Hello my friends! We’re back with our weekly(ish) Marketing Snack newsletter 🥳
Almost every Thursday, we’ll send you an addictive, bite-sized (😉) insight from brilliant marketers we love. Something you can sink your teeth into that’s tactical and actionable – that you can read in 3 minutes or less.
Let’s get snackin’ 👇
📈 7 tips for growing on LinkedIn
Last week, Matt (our Marketing Manager at E5) made the Slack channel go crazy – he pulled out the metrics and analyzed the data from his 40 most popular LinkedIn posts from all time.
I think Dave spoke for all of us when he said, “My marketing nerd heart is BURSTING right now.”
Matt’s been growing like crazy on LinkedIn over the past six months, and wanted to double down on what’s working.
Here’s the top 7 things he learned:
#1: Keep hooks around 50-60 characters
The hook is the first sentence of your post
You want it to be short enough so people can skim, but meaty enough so there’s something to pique interest
Especially if you’re just starting out, build trust by writing shorter hooks
#2: Posts around 912 characters perform well
There's no such thing as the perfect post length. Some people crush with super long posts and others with super short
In my case, these medium size posts work great
They provide enough detail to show expertise, but can be skimmed in 60 seconds
Perfect for consumption
#3: People love talking about careers and jobs
The primary use of LinkedIn for most people is to search for jobs and opportunities
Any content related to leveling up your career, career observations, career best practices, etc. will perform very well.
Especially if you have expertise in that topic
#4: Text posts still perform really well
You can still grow a ton by primarily doing text posts
As long as your writing is good, people will want to read your content
You don’t need to create fancy carousels or videos, text is fine. Just focus on the content quality
#5: Carousels get the most impressions
Relative to the number of likes/comments, carousel posts always get the most impressions
If your goal is to increase impressions, try the carousel format
Listicles work great for carousels (Matt is the KING of these)
#6: If it looks promotional, engagement is low
Even though Exit Five has a strong brand, any post that is clearly an Exit Five promo gets little engagement
It doesn’t mean I won’t do it, just not all the time
People are sick of ads and self promo that look like ads and self promo
#7: Your story is more relatable than you think
Matt’s never been an executive, started a million-dollar business, or grown to 100k followers
But still, people want to hear about his journey as a middle level marketer
It’s not that interesting to him (or so he thinks!), but it is to others. The same is true for what you do
Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Matt (and making my job easier by basically writing this snack for me!)
P.S. As a reminder, I’m OOO for my wedding 👰 but fear not – the incredible Exit Five team will be reading and responding to your replies.
And yes, I’ll still read and cherish them when I’m back :)
👀 NEW by popular demand: Marketing Leadership Accelerator
We've noticed a common theme in the Exit Five community: marketing leaders want more.
Managing marketing is complex—navigating new tools, selecting strategies, building teams, managing budgets, and even presenting to the board. There’s so much to master.
That’s why we're launching an 8-week live Marketing Leadership Accelerator, designed to help you become a stronger marketing leader alongside your peers.
It starts October 3 and runs until November 21. Our live sessions, moderated by the Exit Five team, will feature guest speakers, Q&A opportunities, and accompanying templates and resources. You’ll also gain access to a private community space for networking and ongoing support.
Here’s what topics we have lined up:
How To Build Your 2025 Marketing Plan
How to Create and Manage a Marketing Budget
Building Alignment Between Sales and Marketing
A Positioning Framework to Help You Differentiate in a Crowded Market
How to Use Social to Build Brand and Drive Pipeline
How to Build a Team and Hire
How to Work with Other Executives, Sales, and the CEO
Marketing Metrics You Should Know and How To Report on Them
The course opens publicly after Sept 12, but if you join the waitlist today, you’ll get early access and exclusive discounted pricing for 24 hours before launch.
We have a private community + content site for marketing pros like you and me if you’re looking for a peer group and discussion forum to help you grow your career in B2B marketing.
Get feedback, campaign ideas, browse templates, videos, guides, get recommendations on agencies and vendors, find contractors and freelancers, vent about your boss, find new jobs and more.
We have a 7 day free trial so you can join 100% risk free.
Thanks to our friends over at Knakfor being our 2024 newsletter sponsor.
Want to sponsor a future newsletter or learn more about other sponsorship opportunities with Exit Five? Email hi@exitfive.com (or just reply to this email).
