00:02:01,976 What am I hearing about LinkedIn company pages that makes me think 28 00:02:01,976 --> 00:02:05,546 that people are out there are having a crisis of confidence? 29 00:02:06,006 --> 00:02:09,826 When they are smart marketers, they have been using LinkedIn for a long 30 00:02:09,826 --> 00:02:14,306 time, and I think it all just comes back to the fact that people have been 31 00:02:14,306 --> 00:02:19,476 posting for months, even years in most of the cases of clients that I work 32 00:02:19,476 --> 00:02:21,796 with, but nothing seems to be working. 33 00:02:22,116 --> 00:02:26,696 Nothing they try seems to move that needle in any meaningful kind of way. 34 00:02:27,086 --> 00:02:31,486 And to be frank, they're not really sure even what good looks like anymore. 35 00:02:31,576 --> 00:02:37,246 And that makes you feel awful, especially when it's part of your job to try and 36 00:02:37,246 --> 00:02:40,766 get all of the numbers up and up and up 'cause, you know, we've been taught 37 00:02:40,786 --> 00:02:44,426 that numbers going up is a good sign. 38 00:02:44,556 --> 00:02:48,416 Now, that would be great if LinkedIn got that memo, but they're actively 39 00:02:48,416 --> 00:02:53,836 pushing things the other way, which is sad, especially for organic LinkedIn 40 00:02:53,836 --> 00:02:55,806 company page traffic on the platform. 41 00:02:56,806 --> 00:03:00,476 Then what happens is people start having a look around and going, 42 00:03:00,706 --> 00:03:02,486 "What are my competitors doing? 43 00:03:02,596 --> 00:03:06,056 That's typically the first sign that something's about to go pear-shaped 44 00:03:06,116 --> 00:03:10,096 Because as soon as you start to copy your competitors, then you start to 45 00:03:10,096 --> 00:03:13,586 look the same as them, and you've lost the one thing that makes you unique 46 00:03:13,586 --> 00:03:18,016 and stand out on the platform, which is just doing things your own way. 47 00:03:18,576 --> 00:03:22,866 And then after we go through that and it's still not working, then people 48 00:03:22,866 --> 00:03:25,606 land on Company Pages mustn't work. 49 00:03:25,626 --> 00:03:28,946 They're a waste of time." Scroll LinkedIn for two seconds and 50 00:03:28,946 --> 00:03:31,986 you'll see so many posts on this topic. "Company Pages are dead. 51 00:03:31,996 --> 00:03:32,896 Post on profiles. 52 00:03:32,896 --> 00:03:34,936 You get 20 billion times more reach." 53 00:03:34,946 --> 00:03:36,976 I've seen all of those posts. 54 00:03:37,796 --> 00:03:41,826 Ultimately, what's going on is that low numbers create self-doubt. 55 00:03:42,016 --> 00:03:43,176 I've been there myself. 56 00:03:43,216 --> 00:03:46,796 I can totally relate to any of you listeners that might be feeling it. 57 00:03:47,196 --> 00:03:53,196 And when you feel like nothing's working, then you start doing random 58 00:03:53,196 --> 00:03:56,726 things, trying to see if they work, and then it just creates this like 59 00:03:56,736 --> 00:03:58,596 spiral that you can't get out of. 60 00:03:58,836 --> 00:04:02,486 So random tactics make things even worse. 61 00:04:02,946 --> 00:04:05,806 I understand why good marketers lose confidence, and I 62 00:04:05,816 --> 00:04:07,386 wanna talk about that next. 63 00:04:13,533 --> 00:04:17,133 Shout out to all of the smart marketers that are listening to the podcast today 64 00:04:17,143 --> 00:04:21,833 because I understand why you've lost your LinkedIn Company Page confidence. 65 00:04:22,203 --> 00:04:26,743 But we're gonna go back to why I think some of these things happen and more 66 00:04:26,743 --> 00:04:28,913 importantly, how they can be easily fixed. 67 00:04:29,933 --> 00:04:33,473 Let's go through a quick checklist of a few things that I think you should go 68 00:04:33,483 --> 00:04:37,693 back and check if you've got them in place because if you have these things in place, 69 00:04:37,883 --> 00:04:41,313 it's much easier to remain confident because you know you're staying on track. 70 00:04:41,563 --> 00:04:44,573 So do you have a documented LinkedIn strategy? 71 00:04:44,993 --> 00:04:48,683 Is it somewhere that you actually refer to or is it hiding in 72 00:04:48,703 --> 00:04:50,953 the proverbial desk drawer? 73 00:04:51,013 --> 00:04:54,223 If you do have one, when was the last time that it was updated? 74 00:04:54,233 --> 00:04:58,383 Do you remember what the objectives were as part of that strategy? 75 00:04:58,663 --> 00:05:01,703 Have you wandered off course and away from those objectives? 76 00:05:02,313 --> 00:05:05,003 Let's ask who actually owns the company page. 77 00:05:05,333 --> 00:05:06,143 Is it you? 78 00:05:06,163 --> 00:05:07,243 Somebody else in the team? 79 00:05:07,253 --> 00:05:12,623 Have people started creeping in and taking some of that territory away from 80 00:05:12,623 --> 00:05:14,763 you and you need to reclaim ownership? 81 00:05:15,413 --> 00:05:19,163 There's also a confusion that happens between regional and global teams or 82 00:05:19,163 --> 00:05:24,573 local teams and everybody wants their say on how the page should be working. 83 00:05:24,863 --> 00:05:30,423 And of course, it just gets so jumbled up and you wonder where are we going, what 84 00:05:30,423 --> 00:05:34,463 are we doing, and your audience feels the same, the algorithm feels the same. 85 00:05:34,463 --> 00:05:39,043 So we need to figure out who actually owns the page, who's driving the page, 86 00:05:39,233 --> 00:05:41,593 and is it aligned back with the strategy. 87 00:05:42,033 --> 00:05:45,633 And also, I think the thing that's more important right now is that 88 00:05:45,653 --> 00:05:48,033 LinkedIn has fundamentally shifted. 89 00:05:49,013 --> 00:05:53,173 Once upon a time, I would've told you it was all about follower growth and 90 00:05:53,173 --> 00:05:57,913 impression growth, but those two things today are harder than ever and I think 91 00:05:57,913 --> 00:06:02,303 when you only measure success by those two things, you're really setting yourself 92 00:06:02,363 --> 00:06:04,893 up for failure and nobody wants that. 93 00:06:05,663 --> 00:06:09,023 Mostly, listeners, what I want you to think about is when was the 94 00:06:09,023 --> 00:06:14,083 last time that we went back and we really set up our strong foundation? 95 00:06:14,583 --> 00:06:18,713 Go back to the beginning, stop posting for a few days. 96 00:06:18,953 --> 00:06:20,133 The world will not end. 97 00:06:21,083 --> 00:06:26,813 I think if you go back to your strategy and go back to the things that you knew 98 00:06:26,813 --> 00:06:31,903 would work when you did that strategy and just update it, then all of a sudden 99 00:06:31,903 --> 00:06:37,603 you're going to be reminded of what it is that you know works for your customers. 100 00:06:38,013 --> 00:06:44,833 And I think that's far more important than any cheap algorithm hacks, any new content 101 00:06:44,843 --> 00:06:50,303 hacks, anything along those lines where people are promising the world when you've 102 00:06:50,323 --> 00:06:52,163 tried most of them and it's not working. 103 00:06:52,173 --> 00:06:57,333 So go back and answer questions like what do you do, who do you do it for, 104 00:06:57,383 --> 00:06:58,993 and what makes your business different? 105 00:06:59,003 --> 00:07:00,873 And that's a really good place to start. 106 00:07:29,272 --> 00:07:32,852 When we go back to the beginning, listeners, and really set up a 107 00:07:32,852 --> 00:07:36,672 strong foundation, I'm not talking about asking the question, first 108 00:07:36,672 --> 00:07:38,462 of all, of what should we post. 109 00:07:38,822 --> 00:07:44,422 What I want you to do is go back and say, "Has our Company Page 110 00:07:44,472 --> 00:07:48,992 been set up for success?" And I'm gonna guess it probably hasn't. 111 00:07:49,432 --> 00:07:54,022 When was the last time that you looked at the positioning and messaging on 112 00:07:54,032 --> 00:07:57,622 your Company Page, whether it's your banner, whether it's your tagline, 113 00:07:57,812 --> 00:07:59,602 whether it's the About section? 114 00:07:59,862 --> 00:08:01,762 When was the last time it was actually updated? 115 00:08:01,842 --> 00:08:06,082 I'm going to assume probably never, unless somebody's 116 00:08:06,082 --> 00:08:07,582 listened to an episode like this. 117 00:08:07,982 --> 00:08:11,252 It's one of those things that nobody thinks makes really that 118 00:08:11,252 --> 00:08:14,482 much difference, and I'm here to tell you it absolutely does. 119 00:08:14,882 --> 00:08:18,732 It does, especially in the world of AI and the new search engine 120 00:08:18,732 --> 00:08:24,842 optimisation that both LinkedIn has, that Google has, and now that LLMs have. 121 00:08:25,192 --> 00:08:29,762 Making sure we articulate things really well is super important, 122 00:08:29,782 --> 00:08:31,732 and keywords become a part of this. 123 00:08:32,242 --> 00:08:36,342 Most importantly, though, does it all make sense to your buyer? 124 00:08:37,122 --> 00:08:41,612 I have read so many Company Pages during my page audit and strategy 125 00:08:41,612 --> 00:08:46,542 sessions where I am left scratching my head, like literally going, "I 126 00:08:46,542 --> 00:08:48,172 have no idea what you're doing." 127 00:08:48,512 --> 00:08:51,592 These are clients that I have done my research, I've read the 128 00:08:51,592 --> 00:08:54,692 website, and I come back, and it's just got so much jargon. 129 00:08:54,742 --> 00:08:58,832 I'm thinking, "I don't know what you're going on about" And so i- if 130 00:08:58,832 --> 00:09:03,292 it's confusing, remember what I say, if you confuse them, you lose them. 131 00:09:03,302 --> 00:09:08,212 So go back and just do a sense check, does this make sense to our buyer? 132 00:09:09,252 --> 00:09:13,942 You will be amazed at what happens when you go back and take a look 133 00:09:13,972 --> 00:09:17,532 at your page setup, and I have literally just been doing that for 134 00:09:17,532 --> 00:09:19,632 my business over this last weekend. 135 00:09:20,002 --> 00:09:21,662 I went down a rabbit hole. 136 00:09:21,682 --> 00:09:27,012 Now, for me, I'd updated my Company Page back in December, so I'd done that, and 137 00:09:27,012 --> 00:09:30,852 then never really found the time to go and update my LinkedIn profile, which 138 00:09:30,862 --> 00:09:35,292 anything we're talking about today equally applies back to profiles on LinkedIn. 139 00:09:35,802 --> 00:09:40,802 And the funny part was, when I looked at my LinkedIn profile, I was shocked. 140 00:09:40,862 --> 00:09:45,892 Actually, I was embarrassed because that person in that profile, I don't 141 00:09:45,892 --> 00:09:47,682 even recognise them, listeners. 142 00:09:47,782 --> 00:09:50,862 And I had to go back and update my Company Page because so much 143 00:09:50,862 --> 00:09:52,712 had changed in six months also. 144 00:09:52,752 --> 00:09:56,662 So this is your first piece of homework from today's episode, 145 00:09:56,662 --> 00:09:59,742 so we have to take action when we hear and learn these things. 146 00:10:00,152 --> 00:10:03,062 Is your page set up for your buyer? 147 00:10:03,072 --> 00:10:06,242 If the answer is no, you know where I'm going next. 148 00:10:12,242 --> 00:10:15,542 What does a confident Company Page look like? 149 00:10:15,542 --> 00:10:19,392 Or in this case, confident Company Page admins on LinkedIn. 150 00:10:20,022 --> 00:10:24,422 The Company Pages that I know are gonna be successful and take confident actions 151 00:10:24,812 --> 00:10:27,102 know exactly who they're trying to reach. 152 00:10:27,412 --> 00:10:31,682 They know why each of the content pillars that they've decided on exists. 153 00:10:32,022 --> 00:10:33,542 They know who owns what. 154 00:10:33,882 --> 00:10:38,742 They know how employee advocacy fits with the Company Page strategy 155 00:10:38,782 --> 00:10:40,572 and everybody's working together. 156 00:10:40,872 --> 00:10:45,382 You know your measures of success beyond those likes, 157 00:10:45,392 --> 00:10:47,212 impressions, and follower growth. 158 00:10:47,522 --> 00:10:48,932 That's real confidence. 159 00:10:49,492 --> 00:10:51,082 Let's look at this practically. 160 00:10:51,092 --> 00:10:52,372 How can you get confidence? 161 00:10:52,392 --> 00:10:57,392 Well, take a moment and go back and have a look at your Page and just say, 162 00:10:57,812 --> 00:11:02,112 "Is it clear to our buyer that they're in the right place? Is the content 163 00:11:02,122 --> 00:11:06,282 that we're creating speaking to that buyer?" And if the answer is no, the 164 00:11:06,282 --> 00:11:09,902 really cool part is you are smart and you know exactly how to fix it. 165 00:11:10,902 --> 00:11:15,642 Some of you might be listening to this episode and saying, "Duh, Michelle, 166 00:11:15,662 --> 00:11:17,502 all of that is really obvious. 167 00:11:17,512 --> 00:11:18,862 It's really simple. 168 00:11:18,902 --> 00:11:20,972 Of course we can take those actions. 169 00:11:21,462 --> 00:11:26,182 My Page would never have all of those fundamental mistakes or those beginner 170 00:11:26,182 --> 00:11:31,372 mistakes." You would be surprised that pretty much every single LinkedIn Company 171 00:11:31,372 --> 00:11:35,612 Page audit that I do with clients, we are going back fixing these mistakes. 172 00:11:36,012 --> 00:11:40,592 And it's not surprising to me because here's the problem. 173 00:11:40,882 --> 00:11:44,662 Somebody set the page up a million years ago, and often it's been handed 174 00:11:44,662 --> 00:11:48,742 over from person to person, and the last person in gets dumped with it. 175 00:11:48,772 --> 00:11:50,992 There's not necessarily a handover. 176 00:11:51,312 --> 00:11:54,352 The strategy that may have been created doesn't get introduced, or 177 00:11:54,402 --> 00:11:59,482 that person doesn't get trained on it, and we assume a lot of things.. 178 00:12:00,092 --> 00:12:03,382 Here's the thing page admins and marketers that are listening today. 179 00:12:03,772 --> 00:12:08,582 It is a game of little things that compound, and that can go either 180 00:12:08,582 --> 00:12:11,722 way, little things that you miss or little things that you do that 181 00:12:11,722 --> 00:12:15,572 make a difference between you and the competitors in your industry. 182 00:12:15,992 --> 00:12:20,642 It may sound simple, but I promise you, it's easier said than done. 183 00:12:20,972 --> 00:12:22,772 So until next week, cheers.