Transcript

Unqualified Leads – Episode 008 Highlights

Hosts: Harry Hughes & Daniel

Topic: Why organic social is a central go‑to‑market lever in B2B, how to approach it (especially on LinkedIn), and how to build a consistent content engine through employees, formats, and compounding effect.

Why Organic Social Matters

• Many B2B teams treat organic social as a side tactic (“afterthought”) because they believe it doesn’t move the needle, their ICPs “aren’t scrolling”, and measurement is hard.

• The buying behaviour has shifted: buyers often complete much of their research before ever speaking to sales, and frequently already have a short‑list of vendors in mind.

• Therefore, strong organic content helps educate early, build visibility and credibility before the sales conversation begins.

• Paid media is rising in cost and facing targeting constraints; organic social offers a lower‑cost, scalable credibility engine.

• Organic content has compounding value:

  • Potential virality (rare, but possible)

  • Persistent content that continues to surface over time (unlike paid ads which stop when spend stops)

• Organic also serves as creative R&D: posts that perform organically reveal what content resonates—and those posts can be amplified via paid media to de‑risk spend.

How to Approach Organic Social (Predominantly LinkedIn)

1. Platform Selection & Ownership

• For most B2B brands, LinkedIn is the cornerstone because it hosts the ICPs (professionals, decision‑makers).

• Other channels (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube shorts) may still be relevant if the ICP and business model justify it (e.g., broader audience, lower ACV, strong visual brand).

• Key decision: Company page vs Personal profiles? People buy from people. Research (e.g., by Refine Labs) shows 3‑5× higher engagement from employee/personal pages vs company pages.

2. Content Formats & Hooks

• Formats that outperform: carousels (LinkedIn guides/swipe posts) – average ~6.6% engagement.

• Use video and image formats; the hook (first 2‑3 sentences or first 3 seconds of video) is crucial to stop scroll.

• If text only: begin with a statement or direct call‑out (“CMOs are facing this problem when reporting to their CEO…”).

• Speak directly to the ICP: job‑titles, pain‑points, workflows they recognise.

• Mix up formats:

  • Problem‑pain

  • Solution‑benefit

  • Feature insights

  • Case studies/customer wins

  • Culture/company human side

• Prioritise authenticity over perfection, the “only experts post” mindset blocks many people.

• Consistency matters: posting 2‑3 times/week over 6+ months leads to compounding profile growth, follower accumulation, and stronger reach.

3. Employee Enablement Strategy

• Educate employees on benefits: career capital, personal authority, warmer inbound leads, skill development.

• Provide prompts/themes to remove creative blocks: e.g., feature X solves pain Y; client win Z; culture insight.

• Set guardrails rather than gating everything: define what not to post, clarify tone, legal/privacy guidelines.

• Set a cadence: start small (e.g., 1 post/week), schedule a 15‑30 min time block, build habit.

• Encourage internal engagement: team likes/comments/share each other’s posts, build momentum and visibility.

• Recognise high‑performing posts internally: gamify, celebrate wins, drive motivation.

5. Profile & Brand Optimisation

• Treat the personal LinkedIn profile as a mini‑landing page: headline should target ICP/role; banner visuals; featured section; link to website or booking.

• Optimize “About” section: state what you help solve, proof of expertise, user‑centric not just CV list.

• Pin strong posts (top performing, case study, thought‑leadership) so new visitors see social proof first.

• On company page: use for official announcements, expansion, awards; less for deep‑thought content (that typically sits better on employee pages).

6. Flywheel: Organic → Paid → Reach Growth

• Step 1: Produce organic content, test formats, messages, hooks.

• Step 2: Identify high‑engaging posts (hundreds of likes/comments) from employees/personal profiles.

• Step 3: Repurpose those posts as “thought‑leader” ads (paid) behind profiles or company page, to reach new audience and build followers.

• Step 4: Paid builds followers and awareness; future organic posts benefit from larger reach; compounding loop begins.

• This means organic becomes the R&D for paid, reducing wasted spend on unproven content.

Final Takeaways

• Organic social should be one of your core GTM levers, not “nice to have”.

• Empower employee personal profiles as distribution engines; company page alone isn’t enough.

• Consistency and authenticity beat perfection. Posting habit + real insights win.

• Use organic content as your early‑stage testbed, then amplify winners with paid.

• Focus on the channel where your ICP lives. Don’t scatter across all platforms unless justified by audience and budget.

• Ensure your profiles (personal + company) are fully optimised, low visibility or no content weakens credibility for paid and outbound.

• The payoff: greater trust, increased reach, a stronger position in your ICP’s consideration set before sales talk kicks in.