Getting 7.4 Million Views: Our LinkedIn Success Story With Powering Chicago
See how The Harbinger Group created a hit video series that turned Powering Chicago into an industry leader while reaching their most important audience
OVERVIEW
We created a video series that showcased the skill, safety and expertise of real tradespeople which earned Powering Chicago, a labor-management partnership in a crowded electrical contractor market, millions of views. The views were the first step—next, we hosted that content on LinkedIn to reach Powering Chicago’s most important audience: decision-makers looking to work with union electrical contractors. The result earned millions of LinkedIn views and helped establish Powering Chicago as an industry leader.
POWERED BY RESULTS
7,400,000
LinkedIn video views – nearly 5x the original goal
1,400,000
YouTube views
58,000
YouTube Channel Subscribers
92.55%
LinkedIn view rate – more than 7x the platform average
3,600,000
views from senior-level decision-makers
2,400,000
views from business development and operations audiences
THE CLIENT
Powering Chicago is a partnership between IBEW Local 134 and the Electrical Contractors’ Association of Chicago. Since 1900, their members have built the city as it grew—from wiring its first telephone system and subway to helping build landmarks like the Willis Tower and Wrigley Field. Today that same partnership trains the next generation of electricians and connects skilled contractors with the people who need them.
THE PROBLEM
Powering Chicago already had a strong record of project expertise. Their work spanned both high-profile jobs—O’Hare International Airport renovations, Navy Pier electrical buildouts—and day-to-day installations that kept Chicagoland running.
To document that work, we created a YouTube video series, The Power of Better, to help Powering Chicago stand out in a crowded electrical contractor market. The series was a million-plus-view hit—but without knowing who was behind those views, its success was limited. Were we reaching facility managers, operations leads and other decision makers? Or not?
We needed a way to use The Power of Better to target and reach our most important audience: people directly involved in hiring unionized electrical contractors.
THE STRATEGY
We made The Power of Better work harder for Powering Chicago. Using paid LinkedIn campaigns, YouTube shorts, email, blog content and more, we targeted specific audiences, zeroing in on job titles, functions, industries and even seniority levels in order to reach the people most likely to act.
HOW WE DID IT
Targeting Our Audiences on LinkedIn
The Power of Better was a YouTube success—but who was it reaching? Hosting our videos through paid Linkedin campaigns allowed us track views against job functions, titles and industries, helping us reach the specific audiences Powering Chicago wanted to engage. Our targeted outreach helped our total viewership skyrocket.
- LinkedIn Views: 7,401,080
- Average view rate: 92.55%, 7x the LinkedIn average
Finding “The Big Deciders”
With real audience data, THG could see exactly who was tuning in. Senior-level leaders, owners, directors and partners were key players, with business development and operations professionals leading the way. These were “the big deciders”: people connected to project planning, facility needs and contractor hiring decisions. We catalogued that info—and gave it directly to Powering Chicago.
- Views from senior-level deciders: 3.6 million
- Views from business development and operations audiences: 2.4 million
Other industries reached: Real estate, hospitals, healthcare, manufacturing, higher education, tech, mission-critical and recreational facilities
Creating Content Audiences Needed
None of our content would have beat our goals without documenting what decision-makers actually wanted to see—real tradespeople doing real work and answering questions while demonstrating their expertise, technical training, skill and on-the-job safety. The Power of Better campaign featured:
Complex infrastructure: The Navy Pier Marina electrical buildout and the NECA Convention showed the scale and coordination behind large, high-profile projects
Sustainability & Modernization Impact: The CHEST solar installation showed electrical contractors solving site challenges on renewable energy projects. The high-rise telecommunications project showed contractors renovating outdated systems while preserving historic infrastructure.
Community Impacts & Workforce Development: Community impact: The HOPE Academy renovation showed volunteer contractors upgrading a school and supporting STEM education. The “A Day in the Life” episode showed the technical discipline and career prep involved in training the next generation of union electricians.
These stories paid off with big views and subscriber growth, helping us understand what content would perform well when targeting more specific audiences.
- YouTube views: 1.4 million
- YouTube subscribers: 58,000, with 45% YOY growth
THE OUTCOME
A double-success. THG helped Powering Chicago turn the hit Power of Better YouTube series into successful LinkedIn content that reached millions of industry decision-makers by answering questions and showing real work by real tradespeople. We established Powering Chicago as an industry educator, helped them connect with their most important audience—decision-makers in charge of hiring contractors—and made Powering Chicago stand out in a crowded electrical contractor market.
For labor-management organizations, construction contractors and trade associations, this is what The Harbinger Group can do: create standout content that goes beyond visibility by reaching the right audiences and giving them a reason to trust and choose your business, again and again.