Planning to Pause Your Marketing Over the Holidays? Read This First.
“Everything Slows Down Over the Holidays”… Or Does It?
“Let’s wind down. Pause the marketing. We’ll pick it back up after the break.” Sound familiar?
December rolls around. The office is quiet. Your team’s sipping eggnog, Mariah Carey’s playing on repeat, and it feels like the perfect time to hit pause.
But here’s the truth: Treating December like a dead zone could be the costliest mistake your business makes all year.
As The Rock would say:
“Success doesn’t happen when it’s easy—it happens when you put in the work.”
By all means, enjoy your holiday. Just don’t turn your marketing off.
And if you’re waiting for January to start your LinkedIn lead generation campaign—start now. Don’t wait.
Because while your competition slows down, smart marketers know this: December is packed with opportunities for marketing success.
The Holiday Marketing Myth: “No One’s Watching”
Some businesses convince themselves that their audience has mentally checked out for the year.
“They’re too busy.”
“Everyone’s on holiday.”
Sounds reasonable, but it’s not true.
Why December is Prime Time for Engagement
Here’s what the data says:
LinkedIn engagement increases by 32% in December.
B2B page views jump 13% as companies reflect and plan for the new year.
But here’s the kicker:
Fewer businesses are posting content.
Fewer are running marketing campaigns.
Fewer are doing social media outreach.
Your competition? Silent. Your prospects? Scrolling LinkedIn. You? Top of mind.
Let’s make one thing clear: opportunity doesn’t wait for January.
Why Are People So Active on Social Media During the Holidays
1. More Free Time = More Scrolling
Downtime during the holidays means more time spent on social media, especially platforms like LinkedIn.
2. Decision-Makers Stay Plugged In
Workaholics and key decision-makers don’t just check out. They’re still tuned in, planning for the year ahead.
3. End-of-Year Budgets Need to Be Spent
Many businesses close their fiscal year in December. If you show up with the right LinkedIn marketing strategy, you’re perfectly positioned to catch their attention.
4. New Year = Fresh Plans
December is when leaders start planning for 2025. If your content adds value, helps them strategize, or positions your business as a solution, you’ll win their attention.
Your prospect is scrolling LinkedIn by the Christmas tree.
Your competition? Silent. You? Top of mind.
Your Holiday Marketing Game Plan: 4 Powerful Tips to Dominate December
1. Optimise Your Content for Mobile 📱
Your prospects aren’t sitting at desks—they’re on the move. Whether they’re at the beach, waiting at the airport, or relaxing at home, they’re glued to their phones.This is where optimising for mobile comes into play.
How to Create Mobile-Friendly Content:
Break Up Text: Use short paragraphs and plenty of white space.
Use Vertical Videos and Images: These fit mobile screens perfectly and stand out on LinkedIn.
Keep It Short and Punchy: Attention spans are short—make every word count.
Add Scroll-Stopping Visuals: Use GIFs, videos, and graphics that pop.
Meet your audience where they are—on their phones—and make consuming your content effortless.
2. Embrace the Spirit of Giving 🎁
The holidays are about connection and generosity. Use this time to build relationships and strengthen your brand:
Offer a Free Resource: Create a festive eBook, checklist, or planning guide your audience can use.
Give Back: Donate a percentage of revenue to charity or create a campaign like “10 meals donated for every product sold.” Build goodwill and trust while creating engagement.
Run a Holiday Giveaway: Offer exclusive discounts, gift cards, or free consultations to keep your audience excited and engaged.
Goodwill builds trust. Trust turns into loyalty. And loyalty drives long-term growth.
3. Warm Up Your Sales Pipeline on LinkedIn 🔥
December is the perfect time to plant seeds for January success.
How to Use LinkedIn for Lead Generation:
Send Personalised Messages: Skip the templates. Craft thoughtful, genuine notes that mention their wins this year and ask about their plans for next year.
Reconnect with Dormant Leads: A simple “Happy Holidays” can restart conversations and uncover new opportunities.
Move Conversations Offline: Don’t get stuck in endless LinkedIn chats. Use LinkedIn outreach to set up calls for January to take control of the conversation.
As The Rock says: “Success starts with the relationships you build.”
4. Add Value With Irresistible Social Media Content 🎯
The holiday scroll is real. Your prospects are consuming content—make yours stand out:
Educate and Entertain: Share tips, insights, and trends that help your audience plan for the new year.
Tell Stories: Holidays are emotional. Share success stories, lessons, or reflections to connect on a deeper level.
Make It Snackable: Short videos, carousels, and quick tips work best.
Tap Into Year-End Trends: Share your biggest wins from the year or predictions for 2025.
When you show up with value, your audience will remember—and trust you.
Finish Strong: Don’t Pause Your Marketing
The businesses that dominate December don’t hit snooze. They don’t “wait for January.” They show up, deliver value, and stay top of mind.
Here’s the bottom line:
If you’re waiting for January to start a marketing campaign—start now.
If you’re thinking about pausing your LinkedIn marketing—don’t.
If you assume no one’s watching—think again.
Your competition is quiet. Your prospects are scrolling LinkedIn. Set your campaigns in motion now. Let your marketing hustle while you enjoy the break.
Because the work you do today determines the success you’ll see tomorrow.
Ready to Make December Count?
Enjoy your holidays—but keep your marketing running.
Your 2025 self will thank you.
Wishing you a strong finish, a powerful start, and a holiday season full of wins. 💪🎄
Get Your Strategy Right with the LinkedIn Content Planner 🎁
If you’re ready to make the most of your LinkedIn content in the coming year. I’ve got something for you:
Plan your content effortlessly for the holidays and beyond.
Stay consistent with your LinkedIn posts.
Create engaging posts that stand out and drive results.
Success on LinkedIn doesn’t happen by accident, it happens by following a proven road-map to reach your goals.
How to Boost LinkedIn Engagement: 15 Data-Driven Tips
Ever feel like your LinkedIn posts are falling flat?
You put time and effort into crafting a post, hit “publish,” and… nothing. Minimal likes, few comments, and definitely no leads. It’s frustrating, right?
The truth is, LinkedIn engagement isn’t a guessing game—it’s data-driven. The top LinkedIn creators know exactly what works, and they use proven strategies to get their posts noticed and drive real engagement. The good news? I’m sharing those exact insights in this guide.
In this article, you’ll find 15 research-backed LinkedIn tips designed to boost your visibility, increase engagement, and make sure your posts reach the right audience. These aren’t outdated ideas from years ago; they’re based on current data from thousands of LinkedIn posts, so you know they work right now.
This isn’t just fluffy advice – it’s all backed by data from research reports.
Implementing just a couple of these at a time will have a dramatic impact on your results.
So if you’re not getting any engagement, don’t give up. With a few tried and tested tactics you can turn that around.
First, let’s look at why LinkedIn is a golden opportunity to grow your business or career.
Why LinkedIn?
In today’s hyper-connected world, finding effective ways to generate B2B leads can feel like aiming at a moving target.
As the business landscape tightens and audiences become more selective, B2B marketers face the challenge of reaching their ideal clients in an ever-shrinking window of attention.
With over one billion members across 200 countries and 67 million registered companies, LinkedIn stands as a powerful platform uniquely designed for business networking. It’s not just another social media platform—it’s a community of decision-makers, professionals, and industry leaders actively seeking connections and opportunities.
LinkedIn offers a unique edge:
4 out of 5 members influence business decisions.
Its audience has 2x the buying power of the average web user.
LinkedIn is the #1 most trusted social media platform, giving businesses a credible environment to build brand authority and nurture relationships.
And when it comes to generating revenue, LinkedIn outshines other platforms. In fact, 38% of B2B marketers report LinkedIn as their top social platform for driving sales.
The Bottom Line: LinkedIn marketing works, but it requires strategy and precision. You can’t just post and hope for the best; you need to understand the platform, find your audience, and leverage LinkedIn’s unique tools to make an impact.
Ready to transform your LinkedIn presence? Let’s dive in.
15 Data-Driven Tips for Writing Engaging LinkedIn Posts
These aren’t just tips—they’re backed by real data and proven results.
When I work with clients, these are the exact strategies we use to transform LinkedIn from a quiet feed to a hub of engagement, helping them stand out as authorities in their field.
If you’re ready to boost your LinkedIn presence with more engagement, more views, and a stronger impact, let’s dive in.
1. Write Like You’re Talking to a 12-Year-Old
Studies show that posts written at a 6th-grade reading level get 50% more engagement. LinkedIn isn’t the place to flex your vocabulary—keep it clear, conversational, and direct.
Research consistently shows a strong link between using simple, easy-to-read language and higher engagement online.
And here’s a pro tip: the best-performing posts on LinkedIn are often longer than you might think—1,800 to 2,100 characters. Just keep sentences short and concise. The easier your content is to read, the longer people stay on it, increasing “dwell time” and expanding your reach.
2. Hook Your Audience from the First Line
LinkedIn cuts off posts after the first few lines, so your opening needs to be strong.
Your goal? Make them want to click “See more.”
Start with a question, a bold statement, or even a bit of controversy to draw them in. Don’t waste those first few seconds with “Hey, LinkedIn!” or “Here’s an update…”
Try examples like these instead…
Learn to do this well, and you’ll crush it on LinkedIn.
Most people struggle with it, but that’s changing.
3. Double Engagement with a Call-to-Comment
Posts with a call to comment get twice the engagement.
People like giving their opinion. Invite them in.
The first 60 minutes are crucial.
Engagement during this window significantly impacts how many people see your post, so make sure you’re ready to jump in and respond to comments right after you post. Driving the conversation early can make all the difference.
Top creators boost engagement by sparking mini-conversations in their own comments, almost like a “Part 2” to the post. Think about what you could add in the comments—a link to a helpful resource, a follow-up question, or extra insights.
Add value, reply to others, and keep the conversation alive. Simply put, get the comments flowing!
4. Post Midweek for 2x More Views
For the best chance of engagement, aim for mid-morning on Monday to Thursday. Data shows this is LinkedIn’s sweet spot—when users are most active and your post is most likely to be seen.
That said, don’t ignore Fridays or weekends completely. Posting then can sometimes be a smart move since there’s less competition. Fridays work especially well for lighter content, like celebrating wins, sharing a personal update, or posting a fun team photo. People are winding down, so the tone fits.
Also, think about where your audience is located and aim to post in their mid-morning time zone.time. But when in doubt? Stick to the data for max impact.
5. Show Your Face for 60% More Reach!
Looking for more engagement? Make it personal.
Studies show that posts featuring people get 20% more reach, but when the photo includes you, that reach jumps to 60%—and engagement increases by 50%.
Camera shy? I get it. Do it anyway.
People connect with people, not objects. So skip the stock photos and office setups. If you’re using an image, make it count. Show your face, and let your network see the real you!
6. Keep Your Videos Under 2 Minutes!
The stats don’t lie: videos between 30 and 90 seconds perform the best – by 40%!
Longer than two minutes and engagement starts to drop.
And remember that hook we talked about for writing? It’s just as crucial in videos.
After just 10 seconds, half of your viewers are likely gone. After a minute, over 80% have moved on. So get to the point quickly.
People are busy. Don’t make them work to get your message. Start strong, keep it tight, and grab attention early, or you’ll lose your audience before the real content even begins.
7. Spend 30 Minutes in Comments for Higher Reach
Engagement isn’t just about what you post—it’s about how you interact.
Spend at least 30 minutes a day in your feed, commenting on other people’s posts. Make your presence known. The more you engage, the more visible you become. It’s as simple as that.
And don’t just drop a quick “Great post!” or “Thanks for sharing.” Add real value. Share insights, ask questions, or engage directly in the conversation. This helps you stand out and makes people more likely to notice you.
8. Analyse What Works (and Learn from Top Creators)
If you want to grow on LinkedIn, don’t just post and hope for the best.
Track your results. Each week, check your analytics—see which posts get the most views, likes, comments, and shares.
Spot patterns in what performs best and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Then, take it further. Study the top creators in your industry. Tools like Kleo allow you to sort their posts by engagement, timing, and format.
Look at the topics, formats, and hooks that resonate most with their audience, and notice when they’re posting to get the best reach.
And remember: don’t copy—adapt. Success leaves clues, so find what’s working for them and make it your own.
The insights you gain here can help shape a high-engagement strategy that fits your unique voice.
9. Tell a Story to Build Connection (and Boost Dwell Time)
When you present information as a story, people are up to 22 times more likely to remember it than standalone facts. Why? Because stories create emotional connections, tapping into the way we naturally process the world.
A good story takes your audience on a journey—they can see themselves in the narrative, relate to the challenges, and feel the impact of the outcome.
Whether you’re sharing a lesson learned, a client success, or a personal milestone, storytelling makes both you and your message unforgettable.
In a sea of content, it’s these memorable posts that grab attention and keep people coming back.
Plus, stories hold attention longer, increasing “dwell time”—something LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards with greater reach. (read my article about dwell time here)
10. Optimise for 65% of users on mobile!
With 65% of LinkedIn users browsing on mobile, it’s essential to make your content mobile-friendly.
Here’s how:
Use short paragraphs and plenty of whitespace—long text blocks get skipped on mobile.
Choose vertical images, which see a 15% higher click-through rate than square images and 25% more than horizontal images.
Make your content easy to scan with bullet points or lists, so readers can quickly digest the key points.
Design your posts with mobile in mind, and you’ll keep more people engaged. you’ll see a big difference in engagement – no one wants to scroll through a wall of text on their phone.
11. Customise Your Connection Invites
It’s not about numbers, it’s about quality.
Avoid generic invites. Personalise your message, even if it means upgrading to LinkedIn Premium.
If you only connect with CEOs of mining companies, for example, the more connections you get, the higher your acceptance rate. Why? Because you’ll be connected with everyone in their field, which builds credibility and makes you look like an expert in that area.
I’ve done this myself and for clients. It’s gold.
12. Get Active in Messages. Where the ROI Happens
LinkedIn isn’t just a place for public posts. The real connection often happens in the inbox.
This is where the ROI is. Where you can turn connections into offline meetings and sales.
Don’t wait around for people to send you an enquiry. Actively reach out to your target audience, engage meaningfully, and bring conversations offline where appropriate.
This is how my agency has generated over 500 million in sales for our clients over the past 10 years.
AI is everywhere – it can draft content, suggest ideas, even help refine your posts.
I am a big advocate for AI – I did a LinkedIn live all about AI recently (if you want the replay DM me).
But with so much AI-generated content flooding feeds, people are craving something genuine.
They want to see you, not just another polished, generic post.
Use AI as a tool to help streamline your process, but don’t skip the human touch. Always edit to add your unique voice, experiences, and perspective.
Readers can tell the difference, and it’s this personal connection that builds trust and keeps people coming back.
In a world of AI, authenticity is what makes you memorable. It’s what makes you stand out, and it’s the key to building real, lasting connections.
14. Make Your Posts Relevant to Your Audience
It’s easy to think your LinkedIn posts are simply for whoever happens to be connected to you, but there’s more to it than that.
Every post should be crafted with your target audience in mind – the people you want to engage and build relationships with.
LinkedIn’s algorithm favours relevancy over recency.
This means your posts are more likely to reach people who regularly engage with similar content. That’s why consistency with your content topics are key.
When you consistently post about topics aligned with your brand, your audience knows what to expect… And so does LinkedIn.
It’s not about you, focus on your audience. Always.
15. Use Vertical Videos for 25% More Engagement
LinkedIn is rolling out a “reels-style” video feed on mobile.
Vertical videos are getting 15-25% more engagement because they’re front and centre on mobile.
The new mobile layout means these videos are easily accessible from the navigation bar. As it’s still new, you can get an edge in reach by posting engaging, vertical content under 2 minutes.
Walla.
There you have it – 15 research-based tips to get more engagement on your posts!
Are there any I missed? Drop a comment below.
Knowledge Is Great, But Useless Without Action
You’ve got the data, the tips, the insights.
But none of this works if you don’t take action.
Start by picking one or two strategies and try them out this week. LinkedIn rewards those who take action – use the advice in this article, but don’t be afraid to do you!
This article is your toolkit. It’s up to you to use it. Go get em!
Unlock More LinkedIn Resources
To see my latest keynotes, training sessions, and interviews on LinkedIn strategies for business, subscribe to my YouTube channel. We’re at 18,300 subscribers now, and with your support, I’m aiming for 20,000 by 2025!
Want to upskill yourself or your team on LinkedIn? Find out more about our award-winning LinkedIn Training to enhance your profile, strategy and results.
If you’re focused on finding clients, our LinkedIn Lead Generation Services has geneated over $500 million in sales for our clients over the past 10 years.
The Ultimate Guide to Writing LinkedIn Articles That Go Viral
So how do you stack the deck in your favour when it comes to publishing LinkedIn articles.
Here are 4 ways to hack the algorithm when writing LinkedIn articles.
1. Optimise your Profile
Whether you’re just getting started on LinkedIn or have already used it as a marketer or salesperson for a while, optimizing your profile is essential to your success.
With a complete profile, valuable and varied content, and a broad network, you’ll stand out from the crowd, attract more attention, and ultimately get better results in business.
Watch the short video below for some of the most important areas of your profile to get right.
Every time you publish a post on LinkedIn, your connections will see an alert in their notifications.
But to really make ripples, you need a large audience of first-level connections.
For any of the stuff we’re talking about throughout this post to really work, you’ll need to make as many connections as you possibly can that may be interested in your content.
To help get your connections ramped up, you may want to download the LinkedIn Messaging Templates which give you scripts you can use to invite people to join your network.
Yes, seriously, use Twitter to get featured on Linked.
That’s how it’s done for now!
4. Good ol’ SEO
To categorise your content, LinkedIn Pulse does an analysis of the text of your article.
This is like SEO tactics of the dark ages, when all you had to do was include your keyword in the title and use the right words a few times throughout the post.
LinkedIn is still a relatively easy search engine to manipulate.
But a word of caution.
This will evolve just like Google did, so my advice is always act with integrity online.
Let me be clear, keyword stuffing is a bad idea (even though right now, it will probably get you a lot of exposure).
Always align your objectives with the platform and you can’t go wrong.
Bonus Tip – Don’t use boring images!
Definitely avoid using boring images in your content, such as:
Generic headshots.
Company logos.
Blurry photos, small pics, anything that will make you squint
How you chose images will come down to your brand.
But get creative and save the images using keywords – that will help with your SEO.
The next step is to format your article in a way that makes the information easy to consume.
Because we’re bombarded with information and text online, it’s best to use shorter text paragraphs interspersed with images.
This approach makes your article easier to read, which is particularly important when people are consuming the content via the LinkedIn mobile app.
Adding subheadings, bullet points, and bold type also improves readability, as you can see in the example below.
Always include a call to action in your article.
To illustrate, ask people for their comments (a great way to spark conversation) or to get in touch with you. Links to your website, podcast, or social media will work here too.
When someone leaves a comment, you can reply to them and keep increasing engagement.
Examples of questions you can ask at the end of your article:
What Do you Think?
How Do you Feel?
What Will You Do?
What is Your Opinion?
What is Your Story?
What is Your Experience or Example?
What Have you Been Working On?
Include Images, Video, or Rich Media in Your LinkedIn Article
At the top of the article, you can add a cover image. To do this, click in the area above the headline and upload an image from your computer.
LinkedIn recommends using a 744 x 400 pixel image for best results.
After you add a cover image, two positioning options and a Delete button appear on the screen.
Cover Image
Choose an image that will capture your readers’ attention in the LinkedIn feed and make them want to click on the article to read it.
In addition to the cover image, you’ll also want to embed relevant images and video in the body of your article.
To add an image or video, click the icon to the left of the article body.
Publish and Share Your LinkedIn Article
Once you’ve written your article and added images and links, what’s next? Note that as you create your article, LinkedIn automatically saves it as a draft.
When you’re ready to publish it, simply click Publish at the top right of the page.
Share Your Article
Once you’ve published your article, you’ll want to share it. Click the Share button at the bottom of your article to see the sharing options.
Be sure to share to these places on LinkedIn:
• Your personal LinkedIn feed • A LinkedIn message (if relevant) • LinkedIn groups • Email list
When sharing articles to your personal LinkedIn feed use hashtags to get more views on the link.
LinkedIn encourages the use of hashtags when you create posts and will suggest hashtags to use.
Why You Should Reshare Your LinkedIn Article
Articles have a much longer lifespan than posts on LinkedIn.
And while you can view the analytics for your posts for only 60 days, analytics for articles are available for 2 years. You can give an article new life by resharing it via a LinkedIn post that directs users to that article.
I have several LinkedIn articles that still get comments a year or 18 months after they were published.
To visualize this, if your article is about 10 reasons why someone should attend your live event, list one or two of those reasons the first time you reshare the article.
When you reshare it a few days or even a week later, discuss some of the other reasons.
Before publishing make sure you go through the follow check-list:
All names of people and companies link to their profiles
Article should contain 5-10 graphics (images/charts/quotes)
Attention grabbing article headline and banner (www.canva.com)
Write a short 2-3 sentence caption to drive click-throughs
H1 tag for title, H2 for headings, H3 for sub-headings
1-3 sentences per paragraph, short sentences mobile friendly
Add alt-tags to images explaining what they are
10-20 people to send the article to immediately after posting
Ask people involved in the article to share the content
Set aside time throughout the day to respond to comments,
Highlight article in Featured section of your LinkedIn profile
Share in relevant groups, send to email list
Article Structure
Here’s a suggested structure for Pillar Content in the form of a LinkedIn article.
Title
Introduce topic (X) in first person
Explain what to expect in article
The outcome from reading
Part 1
Why does my company need X?
What is X?
Why is X important to your business?
How X drives business results
Different types of X
Part 2
How can your company leverage X?
5-8 Insights or mistakes to avoid
Part 3
How do you know if it’s working?
How to set goals, measure success, benchmarking
Conclusion
Sum up key message
What to do next action steps
Call-to-comment (examples above)
About Author
2-3 sentences
Media and links to include where appropriate…
Images
Cover banner
Expert Quote
Case Study / Statistic
Example / chart
Link to another article
Link to resource on website
Author Pic
Name & pic link to profile
Website link
That’s it!
The key to getting ahead, is getting started.
Go get ’em!
LinkedIn Articles – The Secret Playbook
Free download – get your copy of The LinkedIn Articles Playbook including checklists, templates and everything you need to know to become a thought leader through LinkedIn articles.
Kerwin Rae Shares His Social Media Secrets
Kerwin Rae: Social Media Marketing Pioneer in Australia
When I think of who’s really dominated in the social media space in Australia, there is one man that springs to mind.
Kerwin Rae has a following of well over a million people, and compelling content which covers business, mindset psychology, high performance, health, parenting and relationships.
We sat down to chat about his journey and secrets behind his social media and entrepreneurial success.
Here’s the conversation..
Kerwin Rae on LinkedIn Heroes Transcript
– I think it was 2016 when I tuned in on YouTube on The Social Experiment. And you said, “Who the f@#k is Kerwin Rae? The world’s changed. Our marketing’s crap, and this is what we’re going to have to do.” Could you share a bit of background, please?
– Yeah, look, I’ve been in the business of, yeah, buying, building and selling businesses now for almost 20 years.
And I think it was about two and a half, almost three years ago now, coming up on three years, I think, in March next year. May next year. Yeah, we just realized that our marketing, and I’m a marketer, but I just realized our marketing was sucking.
We weren’t getting penetration, we weren’t breaking through like we used to. The old direct response, call-to-action environment just wasn’t working, and so we basically embarked on a mission which became The Social Experiment, which we documented to transition from being a traditional marketing business to being a social media marketing business.
And yeah, like we already had a very successful business already, we were very blessed through a lot of hard work, but, you know, since the launch of The Social Experiment, yeah, we’ve, I think we’ve had almost 3/4 of a billion video views and, yeah, the clock’s still ticking.
And most of that, by the way, is organic, so it’s been really well received.
– Yeah, absolutely. And I’ve been following your journey closely, and what I’ve really done is I’ve taken what you’re doing and just isolated LinkedIn. And just focused on LinkedIn video, and there’s a lot of organic traffic at the moment, so thank you for leading the way for us.
– No, you’re welcome. You’re doing very well.
– Along the way there must have been some challenges?
– Lots of challenges. That’s business, right?
– I don’t think there’s anyone that’s gone, “Nah, actually everything is going well.” So what was one of the ones that happened since you started the social media experiment?
– Look, I think there’s a couple that pop to mind, but probably the most challenging one is, was actually the documentation of the breakdown of my marriage, ’cause we were actually, we were all in on the project.
We were basically filming everything. So we were, in essence, The Social Experiment was about creating a reality TV-style web documentary where we documented, like, from the moment I walked in in the morning, to the moment I left in the evening.
I had a camera on me 24/7, and even on, you know, sometimes in the evenings and weekends, and touring and everything else, and my wife worked with me in the business, and, you know, it was during that early stage of The Social Experiment our relationship actually started to break down.
So that was probably one of the more challenging things, because one of the things that I like about The Social Experiment and I like about, you know, doing what I do with the team that I have, is it creates an enormous level of transparency.
And I love authenticity, like I’m very much passionate about just being a real and genuine version of yourself, and in that environment it really just made me have to show up as the most authentic version of myself regardless of what was going on, you know?
Breakdown and all. And yeah, look it was quite a challenge, and to see, to reflect back on it when I see the episodes in retrospect, yeah, it was quite a challenging thing to watch your own marriage breakdown play out on, I guess you could say, almost like on a TV screen.
– Thanks for sharing that with us.
– Yeah, you’re welcome.
– And what would be one of the traits that you attribute to your success as an entrepreneur?
– Look, I think there’s many variables that create many characteristics, many character traits that are required, but my, probably my strongest trait is my resilience.
I’ve got really strong grit, and what that means is I have the ability, I’m no different to anyone else, I have just as many challenges, if not more, than most people.
But what I have is the ability to sit in my problems and actually find clarity in them, and be able to suffer without experiencing, without experienced pain with our suffering, you know?
Because business is very painful, life is very painful, and, you know, I think that’s a challenge for most people, is they pursue something that they love in the form of business, but then when it gets difficult they experience pain, you know, in the form of the let down or disappointment, but they allow that pain to turn into suffering.
And then when you start to suffer, that’s when life becomes heavy.
That’s when life becomes hard.
And for me, you know, I won’t say that I was born this way but I’ve certainly spent a disproportionate amount of my life learning how to feel comfortable in really uncomfortable situations. You know?
I pursue vigorously, you know, discomfort. I pursue stress. I pursue, you know, almost like a madman, situations that will push me to my absolute extreme, but then in the moments where I’m pursuing them I’ll pursue peace. I’ll pursue presence.
I’ll pursue equanimity to be able to maintain as much clarity as possible in situations that most people would be losing their shit in.
– Yeah. What an awesome trait to have. You know, if you can be comfortable being uncomfortable, you can’t help but grow.
– Exactly, you know? And it gives you clarity as well, because I think the challenge for most people, they experience pain, and then they release chaos, and that comes in the form of emotions. And we can’t think straight when we have emotions running through our head.
– So talk to me about, moving back to social media, I’m curious. Since I’ve been doing this video marketing in particular on LinkedIn, I’ve noticed a big impact on my business. The quality of clients,
– Yeah.
– And certainly getting more inbound leads. But it’s very difficult to measure. How do you justify, you know, the amount that you’re investing in social media without being able to measure
– That’s a good question, you know? And that’s, I come from the ROI background of direct response where, you know, you do a campaign, you get a response, you measure how much the campaign costs, you measure the response, you take your profit out, divide it by the amount of sales you’ve got, and there’s your ROI per, you know, per lead.
Whereas with social media it’s a completely different animal, you know? It really is. It does require a long-term perspective.
It’s like, but it’s beautiful because I think anything beautiful in life requires us to take, you know, to take the long perspective.
Because when we’re looking for that instant gratification, when we’re looking for that instant measurable, I think sometimes we get lost in, you know, the actual doing of what it is that we’re trying to do, rather than the actual journey of what we’re actually on.
And this is the beautiful thing about, you know, video marketing as an example, it does require the ability for you to build a relationship with someone, you know? If you look at social media, social media is actually governed by a psychological principle called the mere-exposure effect.
The mere-exposure effect is a psychological phenomena whereby people tend to develop a preference for things once they become familiar with them. And they don’t become familiar with a product, or a service, or a brand anymore just by you saying, “Buy my stuff,” you know? You actually have to build a relationship, you know?
It’s much like going to a bar. If you go to a bar, most people who, if they go to a bar, and they just walk up to people and they ask them to go back to their room straight away, chances are you’re going to get a lot of slaps in the faces.
Whereas if you focus on, you know, meeting people, approaching people, getting to know people, finding out what their interests are, finding common ground and creating, you know, a level of relateability, that builds a relationship, then over a period of time you’re going to create that natural attraction whereby people are going to want to know more, and as a result they’ll end up doing business with you.
So it’s not something that you can necessarily measure in the short-term, it is something that is measured in the long-term. But as you said yourself, your business is, by the sounds of it, it’s gone gangbusters.
As a result of video, you know? As has ours. And I think that’s one of the biggest reasons that most people don’t do it, is because it does take a little bit of time.
-And that’s great.
– People will say to me, “Oh, why are you interviewing Kerwin? What are you trying to get? Like, what are you trying to do here?” You know, just, anything I do on social media is designed to add value.
– Yes. And that’s the long-term thing. And that’s the thing with this mere-exposure effect, people, you know, going back in 2005 you had to get about 5.4 exposures to trigger familiarity, which would be enough for someone to approach you. Now it’s about 18 to 20 exposures.
And if you’re putting a call to action in front of someone, like, 18 to 20 times, you’re going to piss them off.
You’re going to create a negative sentiment. Whereas you’ve got to learn how to capture their attention, their imagination, with information, education, entertainment, humor and relateability with content that draws them in to actually want to consume, so that they’re not only consuming the information that’s relevant to the brand, but they’re also building a relationship with you in the process.
You’re getting an exposure. And every time they watch a video that’s one more exposure, one more exposure. And, you know, the goal is to get to 18 to 20, and then they’re, in most cases they’re going to be ready to do some form of business with you.
– I remember one episode of Social Experiment, somebody raised, in your team, that, “Oh, my friends keep asking me what the hell we do. You know, we should explain it.” And you said, “No, that’s exactly what I want, for them to think.”
– Yeah, I want them to be curious, ’cause you’re exactly, you’re 100% right. Like, people were saying, they’d say on YouTube and on Facebook, they’d say, “What do you do?” And it’s completely like, and I would say to the team, “Don’t answer that question. I want curiosity.”
– Yeah.
– You know? ’cause it’s, like, people love novelty, you know? Novelty has this incredible chemical response in the brain. It produces nor epinephrine and dopamine. And that’s that cliff-hanging moment where people want to know more. And if you give people everything, all the information that they need, they’re no longer curious anymore.
They don’t want to know anymore. And so, you know, I love drip-feeding information in a way that is curious. It is. And that’s why if you look at our content, and I’m a business guy, but we touch on relationships.
We talk on not just business, but we talk on relationships, we talk on parenting, we talk on health, you know? Fitness. We talk on a whole range of different things because, you know, business to me, it’s a life to me.
It’s not one dimensional. People can relate to many different aspects of you and you just look for the angle that they can relate with the most based on the things that you’re most passionate about; that you’ve got a depth of knowledge that, you know, can actually add value to someone’s life.
– And then you capture the market.
– Kerwin, if you could be a superhero, who would you be and why?
– Ironman. Ironman. Didn’t have to think about that. I’ve got him everywhere. Even my son, he thinks he’s Ironboy. My son actually is convinced that we are both superheroes here to save the planet.
How old is he now?
– He’s just turned 5, Noah, I love you pal, but yeah. He’s convinced that I’m a superhero. I’ve convinced him that he’s a superhero, and he’s convinced that we’re here to save the world.
– I love Ironman. Big house, fast cars.
– Ah, but he’s got the brains, you know, he’s got the brains, the intelligence, and the, and the suit, you know?
And I think, in many respects I think a lot of us are, like, we don’t realize that we can just put on a suit to become who we want to be, without being anything different from who we really are, if that makes sense.
-You know, I think he’s a great metaphor for life.
– Kerwin, I’m coming to the event tonight. Perth’s Fast Growth Summit. Looking forward to seeing you in action.
– Thanks, man. Appreciate it.
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