LinkedIn Content Strategy for Business Strategy Advisors | Netwarm
LinkedIn playbook · Case study
LinkedIn content strategy for business strategy advisors: how a London strategy advisor reached 50 executives in one week
We read every reaction on 7 posts from a London business strategy advisor and former energy executive. 239 people, 50 executives. Here is what brings buyers, what brings peers, and the 5 posts we’d publish next.
Max Sawyer · Netwarm··11 min read
The creator in this case studyA London business strategy advisor and former energy executive
Followers20,359
PostsEvery morning, ~7 a week, plus reposts
SellsStrategy and transformation advice for CEOs and leadership teams: growth strategies, turnarounds, and sustainability turned into operations
PeriodOct 30 – Nov 5
Ideal client: CEOs and leadership teams of blue-chip companies, private equity-backed businesses and SMEs who need bold growth or a turnaround.The challenge: The advisor posts every morning at 6:30, to 20,000 followers: quotes turned on the boardroom, numbers nobody checked, and the week’s business news read against history. Coaches, consultants and advisors read along in large numbers. Which posts reach the executives who hire a strategy advisor?
These numbers are from 5 November. Your audience has already moved.
New executives turn Hot every week and others go quiet. Run your free scan to see today’s version, with the names.
1 in 5 readers is an executive.50 CEOs, C-level leaders, managing directors, VPs and directors reacted in one week: 20.9% of everyone. 80 coaches, consultants and advisors reacted too: 33.5%.
The Sunday reflection brought nearly 3x more executives than business news.The Sunday reflection on masks: 26.3% executives. The posts on Microsoft and Ryanair: 9.2%.
3 executives came back 3 times or more in a single week.One of them, a food and drink distribution executive, reacted to 4 of the 7 posts.
01
Who actually reads you, and what the LinkedIn algorithm changed
The advisor publishes one post every morning at 6:30, UK time: a quote turned on the boardroom, a number nobody checked, a news story read against history, or a dry joke about how strategy really gets made. 7 original posts between 30 October and 5 November, plus reposts of other people’s posts, which we left out.
The LinkedIn algorithm shows a post to the people who reacted to the last ones, then to people like them. Leadership and strategy posts travel far among other advisors and coaches, and that reach is real. But reach can’t tell a CEO from a fellow consultant. Who reacted can. We looked at every person who reacted and sorted them by role.
7posts in a week
239people reacted
50executives
3came back 3+ times
Audience by roleThe 239 people who reacted, by roleFree
Peers are the largest single group: 80 coaches, consultants, advisors, speakers and LinkedIn creators, a third of everyone who reacted. They push reach, and they rarely hire a strategy advisor.
The 50 executives are the people the advisor works with: CEOs, chief operating officers, managing directors, VPs and board members, from energy and industry to banking and hospitality. Some run small firms rather than large companies; a Netwarm scan matches people to your own ideal client.
SeniorityAll people who reactedFree
Founder, owner, C-level23%
Director, VP9.6%
Manager9.2%
Independent12.1%
Other46%
IndustriesExecutives onlyNetwarm
Energy, industry and manufacturing20%
Hidden in preview00%
Hidden in preview00%
Hidden in preview00%
See all industries and company sizes in your free scan.
Most advisors judge a post by its reactions. An advisor who sells to CEOs should judge it by who reacted.
We tagged each of the 7 posts by topic, then measured the share of executives among the people who reacted. One week is a small sample: read the gaps as a direction, not a law.
Your topicsWhat your 7 posts were aboutFree
7posts
Business news & history2
Strategy satire2
Evidence & myth-busting2
Sunday reflection1
Topics that attract executivesShare of each topic’s reactions from executivesNetwarm
Sunday reflection26.3%
Evidence & myth-busting19.8%
Strategy satire13.7%
Business news & history9.2%
One topic brings nearly 3x more executives than another. See which.See which topics
The Sunday reflection brought nearly 3x more executives per reaction than the business news posts: 26.3% against 9.2%. The posts that question a number come second, at 19.8%.
Posts that brought the most executivesShare of executives in each post’s reactions1 of 5 open
#1We are what we pretend to be: the masks we wear at work26.3%
#2The 70% number nobody ever checked21.6%
#3The self-service kiosk would like a tip14.8%
#4Paint Drying: the corporate edition12.5%
#5Ryanair, 1973 and what is within our power11.1%
For comparison, the post on Microsoft’s buyouts and the Luddites drew 42 reactions and only 7.5% executives.
These rules come from what worked on the advisor’s own profile, and from the best-performing posts by strategy advisors, CEO coaches and business leaders on LinkedIn over the last 3 months.
1
Open on a quote, then turn it on the boardroom. A line from Vonnegut or Epictetus earns the first second. The post earns the executive when it moves straight into the meeting room: the mask of certainty, the decision nobody questioned.On this profile: the Sunday reflection on masks brought 26.3% executives, the highest share of the week, and the most reactions (139).
Question the number everyone nods at. Executives sit through slides full of borrowed figures. A post that traces one of them back to its source speaks to their week, and shows how the advisor thinks.On this profile: the 70% post brought 21.6% executives on 100 reactions. Across the niche: the 28% strategy figure drew 2,367 likes and 337 comments.
Read the news from the leader’s chair. The business news posts brought the fewest executives. The fix isn’t dropping the news: it’s leading with the decision a leader faces in it, not the market story.On this profile: business news posts brought 9.2% executives. Across the niche: a CEO-turnover headline read from the CEO’s chair drew 215 likes and 135 comments.
Put yourself in the story. “I’ve worn mine. More often than I’d care to admit.” One honest line from the advisor’s own career turns an essay into a conversation between peers.Across the niche: a research gap followed by “I was on the wrong side of it once” drew 358 likes.
Keep the satire, give it one scene. Dry humour brings reach and new followers. It reaches executives best when it describes one meeting they have all sat in, and ends on the point.On this profile: the two satire posts brought 13.7% executives. Across the niche: one CEO meeting line, picked apart, drew 304 likes.
End on a question they answer from last week. “Which number in your strategy has nobody checked?” An executive can answer that from their own last meeting, which brings them into the comments, where they become visible.On this profile: the two posts with the highest executive share both end on a direct question to the reader. Across the niche: a history post ending on one question drew 276 likes.
When executives read: the best time to post on LinkedIn for strategy advisors
We compared the share of executives by the day each post was published. The advisor posts once a day, at 6:30 UK time on weekdays and a little later at the weekend, so there are too few posts per hour to compare. With one post per day, each bar is one post: read it as a first signal.
Share of executives by posting dayAmong the people who reacted to each postFree
7.5%
Mon
11.1%
Tue
12.5%
Wed
0.0%
Thu
21.6%
Fri
14.8%
Sat
26.3%
Sun
Sunday and Friday stand out: 26.3% and 21.6% executives, and together 47 of the 61 executive reactions of the week. Monday brought the lowest share, 7.5%. Thursday’s post was published on the day we read it, so its 0% is too early to count.
Keep the 6:30 slot: it reaches UK executives before the first meeting. Give Friday and Sunday to the posts that sell the work, the reflection and the number check, and use the weekdays for satire and news read from the leader’s chair.
05
5 posts ready to publish to target executives
Each post follows the rules above, in the advisor’s voice. Swap in your own details before posting: the real meeting, the real number, is what makes it land.
1Ready to postMyth-busting
The Drucker quote Drucker never wroteRule 2: question the number, or the quote, everyone nods at. Modelled on your 70% post (22% executives) and Eric Partaker’s 28% strategy post.
Hook
‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’Slide two of most transformation decks. Usually under a photo of Peter Drucker.Nods round the table……someone writes it down……and the culture workstream gets its own budget line.Nobody asks where the quote came from.People who went looking found no trace of it in Drucker’s books or articles. The line seems to have attached itself to him years later, the way good lines attach themselves to famous names.It isn’t his. That’s rather the point.We borrow authority the same way we borrow numbers.A famous name.
A round figure.
A logo on the slide.And the thinking stops there.The irony is that the line is half right. Culture does decide whether a strategy survives contact with Tuesday morning. But it doesn’t eat strategy. It is what the strategy is made of, or it isn’t.Making strategy human again means checking the source before we hand it a budget.Which quote in your last strategy deck has nobody checked?
Visual · Single imageThe quote on a plain slide with a question mark where the photo of the author would be.Check before postingCheck the attribution against a quote research source before posting, and swap in a deck line you have really seen.
Who says “I don’t know” in your board meeting?Rules 1 and 4: a quote, then the boardroom, then your own admission. Modelled on your masks reflection (26% executives).
Hook
‘It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.’*My Sunday Reflection this week – what goes unsaid?Most board papers are written to be agreed with.The risks are on page fourteen. The assumptions are in the appendix. The doubt is nowhere at all.And so the meeting runs to time, the decision is unanimous & everyone leaves slightly less sure than they arrived.That’s how it happens in business. Not with a bad decision, but with a question that felt too small to ask in a room that big.I’ve sat on both sides of that table. More than once I stayed quiet because the room had already decided, & more than once I was the one who made the room feel decided.The leaders I learned most from did something very simple. They asked for the doubt first. “What would make this wrong?” Then they waited, long enough for someone to answer.The room didn’t get weaker. It got honest.So, this week – what’s the question nobody in your last meeting dared to ask?*Seneca
Visual · Text onlyNo image, or one quiet photo of an empty board table. The quote carries the post.Check before postingUse a meeting you really remember for the admission, and keep everyone in it anonymous.
The digital camera Kodak kept in a drawerRules 3 and 6: news and history read from the leader’s chair, ending on a question an executive answers from last week. Modelled on Ben Torben-Nielsen’s 1863 post.
Hook
In 1975, a young Kodak engineer built the first digital camera.It weighed about 3.6 kilos. It took 23 seconds to record one black & white image onto a cassette tape.He showed it to management.As he later recalled it, the reaction was roughly: that’s cute, but don’t tell anyone about it.Kodak didn’t miss digital. It invented it. Then it protected the business that was paying the bills.That’s how it happens in business.The threat rarely arrives as a surprise. It arrives as a prototype, a pilot, a small team in the corner whose numbers don’t fit the plan yet.And the question in the room is never “is this the future?”It’s “what does this do to this year’s margin?”Both are reasonable questions. Only one of them gets a budget.So, what is your company keeping in a drawer right now… & who decided it should stay there?
Visual · Single imageA photo of the 1975 prototype if you can license one, or a plain card with “1975” and “Don’t tell anyone about it.”Check before postingCheck the details of Steve Sasson’s 1975 prototype and the quote against his own interviews before posting.
The strategy offsite, hour by hourRule 5: one scene from the meeting, told with dry humour, ending on the point. Modelled on your Paint Drying post and Amir Tabch’s “don’t lead the witness”.
Hook
The strategy offsite. A timeline.09:00 – Coffee. Everyone agrees we need fewer priorities.09:40 – The CEO shares three priorities. Bold. Clear. Nods.10:30 – Breakout groups. Each group adds one “enabler”.11:15 – Finance adds a priority about cost. Nobody argues with Finance.12:30 – Lunch. Two directors agree, privately, that priority two is a bad idea.14:00 – Priority two is renamed. It is now a “strategic pillar”.15:00 – A consultant draws a house. The priorities become the roof.16:00 – Somebody asks what we will stop doing. A long pause. Someone suggests a working group.17:00 – Wrap-up. We have eleven priorities, five pillars & a house.Monday, 08:30 – Everyone goes back to doing exactly what they did last week.That’s strategy.It rarely fails because the three priorities were wrong. It fails because nobody was willing to say what we would stop.Focus isn’t a slide. It’s a list of things we have agreed not to do.What did your last offsite agree to stop?
Visual · Single imageA hand-drawn “strategy house” with far too many pillars.Check before postingAdjust the timeline to an offsite you recognise; keep it generic so no client is identifiable.
5 questions before a number gets a budget lineRule 2 and the lead magnet: your “compared to what, measured how, & by whom?” turned into a one-page check, sent for a comment. Modelled on Eric Partaker’s strategy sheet P.S. and Hava Maloku’s scorecard.
Hook
Before any number gets a budget line, I ask it five questions.Not because the people bringing it are careless. Because most strategic data isn’t wrong. It’s just a choice nobody saw being made.Here they are:1. Compared to what?
A 20% increase on what base, over what period, against which alternative?2. Measured how?
Counted, surveyed, modelled or estimated? Self-reported numbers feel just as solid on a slide.3. By whom?
Who collected it, & what did they need it to say?4. When did they stop counting?
The end date often decides the story.5. What would change our mind?
If no result could move the decision, the number is decoration.Five questions. Ten minutes. Usually cheaper than the contingency we add when nobody asks them.I’ve put them on one page, with the follow-up questions I use with leadership teams, so you can take it into your next strategy review.Comment NUMBER and I’ll send it to you.
Visual · Single imageThe five questions on one clean card titled “The Number Check”.Check before postingBuild the one-page Number Check before posting, with the follow-up questions you really use with clients.
Free forever: unlimited scheduling through LinkedIn’s official API, with images, video and PDF carousels.
06
LinkedIn lead generation: lead magnets that work to target executives
Reactions show interest. A download shows intent. The fastest way to find out which executives are serious is to give them something useful and see who asks for it.
Among strategy advisors, CEO coaches and business leaders, these formats get the most requests:
Format 1The one-page cheat sheetThe models or questions from the post, on one page, offered in the P.S.
Format 2The full guideThe complete method behind the post, sent to anyone who asks in the comments.
Format 3The researched listA list that took weeks to build, for one hard problem the reader has, sent by DM for a keyword.
Format 4The scorecardThe signals from the post turned into a short scorecard a leader fills in for their own company.
Our pick for you: “The Number Check”Built from the question the advisor already asks in posts: “compared to what, measured how, & by whom?”. One page with the five questions to ask any figure before it gets a budget line, and the follow-ups for a leadership team. Offer it on post 5 with “Comment NUMBER”.With a Reveal link, every person who downloads it is shown by name, with their role and how warm they are. Your first Reveal link is free.Create your free Reveal link
07
From reactions to clients
Content brings executives to the profile. It doesn’t say when to reach out. Most never comment, so they stay invisible among the advisors and coaches, and a CEO reading every post this month may have hired someone else by spring.
On LinkedIn, the right moment to start a conversation is when someone keeps coming back. We call that Hot: 5 or more points over 90 days, where a reaction counts 1, a repost 2, a download or a reply 4. After one week, nobody has crossed that line yet, and 3 executives are already on their way.
Hot right now0 executives · not contacted yetNetwarm
0 executives are Hot. See who to message first.See who’s Hot
First messageAn opener for each Hot person, based on the posts they readNetwarm
Hi Jordan, you’ve been reading my posts on strategy numbers this week. Is there a figure in your plan for next year that nobody has checked yet?Hi Sam, I saw you reacted to the post on the masks we wear at work. Is that something your leadership team talks about?
A first line for each of them, ready to send.See the openers
Netwarm sends nothing for you. It tells you who and when, and you write the message. It also works inside Claude and ChatGPT: ask “Who’s Hot today?” and get the list.
08
FAQ
For this advisor, the Sunday reflection brought 26.3% executives and the post questioning a famous number 21.6%, against 9.2% for business news. Open on a quote or a number, move into the boardroom, and end on a question about their own company.
For this advisor, Sunday (26.3% executives) and Friday (21.6%) brought the highest share over one week, at 6:30 or 8:00 UK time. Monday brought the lowest, 7.5%.
This advisor posts every morning, and 3 executives came back 3 times or more in a single week. Daily works when most posts speak to executives; keep the lighter posts for the middle of the week.
Look at who reacts, not how many. Group reactions by role, measure the share of your ideal clients per post, and follow the people who keep coming back. A free Netwarm scan does this for you.
Yes. Netwarm only reads public reactions to your own posts. It never logs in as you, never asks for your password, and never messages anyone for you.
How we made this playbook
We read the public reactions on 7 original posts published between 30 October and 5 November 2026 (up to the first 100 people per post), and sorted the 239 people by role. Reposts of other people’s posts and duplicates were left out. Comments were not counted, so engagement figures are a floor. One week is a short window: the gaps are a first signal.
Niche rules come from top posts by strategy advisors, CEO coaches and business leaders over the last 3 months. Role groups are approximate; a Netwarm scan matches people to your own ideal client.
