Using LinkedIn in Your ABM Strategy | Aaron Cort of Craft Ventures

Transcript

obviously, people understand the importance that a platform, LinkedIn have. But whenever this topic comes up, I always like to dive into, like, specifics, in terms of, like, how you can use LinkedIn, which platforms and features, work best, and are there ways of looking at it that maybe some people, aren't thinking of

that can be best utilized when you're when you're doing this kind of work?

Yeah. It's a great question, Ron. I've been, like, a LinkedIn power user for, like, a really, really long time, and I'm a I'm a huge proponent of of LinkedIn as a channel. The main thing I'll start with with LinkedIn is it's just obvious, like, people professionals live here.

Right? But the other thing about LinkedIn, which is a good and, a challenging thing, I think, for companies trying to get a program started, is, like, there's I mean, I'm not saying this to, like, say bad things about any other social media platform, but when you're on LinkedIn, you have a high bar for, like, the stuff you consume or the stuff you engage with. Right? You're either engaging with stuff from your network with people you trust or people that, you know, you know as thought leaders in the space, for example, or you've got actually, like, some really valuable piece of content that was promoted to you or shared by somebody in your network or shared in general and it pops up on your feed.

So all this kinda stems from, like, LinkedIn is the place where, like, professionals live. There is a high bar for what's going to get engagement and get people excited about products and companies on LinkedIn. But the other component of this is, like, the person component. Right?

A lot of what makes LinkedIn work, outside of, like, a company having awareness is there's some person or people within the company that have some sort of a presence and they've been thoughtful about on a foundational level, like, how their profile looks. But more importantly, like, how are they how are they showing up in in the ecosystem, and how do you integrate that? So the person level is the big thing because that's what people really care about is, like, who's the guy or the girl or the person at the company that is saying things or sharing things that are of value? And then where does the company play in?

Right? Because that's typically Ruby talked a lot about, like, why are companies doing this more right now? A lot of ways that people are buying are frankly like, there's so much noise in the market, and the only way that they can trust where they go is is from their network. Right?

And so LinkedIn's a channel for that, but also it's another challenge and opportunity for people to consider. It's like, to use LinkedIn correctly, you have to have some degree of, like, some set of people within your company. It could be a founder. It could be your sales leader.

It could be your engineering leader. It really depends. You have to make that decision consciously. But that's one of the things that's, like, most interesting and most opportunistic for those considering LinkedIn as a platform.

Everything else kind of also sits around that, and I think the market's shifting there a lot right now.

Yeah. No. I love that advice.

Leveraging Video Content on LinkedIn
Ruby, in our in our report, I know video came up a lot or there's a significant aspect of video and how to use that. And, actually, at the event we were at yesterday in New York, the topic of using video on LinkedIn, came up.

Aaron, do do you have any any input or insights about that? I think for a lot of people, LinkedIn's usage and the growth of video is something that's relatively new. Like, a lot is coming out of it. More people starting to use it. You're seeing stories on there now.

What advice would you have about people who want to effectively use, video platform on LinkedIn?

company, ClickUp, actually does a lot of video stuff on LinkedIn that you might find interesting.

It's a lot of corporate humor stuff, but it's, it's really good. And I think people need to decide and companies need to decide, you know, what what type of content makes sense. I mean, video is the obvious one. We're we're so used to consuming that, and it's probably, like, the easiest form to digest.

And then there's also this area where, you know, Ruby and I have talked about this, but, on the person level, like, if I'm gonna go make a video and put it on LinkedIn, like, it's kinda nerve wracking. Right? So for some people. So it's also finding that point of where, frankly, video is probably, like, the best channel to to get engagement.

And if if you're doing it on a person level too, you gotta find that medium for you where it's like, where am I overextending versus where is comfortable?

But I see a lot of companies doing, like, really cool video stuff on LinkedIn. Like, ClickUp is one of them, but there's a lot of other really good ones out there. And and, yeah, frankly, it's also just, like, knowing your audience, knowing the platform, knowing what's gonna make sense for the platform.

The Role of Founders in ABM Strategies
I think one of the misconceptions we see and I know today's focus is on ABM, but, obviously, successful ABM, like, messaging matters and who they're hearing the message from.

I'd love to have you share a little bit more about, like, what you see have seen work as it pertains to perhaps bringing in the founder or other trusted, you know, thought leaders, in alignment with an ABM strategy. And the reason I'm asking this question is because we do see a lot of founders are hesitant, to, you know, put their face out there. And I know you and I have talked a lot about this. So would love to share with the the audience.

Yeah. Yeah. I can give a a few examples of, folks that I work with and that I know that I think are doing a good job of this.

One that comes to mind, like, right off the bat, Ruby was one of our portfolio companies. We work closely with, Mozart Data. Pete Fishman, who's the c CEO and founder there, has put a concerted effort into posting content. He does video stuff.

That's been great. He's just received nothing but, like, positive feedback from his network, but it also funneled really well into, a marketing campaign we ran on LinkedIn using, like, thought leader ads and InMails and promoting a piece of content we created. And it was very holistic, but it's it's carried over for them. And it's important for him too because they're focused on, like,

their partner strategy.

And, partners also selling your product for you require a degree of trust and value and and really leaning into the company. So, Phish is his nickname. Phish really decided to lean in on that because I think it was a a big bet there. But, and that's worked out for them.

But others I I've seen that do this really well.

One of our portfolio companies, Copy AI, Kyle Coleman, who's the CMO over there. He's got a brand he actually carried over from his time at Clari and then also before that. But that's also been good for them because he he post content, I think, a little bit of video here and there as well, just talking about, like, their market and the process and what he's seen and how how their product resonates for him, but also things that he's learning and seeing in the space and talking to customers. And I think that's also really helpful for people because they're another product that's frankly, like, there's a lot of noise out there, but they're they're probably easily one of the best.

And,

in his example too, not to go too long on Kyle, but, you know, they're they're a product for GTM teams.

He's a CMO. Right? So it's like when you have that person as someone who's talking about it that has an audience or carried that over, it also makes a lot of sense for people, and it's something that they can lean into. And, you know, it's also something too where even if Kyle posted, like, very minimal content, just his background and story and, like, where he's at, like, adds validity to the company and the product.

Right? So those are just other things that that people look for on LinkedIn when they're evaluating, especially in business products, and and software.

This is an aside, but we are seeing more of a, push towards, again, like, founders, executives at start ups leaning more into their brand on the platform, which is long overdue. And part of what we published in our report was how the startups with the strongest conversion rates and strongest year over year growth across, you know, different ARR buckets, are actually seeing the most success. So the the most, the strongest conversion rates and efficiencies with, content that features execs or thought leaders.

And so, I say all this because I know, Erin, you have really great perspective on that, and so we'll be doing potentially a part two, a part three, kind of going deeper into that. So more to come there because it is so important. And we're we featured, Craig Rosenberg from who's head of go to market at Scale Ventures, and he had a great quote, founder led sales never ends. And so I think that's something that, you know, all of us need to lean more into in regards to, like, how we can engage and inspire founders to be kind of at the epicenter of our marketing strategies more than they currently are. Sales is great, obviously, but founders have this unique perspective that really inspired them to kind of start and innovate in the first place.

The Impact of Founder-Led Sales
No. For sure. I I love that quote from, from Craig. That's, that's super true in the market right now, and that's, I I find it really relevant. So I love that one.

Well, I think that's a good, good way to end it.

Founder led sales never end.

Thanks a lot, Aaron. I really appreciate you taking the time and coming on. This is great information. Ruby, always great, collaborating with you. Ruby heads up, LinkedIn marketing for startups, and, be looking out for this and other conversations. Thanks a lot, Aaron.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.