 You're marketing yourself to individuals so that they can create a connection with you. If they don't know anything about you, you're very limited on those connect requests to 300 characters also. Welcome to the Smarter Building Materials Marketing Podcast, helping you find better ways to grow leads, sales, and outperform your competition. All right, everybody. Welcome to Smarter Building Materials Marketing, where we believe your online presence should be your best salesperson. I am Zach Williams. I'm joined by a special co-host today. We have Ashley Stevenson, who's been on the podcast before. She is our social media manager here at Venvio, and we're really excited to welcome her on the show because we're going to be talking about LinkedIn outreach and specifically about LinkedIn and things that we are seeing that's changing in the marketplace. And so we thought there'd be nobody better than Ashley to join us to talk about this. So, Ashley, welcome back to the show. Thank you so much, Zach, for having me. It's always a pleasure to get a chance to talk to you guys about what we're seeing trend-wise on social media. Very cool. So, Ashley, real quickly, for our listeners, 30,000-foot view. I know you do a lot here at Venvio. What is it that you do for those of you that have, you know, for our listeners who have never met you or haven't listened to any of your episodes before? Sure, absolutely. So, at Venvio, I support our internal team working with our clients every single day on understanding the changing landscape of social media, how to leverage conversation, their story, and to really connect with their community. And on the internal side of Venvio, I work on helping us stay ahead of all of the trends so that we can be prepared for our clients when they have those questions. Which, gosh, you teed that up really well, and we're announcing this. We've got a really exciting social media boot camp that's coming up July 27th that Ashley is overseeing for us. Ashley, you want to real quickly share about that before we dive into the episode? I would love to. So, our Beginner's Guide to Social Media is a boot camp that we're offering in late July, and it's a three-hour course that you can participate in. We're going to be offering some really great information and tools for, it can be for someone who just was hired for your company to, you know, take over social media, or it could be someone who's been working for your company as a marketing director or overseeing social as a whole and that conversation and just needs more information on how to get ahead of those things. We'll be able to walk you through many different tools and steps and make you more prepared and have difficult conversations with different team members with your own company about how you can stay ahead of things. Which I love because I think, you know, we get asked all the time to speak at different conferences and events and talk about social media. And it feels like every six months something is changing and something is different and so that's why we're doing this boot camp. And so if you want to register for it, if you want more information about it, go to venvio.com slash social in order to get more details on that. You can also, we'll include the link to it in the show notes for this episode. Ashley is going to be leading that up. It's going to be awesome. We're going to be covering everything from Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook. Give me some TikTok, right? Across the board. Well, don't use TikTok. That's going to be an advanced boot camp. Yes. So we're going to mess with the primary three. We're going to do primary colors for this boot camp. So your Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. That's great. Very cool. So today we're going to be talking about LinkedIn specifically LinkedIn outreach, which is like a niche within a niche. For those of you that don't have a LinkedIn account, but you get these messages and actually you're not, you never checked this out before we started recording, but you get these messages from people that are like, Hey, Ashley, my name is so-and-so. Do you need working capital? Do you need help with it services? Do you need help with X, Y and Z? Like these just blanket messages from people that you've never met before, which makes you wonder like, who in the world is doing this? It doesn't actually work. And it must work, right? Because people are doing it. But in our experience, it doesn't work. And we, so we wanted to debunk that for you all today, talk about that and then give you all some tactics for what does outreach look like on LinkedIn in a way that actually works. Because frankly, you know, the world is changing. You know, people message each other via email via text. And LinkedIn is an area where you can see good results and we see good results for our clients. But you've got to have the right strategy. People think, Oh, well, it doesn't work because I have the right tool, but the tool doesn't work. And it's more about how you're using the tool, right? Yeah. That's, that's a great way of kind of jumping right into that conversation. And there are many different tools, but you can also use them wrong. You can, if you don't understand your purpose, your goals for the entire conversation to reach out, why are you talking to any individual on LinkedIn, that it might as well be, you know, the exact same thing as an MLM person sending a message saying, Hey girl, haven't seen you in a while. Do you want to buy something for me? It's basically the same thing and it's immediately turning everyone off. So understanding who you're talking to and that they actually have an interest in one that you have to sell or what you're trying to get them to achieve is important. Well, I think, I mean, this is a principle for not just LinkedIn, but everything. And I think there's a couple quick, you know, tidbits that we'd share is that number one, people don't care about you. They care about themselves. They don't. And if you are doing any kind of social media outreach or posting whatever, if you're only talking about yourself, it doesn't work because frankly, nobody cares about you. Like that sounds really mean, but it's really true. It's like, Ashley, like if I didn't know you and I just start messaging you on LinkedIn or wherever and I'm like, Hey, Ashley, would you like to buy some digital marketing services? You'd be like, who the heck is this guy? It's about you. It's about me, right? And the other thing I'd like to think about is like, it's like trying to get married in the first date. It's like, if you met somebody for the first time and you're like, Hey, how are you doing? Would you like to get married? Like that's what it's like when you see people reach out like that. And so that's where slow your role. I'll take that. But that's where, you know, any kind of social media outreach or posting and you're going to talk more about this in the boot camp, but any kind of presence at all really needs to start with your customer and your audience at the forefront and center. And what did they actually care about? Nobody cares unless they actually know that you care, right? They're not going to care about you until you show that you actually care about them. Yeah, 100%. So I mean, if you look at LinkedIn and the purpose for why the platform was created, everyone was really gravitating to the platform because they were trying to build their own professional resume. They were trying to build themselves up from a professional perspective. They are talking about their story all the time. So, you know, number one, instead of coming to someone and sending them a message saying, hey, I sell this and I want to sell it to you, the proposition really needs to be how that tool or how that thing you sell can help them be better at what they do so that they can talk about it more. They can be better at what they do. Not you trying to get more sales. Well, I also, I also think that's very true. I also think it's important to know, like, what does the platform actually care about? So if you think about, let's say Facebook, Facebook is really pivoted to focus on groups. So they are incentivizing and rewarding people who build community and build groups because that's how they monetize and they make money. LinkedIn, for example, what they care about and what they want to be is the number one source of B2B content out there. Like, that's where they come out and they said that they care about. And so what works on the platform is sharing valuable insights that you can't get elsewhere. Like, if you look at even posts that go quote unquote viral on LinkedIn, a lot of them are simply people posting information and content that you, like I said, you can't get anywhere else. That's valuable that people find engaging and interesting. It's not, hey, let me tell you about my new product. Like, the only people that are going to like that are the people that you work with who make money from selling that product unless it's life changing. Like, if I think about like Elon Musk, for example, like I think Tesla's are really cool. If he just posted a post about how great Tesla's are and like new features, like people will go, oh, that's neat, but it's not going to do as well as if he's sharing about something that matters to people that impacts them on a daily basis or a pain point of theirs. Right. Yeah. It's absolutely true. You know, speaking back to LinkedIn, you're also seeing more storytelling and it's long conversations. Posts are much longer because you have an invested individual who is actually wanting to consume your content, to engage with it and wants to share their own experiences with you. It's also a reason why LinkedIn is dipping their toe into the creator space because they want more creators on LinkedIn to create more content specifically about B2B, specifically about those individuals that can be thought leaders that will bring other individuals to the platform for them to learn and understand and see their point of view and then continue to kind of take that out into the world of their own mission and to do business in that same way. Well, I'm glad you're bringing it up because I think there's typically like we run into two types of people on LinkedIn. Like when we talk to manufacturer, there's the marketing person who's like, hey, I want to grow my following of my audience. Like I want people to engage with their content. And then there's the sales person who's like, I want to land deals. Right. And so if we think about the latter, we think about people that want to land deals. What do you see as the necessary things to have in your toolbox to be successful, to build a pipeline on LinkedIn? Like people think like, oh, I need to just start finding people and messaging them. And there's actually a lot of prep that you need to have in advance. You do. So first and foremost, when someone's thinking that they want to make a lot of sales, the first question that I ask is, are you likeable? Are you a likeable individual? Do you appear likeable? Is anything about your profile negative in any way? What does your profile photo look like? What does your bio statement? Do you have any recommendations or reviews? Do people like you on the platform in general? And can they say good things about you? That 100% is where I think you need to start. It's kind of like building a home. You need to have a set foundation. If you just start messaging people and your profile is, you know, ghosted and non-existent, void of all information and details about you, the likelihood of you actually securing a sale is pretty low. So starting out by getting your profile in the app, those recommendations and having content of your own is definitely going to be crucial to make sure that you are successful in whatever campaign you start. Well, I even think like when we do training sometimes on LinkedIn specifically, Ashley, like I went and I found a couple profile photos of people that were just incredibly unprofessional, which you don't, we don't really run into that very often. But I found a guy who was like at a keg party, literally like he had like two beers on his head. Oh God. And I was like, like, please don't do things like this. But you're absolutely like you run into more people who are like, it's like the lights are on, but nobody's home. Like they don't really have. Exactly. They don't really have much going on. Maybe they have a profile photo, but there's not, they're not posting content. Like if you think about it, like if you get a message from somebody who wants to connect with you, what's the first thing you do? You go to their profile. And then you see, okay, what is this person about? And do they post content? And to your point, like, will you work with people that we like? And if you're not likable, it sounds like too, you know, very rudimentary, but if you're not likable, like people aren't going to want to work with you. And so it's not how to win friends and influence people. You know, this is not a story about that, but it is about how can you craft a presence that people look at and go, okay, like that person in one is trustworthy. And I think I would like them if I met them. Yeah. You're marketing yourself to individuals so that they can create a connection with you. If they don't know anything about you, then you have a very specific short amount of information that you can provide within that Connect request. So the only thing that any individual has to learn about you is from what's on your actual profile. So making sure that what's there, I mean, it's kind of like, do you not clean your house before you have guests over? Yes, you do. I mean, do you not make sure that the curb appeal of your house is beautiful before you put it on the market? Yes, you do. Keep it tidy. Make it presentable. And then you can get started. So I've got my profile set up. I look like I've, you know, cleaned the house, right, for somebody to come over. What else do I need to have in place? What are some of the things to be thinking about? Some things that you can think about, I mean, and these aren't non-starters if you don't have them. They, you know, making sure that you need to have some work history that is relevant. A lot of people, when they start working for a company, if they're in sales, they will create a LinkedIn account and they'll make it specifically for sales and they won't put any of their past history on there. And they also won't have any of their past connections, their friends, whoever on that profile with them, which looks sketchy and also appears fake. And you need to be genuine and authentic. So don't portray yourself in a way that's not authentic, but you also can portray yourself in the best version of yourself that does exist. Just like the guy who is doing kick stance. Yes, he could totally slam those on the weekend, but not Monday through Friday, please. Unless you work for a brewery and then I guess it makes sense. But like, I think that your activities on LinkedIn need to fit what your skill set and what your market is for. So, you know, keeping things in your profile picture, like nightlife behind you, like even if you're taking clients out to a bar, you also see them during the day. Take a photo during the day. So just setting expectations, making those clear, making sure that you have more than one work experience besides the one company that you're working with at that time. Making connections in groups, following groups that make sense. Those are always really great too because you might find someone who's in the shared group with you and then they see that you have something in common. That's a good point too, Ashley, because so much of the outreach is the prep work that's done in advance. So for example, you've got a good profile set up, you're posting content on a regular basis and you're even interacting in potential groups. So what you're setting a precedent for is that you're a give or not a taker. You're constantly giving. People can see that you've got, like I said, a strong presence, but you're also thinking about ways to help others first. And so when you do that outreach or let's say you message somebody and they go and check out your profile, they see, oh, this person is number one, they get it. They understand, you know, my pain points, my problems, whatever it might be, but they're also trying to help other people. And so I think, you know, if we set the foundation that you've got to have a strong profile, you have to post in content, you need to be looking at different groups. What do I then, if I'm doing all of that, Ashley, what is like actually doing an outreach campaign that works? Look like when you're thinking about architecting that for somebody, walk me through what that looks like to see someone go, yeah, I like what you're saying. Let's have a conversation. Like what leads up to that point? Sure. So once you've built your foundation, you've made yourself presentable, then it's coming up with, okay, what are your overall goals and objectives for the reach out? Who are you trying to speak to? Where are they located? What are their pain points? And how can you solve them and make your relationship advantageous to them, not just to yourself? So say for instance, as an example, you want to reach out to architects in New York who are, you know, it could be something like waterproofing or it could be you are looking for some type of specific flooring or, you know, any one of the gambits that an architect would work with, it could even be smoke curtains, whatever, call out whatever the concern might be and write out exactly what the specific pain points that they feel are and come up with messaging that relates to that. So if there is an architect in this area who has a concern or an issue here, let's come up with, hi, my name is, I work with a lot of, I think it would be great for us too, and then move on from there. And then I think you keep it short and sweet. I don't think that you pepper anyone in a campaign with multiple messages. I think you have a, you know, an accept message. You start a conversation. If you have any blogs, think about the end in mind and like what can I forgive to someone that I could put in their hand that takes them past the actual LinkedIn experience? Like what is going to get me to the conversion opportunity? Is it I want them to attend a webinar? I want them to register for, you know, a summit. I want to set up a lunch and learn. I want to send them samples. What is my carrot at the end of the treadmill? I'm trying to chase after. And then that will be more attractive to them. I think awareness campaigns can be difficult because there's not, you know, there's not an actual conversion opportunity really there. It's just, hey, we met and I wanted, you know, talk about it and now you know about it. And if you need me, then that's great. I think you're more likely to see actual results when you have a specific desired goal which is the event, the registration, the sale, the solution you provided and pulling all of those in together. We do, we work on something called an ideal customer profile in which we go through that exact same conversation with the client and with the sales rep included and we go through identifying exactly what that looks like. And sometimes it's hard to narrow down just one demographic. But then they can be multiple campaigns because what you'd say to an interior designer versus an architect is not going to be the same thing. So identifying if it's one large campaign or if they're multiple campaigns and what does that success look like for you? Well, I also think too, and I think it's going to be overwhelming because you're like, oh my gosh, there's 5,000 or 10,000 potential customers on LinkedIn. And one thing I tell people to do is I'm like, hey, just start with 10 people and be the most genuine person possible with those 10 people. Meaning like go read their posts, go find articles that might be written about them. So if you go and you reach out to them, you're like, hey, I read this article about you or I saw this article that you posted, I thought it was really insightful. Thanks for sharing. Like as your opening message, you're not selling anything, you're literally just stroking their ego. Sounds like it's very self-serving. But it's true. It's like, I like when I met Mark Mitchell for the first time, I saw him at an event like at a trade show. I just went up to him and was like, hey, Mark, you'll know who I am. I read your content. I think it's great. And that was it. It wasn't like, hey, Mark, oh my gosh, let's network and let's make deals happen. It was like, hey, I just really find your information valuable. And that works in the real world and it works online because people, I mean, we intrinsically like to hear that people will find what we have to say or share as valuable. So I just encourage anybody who is like, how do I get started? Is number one is like, just start with like how you would start if you went up and introduced yourself to somebody. Like do that online. Like don't overthink it. And then build conversation from there, right? Absolutely. I'm curious if there's anybody you've seen on LinkedIn. Maybe you know them personally or you don't. And it doesn't even need me building products. You're like, man, that person really gets it. Like they know how to do this the right way. I'm just trying to think like, is there somebody like I could follow? Sure. It's the founder of HubSpot. I really love what he does culture wise. It's very thought provoking. He shares a lot of information about culture, about the team, about the community, but also about, you know, platforms in general, how the landscape is changing. Everyone, he also engages a lot within his own content when people ask questions and he responds back really well. I think it really is just having a conversation and creating a space where, you know, other individuals who have like-minded goals and ideas can come together and they can consume your content, but then they can interact and meet other individuals who also share the same feelings, the same feedback. It almost reminds me of like a networking event within one post. You at one time get to meet other people and they then see that you're connected and it's like, hey, you're a really cool person, too. And I wouldn't have met you. I wouldn't have known your interests, your thoughts, your feelings, or your passion for this specific thing had I not read this post, saw your comment and then participated. So it is not just the messaging. It is also the building of the thought leadership opportunity where you are creating posts that individuals can participate in and that you also actively participate in the platform. And it goes back to exactly what you were saying, being a giver and not a taker. The platforms will always, you know, promote you better if you are giving. LinkedIn even sends you messages and says, great job. You're doing wonderful. You've done how many posts this month? Keep going. Like they're encouraging you to do more. And that is for a reason. Even if it's not paid, it's free and they just want you to continue to post because the more posts there, the more content is to consume and more people stay on the platform. Well, if you think about this way, what you're talking about with HubSpot, I think actually Tim Sims who we had on recently talking about crypto is a great example too, which is if you want people to respond to you privately, you need to do more publicly. You know, like if I am giving, if I'm speaking publicly, I'm sharing on the platform, if I'm creating conversation, it makes that private DM or the outreach much more effective because you're establishing yourself as somebody who, like I said earlier, they have something valuable to give, not just take, you know. So very cool. And you're also open to conversations. I mean, if you're not putting anything out there, it's the proverbial standing at a meeting in your arms across your stand office. If you're not putting things out on the platform, I feel like I can approach you anyway. Very cool. So Ashley, if somebody listening to this goes, wow, this is really interesting, really valuable. Sure. Where do I get started? Like how do I get started? What would you tell them? So the place where you get started would be to clean the house and then identify with your team what your overall goals and objectives are. Like if you're in sales, you have goals and you have specific target list you're trying to reach out to narrow them down. Even if you're starting at 10, LinkedIn does have a limit where you can't send more than 100 a week without getting blocked in some capacity. So I say, stay on the low end. A hundred is a lot and is super good if you don't know what you're doing. Yeah. It's a lot if you don't know what you're doing. But if you do know what you're doing and you're working with an amazing team that can help you kind of pilot and get that out of the gate quickly, then you can reach some of those goals a lot faster. But if you're just wanting to start this on your own, dip your toe in the water and see how it works, clean the house, start with 10, give back to the platform, start posting. LinkedIn gives you options of trending articles and topics in your top right hand corner. You can go to all of the top related articles and literally just share them and ask people what they think. Share your own opinion. I know sometimes people get scared about putting a target on their back and like, well, what if someone doesn't agree with me? Oh my God, but what if they do? What if they do? That's right. Why are you worried if they don't? And if they don't agree with you, then they're going to tell you they don't agree with you. And then there might be someone who supports your opinion underneath it and then you have a whole entire chain of people going back and forth. It's okay. Thanks for coming on the show. And for listeners, again, if you want to be a part of our social media boot camp, you're going to take away a ton of great insights. Ashley is leading this up with our team. We have a couple of people who should be involved as well. Go to venvio.com slash social to sign up. Join us. It's going to be great. Ashley, again, thank you so much for sharing and for listeners. If you want more of this content, check us out at venvio.com slash podcast to subscribe and get more. Until next time, I'm Zach Williams. Thanks, everybody.