The LinkedIn Business Case: ROI Timeline for Organic Content
- James Barker
- Mar 29
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 3
LinkedIn has changed, but it remains the single most powerful untapped opportunity for B2B technology businesses. Think about the other channels your competitors use; events, SEO, Google AdWords - I'm confident that ALL of your competitors are using them.
But how many use INDIVIDUAL organic content? Very few! You'll note I specifically say 'individual' content, because that is what buyers respond to. They simply don't care about your companies LinkedIn account - they want to feel connected to your employees. Real people!
In this article I'm going to share my own experience and the return I personally have received from creating content.
It's NOT 'Social Selling'
There's nothing wrong with selling - I'm a proud career sales professional. The reason that I dislike the term is that it's not very accurate. Selling is the act of directly engaging in two-way dialogue. Using LinkedIn to frequently publish content isn't that - it's about creating awareness and authority. It is often called 'building your brand', which I've come to realise is a term that turn's people off.
Let's call it what it really is - your digital reputation.
Social Selling is certainly a component of this. It's using LinkedIn to then connect directly in conversation, which should 100% be your goal, but for today I'm just talking about content creation in isolation.
So why is LinkedIn still so 'untapped'? After all, it's not exactly new..
What's stopping you?
When I speak to people the most common reasons for them not posting isn't because they don't believe there's value, but because they...
Don't know exactly what the value is
Don't know how to do it well
For now, I'm just going to answer the top one - What is the value. I'm not going to be talking in abstract terms, but from my own personal experience in using LinkedIn as my primary channel to market.
What's the point?!
Well, money, to be exact. First off, stop thinking about LinkedIn as 'Social Media'. The term is too readily associated with things like Facebook and isn't a good analogue for it's business value. Instead think of it as..
A 24/7 conference with a Billion other business people there - and attendance is free.
When you look at it like that, hopefully you'll start to see why I think intelligent participation is a no-brainer.
Now, just for clarity, I'm not suggesting that you stop all your other sales and marketing activities and go all-in on organic social content. I'm simply saying you MUST add this to the mix of things you're doing.
One of the main things that sabotages LinkedIn success is poor expectations. It requires a long-term commitment and not something that yields results overnight. It's like going to the gym - the gains compound over time, but if you think you're going to go down for one heavy weights session and look like someone from Baywatch (I'm showing my age now) then you're just going to get bummed out and give up.
It's better you go into this with your eyes wide-open on what results you're likely to get and when.
On my own journey I noticed 3 distinct phases I went through...
Roadmap to ROI