Matt Swain

Triangle

Boutique branding agency offering: 
- Tailored 1:1 private consulting 
- Fully "Done For You" branding offer

CEO & Founder 

MATT SWAIN

eTail; Futr Europe; Sprout Social; Google Cloud; Morrison Foerster

International Public Speaker

Before building Triangle, I spent 18 months in various marketing consultant & freelance roles.

GTM Consultant & Personal Brand Strategist 

SOCIAL CLUB

Founder and Manager of SOCIAL CLUB - an exclusive social media community where members manage over 328 million followers. 

If you're an influencer or brand who wants to connect please get in touch. 
If you're interested in investing/sponsoring/collaborating please email on matt@mattswain.co.uk

Founder of SOCIAL CLUB

LinkedIn

Selected to participate in LinkedIn’s new Creator Management Programme. Working closely with the UK creator management team to bring a new future to the LinkedIn platform.

Creator Management Programme 

New Degree Press

My debut book, Breaking Free on my journey in escaping my corporate job & becoming an online entrepreneur. Published by NDP.

Published Author of 'Breaking Free'

Mana

Leading strategic developments of a seed funded social media technology platform. Responsibilities included managing organic campaigns, influencer marketing, creator feedback on product features as well as creator & user growth acquisition strategies.

Strategic Advisor

Team DOAC

6 months working in Steven Bartlett's personal team across a range of projects.

Content Manager

KPMG

Working on audits across a variety of clients in multiple industries in the South East and London. Leading the on-site work with teams up to 7 people, managing activities and relations with the multi-location team, partners and clients. Managing a portfolio with multiple clients, delivering the audit from planning to finalisation and gaining great exposure to the finance and business world through board level management.

Senior Associate

Robert Dyas

I worked part-time, dealt directly with customers, enjoyed being part of the team, and working towards targets.

Retail Sales Assistant

Cancer Research UK

My role involved assisting the manager with a variety of tasks including merchandising and stock control.

Volunteer

Leveraging Mid-Market CEO's LinkedIn Brand to Sign Deals | Keynote Speaker

We work with an exclusive group of 7 & 8-figure business owners who want to become No.1 in their industry on LinkedIn through a blend of custom content & outbound. 

- Tailored 1:1 private consulting 
- Fully "Done For You" branding offer 

Enquire about becoming a client of Triangle - matt@mattswain.com

What you see: big smiles visiting LinkedIn HQ. 
What you don’t see: 

- A new client that we spent a month closing - started strong and loved the work, but paused 6 weeks in due to market uncertainty. 

- $130,000 in deals that made it to contract stage… but didn’t close for a variety of reasons - timing was wrong; change in circumstances; creating our system but in-house. 

- We ran a bunch of experiments for growth with external support, big promises were made but none of them really worked. 

- A new team member didn’t pass their probation so we had to let them go. 

- A client delayed an invoice saying they had ‘cash flow issues,’ then ghosted us entirely without paying.

- Parting ways with a long-term partner after realising we were no longer aligned.

- Plus having a bunch of health challenges including a throat infection that came back (despite antibiotics!) 

This is the reality of entrepreneurship. 

These last 3 months have tested me. 
Doubt crept in. I questioned myself. 

But today, as I walked through the doors of LinkedIn HQ, something shifted.

I paused and looked around.
In that moment, I realised how far I've come.

Because sometimes the biggest wins are invisible: 
The resilience to keep going. The clarity to let go.

Maybe that’s why showing up matters.
Even when it’s hard.
Especially when it’s hard.

Today reminded me perseverance pays off.
Growth is always waiting on the other side of challenge. 

---

Always a pleasure catching up with David Walsh - hearing what’s ahead for LinkedIn, sharing what we’re seeing work for our clients and getting validation on Triangle’s frameworks, and also checking out the very cool new Experience Centre!

LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership for Founders & Executives | CEO at Triangle | Speaker

Sam Altman said: “This is gonna be more like the Renaissance than the Industrial Revolution" - he’s captured something essential about the moment we're living through.

The Industrial Revolution was about machines replacing human labour. Efficiency. Production. Output at scale.

The Renaissance, however, was about human flourishing - a rebirth of art, science, philosophy, and new ways of seeing the world.

Throughout history, our tools have always evolved.
The printing press changed who could tell stories.
The computer changed how we processed information.
CGI changed how we visualised worlds.

Photography was once called the "death of painting" - but it simply pushed painting into new, expressive realms.

AI is just another iteration.

Throughout human history, from tractors to dishwashers - new technology frees up our time and results in humans creating & consuming more. 

The cheaper and faster it became to print books, the more books were written and read.
The easier it became to record music, the more music flooded into the world.
The faster it became to create images, we reimagined how stories could be told visually.

Humans lean into creativity when given better tools. We experiment. We stretch the boundaries of what’s possible.

AI will automate certain types of tasks - but it will also give us more time, more space, and more possibility to create things we never could before.

The real question isn’t "will AI replace human creativity?"
It’s "how will human creativity evolve now that the boundaries have shifted?"

The Industrial Revolution optimised productivity.

The Renaissance period expanded what it meant to be human.

I really think that’s where we are right now. Opening up the conversation about what it means to be human. And that’s exciting.

Unconventional truth: If you’re trying to sign high-level decision-makers at 1,000+ person companies, you actually need to do less... but better.

Less content — but more strategic, specific, in-depth insights they care about. 

Less outreach — but hyper-targeted lists and personalised, thoughtful messages. 

Less generic authority — but credibility grounded in real-world proof, client stories & data. 

The bigger the deal, the more nuanced, specific and targeted the approach. 

This is what gets you in the doors of enterprise & C-Suite. 

We’ve booked calls for clients with decision-makers at companies like Nvidia, Shell, Sony. 

We've had senior leaders from companies like Microsoft & Samsung engaging with client content. 

All through a curated, precision-built system that aligns content, targeting, and outreach.

If you’re ready to replace volume with a high-level custom approach, drop me a message.

❌ Cold emails getting ignored
❌ Decision-makers slipping through the cracks
❌ Messages not cutting through the noise

It’s not just you.

The data backs it up:

- 80% of B2B buyers are invisible during most of the buying journey.

-  6–10 stakeholders are involved in decisions, but most marketers only target 1–2 personas.

- 87% of buyers say content shapes their vendor preference.
If you’re only chasing leads you can see, or pushing content that doesn’t help buyers build internal consensus — you’re losing deals before you even show up.

Want to change this? Check out our framework in the carousel! 

P.S This entire post was built using Taplio — the LinkedIn growth platform we rely on to research, craft, and schedule content like this at scale.  Use MATT1X1 - It gives you one month of the tool for $1! #ad

Get your B2B Marketing to work...

In Jan 2025, I got a WhatsApp message from the CEO of a 900+ personal global agency: 

“Matt, how’s things going at Triangle?” 

Backstory: 

9 months before, he was a client of ours who’d spent 4 months working with us to build his brand on LinkedIn. 

We generated him 4mil+ views over that time and multi-6-figures in revenue. In fact, he saw so much opportunity on LinkedIn he hired 3 people and built his own personal brand team and implemented our processes in-house. 

We’d stayed in touch - the odd message, Christmas Card etc. 

I wasn’t expecting what came next. 

We jumped on a catch-up call.

Five minutes in, he said: 
“Matt, I’d love to invest in Triangle” 

He offered $100K.

We continued the conversation over breakfast at Soho House, discussing scaling plans, vision, and next steps.

I ended up deciding not to take the investment - we didn’t need the cash. And instead we worked out a plan for him to come onboard as an advisor instead. 

But it was an incredible confidence boost that an 8-figure entrepreneur who’d been a client loved our service enough to put 100k of their own money in. 

The lesson: 

- Deliver so much value that clients want to invest in your future

- Stay in touch. You never know when a seed you planted will turn into something more.

- Know when to say no - alignment is key.

Before: Generic lead lists. Manual scraping. Targeting the same worn-out lists as the competition. 

Now: Custom, intent-driven lead lists. Highly relevant decision-makers perfectly matched to our clients’ unique positioning.

Over the past month, we’ve been levelling up Triangle’s demand generation capabilities - making sure we fully maximise the brand-building and strategic Thought Leadership content we create with our clients.

Using Clodura.AI, we're able to build:

(1) Hyper-targeted lead lists with intent signals and custom filters.
(2) Unlock access to decision-makers that competitors aren’t reaching.

We take these leads & run them through our proprietary LinkedIn outbound tool (that can connect to ~800 people monthly) using our Right Hook Messaging Framework™ - and then also reach out via email for an integrated multi-touch-point approach. 

The result? 

Across client accounts - we’ve booked more calls in April - than Feb & March combined. 

The world is changing quickly. New tools are being launched daily. We know that as an agency, we have to be at the forefront. 

So we’re always testing the best new tools & tech out there to keep raising the bar for our clients - sharper targeting, better results, and even more value.  

Question for you: When new tools are launching daily, how do you decide which ones are worth betting on for real client impact?

#ad

Over the past year, I’ve immersed myself in the world of art. If ever I’m in a new city, you’ll often catch me in the local galleries. And I’m in the process of building my own collection too. 

A great painting is powerful - it captures the emotion, essence, story, idea, meaning, passion, purpose - which is then condensed and expressed through the strokes of the paintbrush. 

You feel something because love & energy are poured into the art. The subtleties. The composition. The chosen colours.  

It’s why you see people look at a painting and then burst into tears. Or spend hours staring finding new layers of meaning. There are books written about the best pieces of art. And people spend millions on them because ‘the piece spoke to them.’ 

In the last few months, more than ever, I’ve found the content on LinkedIn lacking the depth, emotion, realness and dedication - that you'd find in a great painting.

There’s a rush to “hit post” or “say something” on here in the name of consistency or because it seems like a good thing to do. Which it often is. 

But great content is like great art. And great content creators are really great artists. They pour everything into their writing/videos. They’re experimenting. They're developing their own personal touch. Pushing boundaries. Fundamentally, they understand the value in communicating their ideas, sharing their vision with the world, allowing their audience to feel something and striving to become masters of their craft. 

I’m really hoping we can see more depth, meaning & soul return to LinkedIn. Let's become more like artists.

Yesterday, I ran this exercise with a $20M/year agency prospect - and it completely changed how they view their content and demand gen strategy. 

They were posting really engaging, interesting content getting ~100 likes a post. 

I asked them what they actually cared about. 

Their answer: “Engaging CMOs of 1,000+ person companies and booking conversations with them.”

I asked: “Based on what you know about your target prospect, would they truly engage with or find value in your content?”

We reviewed their profile and recent content.

Their answer: No.

Remember — effective content moves you closer to your goals.

David Beckham's just turned 50. Here's a look back at his career, showing how he went from football legend to cultural icon (full breakdown):

Beckham’s brand has shaped fashion trends, he's built billion-dollar business ventures and stayed globally relevant for over three decades. Leading the conversation in culture, sport, fashion & business.

Lesson 1: Branding efforts at the forefront.

On an evening in 1994 it was recalled that "David launched into his vision for the future of football and it was mesmerising... It was one of those unusual moments when you realise you're sitting in the presence of some sort of greatness." That evening, Beckham spoke about the women's game, about America being the next frontier and about standing up against racism and homophobia. Even at this early stage, it was clear Beckham had a drive to do more than merely score goals, and he knew how: by using his image to shape conversations beyond the game.

Lesson 2: Sharing his interests & tapping into new audiences.

He’s explored & shared multiple interests (sport, fashion, business, property, multiple different brands) - each time tapping into new audiences who build an invisible affinity with him. He’s focused on getting his image in as many places as possible, not worrying about the short-term fee but the long-term associations. His team are always asking, “Does it put David in front of a different audience?”

Lesson 3: Combining aspiration with wholesome values.

Beckham through his brand deals & luxury lifestyle has been associated with the elite, making him aspirational. Yet still feels real & authentic with an emotional connection to his audience. Despite the $100 million deals, he seems so normal. He's built relatability with his public journey through failure & criticism around the tough moments in his career, such as the abuse he suffered following his red card at the 1998 World Cup. His content also shares seemingly unmediated updates about his everyday life that radiate strong family-man values.

Lesson 4: Cultural relevancy.

Beckham always finds a way to be at the forefront of culture, conversation & media. From being photographed next to Royals, to getting on camera at all major sporting events; he’s always saying the right thing at the right time at the right place. "He always knows where the cameras are.”

Lesson 5: Business-centred mindset.

At the heart of Beckhams rise is a business-minded approach: Beckham has evolved from being a sponsored individual to an equity owner. Beckham has leveraged his image to secure cuts of the businesses with which he is associated. After all, he’s more than just a recognisable face on their ads, but someone who has proven he can sway audiences with his loyal following.

He templated a new path for the modern athlete - to go beyond sport into entrepreneurship and building their personal brand - like LeBron, Messi, Ronaldo, and Serena. 

Beckham has shown the real impact of building your brand alongside your career.

We signed a Microsoft partner in the AI gaming space after a 30-minute call. Contracts signed in under 24 hours & kick-off booked 2 days later. 

On the surface, it's a “fast win."

But the truth - they'd been following my content for two years.

On the call he said: “I really enjoy reading your content, Matt. I'm confident of the value you can add."

Authority had been built through consistent Thought Leadership. He'd built familiarity through my video content. Credibility through seeing our results. 

A reminder to you, that your content is silently working in the background either for, or against you. 

Prospects are seeing what you share. And making decisions based on it. 

The right content? Shorter sales cycles, less competition & trust earned before day 1. 

So my question to you: 
Is your content working for you? 
Or are you missing out on sales like this?

I was on a call with a scaling California-based tech company client and they said to me: 

“What makes your work so valuable is that you’re not in the company.” 

Which sounds odd at first. 

But we’re not stuck in features, or company updates. 

We’re able to think and create from an audience-first & LinkedIn-first perspective. 

Which means we create content that actually resonates. 

We think deeply about somebody who hasn’t seen your name before and doesn’t have a clue what you do. And how we communicate your proposition & insights in the most effective way possible. 

So that someone landing on your post cold can determine if what you offer is a fit. 

And then thinking about how to communicate to someone who doesn’t even know they have a problem (that you solve), yet. 

It's not generic posts. 

It’s proven processes that are audience-first, LinkedIn-first. Pieces of content that reach, engage and compel your ideal decision maker to take action. And messaging that clicks with your ideal buyer. 

Having that outside perspective is valuable - you don’t know how wrapped up you are in what you do.

You may have seen this going viral across platforms. It’s a letter the CEO of Fiverr wrote to employees about the power of AI. What stood out to me wasn’t just Micha’s take on AI; but how powerful it is when a CEO speaks directly, candidly, and publicly. It doesn’t feel like a carefully curated piece of internal comms. Instead an authentic real message which is why it’s travelling so widely. We’re entering a period where the CEO’s voice carries more marketing weight than most ad budgets - the companies who understand this are winning attention and trust.

Struggling to turn your content into actual business growth? 

It’s because you’re posting the wrong content: Random events recaps; leadership infographics; overly personal stories.

Our clients are consistently booking 5 to 15 qualified sales conversations every month. 

The difference?

We’ve moved beyond informational content.

We focus on: perspective-shifting content. 

– Content that reframes how your buyer sees their problem
– Content that builds trust by showing how you think — not just what you know
– Content rooted in your IP, beliefs, and approach

It’s a shift from “Here’s what to do” to “Here’s why we do it differently.”

From education to insight.

Because decision-makers don’t just want answers.
They want to believe in your approach.

“Maybe LinkedIn is the glue that’s missing.”

That’s what the founder of a 50-person SEO agency said to me on a call last Friday.

They’ve got awesome clients. Impressive IP. Strong team. 

But they’re lacking a consistent pipeline…

We heard all the usual pains: 
- Cold emails not converting
- Random company content with no clear messaging 
- No system around their demand-gen strategy
- Webinars with great info but no amplification

They’re not tapping into the full force of LinkedIn. 

There’s no system. 

This means no predictability.

LinkedIn when done right, is the connective tissue between outbound, content, conversion, and authority positioning.

If you invest in LinkedIn, over the medium term, it becomes a legitimate compounding growth channel. Where you can generate your dream inbound prospects, alongside predictable outbound that books in net new 5 to 20 SQLs monthly. 

This is what we’re doing for clients right now. Interested to see how it works? Drop me a message.

Want to 3x your LinkedIn company page engagement? 

Here’s how Fiverr drove a 250% boost. 

We’re offering select marketing teams a free 60-minute LinkedIn workshop to show you exactly how to level up your presence in 2025.

Send me a message and can see if you qualify.

How Fiverr leveraged LinkedIn

LINKEDIN UPDATE: Currently testing a new vertical video tab.  

That instead of taking you to a TikTok-style immersive scroll. You get taken to a carousel of videos based on trending topics. 

Every time I meet with LinkedIn, video comes up first in the conversation. It's going to become a more prominent content type on here. But the "how" is still getting iterated & figured out. 

P.S. We turn your existing long-form video assets into engaging LinkedIn-first video content. Drop me an email at matt@mattswain.com and we’ll create 2 free clips for you to show you what we can do. 

Credit: Lindsey Gamble

This single idea changed how I approach our B2B content strategy with NYSE-listed billion dollar companies, to leaders at IBM, and fast-scaling US tech start-ups: 

People don’t buy when they understand. 
They buy when they feel understood. 

The instinct in B2B, especially with technical, complex, or high-ticket offers, is to educate. 

To flood people with more information. More features. More slides. More posts. 

But buyers aren’t lacking information. 

They’re lacking confidence. 

Confidence that: 
- You actually get the nuance of their situation 
- You’ve solved this problem before - for someone like them
- You have the capability and conviction in what you do 

So, forget proving how much you know.

What they really want is:
“This person gets it. This person gets me.”

Because the best marketing doesn’t just inform. 
It resonates. 

---
If this idea resonated with you - this is exactly the kind of work we do with founders and execs. We build insight-driven Thought Leadership content that positions you as the expert, attracts 6-8 figure decision-makers, and then start conversations with those ideal buyers to fill your pipeline.

I’ve been in marketing 4+ years working with NYSE-listed brands to scaling tech companies. Over that time I’ve thought a lot about how AI is impacting the industry. 

The conversation still treats AI as something separate - a tool marketers leverage. 

That framing is now outdated. 

The future isn’t AI supporting marketing. 

It’s AI & marketing becoming one. The lines are blurring.

It’s why seeing tools like Head launch excite me. 

It’s a self-learning AI that adapts to your voice, generates visuals in seconds, and builds campaigns that feel uniquely yours.

It’s not assisting the work - it’s doing the work, and evolving as it goes.

And that’s the shift.

Marketing is no longer just about systems and strategies… It’s about how human creativity and machine intelligence begin to co-create.

Not one replacing the other.
But building something new, together.

What do you think?

P.S Try it now: https://lnkd.in/e2pnwRAA #ad

Great chatting with Amrit Virdi and being featured in Marketing Week - sharing thoughts on how B2B influencer marketing should play a role in a brand’s wider marketing mix.

Reporter at Marketing Week, covering social media, influencers, retail, financial services and charities | Former Podcast Producer

📱 Working with influencers may have once seemed daunting for B2B businesses, but many are now realising the value that creators can bring to unlock new audiences - whether they're external or in-house employees.

For my latest article in the 'Influencers Explored' series, I spoke to B2B brands, agencies and creators about the rise of creator-driven marketing in the space.

Ogilvy's global head of influence, Rahul Titus, urges B2B brands to “embrace the change” towards influencer marketing or “get left behind”, as he discusses how the B2B influencer space has evolved and where he sees it heading in the future - hint, it's not just on LinkedIn. 

As highlighted in the article, Higgs LLP is one company excelling in the area as it's turning its employees into its influencers, with its head of digital marketing Michelle Hughes saying this has led to "really tangible results in terms of inquiries coming directly to the lawyers into their DMs".

IBM is another company which is benefitting from incoroprating influencers into its marketing, with its director of social media and influence, Kirsten Echeverry, explaining the company sees “a steeper growth pattern” around its influencer work as it strives for "authenticity on social".

It was also great to hear from B2B creators Meagan Loyst and Matt Swain about how they work with brands and what the key goals for them are from B2B influencing.

Find out more in the comments 🔗

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