The Secret to Knowing What to Post About on LinkedIn

Implement a 3-Message Strategy Approach to Post and Convert with Ease

Creating engaging social media content can be challenging, especially when inspiration doesn’t strike. For such days, there is a simple solution that can guide you each time you post. Define a social media messaging strategy ahead of time. These are three broad messages you would most like to communicate to your target audience. By focusing on these themes first, you can almost eliminate those days of “writer’s block”, as well as produce content that drives results for your business.

The Importance of Strategic Messaging

Strategic messaging distinguishes purposeful posts from generic ones. Without a clear message framework, your content may resemble typical advertisements, which can hinder customer trust and slow the conversion process. Social media offers an ideal platform to also build the trust and relationship new propects will need in order to commit to your product or service.

Developing Your 3-Message Strategy

To create your own three main messages, consider the following approach:

1. Message 1- Promote: Identify what your prospects need to know about your product or service to be ready to buy. Aim for building understanding.
2. Message 2 – Educate: Determine what you want your audience to know about your expertise and industry to build trust. Aim for increasing knowledge.
3. Message 3 – Build: Decide what personal or company information your audience needs ro know to build a connection with you. Aim for fostering relationship.

These three message categories serve as guiding principles for your content, ensuring consistency and purpose in your social media posts.

Example: A Financial Advisor’s 3-Message Strategy

Consider a financial advisor specializing in retirement planning for small business owners. Her three main messages might be:

1. Promote: highlight her services and benefits in the area of retirement planning tailored for small business owners.
2. Educate: Share valuable and more broad based financial insights and tips relevant to small business owners.
3. Build: Provide personal stories, introduce her team, and discuss her company’s values and goals.

A LinkedIn personal profile, as well as a company page, can provide an ideal setting for BTB professionals and entrepreneurs to thrive with messaging. Read the blog: The LinkedIn Two-Step: The Value of Having a Personal Profile and a Company Page for Small Business Owners to learn more.

Applying Messaging Categories to Your Posts

Try the following activities to get started posting more purposefully:

1. Review Your Recent Content: Examine your last two weeks of social media posts. Do they reflect all three of your main messages? If not, going forward, prioritize creating posts based on the missing messages.
2. Focus on Messaging First When Posting: When planning your content, start by choosing one of the three main messages first. This approach narrows down your posting topics considerably and streamlines your creative process.
3. Maintain Consistency: Aim to include (at least) one message in each of your posts, ensuring all three are represented each week.

By adhering to this structured approach, you can create purposeful content that effectively moves your audience toward conversion.

Outcomes

Now, back to our Financial Provider example. After posting consistently “on message” for three months, her audience should be able to tell her what her three main messages to them are if asked. (In fact, we recommend you do just that after three months of posting.)

To be specific, they should be able to give a reasonably good description of her offerings, talk about her product or industry expertise based on information that she has shared with them, and feel like they know and trust her better based on reading about her and her team, their values, etc.

Contrast this approach with posting randomly for 3 months. If you asked your audience at the end of the time period what your main messages are, they often can’t tell you. You have not given them the structure, or repetition of themes, necessary for processing and retention. Moving leads from new connection to ready to convert will be much more difficult.

If you have days with writer’s block and/or need assistance adopting a social media messaging strategy, consider reaching out to a social media strategy expert. They can help you define and optimize your three main messages. At KMS Marketing Strategies, we specialize in helping clients with messaging strategy. Reach out to strategiesbykms.com to learn more about what we can do for your business.