Best practices for earning engagement on LinkedIn with Sponsored Content, using real-life examples of top performing posts.

1. Creating sponsored content posts
that earn engagement
Tips from LinkedIn’s top performing posts in NAMER
January-March 2016

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“What are the best practices for
promoting content on LinkedIn?”
A search for “LinkedIn content best practices” returns over 40 million results on Google.
Promoting content on a social platform does not have to be that complicated. These 5
examples of top-performing sponsored content posts provide tips you can use to earn
engagement in the news feed of a busy, and aspirational, audience.

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Methodology
These following sponsored content posts:
• Targeted an audience in the NAMER region
• Served at least 25,000 impressions
• Achieved a top engagement rate (NOTE: engagement rate includes clicks +
social actions)
The top posts are broken out across the following categories:
• Overall
• Education
• Technology
• Financial Services

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Key takeaways – A cheat sheet
1. Give people access to exclusive,
unique knowledge. Leverage your data
and insights to find a compelling
message to share that they won’t be
able to find elsewhere.
2. A great, contextual image works just as
well on LinkedIn as it does on other
social channels. It’s especially effective
as an aid to simplify complex stories.
3. Explain to your audience “what” they
are going to learn from your content
and/or “why” your insight is important.
4. Keep your copy concise and headlines
clear. Tailoring the copy to your specific
audience and industry is also critical.
5. Provide contextually relevant advice
and expertise. Combining useful tips
with accurate audience targeting
sounds simple but is often a missed
element of a LinkedIn campaign.

5. Tip #1: share exclusive research that adds value
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Break through the clutter by sharing insightful data that only your brand has.
QSROnline.com reveals the results to a proprietary survey they conducted on the
Most Requested Restaurants by State, while NetBase published their findings on
the best luxury brand utilizing social.

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Tip #2: show, don’t tell
Whether you’re explaining how your technology works, or trying to communicate
a key insight, images are a great way of breaking down a complex story into an
easier to digest format.

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Tip #3: what and why posts
Explain to your audience “what” they will learn from your content or “why” your
insight is important. In a recent post, Tradeshift teased what the future of
procurement will be.

8. Tip #4: keep it concise
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Make sure to utilize copy that is simple and to the point in combination with clear,
easy to understand headlines. Kinnser Software had great success by just
making their offer clear and focused.

9. Tip #5: help your audience be successful
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It’s no surprise, but anything that helps professionals achieve their goals is bound
to be well-received on LinkedIn, especially when those goals are financial. This
content can also be targeted to the key business demographics using LinkedIn’s
first-party data, ensuring the highest level of relevancy.

10. Education

11. Tip #1: leverage your thought leaders
Tapping into key influencers within your school’s network to can drive huge
engagement – Duke’s Dean of Fuqua School of Business, Bill Boulding,
published a post about what he learned from Tim Cook while he was a student in
the program.
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12. Tip #2: inspire through relatable testimonials
Sharing a student success story is a great way to demonstrate the value of your
program and spark audience engagement – the Univeristy of Waterloo featured a
former student whose degree helped her land a job at Salesforce.
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Tip #3: share compelling 3rd party rankings
Utilize rankings published by well-respected publications to build a more
prestigious brand and engage audiences. Pepperdine University highlights their
Executive MBA ranking via Bloomberg Businesweek to generate interest in
learning more about their program.

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Technology

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When it comes to catching a members’ attention in the LinkedIn feed,
a great, contextual image works just as well as it does on Instagram,
Pinterest, Twitter, etc. Onshape utilizes eye-catching graphics to depict their
computer-aided design capabilities.
Tip #1: show, don’t tell

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Tip #2: create intrigue
Teasing up compelling stats or insider knowledge are effective ways to generate
user interest. Both CareCloud and Zenput effectively pique a user’s curiosity

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Tip #3: pose a question
Asking questions can be an effective means to gain valuable customer insights
and feedback, as well as inspire a thought within your audience. Accent
Technologies and Microsoft use this tactic to get their audience to think twice
about their IT approaches.

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Financial Services

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Tip #1: keep members ahead of the curve
Staying on top of emerging trends is critical to the FinServ audience. Both Wells
Fargo and KPMG provide their audiences with continual updates focused on
timely and insightful trend analysis.

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Keeping the message simple enables the audience to easily understand what
value they’ll get out of your content. Utilizing formats such as lists and helpful tips
provide “snackable content” that can drive great engagement.
Tip #2: keep it simple

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Infographics are still an effective vehicle for delivering a complex message in an
easy to digest, engaging manner. Vanguard commonly uses these to breakdown
financial trends and insights.
Tip #3: the infographic is not dead

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