How Samantha McKenna's Unique Approach Helps You Stand Out from the Crowd

*This is Samantha's total engagement numbers from her 8-year journey (through August 29, 2024) 

Introduction

Sam's journey starts and ends with Show Me You Know Me. 

She OWNS that phrase and that's how she's been able to grow her brand so well.  

Finding a way to stand out and own a phrase is what gives you a unique point of view and brand. 

With over 15 years of experience, she has built a reputation as a leading voice in sales strategy and leadership.

• Named one of the Top 100 Global Sales Leaders for 2023 by The Modern Sale and Collective, for her exceptional strategic leadership and impact on the sales profession.
• She is a LinkedIn Sales Insider, a title awarded to only 25 individuals, for her influence and expertise on the LI.
• As the founder of #samsales Consulting, she has led her all-women team to achieve multi-million dollar revenue growth, serving over 200 clients in just a few years.
• Samantha has been recognized in multiple prestigious lists, including the Top 50 Women in Revenue, Top 25 Women in Revenue, and Top 20 Women in Sales Leadership.
• She consistently ranks as a Top Ten LinkedIn Sales Star, for her effectiveness in the sales community.
• Her contributions to the industry have made her a sought-after keynote speaker at global events, where she shares her insights on sales, social selling, and women's leadership.

This is why I wanted to highlight her journey and why you should really dig into her story. 

But what does Show Me You Know Me really mean? 

Content Style: Show Me You Know Me

Samantha stands out by helping everyone on LinkedIn follow her amazing style.  

It really follows a few steps: 

• Show interest in others 
• Build a relationship (that matters) 
• Be relevant 
• Solve your prospect (or customer's) challenges

These are the pieces that allow her to lead with authority and create an amazing brand, following and business. 

Let's get into where she started on LinkedIn and how she's progressed throughout her journey. 

We All Start Somewhere

Samantha McKenna’s 8-year journey on LinkedIn started in May 2016, and over the years, she has shared a total of 2400+ posts on the platform, getting a total of 327k+ reactions, 85k+ comments, and 4k+ reposts. 

Samantha kicked off by sharing a post on May 30, 2016. Despite having several hundreds of thousands of reactions today, her first post on LinkedIn got nothing. 

Nothing! No likes. No comments. No reposts.

And the post,

No hooks, no body, no CTA. 

Just the link to a blog.

You can compare this first post with a very recent post, probably the one she posted yesterday or even today. 

You can tell there’s a huge difference in the copy, let alone the engagement. 

Samantha further posted 61 more times in her first year. 

Let’s check out more. 

June 27, 2016

Just crossed my four year anniversary at ON24!... (41 reactions, 3 comments)

This post was her highest-performing post in 2016. Surprisingly, she got this performance having posted for just one month. 

And yes, it was her 8th posts ever on LI.

October 10, 2016

Love this - (31 reactions, 2 comments)

February 27, 2017

In the last three weeks, I've received nearly a dozen apology emails from Webex and Citrix … (78 reactions, 1 comment, 7 reposts)

Of course, this is the first time Samantha crossed 50 reaction bar, and you can easily identify one thing with this post. 

It’s mentions. 

Mentioning other creators or companies can be a powerful tool in driving visibility and engagement if used rightly. 

Here, she mentioned 3 companies in a 3-sentence post and got a good performance for the post back then.

Samantha started posting on LinkedIn (as a creator) pretty early on her journey. 

This started in 2017, when she decided to post consistently. In all, She shared 490 posts in 2017 alone. 

Although she didn’t post every single day of the year, she posted on most days. And on some days, like March 30, 2017, Samantha posted up to 4 posts.

May 4, 2017

Team building at the trampoline park with this killer group after a day of training! #teammckenna ON24 (58 reactions, 9 reposts)

June 25, 2017

Five years ago today, I held my breath and jumped into the deep end with a new job. (154 reactions, 11 reposts.)

August 31, 2017

BEYOND proud and happy for one of my AEs, Jason Darling, today!... (55 reactions, 7 comments, 1 repost)

Testing Phase

October 30, 2017

I travel nearly every week, which has me visiting Starbucks far too often, and stacking up my free rewards. (169 reactions, 19 comments, 1 repost)

As you may have noticed, Samantha’s posts are usually short. 

The shorter, the better. 

If you can compress it further without compromising the quality of your post, do!

It shows you value your audience’s time.

Make every sentence count. 

January 8, 2018

There are days when you are proud of your team...and then there are days like this. (133 reactions, 28 comments)

At this point, Samantha also started engaging her comments. 

Now, engaging your comments shows;

• You’re a human
• You value your audience’s opinion
• You can easily share more
• Your comments also add to the numbers

March 9, 2018

Gratitude. I end this week with this word on my mind as it has been an overwhelming part of my last few days. (99 reactions, 16 comments)

May 22, 2018

Wearing my LinkedIn hoodie on my flight this morning and it’s the second time I’m greeted by a parent who says (105 reactions, 10 comments)

October 2, 2018

Very early in my career, I worked with a woman that didn't seem to be my biggest fan… (276 reactions, 22 comments, 8 reposts)

Hardly will you find Samantha’s posts this long. 

But this one is long for a reason, and that’s probably why it had the highest engagement since she started posting.

Storytelling is one critical part of content creation and finding a way to link it to your message is critical in driving engagement and growing your community.

January 10, 2019

Want to really stand out to a prospect or client? Send a hand-written thank you note to them when you lose. (166 reactions, 25 comments, 4 reposts)

March 22, 2019

One standard trick I’ve always used is my delayed thank you. Here’s the situation - (186 reactions, 37 comments)

April 10, 2019

Incredible to think that this year was my tenth anniversary of attending the Legal Marketing Association - LMA International’s annual conference and my first time speaking! (148 reactions, 11 comments, 1 repost)

August 1, 2019

Here's a scenario we in sales often find ourselves - (105 reactions, 41 comments, 5 reposts)

At this point, Samantha is starting to write longer content than the previous one short paragraph posts. 

She has also improved on her storytelling, and constantly finding a good way to deliver value in her story.

September 10, 2019

That’s a wrap! After 18 incredible months with LinkedIn, I’m off to new adventures! (425 reactions, 119 comments)

November 8, 2019

I get this question at least daily - my prospecting emails are terrible, what can I do to make them better? (138 reactions, 52 comments, 10 reposts)

Trying out new things is one common feature of top LinkedIn creators I’ve found.

Samantha combined what could be in 10 posts in 1. 

Not just that, she shared it in an image, making it easier for her audience to scan and even share. 

January 6, 2020

Finding Samantha's Creator Style

February 25, 2020 

Yesterday was nothing short of exceptional and I’m so honored to be one of the faces of this LinkedIn campaign. (1234 reactions, 53 comments, 15 reposts)

First time crossing 1k reactions. 

There’s one thing she has always done in the past that’s pivotal to the performance of this post. Check the screenshot, and you can already guess what it is;

There’re 10 mentions in this single post and one of them is LinkedIn. It’s just natural for the post to fly.

Another important thing is the media. The collection of pictures here is one you don’t see every time on LI. So, when you see one like this, you’d stop for a sec.

March 12, 2020

Who else is emotionally exhausted from this week? (314 reactions, 40 comments, 28 reposts)

May 4, 2020

In sales, we do more discovery calls than any other touch point… (152 reactions, 37 comments, 2 reposts)

July 7, 2020

On Thursday last week, my family unexpectedly lost my mom. While I don’t often share much of my private life here, I am for two reasons. (408 reactions, 111 comments, 1 reposts)

This is a very personal story.

Personal stories like this separate humans from AI. 

Everyone can relate to this, whether they still have their mothers around or not. 

And see, Samantha didn’t forget her focus and value in the story. 

Again, storytelling is critical if done the right way.

September 1, 2020

I am officially that person who waves as I end Zoom calls. (1705 reactions, 419 comments, 11 reposts)

January 12, 2021

LinkedIn is responsible for 80% of all B2B social media leads. (332 reactions, 109 comments, 10 reposts)

March 11, 2021

So!, you hop on the Zoom, you meet your new prospective client for the first time, you're building rapport - everything's dandy. But, what do you say when they say this: (682 reactions, 150 comments, 9 reposts)

Not only is Samantha posting consistently, giving value for free, and engaging her comments. 

You can tell that her copywriting has greatly improved as well. 

When she started writing copies,  most of her posts were one long paragraph - sometimes 7+ lines. 

See the difference with her recent posts - her use of white lines is great. 

The more spaced your posts, the better.

Your content should never look chocking. Else no one will read them. 

Your content must BREATHE!

August 6, 2021

Ladies and Gentlemen, closed the ultimate deal this weekend . Welcome, Mr.#samsales!! (1527 reactions, 378 comments)

August 31, 2021

Yesterday I got a, "Hey, is it appropriate to reach out on LI to the hiring manager for a job I'm applying for?" question and an unsolicited, "Never reach out to the hiring manager - totally inappropriate." comment. My take? (7471 reactions, 1138 comments, 339 reposts)

This performance is soo impressive, the comments spans more than 2 years. Despite sharing it in 2021, the post still got a comment 3 weeks ago.

Nothing beats sharing your unique opinion about any subject matter.

This is a topic that you find many people take a side or another. And that’s what makes it all interesting. 

Speak your mind!

Share your unique view!

Also share your rationale and watch your audience troop in with their opinions for or against your view. But in the end, make sure you’re giving value and helping people. 

November 10, 2021

"Why do you comment on your competitors' posts?" (661 reactions, 143 comments, 12 reposts)

Speaking of copywriting, the most important component of any copy is the hook. 

Just looking at this hook, even you’d want to read the entire copy. 

February 17, 2022

Teachers have been quitting in record numbers and guess who is scooping them up? Tech sales. (385 reactions, 211 comments, 16 reposts)

April 11, 2022

Several times a week, my office door cracks open, and a sandwich pops in, unexpected and unannounced. (1486 reactions, 137 comments, 185 reposts)

July 20, 2022

Comp plans are meant to be a few things: (849 reactions, 121 comments, 20 repost)

August 17, 2022

"We don't do 6 month contracts."

"We don't discount."

"We can't offer you a pilot." (2046 reactions, 211 comments, 19 reposts)

November 2, 2022

Yesterday I got a, "Hey, is it appropriate to reach out on LI to the hiring manager for a job I'm applying for?" question and an unsolicited, "Never reach out to the hiring manager - totally inappropriate." comment. My take? (1438 reactions, 196 comments, 42 reposts)

Y’all remember this post from August 31, 2021.

That was Samantha’s most performing post throughout her 8-year journey. 

It’s no rocket science why the post performs really good this time. 

It has happened before, it’s happening again. 

All she has to do is add a little tweak, and it goes viral again. 

January 5, 2023

On Tuesday, we all came back to work and thought, "Dear god, whyyyyyy?! (Yours truly included ). (1518 reactions, 165 comments, 4 reposts)

February 2, 2023

One thing that still makes me shake my head is seeing top performers (3275 reactions, 626 comments, 105 reposts)

April 19, 2023

I get flack from some friends for being such a loyalist to Delta Air Lines (“It took you five hours to fly from DC to JAX?!”) (3992 reactions, 435 comments, 23 reposts)

Just one thing that that you find not many creators do - closing their posts with a little humor. 

See Samantha’s closing line here;

"PS: Delta: this was 4.19, flight DL2332 from IAD to ATL. Find this pilot and give him some love from all of us. "

This is also cool.

August 9, 2023

If you’re confident your employee will be traveling at least four times a year, please improve your travel policy to give them access to airport lounges.(2242 reactions, 182 comments, 75 reposts)

January 13, 2024

Yesterday, Brittany Pietsch posted a recording of her being terminated by her employer, and LI and Twitter blew up with opinions… (1648 reactions, 305 comments, 18 reposts)

April 30, 2024

Lessons from returning from maternity leave, volume two (do we need more or are we good @ 2?)

(1373 reactions, 188 comments, 7 reposts) 

June 17, 2024

Conclusion

What a wonderful journey Samantha has been on AND here's what I'd take away from it: 

• Repurpose your most popular posts 
• Talking about LinkedIn on LinkedIn just works
• Share your personal stories 

When you see Samantha's posts, you know it's from her.  That's the power of having a unique and personal brand. 

I walk away with something from her posts and think about the topic in a new and unique way. 

Incorporating her personal life - whether it's her wedding, new kiddo or just how she feels about a specific topic... we know it's her voice. 

So, let's talk about these three takeaways in more detail.