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Episode Highlights:
- Learn the unexpected reason why one recruiter’s sunburnt selfie generated more client conversations than six months of traditional job posts
- Discover the proven six-month content strategy that turned a simple hobby post into consistent business enquiries
- Master the delicate balance between company branding and personal authenticity that top-performing recruiters use
Episode Summary:
The LinkedIn landscape for recruiters has transformed since the pandemic, shifting from a “room full of suits” to a platform where authenticity drives business growth. In this episode, LinkedIn and recruitment expert Jane Pettit breaks down why 95% of recruitment businesses still get it wrong and shares practical strategies that generate real results. Her two decades of experience revealed surprising insights about what actually works – and it’s not what most recruiters think.
Tune in to unlock Jane’s practical framework for LinkedIn success – whether you’re a recruitment business owner looking to scale or a consultant wanting to stand out in a crowded market. This episode is packed with real examples, honest talk about what works (and what doesn’t), and actionable steps you can implement today.
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Expanded Episode Notes
LinkedIn Marketing Outsourcing in Recruitment
Common Pitfalls of Administrative Delegation
A frequent misstep among recruitment business owners is assigning LinkedIn management to team members whose primary role involves basic administrative tasks. Jane notes that while administrative professionals excel in their core responsibilities, managing a company’s social media presence requires a distinct skill set. Marketing professionals bring strategic insight, understand audience segmentation, and can craft content that aligns with business development goals. They possess the expertise to analyse engagement data, adjust strategies accordingly, and maintain a consistent brand voice across all communications.
Balancing Personal and Professional Content Creation
For recruitment leaders who feel uncomfortable creating content themselves, working with a skilled marketing professional can help bridge the gap. Jane shares her experience of ghost-writing content for her former Managing Director, noting how their collaborative approach maintained authenticity whilst leveraging marketing expertise. This partnership approach ensures content remains genuine and relatable whilst benefiting from professional marketing knowledge and strategic implementation.
Measuring Marketing Impact and ROI
Professional marketers bring vital analytical capabilities to LinkedIn strategy implementation. Rather than simply posting content and hoping for the best, they track engagement metrics, monitor reach, and measure impact against business objectives. This data-driven approach allows for continuous refinement of content strategy and ensures that LinkedIn activities directly contribute to business development goals. Jane highlights that this level of sophistication is rarely achievable when LinkedIn management is treated as a basic administrative task.
Strategic Approach to LinkedIn Branding
Developing a Clear Strategy
A well-defined LinkedIn strategy must align with specific business objectives rather than vague aspirations of increased visibility. Jane advocates for starting with a melting pot of ideas, gathering the team over lunch or breakfast to analyse what content resonates in their market. This collaborative approach helps identify effective content types and engagement patterns whilst ensuring buy-in from team members who will be implementing the strategy.
Creating an Actionable Framework
The development of a social media calendar forms a crucial part of the strategic framework, though it shouldn’t be overly rigid. Jane recommends incorporating a mix of planned content prompts – such as sharing recruitment career journeys or addressing industry challenges – alongside spontaneous, personal posts that humanise the brand. This balanced approach maintains consistent engagement whilst allowing for authentic, timely content that often generates the highest engagement levels.
Leadership and Implementation
Effective strategy execution requires clear leadership and accountability. Katy and Jane discuss how recruitment business owners must decide whether to manage LinkedIn presence internally or partner with external expertise. The chosen approach should reflect the company’s resources, team capabilities, and comfort levels with social media engagement. Whether led internally or externally, the strategy must maintain consistency across all team members’ profiles whilst allowing for individual expression.
Monitoring Performance and Impact
Regular performance monitoring forms a critical component of LinkedIn strategy success. Jane emphasises the importance of tracking engagement metrics, profile visits, and conversion of social media interactions into meaningful business conversations. This data-driven approach allows for strategy refinement and ensures LinkedIn activities directly contribute to business development goals. When engagement drops, it often correlates with reduced business opportunities several months later, highlighting the importance of consistent activity and performance monitoring.
Adapting to Market Response
Strategy implementation must remain flexible enough to respond to market feedback and engagement patterns. Jane shares how her six-month series about learning handstands generated unexpected business development opportunities, demonstrating the value of monitoring content performance and adapting the strategy accordingly. This responsive approach ensures the LinkedIn strategy remains effective and aligned with business objectives whilst capitalising on content types that resonate with the target audience.
Data Tracking and Lead Generation on LinkedIn
Understanding Engagement Metrics
Tracking LinkedIn data provides crucial insights into content effectiveness and audience engagement patterns. Jane emphasises how engagement metrics reveal not just who likes posts, but more importantly, who consistently views and interacts with content without necessarily engaging publicly. This ‘lurker’ behaviour, as Jane describes it, can be particularly valuable for business development, as demonstrated by her brother’s offline engagement with her content despite never interacting on the platform itself.
Maintaining Funnel Effectiveness
Consistency in LinkedIn activity directly correlates with business development success. Jane illustrates this through her experience of reduced business opportunities following periods of decreased LinkedIn engagement. By tracking these patterns, she identified a clear relationship between consistent LinkedIn presence and future business opportunities, typically showing impact around two months after activity levels change.
Strategic Data Analysis
The analysis of LinkedIn metrics should focus on meaningful business outcomes rather than vanity metrics. Jane advises focusing less on likes and more on who’s viewing content and whether they match the target audience profile. This targeted approach ensures that LinkedIn efforts contribute directly to business development goals, with metrics tracking helping to refine content strategy and engagement approaches over time.
Content Misconceptions in LinkedIn Strategy
Quality Over Quantity in Posting
Simply maintaining a high volume of posts without strategic direction proves ineffective for business development. Jane Pettit strongly challenges the common belief that ‘something is better than nothing’ when it comes to LinkedIn content. Random or poorly planned content can actually diminish professional credibility and waste valuable time. Posts must align with broader business objectives and speak directly to target audiences, whether those are potential candidates or clients.
Strategic Content Planning
Content strategy must reflect the specific markets and roles being targeted. Jane highlights how posting about technical support roles whilst trying to engage HR professionals creates disconnect and confusion. This misalignment between content and target audience undermines credibility and wastes engagement opportunities. Every post should serve a clear purpose within the wider business development strategy, maintaining consistency between outreach efforts and public content.
Building Engagement Through Interaction
Meaningful interaction with others’ content creates opportunities for relationship building. Jane emphasises how commenting and engaging with others’ posts can raise visibility just as effectively as creating original content. This approach proves particularly valuable for those who feel uncomfortable sharing their own experiences or insights initially. Through careful selection of which posts to engage with and providing valuable comments, professionals can establish their presence and expertise within their target market.
Profile Relevance and Professional Positioning
Tagline and Profile Optimisation
Profile elements like taglines need careful crafting to speak directly to target audiences. Jane advises moving beyond generic descriptors like ‘recruitment consultant’ to create taglines that clearly communicate value to specific candidate or client groups. This targeted approach helps potential connections immediately understand the relevance of connecting, increasing the likelihood of meaningful engagement. The profile should serve as a clear roadmap of expertise and specialisation rather than a generic professional description.
Content Consistency
The consistency between outreach activities and visible profile content plays a crucial role in establishing credibility. Jane points out how reaching out to candidates whilst having no visible job postings, or contacting clients without relevant market content, creates disconnect and reduces effectiveness. Profile content should provide evidence supporting any outreach claims, whether about market expertise, current opportunities, or industry knowledge.
Current Information Management
Outdated information and irrelevant historical content can significantly impact profile effectiveness. Jane emphasises the importance of regular profile audits to ensure all visible content aligns with current business focus and market positioning. This includes reviewing old posts, updating professional experiences, and ensuring all profile elements reflect current expertise and business direction.

