My 3 week LinkedIn Experiment - The Results...

LinkedIn Experiment Report 

Week 1 - The Buyer

During week 1 of the experiment I was playing the role of someone in the market for B2B products and services. I asked people to reach out, connect with me, message me and inform me about the products or services their business offered.

The below table highlights the engagement I got on my posts in week 1 and how that converted in to more meaningful connections… 

Post Engagement

Total Post Views - 1514

Post Likes - 17 = 1.12%

Post Comments - 0 = 0.00%

Connection Requests - 4 = 0.26%

Messages - 3 = 0.20%

Phone Calls Arranged/Meetings Arranged - 3 = 0.20%

Feedback/Comments

I tried not to have too many expectations at the start for this experiment, but I was expecting week one, when I was interested in other people’s products a service to encourage the most communication. I was right! 

That said, I didn’t in any way get inundated with connection requests or people trying to sell to me, it was more than manageable, and I had 3 decent conversations with people that offer products that will certainly be relevant to our business in the future. 

If you are looking for products and service for your business, LinkedIn is a great place to look. My advice would be to be specific about what it is your looking for and share relevant information about your business so that any potential connections are well informed and can try establish if you meet their criteria before contacting you. Obviously, you don’t want to waste your time but ideally you don’t want to waste other people’s time either so being specific and sharing as much info as possible about what you’re looking for and why can help avoid that. 

Week 2 – The Introducer

In week 2 of my experiment I was aiming to facilitate introductions between people in my network, outside of my network or anyone that wanted to reach out and ask for an intro to someone, I was keen to see if I could help. 

The below table highlights the engagement I got on my posts in week 2 and how that converted in to more meaningful connections… 

Post Engagement 

Total Post Views - 1584

Post Likes - 14 = 0.88%

Post Comments - 3 = 0.19%

Connection Requests - 0 = 0.00%

Messages - 0 = 0.00%

Intros Made - 0 = 0.00%

Feedback/Comments 

As the above table highlights, whilst total post views increased slightly from week one, that didn’t result in any actual meaningful conversations and no one asked me to help with any introductions into anyone specific. 

I shared a couple of profiles of people I know, which both got a decent number of views, a few likes and one or two comments. My intention for doing that was to try and encourage people to connect with those people, especially if they offered products and service that they could benefit from. It lead to one or two additional connections for those people whose profiles I shared, so one day those connections may turn in to more meaningful business relationships. 

All in all I did think I would get one or two more people asking for referrals or intros to specific people, but that wasn’t the case. I personally see LinkedIn as a community where we should be sharing, sharing information, advice, knowledge and connections. If you want to speak to someone, ask your LinkedIn network if they know them and see if anyone can help you make that connection. The worst thing that can happen is they can’t and then you’re no worse off than you were before you asked, however LinkedIn is a huge community with millions of members, so there is always a chance someone will be able to link you to someone you want to speak to, either directly or via someone else they know within their network.

I believe we should all be willing to help each other on platforms like LinkedIn where possible. If your approach is geared towards taking from your network and not giving anything back, then you’re unlikely to get what you want from LinkedIn or any community you’re a part of. 

Week 3 – The Promoter

I week 3 my aim was to use LinkedIn as a tool to market and promote my business, Cargo-Select. The hope was that I would be able to cultivate conversations with people in order to gain feedback, thoughts, opinions and establish what value Cargo-Select might add to their operation.

The below table highlights the engagement I got on my posts and direct messages in week 3 and how that converted in to more meaningful connections… 

Post Engagment 

Total Post Views - 765

Post Likes - 7 = 0.92%

Post Comments - 1 = 0.13%

Connection Requests - 0 = 0.00%

Direct Messages Sent - 20

Message Replies - 1 = 5.00%

Phone Calls Arranged/Meetings Arranged - 0 - 0.00%

Feedback/Comments

This was the week in which my posts and direct messages received the least engagement, which is what I would have expected. I wouldn’t say there’s many people who would list ‘being sold to’ as one of their likes, most of us prefer not to be ‘sold to’ on a regular basis. 

I only posted a couple of times during week 3 which is also an explanation for why post engagement was less. I did send 20 direct messages out to people within my network that I decided would be good prospects for Cargo-Select. I was quite direct, told them why I was contacting them, what I wanted from them and gave them a bit more info on Cargo-Select. Off the back on that I created one potential opportunity that may turn into a more meaningful relationship in the future. 

I have tried for a while now to use LinkedIn as a tool to market and promote my business. I try not to be too intrusive and try to create and curate content as a why of engaging people and hopefully generating interest in what I have to say. I wouldn’t say I’ve cracked it and am still working on ways to increase engagement to make LinkedIn work better for my business as a sales tool. When it comes to sales I am not ashamed to admit, it’s not an area I have cracked yet for Cargo-Select, but I’m working on it and hopefully can continue to use LinkedIn as a tool to develop my business.