National firm’s digital revolution started with LinkedIn
Training 1000 employees at a national professional services firm to use LinkedIn sparked a digital revolution within the organization, complete with strategy, tools, metrics and the hiring of a new digital marketing specialist.

Sector
Professional Services
Company size
Enterprise
Timeframe
2017 – 2018
Services
Strategy
Ongoing in-house support

What We Delivered
Buyer personas
Marketing strategy
LinkedIn Training
Marketing coaching
Hiring and onboarding of staff
Social media marketing
Content Marketing Strategy
Marketing training

The Challenge
“We want to do LinkedIn better than the competition.”
When this well-respected national firm came to lizoke Marketing, they already knew their potential clients were active on LinkedIn. What they didn’t know was how to reach this audience effectively using the platform. They asked me to develop a full social media strategy for LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, including buyer personas, profile pages, editorial direction and content calendar. My goal was to establish a strong foundation for them so that daily maintenance would take a matter of minutes.
The Ah-ha Moment
“I can’t do this alone.”
We were in the home stretch of the strategy when it became clear that the team lacked the digital marketing know-how to cross the finish line. I could win one race for them, but that wasn’t sustainable long-term. To get ongoing results, the organization would need the internal expertise to implement and evolve the strategy themselves.

The Hard Conversation
“You can teach an old dog new tricks.”
As is true of many large, well-established firms, the younger employees were hungry for innovation but the decision-makers were suspicious of change. My job was to help the old guard feel comfortable enough with a new way of doing things that they would invest the necessary resources. I assured them we wanted to strengthen the existing foundation, not tear down and rebuild. And I promised to get my hands dirty as part of the team.
The Solution
“Connecting the right people with the right skills.”
For the next eight months, I was the firm’s in-house marketing consultant, complete with company email address and a day a week in the office. Knowing the firm from the inside meant I could coach, train and establish processes to address real gaps across the entire firm.

The Outcomes
“Learning to think differently.”
After a year of working together, the 10-person marketing team knew the key performance indicators they were accountable for and the tactics needed to improve results. An editorial committee with members from both sales and marketing was meeting regularly to ensure alignment on company goals.
All 1,000 staff members had been trained as brand ambassadors on LinkedIn. We’d hired a full-time digital marketing specialist. The firm had broadcast its first LinkedIn Live video. And I could confidently say that my work was done.
Connecting the [marketing] Dots
“An outsider makes change easier.”
Most of my clients come to me knowing something isn’t working, but they struggle to give their challenges a name. They need a neutral third party to uncover the true problem, make innovative (and sometimes initially unpopular) suggestions and provide on-the-ground support that gets results.
The small investment my clients make in an external advisor provides momentum for growth and justification for the change. They get a reassuring ally and senior team member who moves the business forward by both seeing the big picture and sweating the small stuff.
