How to Foster Deep Connections that Can Lead to Company Growth

Your LinkedIn Company page is where prospective clients, partners, customers, vendors, and employees go to learn about your brand while they’re on the platform.

But we don’t connect deeply with brands, we connect deeply with people. Not because they have a particular title, but because we relate to their passion, we value their expertise, or we get all the feels from their content.

We connect through stories, not job descriptions.

Connecting authentically with your audience creates a halo effect for the brand. You benefit from your connection to the brand, and the brand benefits from its connection with you.

One way to do that on LinkedIn is to connect your passion with your purpose.

Your passion is what your network will connect with you over, and your purpose is what they’ll begin to see your expertise in. Connecting the two is how you’ll earn their trust, and eventually—potentially—their business.

How do you do that? Think about what your passion and your purpose have in common. I call it “blurring the lines.” Sometimes it can take a bit of digging. As a writer, I’ve interviewed many subject matter experts, searching for little nuggets of information to draw out.

Here’s an example: In my first conversation with an executive, I asked him to tell me about his job. He started by sharing his title, but when I invited him to tell me more about what he loves about his job, he shared that he helps his clients digitally transform their businesses to realize their full potential. Later in our conversation, I asked him about his hobbies. He shared several, one of which is that he's a passionate DIY remodeler.

Instant lightbulb! ?Remodeling is his passion. Transforming businesses is his purpose. We crafted a LinkedIn post that connected his personal and professional life, and shared before and after photos of a recent home remodel.

Before this, he was posting on LinkedIn 3-4 times a week, earning an average of 11 engagements per post. This post earned him a record number of engagements, grew his network and increased his followers. ?

And remember that halo effect I mentioned earlier? It worked here too, growing his company’s LinkedIn page followers and increasing the brand’s Share of Voice in the market.

You can do this, too. The topics you are most passionate about are likely the easiest for you to talk about.

For example, I’m an agency owner, a marketer, a writer, a strategist… but the two things I’m most passionate about are 1) being a mom, and 2) words.

Look what happens to my Company page when I follow this formula on my LinkedIn profile: Below is a screen shot of my alpha | BRAVO LinkedIn Company Page analytics...

That first spike on the left is August 18. That’s the day I shared the story of how my daughter Ella saved every lunch note I wrote her throughout grade school, and on her 18th birthday, had my handwriting from one of them tattooed on her arm. Passion: Parenting (and writing). Purpose: Memorable content

Remember: Your passion is what your network will connect with you over, and your purpose is what they’ll begin to see your expertise in. Not every post has to include both. And you likely have multiple passions and purposes, so lean into them!

And on October 6, I shared a photo of flowers I received from Chief in recognition of alpha | BRAVO winning several marketing industry awards.

Passion: Peer Recognition. Purpose: Crafting award-winning campaigns for clients.

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See that spike in the above chart? That happened on April 19, the same day I shared a story from my LinkedIn profile about how a train trip to Chicago with my mom was derailed – and how we quickly pivoted to a road trip.

Passion: Family. Purpose: Ability to pivot

These are just a few examples, but I could share dozens more that show how connecting passion and purpose in my personal LinkedIn posts positively impacted my LinkedIn Company Page. If you want people to talk about your brand to others, to remember the stories, and feel the emotions long afterwards, it’s your personal profile that matters.

Until next time - Stay savvy, marketers!

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