153. LinkedIn Strategies With Kylie Chown

This episode of Professional Builder Secrets is brought to you by Apparatus Contractor Services. Apparatus provides full scope, end to end QuickBooks, Precision Construction accounting and CFO services for residential builders. If you feel like you can't completely trust your weekly and monthly financial reports or you feel like you're flying blind, Apparatus Route will rebuild and operate your QuickBooks accounting system and give you precision construction accounting capability you can trust. Learn more@apparatusteam.com or on the APB Rewards Partner Directory.

LinkedIn is important, but absolutely it's not the only tool and it needs to fit into a broader digital strategy and align with other digital assets.

Welcome to Professional Builder's Secrets, a podcast for building company owners wanting to grow safely and securely. I'm your host, Will Blunt, and today I'm joined by Kylie Chown from my digital brand. Kylie, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Will. Thank you so much for having me. And I'm really excited to be here with you today.

I'm super excited to have you on the show, Kylie, and the reason is because we're talking about LinkedIn marketing now. You're a LinkedIn marketing expert and to be totally honest, I didn't think it.

Was a channel that was that important for builders and. But you have changed my mind since we met and I'm super excited to share that information with our audience.

Awesome. Thank you so much. I'm really excited as well and we've been having some discussions around it, so I think we've got some really exciting content to be able to share today.

Absolutely. So let's take a step back. Can you tell me a bit about your background and how you ended up in digital marketing?

Yeah, absolutely.

So I originally had a career management business and we when I had that business about 15 years ago, I've really seen the effect of marketing and particularly digital marketing and how that can really help shape a business and how it can contribute to a business's success. Prior to that, I had worked in that more corporate space and so I basically brought those two aspects together because I was really interested in LinkedIn from the perspective of personal branding and networking. So for about the last 13 years or so, I've worked primarily in that space, so with people, teams and organizations and looked at how they can really use LinkedIn as a tool to amplify their business and grow their brand.

Awesome. Well, you mentioned a digital first approach to me offline. I'm interested to hear more about what that means and why it could be important for the builders out there.

Yeah, absolutely.

So now more than ever we're in this world where people will learn about you online before they meet you in person. And I think if we just reflect on how we, you know, if we're going to engage a supplier, if we're looking for a new staff member, if we're looking for something for our business, typically what we will do is jump onto Google, put that person's name, their company name, into Google. Now, because LinkedIn has a lot of backlinks and activity and all that stuff that Google likes, it's really highly likely that your LinkedIn profile is going to come up in those search results. And if we kind of extend off that, it's understanding that people are going to make decisions based on your digital first impression and what they find online. There's been some research done around this and it talks to the fact that people will then it's actually quite difficult to shift that perception once it's been formed. So it's really important that we take control of it and we can have it or have the narrative that we want and influence that way as well. The other extension of that is that we don't know who is finding us online and bouncing off because our digital first impression isn't aligning with what they're expecting.

It makes a lot of sense actually, as you're saying it. You think about in person impressions and how quickly you can make a judgment on someone, not that you want to, but that first impression makes a huge difference and it can stick with you if there's no opportunity to overcome that.

Yeah, absolutely.

And absolutely the same thing applies online. And I think this was absolutely expedited during that Covid time as well, where we took a lot of those personal interactions and we had limitations around our face to face events and a lot of that came online. So again, I think that has been amplified, but that behavior has carried on from that point.

We want to talk about LinkedIn primarily today, but what other elements are included in that strong first impression for someone online?

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think that's a really great point because if we're looking at our Digital first impression, LinkedIn forms part of it as, you know, a broader digital ecosystem, so to speak. So it's absolutely not the only tool that is going to influence your customers and your buyer journey. So I think we need to think about how it fits into your broader digital assets and your digital ecosystem. So from, from my perspective, you know, for builders, the website is still really, really important and important from the sense of building trust, building credibility, being able to showcase projects and really controlling or influencing the narrative around the business. I think what makes LinkedIn a little bit different or what makes the LinkedIn and other social platforms a little bit different is that they can be more dynamic. So for example, on LinkedIn we can be having real time conversations with, you know, potential potential clients, potential customers, potential team members, stakeholders, and we can be providing real time updates visually of, you know, amazing projects that builders are working on and really showcase what they're doing. So I think it's understanding LinkedIn is important, but absolutely it's not the only tool and it needs to fit into a broader digital strategy and align with other digital assets.

Awesome.

Would you want to dive into that.

A little bit more and talk about the benefits of marketing on LinkedIn for builders? Because there's probably a lot of builders out there. Like I had the first, first thought that, you know what my audience is on Facebook or Instagram, they're going to Google that kind of thing. That's where I should focus my marketing dollars. But LinkedIn has a place like you mentioned, so can you just go into some of the benefits?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think for builders there's multiple, there's multiple benefits and I think one of them is that first concept of, if nothing else, it's a piece of digital real estate that you've got. And if we go back to the concept of people looking you up online, your LinkedIn profile coming up in those search results, being able to influence the narrative that comes up on LinkedIn is really important because then you can present yourself and your business in, in the way that you want. So from that perspective, I think that's, that's important in itself. If we look at the other attributes of LinkedIn and we've kind of touched on this already a little bit in the sense of how people go to LinkedIn. So when I go to LinkedIn, it's very much from a work perspective, a professional development perspective. I've kind of got my work hat on right. So I'm going there to learn to be educated and to find out different things from a building perspective. I think we can look at LinkedIn particularly around, say, for example, finding or identifying potential team members. So I think that's a great tool for builders being able to find and identify and connect with potential team members, suppliers and people in their industry as well. So again, because we can find people and have those real time conversations and it's really interesting and we've had a conversation around this before, the lead generation conversation comes up a lot because I guess at the end of the day, really, that's what people are looking for to grow their business. They need leads and they need clients. Now with LinkedIn, again, it's one of the challenges is we can't actually search and find people who, you know, want to do a custom build or want to do a renovation. Like we don't know that. But what we can do is we can use LinkedIn as a tool to get our content in front of our audience. So our top of funnel awareness content, our educational content, we can put that through LinkedIn, we can put through, you know, our case studies and our projects and then also the signups for the lead magnets and things like that. So when that individual does have that particular need, that particular builder is front of mind because they've been educating, they've been, you know, influencing and providing a lot of great value to that particular person.

Yeah, that's a great point. And we, we talk a lot about an always on marketing mentality because it is a really common mistake for builders that they just try, they, they go, I need leads now turn some advertising on build, but it just doesn't work like that. And you really need to, because it's such a big investment from someone building a home or doing a large remodel. You really need to build up a lot of trust and be present. Like you said, top of mind when that opportunity arises.

Yeah, absolutely, yeah.

And again, it's probably underutilized in the sense of you don't know who's watching you, you don't know who they're connected to. So again, it's just that we've got our content here, we've got our audience over here. It's looking at LinkedIn as a channel to get your content in front of that aud, but particularly when they're in a different mindset because they're approaching LinkedIn from that work perspective. So they're looking for that education, they're very open to that advice element.

Can you dive into a bit more.

About beyond lead generation and the brand focused stuff, what LinkedIn could be beneficial for?

Yeah, absolutely.

So I think two additional reasons that LinkedIn could be beneficial would be looking at what I found particularly around staffing and, and personal resources. So, you know, I think I've seen builders using LinkedIn to first of all position their company and show the business as a place where people want to work, showing insights into, you know, the leadership of the, of the business and who they'll be working for, team members and things like that. So again, if we Think about that concept of digital first. It comes back to that again, because a potential team member is going to do exactly the same thing. They're going to Google you, they're going to Google the company. You know, who am I going to be working for? Who's going to be my teammates and what, what, what's this place like to work? So I think using LinkedIn as a tool to be able to showcase that can be beneficial. But also thinking that LinkedIn is essentially, at the end of the day, it's really just a big database. So, you know, as a business owner, you can jump onto LinkedIn and you can search for, say, you know, a project, you know, an office manager or a project coordinator within particular locations and reach out and connect and engage with those people. So I think if we're in a market where there's challenges around resources, LinkedIn can be a good tool from that perspective. The other aspect is developing supplier and referral relationships. And this is where I've seen it work really well as well, is being able, you know, to reach out, connect and engage with potential partners and referral. Referral partners. But then again, the extension of that, you know, I've seen some really great examples where builders have used that as a cross, like cross content creation. So basically, you know, there might be a builder and another provider that's aligned, you know, working together to create content that can go across both audiences and things like that. So there's some really creative ways that I think builders can use LinkedIn to grow their business, but also grow their brand.

Yeah, that's some great points there. Recruitment is a challenge across the industry, no doubt. And finding great people, any way that builders can get their brand in front of people and convince them that they're a great place to work, I think makes a lot of sense. And partnerships, to your point, referral markings, enormous in this industry. Even though we really try to get builders to not rely purely on referrals, at the end of the day, they are going to be a really high portion of the conversions that a small builder will get. So it's important if you can actually systemize that process of working with partners and engaging with them, then it makes a lot of sense.

Yeah, absolutely.

And it's looking at how you can build this into your existing systems as well. So I'm not about, you know, like, it's like, I understand, like, builders are busy, they've got to go on site, they've got to see clients. Like, they've got a lot going on. So, you know, we don't want to make a whole lot of additional tasks and work for them, but what we can look at is going, okay, cool, this is your existing system or this is your existing process. You know, at what point do you want reach out and send a connection request? At what point do you activate these different action items? So like you said, I think if it becomes a process, then it becomes more embedded and becomes more sustainable as well.

Yeah, that's very true. So talk to me about actually getting on LinkedIn as a builder, then how can a builder out there identify and highlight what makes them different? How can they highlight that on LinkedIn? To be honest, just being on LinkedIn is probably a bit of a positive given there's a lot of builders that aren't. But yeah, talk to me about how they can really identify that core positioning on the platform.

Absolutely.

And I think that's a really great point. I think the first thing before anyone gets on LinkedIn is really understanding what that USP is, so understanding what your unique selling points are and being really clear on that. And that'll come through know knowing your customer avatar, knowing what their needs are, knowing what, what they need to engage with you, and then aligning, knowing where your alignment sits between your business and your brand. So I think the first step is really understanding that because when I work with builders who've got a very clear picture of that and a very clear understanding of that, I find that we can communicate that a lot stronger and it's, it's a lot clearer because it's coming, coming from that perspective. Also, when we understand, you know, what our USP is, what our customer avatar is, we've already taken that information across different platforms. So what that means is that your LinkedIn will be consistent in brand voice a lot as aligned with your website and your other social platforms. So I think first of all, it's understanding, being really clear and understanding what that is and then taking that information and putting that into your LinkedIn strategy and then what that looks like, that'll be, you know, what your, how your profile rates, for example. So, you know, if you're doing new home builds with, have got a focus on really strong focus on sustainability and environmental impact, you can be building that through your profile, through the content, through the search keywords and things like that. You'll build that into your content strategy that will influence who you reach out and connect and engage with. So I think, you know, I think it's the actual success of LinkedIn happens before you even start. It's Having that really clear understanding and being able to bring it through the platform.

Yeah, that consistency element's really a really great point. Like if you think about it, if your website's saying something different than your LinkedIn profile and your Facebook profile, it just creates a bit of uncertainty with prospects, especially if you're in a tight niche, which you should be. And like say for example, you're targeting customers looking to build eco friendly homes like you mentioned. If you don't mention that across all the platforms, you know, you won't come through with as a stronger message as someone that is doing that.

And I think it comes back to the concept of how we use social media or our digital footprint. One of the key purposes for it is to build trust and credibility. So if there's a disconnect in the messages that can particularly or potentially become a friction point and then that influences the trust and credibility because you know, over here you're saying this, but then there's over here it's a bit different. So. So having that consistency I think works through developing that trust and credibility with the customers. And I think at some point customers are looking for a reason to opt you out, not to opt you in. So we want to make it really easy for customers to go, yep, this is exactly what I'm looking for. And at least be comfortable and confident enough to take that first step and have a conversation with you.

It's kind of death by a million cuts in a way.

Like you might speak to a customer.

And they go, oh, I'm not ready to build at the moment or I don't have the budget or I'm going with someone else. Whatever the objection is. And to find out the real truth around why that is is very, very challenging. But it's probably like a lot of different small things and one of them could be inconsistency in your messaging online, for example. And that's just drop down the amount they trust you.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's just a, it's a friction point and a point that hasn't aligned and maybe hasn't met their expectations as well because they've gone there expecting to see something and if it's not there then they've kind of felt like, oh, you know, this isn't what I going to be the case.

Absolutely.

Okay, so one of the million dollar.

Questions is a couple coming up actually. What types of content are most effective for builders on LinkedIn?

Yeah, that's a really great question and one that I get a lot. So if I go back to the purpose and think about what the purpose is for a builder to be using LinkedIn. I think that's important because if we know the purpose, then we know what content can support that. So from my perspective, you know, some of the purposes are being able to showcase projects, being able to do that kind of before, during and after those live updates, cut customer testimonials, whether they're, you know, in video or text and things like that. So, you know, our purpose of LinkedIn is to showcase. One of the purposes is to showcase our projects and our customers and our team what content is going to best support that. I feel that video does that particularly well for builders, particularly for a project's perspective, because they can use the video to show, you know, before the project, project, during the project and, and after the project, also video from the sense of customer testimonials. So I've seen some builders who've got some amazing customer testimonials that are really powerful on video because it shows the person, you know, the person's there and they're engaging. So you've got that perspective as well. I other reason I do like video is I think with the rise of AI and AI generated content, we're seeing a little bit more of that coming through LinkedIn. But I think video is. Maintains that authenticity. So, you know, it's, you can't really, you can't really do a fake video, right? So. Well, you could, but it's quite complicated. So I think that maintains that authenticity of the message as well. And I think finally, we want to put content on LinkedIn that's going to stop people scrolling. So LinkedIn wants people to stay on LinkedIn as long as possible, like all the other platforms. So it's, if you see a video on LinkedIn, you're going to, you know, there's going to be some curiosity element to that. So you'll, it'll essentially stop the scroll and that increases your dwell time on LinkedIn, which LinkedIn likes. So again, anything that's going to stop the scroll. So again, video leans nicely into that as well. Understanding though that not everybody, you know, might not have the resourcing or be at the stage to be using video, if that's the case. I would look at things like carousel posts and they're the ones that scroll through basically multiple slides. And again, the reason I would suggest that is they have a similar impact to video because they stop the scroll, they get people scrolling through. So you might not get as much of the dynamic message, but you still get the benefit of Stopping the scroll on the platform and people engaging with your content that way.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And to your point, the whatever's going to keep people on the platform for longer is what their algorithm is going to favor, because they want people on the platform for as long as possible. We were chatting offline before, and you mentioned a scenario. You'd been working with a builder recently who had all these amazing awards for the houses they'd built, but when you'd look for that online, after having the conversation with them, you couldn't really find it. And I think that was a great representation of some of the content that you just need to be getting out there and making the most of.

Yeah, absolutely.

And it's, as I was saying to you beforehand, I find, particularly with builders, like, I'll talk to them and they'll tell me they're amazing. They've got these amazing projects or they've got this amazing team. They've got, like you said, they've won these amazing awards and they've done all this really great stuff. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, you're amazing. When I look at them online, there's that real disconnect. So, like, in this particular instance, I couldn't see anything about the team. I couldn't see these awards. I couldn't. I didn't get that impression from that online presence. And again, the challenge with that is that I only knew that because I got to talk to that person. But people might not have that opportunity. So it's been able to showcase that type of content and achievements. And I think sometimes builders feel a bit like, you know, we just want to get in with and do a really good job and let our work, you know, show what we can do and maybe are a little bit humble in that sense around, you know, not necessarily wanting to look like they're showing off with the awards and things like that. But again, it's like you've put this effort in. It's someone else who's recognized you and it's a point of differentiation that you can then take to the market and it's going to help your customers as well go through that customer journey because, you know, it's showing credibility, it's showing. It's showing, you know, it's showing that. That. That achievement. And again, it can be just how we frame it. So in this example, I was saying, you know, you don't have to say like, oh, you know, I won this award. You make it about your team and your community. So you could be like, hey, you know, really proud of the team at ABC Building, you know, the, you know, without them, we wouldn't have been able to achieve this. So it's not saying, hey, look at me, we've got this. It's saying, hey, you know, showcasing the people who've been involved in shining the light on other people in your community and in your team as well.

Yeah, that's a great point. And I think also if you could shine the light on the person you built the home for and their journey that they'd been on, I think that would be a great, great way to do it.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think people, you know, because they're dealing with people's homes and that's something that's very close to people, you know, being able them, the customers seeing that showcase, I think they would really like that as well because, you know, obviously it's something that they're very proud of as well.

Yeah, exactly.

Okay, the next million dollar question.

I said there was a couple coming up. How often should builders post on LinkedIn?

Yeah, great question. And this is one that I get a lot. So I think before I answer that, I think it's important that we understand LinkedIn user behavior. So if we look at a typical LinkedIn user, they go there less frequently than other platforms. So they'll go to LinkedIn less frequently, but they'll stay for longer. If we look at other platforms, if we look at Facebook, if we look at Instagram, there's more kind of micro moments there. So people will go to Instagram and Facebook TikTok more frequently, more frequently, but stay for, but they don't stay as long. So they go there more often, but they're not staying there as long. So I think if we understand that it influences our content strategy and part of the content strategy is how often we post. So because of how people engage on LinkedIn, you know, for builders, I think if you were posting two, two times a week, maybe three times a week, that would be, that that's enough because it's aligning with how people are consuming the content. So, you know, I kind of go five times a fortnight for builders and for most clients actually, and then if they miss one, we've still got the twice a week happening. So I think that's a really great place to start. I think too, it's just understanding that concept of always on marketing as well. So, you know, we want to make sure that we've got that consistency coming through. So then when we're in a Situation where, you know, we're maybe looking for new projects and things like that. We've already got that marketing established, so we're not kind of always trying to play catch up.

How do you plan all of that out in the sense that, I imagine, like to your point before, builders are really busy. They're, you know, going across to the different projects on sites, they're in the office, they're meeting with the team, they're talking to new clients, all that kind of stuff. I imagine if they try and do it on the fly to post on LinkedIn, there's going to be times that they miss. They're not going to be planned around it. So do you have, do you have an approach for making sure that you're kind of well in advance and how does that work?

Absolutely.

And I think as well that risk with doing things on the go and on the fly is that you'll maybe deflect from that strategy a little bit because you're just going, oh, it's Tuesday, I've got a post, where am I? And just doing something because it's. Because it's the day or the time. So I think the step back from that is having a really clear content marketing strategy. Understanding what your content marketing strategy is going to be and how I look at it is we've got like your business strategy, your marketing strategy falls out of that and your LinkedIn is a channel within that. So I think first of all, understanding what that is, aligning your content with the buying stages. So we want our awareness content, which is our educational content, our consideration content, which is our customer focused content, and then our decision content, which is our lead magnets and things like that. So what I would do is actually plan it out personally, and I do this for myself as well, is I plan out kind of the month ahead based on that structure, what I'm going to be posting when. So then, you know, I'm batch producing that content essentially. And that is beneficial in a number of ways is it helps me align with my strategy because I'm very much focused on the strategy at that point. It's actually more efficient because if I'm kind of in that zone where I'm creating the content, you know, that it becomes efficient because I'm doing the same thing multiple times. I can also then schedule to the timings that's going to suit or what I found suits my particular audience. And builders would do the same of when their audience is going to be on. So yeah. And as builders get more confident and comfortable you know, I wouldn't discourage them from doing things on, on the go. Like if they're out on a project and they've got some really. They've got a really great moment. Absolutely. But I think that's a little bit of a more advanced strategy. We want to get the foundation and the basics solid first.

Yeah, great point. Like, just make sure you got the systems and processes in place first and then you can kind of get creative from there. Yeah, yeah, perfect. Actually, one question. Do you have a tool of choice? There's so many social media scheduling tools out there. Where do you go about planning all of that content and scheduling it out?

Yeah, absolutely.

That's a really good question. So, yeah, there's so many different tools and they offer different advantages and different features. To be honest, if I was actually starting out on LinkedIn and if I was just doing LinkedIn specifically, I would post, Pardon me, I would schedule. You can schedule on LinkedIn directly. So I would use the LinkedIn scheduler tool. The benefits of the reporting tools or the other scheduling tools is they generally have more comprehensive data and reporting. But again, I think that's probably a bit more advanced once you kind of get into it a little bit more. There is some data. Well, there is data and reporting available on LinkedIn. So I think with that in mind, you know, if I, if a builder was new to using LinkedIn, potentially just scheduling directly into the platform would be a. Be a good starting point.

Yeah, good advice. If someone was using a scheduling tool that could go to multiple platforms, say for example, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, which would be probably the most. Three common. Most ones. Most common ones for builders. How do you feel about using the same content across multiple platforms?

Yeah, good questions. Oh, you got all the good questions today. I think if we go back to our user behavior and our strategy and that's what I will always kind of come back to. Like what's the strategy and what's. How are we using LinkedIn? I think from my perspective, the content on LinkedIn does need to be different from the content that's going on Facebook and Instagram. And, and again, the reason being is how the people or how people use LinkedIn and that, that customer behavior. So they're going there less often, but they're staying for longer. They're going there with a different perception or different kind of hat on. Right. They're going with their work professional lens on. So they're expecting to see content that aligns with that. So I think from that perspective it does need to to be different. Also, the LinkedIn algorithm is, and that could be, that's a whole other conversation. But again, that likes particular type of content. So it likes the educational content, it likes the advice content. So with that in mind, you know, I think it's, I think our overall messaging and our overall content strategy from our audience perspective could be the same, but how we package up that content and deliver it I think needs to be custom on LinkedIn because of those particular reasons.

Yeah. Cool. Good answer. Thanks, Kylie. Okay, this is a big one as well. We're very data driven with all of our marketing we do and we recommend that builders take the same approach because if you can't measure it, then you don't know how, whether it's successful, you don't know where to invest your budget. So from a LinkedIn perspective, how do you measure success?

Yeah, I really like this because I think one of the benefits of all social media or all digital marketing is that there are is a lot of data and analytics available to you. And I think, you know, unfortunately, sometimes people aren't across it or aren't aware of it. But again, from my perspective, it's one of the big advantages because there is so much data there that's going to be helpful in measuring and assessing the success of particular campaigns. From a LinkedIn specific perspective, I think we're looking at three key metric areas and it aligns back to our customer buying journey. So first of all, our awareness metrics. So there we're looking at things like, you know, for example, I would measure your connections, your company page followers, your personal profile views, your company page views. And I'm looking at those because that's telling me, you know, how many people are aware of you and your business. And obviously the deeper dive into that is we want to break that down and go, okay, is this our ideal audience? And look at that that way. The next metric I want to look at is a consideration metric. So that's people who are considering and engaging with you. So there I'm looking at, for example, your video view completion rate. So you know, we're putting videos up, but how many of those are actually getting watched to completion? We're looking at your content engagement. So, you know, we're putting out amazing case studies and stories, but you know, how many people are liking and commenting and sharing that. So that's what we're looking at there. And the third thing I like to look at is that decision metric. So that's when we're asking someone to do something. So for example, it could be, you know, we've got a lead magnet around, you know, seven ways you can make your home more sustainable. How, you know, how many people are actually sharing their email address and downloading that document. If you're offering a, you know, a consultation or something like that, how many people are actually engaging in that consultation? Sometimes I find that, again, all audiences tend to be very focused on that decision metric. But the challenge with that is that if we don't have the right audience, we're never going to get the right people downloading the lead magnet. If we're putting out content and people aren't engaging with it, it's less likely that they're going to download that lead magnet. So these three metrics influence each other. So I think it's important that we look at all three of them and.

How they work together with the consideration stage.

Are there any tricks or hacks, I.

Guess you could call them on LinkedIn for getting more comments, more engagement and those type of things?

Yeah. So again, it goes back to people are there with that work hat on and that kind of work professional perspective. So we want to make it really easy and safe for them to engage with the content. I think that's, that's important so that they feel comfortable being able to engage and add comments and things like that. One of the easiest ways is to invite a conversation, so share experiences. So, you know, I've talked to the builder we were referencing before, actually was talking to him about how he presents content and I was saying to him, like, you know, you can use things like, you know, in my experience or when working with customers, I found, or, you know, this is a shared experience that I'm, that I'm sharing and I think that opens it up for other people to come in and say, okay, cool. Well, I had a similar experience or sharing their own insights and things like that. So it kind of sounds, what's the word, kind of simplistic in the sense. But I think if we invite conversation and invite comments within the post itself, people will then feel comfortable to engage with them and I think also engaging with other people's content. So, and I'm thinking about an other client that I had and they were saying that's exactly what they came to me with. They're like, oh, we want to get a lot more engagement in our, in our, in our posts and we want to have conversations happening. And one of the things I said to them was cool, but like, are you contributing to other people's conversation? Oh, no, we're not. Doing that. We just want people to engage with us and like, well, you know, you kind of got to be engaging with other people's content for them to engage back with you as well. So I think it's having that approach of, you know, if we, we're going to get back kind of what we put out as well. So I think that's important.

Yeah, it's interesting because LinkedIn is a very corporate thing and I guess the tendency there is to be corporate with your messaging. But what you're saying, and it makes a lot of sense now that I think back to, you know, my experience on LinkedIn, the personal messages actually get the best response.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think at the end of the day, people, you're absolutely corporate branding and your corporate messaging is absolutely important. But I think at the end of the day, the customer who's building, you know, they're building their, their beautiful forever home, they want to know who they're going to be, who the person behind that profile is, who the person behind the company is, and that's what they're going to really connect with.

Yeah, great tips.

Okay, so what are some common mistakes.

That you see builders making on LinkedIn?

Yeah, that's a couple of things I've seen fairly consistency consistently in this space. The first one is consistency of content, and we've already talked to that a little bit. But I find the nature of building and the nature of project work tends to lean into this a little bit more. Builders will get super busy with projects and going to see clients and being on site, so the consistency of content might drop off, so we might see a lot of activity and then not much. And then that can negatively affect from, I guess an algorithm perspective because one of the things that LinkedIn does like is consistency. So, you know, I would say one of the mistakes I see builders particularly make is kind of going in those up and downs from a content perspective. The second thing is not having that relevance between how amazing they are. It goes back to that and I kind of feel myself coming back to that digital first concept. I'll talk to them. Oh my gosh, you're amazing. I'll look on their LinkedIn and there's that real disconnect there. So not leveraging that digital footprint to shape the narrative around their personal brand and their business brand. The third thing that I see is not builders, particularly not leveraging the visual capabilities and maybe not having, you know, really great high quality videos and graphics and that type of content and not showcasing those projects from start to completion. So I kind of find that some of the challenges around that, and I think as well, not amplifying their personal brands, and this goes back to what we were saying before as well, is I think now more than ever, people wanted to connect with the person that I think there's absolutely. We still need to have our more corporate or more business communication, our awareness content out there and in the market. But I think at the end of the day, the new customer wants to deal with the person who's going to be, you know, who's coming onto site, you know, who's going to be the builder who owns this company, you know, what's their. What's their vision, what's their values, what's important to them and is there alignment there? So I think there's a really great opportunity for builders in particular to start to showcase their own personal brands as well as their company brands.

That's a great point. Building a house is a very personal experience for most people that are doing it. Unless there's, you know, someone that's a developer or something like that, they might be doing it more at scale. But for most people that are building that home they plan to live in, it's very personal. It's like they're buying an iPhone or something like that transaction there. So, yeah, it makes a lot of sense. They've got to have that personal connection with the builder.

Yeah, absolutely.

And again, it's, you know, using LinkedIn to showcase a little bit about, well, a lot about the company and the projects, but bringing in that personal aspect still, in a professional sense, but showcasing a bit more of the person. People will connect with that. And those posts do get quite a lot of engagement because it's about the person and people are, oh, they want to interact and engage that way.

Cool. All right, last question. What is the future for LinkedIn marketing? What do you see happening in the. In the next five years, let's say, for. And how builders can interact on the platform?

Yeah, I think that LinkedIn marketing will continue to grow. So what we've seen from a user, if we look at the data, there's a couple of things we've seen historically is consistent increases with people joining the platform. We've seen consistent increases with people spending the time they spend on platform. So I think it will continue to grow in that market. At this point in time, it's really the only platform that's set up from that professional perspective. So it's got a strong footprint in that particular space. So I don't see it Just diminishing or changing from that perspective any, anytime soon. I think with the rise of AI generated content, think that video content and anything that's authentic is going to do well. Because I think, you know, AI generated content, again, that could be a whole other conversation. Right. But you know, when that's not done well, it's quite obvious. So I think any content that looks authentic and engaging is going to do well on the platform. So again, particularly around, you know, video content, face to camera type content will, will do well. And I see that being a strong element of the future at this point in time as well. You know, if we look at how many posts we see on LinkedIn, which are paid posts, so paid ads, there's definitely not as many as some of the other platforms that may change. So that might be something that we need to be aware of moving forward and it might be looking at, you know, is there an opportunity for paid campaigns on LinkedIn? But again, I, you know, the majority of people who I work with, I'd say 90% don't do any paid advertising on LinkedIn. So it's all very much an organic content strategy as well. So look, I think moving into the future, I think we're going to see more video type content, I think we're going to see more personal branding type content coming through and I think we might go back a little bit more to that kind of professional work hat type content because I think it did take a bit of a deviation a little while ago where it kind of maybe got a little bit more into that other types of media content, but I think that's shifted back to more of the original intent and purpose.

Yeah, great advice. I think the opportunity for builders is quite large on LinkedIn and the reason I say that is because it's a, it's a very mature platform.

Yeah.

For whatever reason, the residential building industry hasn't like saturated it the same way other industries have. Like if you're in recruiting or something like that, every, you know, every recruiter is on there and they're smashing it. But for builders, I think if you just get on there and follow some of these principles you've shared today, there's a big opportunity to actually stand out.

Absolutely. I think that's really a key point because, you know, exactly that. Like when I started I was working a lot with accountants and coaches and, and you know, and professional service providers and I think they've got a good understanding of LinkedIn and they can see how it can help their business. So they've really embraced it. I think for building construction, professional, professional, I would call professional technical services, I've started to see that absolutely increase, but it's not at the point yet where some of the other industries are. So it's a really good opportunity to get in there and kind of get that foothold. And the great thing about custom building is that typically it's geographic based as well. So you've got the opportunity from a location perspective to go, you know, I want to be known as the custom builder for luxury homes in Adelaide and really kind of claim that space on LinkedIn.

Yeah. Cool. Well, Kylie, thanks so much for coming on the show today. I've had an absolute ball. You've shared so many great tips for getting onto LinkedIn. I'm really encouraged by what you shared and I think a lot of builders should be as well.

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you so much for having me. And I'm looking forward to seeing your members and community being a lot More active on LinkedIn.

Will, should be good. So for any members out there, my digital brand, which is Kylie's company and does all the awesome work with LinkedIn, they are a rewards partner so you can get a cash rebate if you work with them. Kylie also spoke at the summit and she hasn't actually spoken yet as we're talking, but by the time this goes live, she will have the Professional Builders Summit in Sydney and there will be recordings available for that. So for anyone that's listening to this anywhere in the world, you can purchase those recordings and, and hear Kylie's presentation, which I'm sure is going to be stellar. She's going through a full case study of setting up a builder on LinkedIn and getting them all ready to go. So that's a lot of fun.

Is there anywhere else you'd like to.

Recommend builders could go to find out more, Kylie?

Well, what they could do is they could come onto LinkedIn and find me there. That would be on LinkedIn. But yeah, thank you so much for having me. It's always great to talk to you and yeah, I think it's a really exciting time for your members and your community and I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do.

Yeah, awesome. Well, my biggest takeaway, I just like to share that is that digital first impression. I think something that resonated with me as you were talking and sharing all the advice today was it's not necessarily the best builder that's going to win a job. Because if a builder which is marketing themselves better and building more trust online and creating all those touch points with the trust, they're more likely to actually win the job. So you might have the best, you might build the best houses, but if you, if people don't know about that, then you know you won't be in the right place at the right time.

Absolutely.

Cool. Well, awesome, Kylie, thanks for coming on.

And have a great day.

Yeah, you too, Will. Thank you.

Also, a big thank you to our listeners wherever you are in the world. If you like the show today, please subscribe to Professional Builder Secrets on your platform of choice. And if you're feeling generous, leave us a review.

But until next time, have a great day.

This episode of Professional Builder's Secrets is brought to you by Apparatus Contractor Services. Apparatus provides full scope, end to end QuickBooks, Precision Construction accounting and CFO services for residential builders. If you feel like you can't completely trust your weekly and monthly financial reports or you feel like you're flying blind, Apparatus Root will rebuild and operate your QuickBooks accounting system and give you precision construction accounting capability you can trust. Learn more@apparatusteam.com or on the APB Rewards Partner Directory.