How I Sourced 60% of Customers From Linkedin, Organically

Howdy (growth) hackers, solopreneurs, and anyone in between,

A little while ago I shared the progress of growing my product-design-as-a-service agency from $0 through to $4,000 and subsequently $16,000 in monthly revenue. Still going strong from there, we've started honing in on a growth strategy that's been working extremely well for us, and has mystified other Indie Hackers based on comments, as well as messages on Linkedin and emails.

60% of our customers are sourced from LinkedIn.

Organically.

The key to our success on LinkedIn has been posting consistently, constantly, and with varying formats until we found a handful that hit the mark just about every time. And these posts, organically, drive our potential and future customers,

Linkedin, however, differs enough from other, more short-term, dopamine-thrill focused platforms such as X, TikTok, or (nowadays) even Youtube. Its inherently more professional, knowledge-sharing foundation makes it so that things that would work on these other platforms often fail to stick the landing on Linkedin.

Controversy Works

Much like X, starting a post with a controversial thought or opinion is guaranteed to draw attention. In this case, with an audience and network that is largely comprised of designers and engineers, we tell designers not to learn how to code. Knowing full well that, A) that first sentence alone will get people to stop scrolling, and B) it's a notion that will urge people to share their opinion even if they never read beyond that first sentence.

And here, much like the other social media platforms, controversy just works. So if there's a status quo in your industry, a behaviour that everyone exhibits, or a trend that the majority of your competition sheepishly follows, go against it. I guarantee you that going against the grain will earn you more engagement.

Emojis, emojis, emojis

LinkedIn loves two (okay, three) things.

1️⃣ Emojis.
2️⃣ Nerdy, nitty-gritty deep dives by a domain expert.
3️⃣ Lists.

See what I did there?

But really, LinkedIn users seem to eschew your traditional, "look-at-me-do-this-thing" content that other platforms favor, and enjoy a solid deep dive into a nerdy topic, be it in their area of expertise or not. Because being an expert, or at least appearing to be one, is how you build your network quickly, and ensures that your following is actually interested in the topics you talk about.

Whether it's diving into the use of flags to signify languages, or alienating entire departments of a software startup though, the one thing that has consistently worked for us though, is emoji lists. Whether they're numbered, like the above, or use emojis to reinforce their point, they simply work.

Imagery is King

While it might appears to us as a no-brainer, but the vast majority of user-generated content we see on LinkedIn does not use imagery in any format.

And yet, imagery is king on LinkedIn.

Posts that contain images drastically outperform those without images, to the tune of 50 to 60% more engagement. It's what gets people to stop doomscrolling, captures their attention, and invites them to read what you have to say.

So be bold. Use colors. Try to stand out from the drab, corporate landscape that LinkedIn usually placates.

Don't just tell people you're hiring, or having a sale, or just launched a new feature. Show them. With the ever-fading attention spans of the current and upcoming generation of professionals, you don't have a lot of time to get them interested. And your post that is just a wall of text isn't going to cut it.

And that's it, really. Those 3 key points are what drives 60% of our customer acquisition at the moment. All organic.

Hope that helps you level up your Linkedin game. Happy to answer any and all questions you might have!