Mastering the Art of the Social Hook and Grabbing Attention with Melissa Rosenthal

The Linkedin Famous Podcast

Melissa Rosenthal has spent her career mastering the art of attention—from crafting viral hooks at BuzzFeed, to breaking LinkedIn video at Cheddar, to turning ClickUp’s employees into organic LinkedIn powerhouses. Now, as CEO of Outlever, she’s helping B2B brands rethink how they create content that actually drives impact.

In this episode, Melissa shares her playbook for LinkedIn success—including why clickbait kills trust, video builds relationships, and engagement isn’t the goal—business impact is.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How Melissa and her team at BuzzFeed pioneered the viral hook formula
• Why video on LinkedIn is an unfair advantage and how to use it
• Why your own story beats another Steve Jobs post
• How ClickUp turned employees into LinkedIn creators and scaled organic reach
• The right way to measure LinkedIn success (hint: it’s not just engagement metrics)
• Why going viral doesn’t matter—but building relationships does

Memorable Quotes:

• "The hook makes or breaks your post. If people don’t stop scrolling, nothing else matters."
• "Clickbait kills trust. If you don’t deliver on the hook, you lose your audience forever."
• "Video builds trust faster than text. People connect with faces, voices, and energy."
• "We don’t need another Steve Jobs story. We need your story."
• "You don’t need 10,000 likes. You need the right 10 people to care."

Tactical Takeaways You Can Apply Today:

• Craft strong curiosity-driven hooks without resorting to clickbait
• Use video on LinkedIn to deepen audience connections and drive engagement
• Tell your unique story instead of repeating the same startup clichés
• Train employees to become LinkedIn brand ambassadors like ClickUp did
• Measure LinkedIn’s impact through inbound mentions and brand awareness studies
• Forget virality and focus on content that builds trust and relationships

People, Tools, and Resources Mentioned:

• Outlever – Melissa’s company helping B2B brands master LinkedIn content
• BuzzFeed & Cheddar – Where Melissa developed her expertise in viral content and video
• ClickUp – A company that scaled LinkedIn reach through employee-driven content
• Brand Awareness Studies – An underrated way to measure LinkedIn’s true impact

Follow Melissa Rosenthal:

• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/melrosenthal
• Outlever: www.outlever.com

Until Next Time, Stay Connected.

Want to connect or share feedback? Brad welcomes connection requests from listeners—reach out on LinkedIn and share your thoughts!

• Brad Zomick’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bzomick
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