How to grow on LinkedIn and the BEST AI Agent

Welcome to the Franchise Marketer Newsletter Edition 7!

⏳ Read time: ~ 5 minutes

Welcome back!

LinkedIn is a goldmine for people in franchising, so I have collected some of the best tips I found online for a playbook that you can use to help you grow.

I also share with you my number one AI agent and use cases for it.

Don’t forget to check out my Franchise Marketer Podcast.

Here’s what you’ll learn today:

✅ How to grow on LinkedIn.
✅ The best AI agent to use.

The 2025 Playbook for Building Authority & Generating Leads with LinkedIn

PART 1: THE LINKEDIN LANDSCAPE IN 2025

By the time you finish reading this newsletter, LinkedIn will have added ~1,000 new members. That's the current pace: 3 new users every second, with over 1 billion total accounts and counting.

What this means for you:

• ~1.6 million feed updates flash past every minute - baseline noise you must beat

• ~13,000 brand-new connections form every minute - relationships compound faster than interest

• 57% of visits now start on a phone - if your post can't survive a one-handed scroll, it never gets a second chance

• Video views increased 36% year-on-year, with vertical "immersive" formats exploding 6× in 2024

THE 7-SECOND RULE: You have about seven seconds (two thumb-swipes) to win the tap. A strong visual, an irresistible headline, and a mobile-native layout determine whether anyone reaches line one of your copy.

PART 2: HOOK FORMULAS THAT WORK

Your first two lines decide whether the rest of your post ever gets read. Use these proven formulas to stop scrolls instantly:

HOOK TEMPLATES TO SWIPE

The Contrarian Open:

"Most LinkedIn advice kills your reach.
Here's what actually works in 2025..."

The Short-Circuit Pattern:

"I doubled my conversions last month.
By sending 80% fewer cold emails."

The Specific Result Hook:

"From 500 to 10,000 followers in 90 days.
Without posting daily or running ads."

The Borrowed Authority Angle:

"Google's ex-CMO taught me one LinkedIn rule.
It transformed our entire approach to B2B."

📱 MOBILE-FIRST FORMATTING RULES

1. Keep lines under 55 characters. Your reader's phone shows ~40-55 characters before wrapping; anything longer forces extra eye movement and reduces comprehension.

2. Aim for 6-8 words in your hook. This creates two crisp lines visible before the "...see more" cut - the tiny real estate that decides life or death for your post.

3. Add a contrasting "re-hook" after your hook. Make it shorter than your hook and create a plot twist that flips expectations:

   • Hook: "Most LinkedIn advice is wrong."

   • Re-hook: "Here's why copying viral posts kills reach."

4. Add a blank line between every two sentences. White space is oxygen in a vertical feed. It chunks ideas into digestible beats and prevents "wall-of-text" panic.

PART 3: THE CONTENT FLYWHEEL

Instead of thinking about LinkedIn as a funnel, see it as a flywheel. Feeds loop - a viewer can enter at any touchpoint and spin around again tomorrow. Balance your content with this proven ratio:

70% AWARENESS CONTENT

Goal → Earn the following

• Cheat-sheets: "Your ChatGPT Prompt Cheat-sheet (Save 2 hours/week)"

• Swipe files: "Swipe my proven DM outreach script (80% response rate)"

• Myth-busting posts: "5 LinkedIn growth myths costing you followers every day"

• Trend commentary: "What LinkedIn's algorithm tweak REALLY means for creators"

20% AUTHORITY CONTENT

Goal → Earn the bookmark

• Story-driven thought leadership: "Why I stopped posting 7x/week and what happened next"

• Case studies: "This one email tweak doubled my client's conversion rate"

• Behind-the-scenes workflows: "Watch me create a viral LinkedIn carousel in under 10 mins"

10% CONVERSION CONTENT

Goal → Earn the calendar invite

• Product walk-throughs: Quick, actionable videos ending with a clear CTA

• Testimonial quote cards: Visual social proof with client face, bold metric-driven outcome, and context

• Price reveal posts: Transparent pricing that pre-qualifies serious prospects

PART 4: THE 60-MINUTE ENGAGEMENT CIRCUIT

Algorithms reward session length, relationship depth, and fast comment velocity. This focused 60-minute daily routine optimises all three:

15 MIN: ENGAGE BEFORE YOU POST

• Comment thoughtfully on 5-7 creators' posts (50% peers, 30% prospects, 20% bigger accounts)

• Add value: tether your take to the original idea, share a stat, or tell a micro-story

• This primes the algorithm and makes people notice your name before you publish

15 MIN: CREATE & PUBLISH

• Start with a saved idea, run it through your preferred tool for a sanity check

• Ensure your first two lines ("hook" + "re-hook") appear above the "...see more" cut

• Align with the 70-20-10 funnel mix

• Write 2-3 pinned comments ready to post immediately after publishing

15 MIN: ENGAGE AFTER POSTING

• First 10 minutes: Reply to every comment - mirror language, ask follow-ups, tag relevant voices

• Next 5 minutes: Add value to 2-3 other posts in your niche to create reciprocal engagement

10 MIN: DMs & RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING

• Respond to yesterday's messages (no ghosting!)

• Start 1-2 fresh chats with recent commenters or new followers

• Lead with a question or compliment, never a pitch

5 MIN: BUILD YOUR NETWORK

• Send 5-7 personalised connection requests to commenters and aligned voices

• Use this 12-word template: "Hey [First Name], love your content and just wanted to say hey. How's it going?"

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE

This Week:

1. Optimise your profile headline using the front-loading technique

2. Create one post using the hook + re-hook formula

3. Try the 60-minute engagement circuit for just one day

4. Document what changed in your engagement metrics

AI Agent To Try

I have been posting a little bit online about Genspark and will share some more specific tutorials soon.

However, the video below gives you a great demo of what it can and how it can make your life a lot easier when it comes to a whole range of tasks.

60 Page Growth Playbook

As a subscriber, you can get access to it here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Oyw3daW6nxR1fWPH3rwaiYSEMaa_h-mwJsifZeeOqcE/edit?usp=sharing

#6 in the Annual Top 30 Franchise Executives Report

I was lucky enough to be named #6 in the Annual Top 30 Franchise Executives report after being named number 1 last year.

A great event, and I believe all employees need to build a personal brand; it’s an insurance policy, and it must be taken seriously.

Which is why, as an employee, you should always try to put your name forward for awards in your industry. Your job may go one day, however, those awards and industry recognition can never be taken away from you.