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May 2, 2024

Hi Reader,

I just wrapped up a 60-day experiment with an innovative health & wellness organization, and I'm so excited to share what I learned.

You've heard me say before that I wish more nonprofits would tap into the power of LinkedIn... it's a blue ocean right now, and the platform keeps growing and growing.

Companies, influencers, and thought leaders continually invest in LinkedIn content because:

• The people on LinkedIn are real. They have a name, a face, and a job title. Unlike some other platforms where users have names like @q2482qfjhbsdf and no identity 😬.
• People come here to learn, not to be entertained. This opens the door for valuable conversations with like-minded experts. You have their attention, and they are more likely to engage in thoughtful, constructive conversations rather than just follow you for a good laugh or amusement.
• The algorithm favors substance over virality. LinkedIn regularly tweaks its algorithm so that content doesn't go viral. They don't want one piece of content to be seen by millions. They want the right piece of content to be seen by the right audience that would find it valuable.
• And, because LinkedIn is a learning environment, users tend to be more generous with sharing resources, helping friends find a job, or saying 'yes' to hopping on a call with you.

That's why when the Chief Development Officer of a nonprofit came to me frustrated by how few corporate leads they were getting from their social media ads, I pointed him directly to LinkedIn.

Over the last 6 months, we've been developing content for his personal LinkedIn account in his own unique voice and engaging on his behalf to increase his visibility among corporate leaders he would love to partner with.

This spring, we took it a step further and began reaching out to these now warmed up leads to see if we could get them off of his wishlist and onto his calendar.

Here's the exact process we used to connect him with 97 new corporate executives in 60 days...

1. ADD VALUE: Address the pain. Be the solution.

We leveraged the CDO's personal LinkedIn account (he’s the one building the relationships and taking the meetings after all!) and continued posting content 3x per week that spoke directly to his ideal partner’s pain points and values using empathetic messaging and emotional intelligence questions. The posts positioned him and his organization as a no-brainer solution to what they need in a nonprofit partner.

2. BE SEEN: Get on your VIP's radar.

We then worked with his development team to build a Target Mapping list of all his ideal partners. We engaged with their content on his behalf (comments, replies) to increase his visibility and add value to the conversation. This put him in front of his wishlist partners in a warm way (not cold and salesy).

3. CONNECT: Make friendly introductions.

Next, we began sending personalized connection requests and follow-up messages to his ideal partners to see if they'd be interested in a call with him to learn more about the organization. The first few messages were short and sweet: "It looks like we share several mutual connections..." or "I really liked your post about ____." The ask did not come until Message #3 or #4 after they already had some dialogue going.

Today, he's now connected to 97 new corporate leads on LinkedIn -- 47 of them are replying to his messages in his inbox, and 10 of them said they'd like to book a call.

Now, if you know anything about winning a corporate partnership, you know these things take time. While we don't a new partnership secured YET, we've been able to open doors for this CDO to have conversations with leaders he might otherwise never have been able to have.

And that was our goal -- to get him in rooms he might never have been invited to be in. That's the power of building your personal brand on LinkedIn.

This was a new process for us, and I learned so much (and still am). I know this is new territory for organizations to explore, and sometimes those are the scariest types of projects! But this was a great reminder that if you lead with building trust first, then cultivating genuine relationships, conversion will follow. It just takes time.

Have you tried anything like this at your organization? I'd love to hear how it's working!

If you want to learn more about this project, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Just reply to this email, and I'll respond asap.

Keep experimenting,

Brynne

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