Build a LinkedIn Flywheel, not a disconnected social strategy

👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by 42 Agency, Attio, and Default.

Upgrade to a paid subscription to get 100+ templates & resources, a vetted contractor & agency list, exclusive discounts on marketing tools, free posts on the MKT1 job board, and full access to the MKT1 archive, including bonus newsletters.

You’re doing LinkedIn wrong. No, this isn’t a rant about the algorithm or a personal manifesto on quitting LinkedIn. LinkedIn is still one of the best places for B2B startups and marketers to spend time right now (that’s why I basically live there).

The problem is your LinkedIn strategy isn’t really a strategy—it’s a collection of disconnected efforts.

You might have the right ingredients: an influencer program, an exec thought leadership calendar, a few ads running through an agency, and occasional follow-up DMs to social commenters. Adding insult to injury, these efforts are usually handled by multiple marketers. But this is not a strategy, it is random acts of marketing, as I love to say.

If you combine these ad hoc efforts, rework the recipe, and streamline ownership, you can build a LinkedIn Flywheel that actually spins out pure gold. Okay, I’ve gotten carried away. But it is not an exaggeration to say that most startups doing any of these individual activities are truly sitting on a LinkedIn goldmine; they just have the wrong tools and workflows to mine it.

The fix isn’t to post more, spend more, or switch agencies. It’s to build a LinkedIn Flywheel™ that makes these pieces work together, helping you avoid wasted effort and allowing your results to compound. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to LinkedIn, but there is a method to the madness you can adapt for your startup.

In this newsletter:

• What is the LinkedIn Flywheel?

  • Step 1: Executives and influencers post on LinkedIn

  • Step 2: Boost organic posts with Thought Leader ads

  • Step 3: Qualify LinkedIn post “engagers”

  • Step 4: Send follow-up campaigns to LinkedIn “engagers”

• Why you need a Gen Marketer to own your LinkedIn Flywheel

• Templates & resources (for paid subscribers): Influencer campaign brief, Walkthroughs: How to run Thought Leader ads and extract “leads” on LinkedIn

Recommended products & agencies

We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in