🚩Something you should be asking yourself

Did you know that LinkedIn Polls average almost 2x the reach compared to traditional text posts (Source: 2024 LinkedIn Algorithm Report by Richard van der Blom)?

If you think about it, that makes complete sense, because it's the only post type that's interactive by default.

And yet only 1.2% of all LinkedIn posts are polls (Source: 2024 LinkedIn Algorithm Report). Think about it. When's the last time you posted a poll on LinkedIn?

Why is that? If the engagement is there, why not use it more? Perhaps people don't know HOW to use it in a way that relates to their brand or expertise.

If you fall into that category, here are 3 ideas on how to use polls to showcase your thought leadership:

🔖 News Driven - Use the news as the spark. As an example, there's a big debate right now about return-to-office mandates. Dell was recently in the headlines for stating their fully remote staff won't be eligible for promotions. But, DropBox CEO said that return-to-office mandates could create a "toxic relationship [with employees]". So, why not ask the LinkedIn community for their opinion, ex: What's your company's current work policy? 1) Fully On-Site, 2) Hybrid, or 3) Fully Remote. Or, What do you think about return-to-office mandates? 1) Love it, 2) Hate it, or 3) It depends.
🔖 Research Driven - Use polls to take a quick, non-scientific pulse. As a marketer or product owner, a couple key questions that are always running through your mind are: A) How many people experience problem XYZ today?, B) How big of a pain-point is it?, and C) How do they solve that problem today? So, why not ask those 3 questions as 3 polls on LinkedIn? Not only will it get you interesting answers, but it'll also test your messaging. Think about it. Your poll will need to explain the problem in a simple, easy-to-understand way, with no supporting graphics, such that someone with zero context can instantly get it. If you can do that, your messaging might be market-ready, but if people get confused, go back to the drawing board.
🔖 Lead-Gen Driven - Use polls to engineer problem-awareness in future prospects. One of the biggest challenges in B2B sales is getting the prospect to become aware of the fact that they have a problem and that it can actually be solved—converting latent pain into active pain. You can use emails, social, ebooks, case studies, videos, etc. But, those are all passive and usually viewed in isolation. A poll is interactive, and the respondent can see how their answer compares to other people's. THAT can be the catalyst for a light-bulb moment. For example, suppose you're an Executive Coach specializing in workplace conflict. You could ask your network: How do you train your managers on how to resolve team conflict effectively? 1) Let the team resolve it themselves, 2) Self-guided managerial training, 3) HR training, or 4) Outside training/workshops. Then, tag specific people on your nurture list to answer the poll. Their answers and engagement (or lack thereof) will give you a quick pulse as to where they are. And best of all, no one had to get on a 60mins discovery call.

As you can see, you can use polls to elevate your thought leadership, engage your audience, gather insights, and maybe even create problem-awareness in future prospects. What more could you ask for in a piece of content?

🚩Something you should be attending

These random intros don't lead to qualified sales conversations.

Random referral introductions in the B2B space are very hit-and-miss, because they're often unvetted, unqualified, top-of-the-funnel leads.

Plus, 73% of B2B leads are not ready to make a purchase when they interact for the first time with you (Source: Sender.net, 2024). There could be so many reasons for this:

They might be in the middle of a tech-stack change or an org change
They might have to wait for their next budget cycle
The decision-maker might not think they have a problem and needs education first, etc.

That's why referral introductions need to be qualified before they start a sales conversation, so you don't waste anyone's time.

Now, how do you get your referral partners to do that? Is that even possible?

🔖 The B2BSalesMagic community hosts FREE, open-to-everyone, 30mins Mini-Meets every other Wed on Zoom at 3:30pm, Central to go over strategies on business development, referral development, and personal development to grow your business. Register here »

Get answers to your questions from our experts. Note, this is for B2B service providers only.

🚩Someone you should be following

People want automation, but don't want to feel automated.

Isn't that the truth!

Can you imagine how different all your customer experiences would be if every company had that principle as one of their north stars?

And that’s just one of the big ideas I learned from my friend, Catherine Brown —Super Connector, author of the How Good Humans Sell book, and founder of The Good Humans Growth Network. She’s a true thought leader on what it means to be a Good Human while operating in an increasingly automated world.

Follow and connect with her on LinkedIn if you’re a B2B business owner who cares about customer experience, referrals, and sales without being "salesy".

🔖 AND, she hosts a FREE, 30mins Sales Secrets webinar every Friday at 10:00am, Central, so if you have a sales question that needs answering, register here »

About Brewing Insights

"You need to automate". That's a no-brainer. Everybody knows that. The real question is HOW. How do you automate intelligently so that it streamlines your operations and improves customer experience?

🔖 Brewing Insights is a monthly newsletter for small/medium business owners and executives who want to skip the fluff and get straight to the insights and answers. Subscribe to learn 3 insights every month as John shares what was top of mind for him and distills them into immediately, actionable next steps. Subscribe on LinkedIn here »

About John Way

John Way is the Founder and Product Owner of Pipelineapp.io, a B2B SaaS platform that removes the hidden friction from your sales funnels and onboarding processes.

He's also a host for B2BSalesMagic, a B2B-only, members-only, networking community that's dedicated to helping you level up your sales, grow your business, and build your referral network—part of the The Good Humans Growth Network.

John has 20+ years of experience architecting and implementing enterprise sales and marketing systems and processes for both Fortune 100 clients and small businesses. His systems have won numerous industry awards, including the ITSMA, Gold Marketing Excellence Award for sales enablement.

🔖 If you're looking for someone to actually collaborate with, not just pitch to, here's how to connect with John »

If your elevator pitch was an online ad, would people click?

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