How to Get Execs to Post on LinkedIn

TL;DR:

• The LinkedIn algorithm favors execs, making their posts crucial for driving pipeline growth
• Show leadership the ROI and align with their priorities to get them on board
• Ghostwrite for execs to make posting easier, and automate the process for efficiency
• Posting from personal accounts drives more business opportunities
• Provide execs with writing templates and frameworks to help them get started on LinkedIn.

The LinkedIn algorithm favors execs, and folks trust them more. (We did a piece on the impact of execs on LinkedIn here.)

You want them to post on your company's behalf, or you're missing out on a massive pipeline driver. You could be leaving an estimated $5m in ARR in the lurch.

• HockeyStack drove 45% MoM revenue growth within a year of going all in on LinkedIn social selling
• Our own CEO, Parthi, followed a simple LinkedIn playbook for the first six months of posting and grew his network by 6,000 ICP followers, generating over a million impressions. He drives 65% of our inbound pipeline today
• Gong earned 200,000 company followers during their founder-led "LinkedIn takeover" in 2022

So, why aren't more of them posting to LinkedIn?

The answer is simple: they are too busy.

If you've read our precursor guide on how to get your sales team to post on LinkedIn, you've already seen the potential impact on pipeline.

Here's how to overcome any objections from your CXOs to posting to LinkedIn and to make it a quick and easy process for them.

Step 1: Show Leadership What’s in It for Them

Objections addressed: "Why should I do this?" and "What's the ROI?"

You need to show real numbers to leadership and align your KPIs with theirs to make a strong case for any investment, including a new channel like LinkedIn.

If you can align your ask with their immediate priorities, such as customer acquisition, you're far more likely to get them on board.

Here’s what leadership wants to see:

• You’ve identified a growth opportunity
• You’ve tested it with real, quantifiable results
• You have a scalable plan that aligns with their KPIs

Of course, it's important you've tested this out with some of your reps — something we covered in the previous guide.

Important Metrics to Report On

After a month or two of consistent LinkedIn activity from your sales reps, compile the results into a one-pager that highlights key metrics such as:

• Engagement rates (likes, comments, views)
• Number of pipeline entries influenced by LinkedIn activity
• Specific deals tied to sales posts

With Letterdrop, execs can:

• See content-influenced revenue, allowing you to link specific posts to deals that were initiated or influenced by LinkedIn engagement.
• Identify which accounts have engaged with their posts.
• Segment and label warm accounts, showing how content drives interest from prospects.

How to Do It

1. Estimate the impact of the broader team running your playbook. Here's a calculator to help you estimate possible monthly new bookings closed based on team size and LinkedIn ad spend.

2. Share a report outlining cost of the test campaign and outcomes

3. Create a proposal asking for continued support and resources to scale your effort

4. Get approval for resources and mandating cooperation from the Sales and Exec team

Here's a template for you to download and use.

Get the report template

Step 2: Ghostwrite For Them — And Automate It

Objection addressed: "I don't have time to post."

Execs are busy and even more protective of their time than SDRs.

You need to make posting to LinkedIn as low-lift as possible, and a great way to do this is by ghostwriting for them.

How to Do It Manually

Here's how some teams handle the ghostwriting process today:

1. Set up a 30 min sit-down with your exec, in-person or online
2. Ask them questions and record their answers
3. Repurpose those clips and insights into content for them

But considering how busy CXO's are, it's likely that even this isn't sustainable.

Another source of insights are sales calls. Use transcripts from Gong or Fathom to turn interesting questions, pain points, or answers into content.

How to Automate Ghostwriting

LinkedIn post generators like Taplio or Copy.ai can be useful here for writing for your exec, but you can get similar (and often as generic) outputs from ChatGPT.

Letterdrop, on the other hand, allows for more defensible posts directly from call or URL data.

Best of all, you can use Letterdrop to write from any account and automate team-wide engagement to amplify and cross-promote those posts.

Step 3: Posting From Personal Accounts Drives More Business

Objection addressed: "I don't want to use my personal account"

Explain to your exec that posting to LinkedIn from their personal account:

• drives more pipeline opportunities — more people are likely to trust what they say and the algorithm itself boosts exec content
• can help further their career — they start building a personal brand, which makes it easier to network and can even open doors to more career opportunities

Step 4 (Optional): Give Them Writing Templates and Frameworks

Objection addressed: "I want to write, but I don't know how to begin"

You might find that execs want to write for themselves. If that's the case, here's a set of templates to help you create effective LinkedIn posts with top LinkedIn hooks.

Keep It Simple, Scalable, and Strategic

You want your executives front-and-center to help drive credibility and pipeline.

The key to getting buy-in is to:

• demonstrate early value by way of pipeline gen
• provide them with tools and frameworks to streamline the whole process

If you're looking for a tool that can help automate social selling as well as tracking its success, reach out to us.