Tune into this unique webcast to uncover:
- Why you should have a LinkedIn content marketing strategy
- How we built a successful LinkedIn Showcase Page, featuring the 3 major themes we identified
- A complete timeline of how the page found an audience (and vice versa), from inception right up to now
- LinkedIn Company & Showcase Page tips, including targeting best practices
3. 1 2 3 4 5
Why
content
marketing
on LinkedIn
Why a LinkedIn
Company Page
or Showcase
Page
Our path to
100k: 3 major
themes with
examples
Targeting
best
practices
Q&
A
WHAT WE’LL COVER
#SophisticatedMktg
6. PEOPLE SPEND TIME ON OTHER SOCIAL
NETWORKS,
BUT THEY INVEST TIME ON LINKEDIN.
#SophisticatedMktg
7. #LinkedInMktg
79% Of B2B marketers believe social media is an
effective marketing channel
80% Of B2B leads come from LinkedIn
43% According to HubSpot, 43%of marketers say that
they have sourced a customer from LinkedIn
#SophisticatedMktg
8. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF MEDIA
YOU CAN ENGAGE WITH THE WORLD’S PROFESSIONALS IN ONE
PLACE
#SophisticatedMktg
11. 9 billion content impressions / week
15X content vs job postings in the
feed
57% mobile
PROFESSIONALS
ENGAGE WITH
PURPOSE –
AND WITH
CONTENT
#SophisticatedMktg
12. ESTABLISH YOUR COMPANY’S IDENTITY
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE WORLD’S PROFESSIONALS
IDENTITY
Your company’s profile to the world’s
professionals
NETWORK
Connect professionals and your
employees to drive economic
opportunity
KNOWLEDGE
Share content & opportunities to make
professionals more productive &
successful
13. LINKEDIN SHOWCASE PAGES
HIGHLIGHT YOUR INDIVIDUAL
BRANDS WITH SHOWCASE
PAGES
• Allow LinkedIn members to follow the
aspects of your business they’re interested
in
• Create a dedicated page for aspects of
your business with their own messages
and audience to share with
• Share focused content to build a
relationship with a specific audience
14. LINKEDIN COMPANY
& SHOWCASE PAGES
Lead Generation
Thought Leadership
Brand Awareness
MEETING YOUR
OBJECTIVES
KEY METRICS
Page Followers1
Post Clicks2
Engagement & Comments3
Event Registrants4
Event Registration
#SophisticatedMktg
15. LINKEDIN COMPANY
& SHOWCASE PAGES
ACTION ITEMS
Post 3-4 times a day1
Engage with & respond to followers’ comments2
Change cover image every 6 months3
45% Company Updates containing links can have up
to a 45% higher follower engagement
#SophisticatedMktg
16. Born
January 2014
10,000
May 2014
24,675
December 2014
Publish only rich media posts
(Visual is the new headline!)
Test posting at different times of day
and watch engagement
40,000
July 2014
Experiment with
themes (e.g.,
‘Monday Motivation’)
and posts without
links
50,000
September 2014
Change social headers
every 6 months
Sponsor top-performing
organic content
30,000
April 2015
100K
CELEBRATING
FOLLOWERS
#SophisticatedMktg
17. 60,068
December 2015
Launch more Sponsored
Content Campaigns (mix of lead
generation, brand awareness
and thought leadership plays)
60,000
November 2015
Incorporate more quotes
and stats into our imagery
May 2016
Ensure image always
matches messaging
Test length of updates (found 150
characters or fewer perform best)
80,000
March 2016
70,000
January 2016
Incorporate more A/B testing using
Direct Sponsored Content
Post 3-4 times a day
90,000
April 2016
100K
CELEBRATING
FOLLOWERS
100,000
#SophisticatedMktg
18. COUNTING
TO 100K
3 KEY CONTENT MARKETING TACTICS
TO ENGAGE YOUR TARGET
Test everything.
Visual is the new headline.
Organic is good. Paid is better.
#SophisticatedMktg
24. LINKEDIN DIRECT SPONSORED
CONTENT
With Direct Sponsored Content, reach your target audience directly in the feed
without publishing on your Company Page.
Personalize
Test
Control
#SophisticatedMktg
25. LINKEDIN SPONSORED CONTENT
Deliver the right
content to the
right people and
boost quality
leads on
LinkedIn:
http://bit.ly/1TEY
7Fl
Advertising today
is a whole new
playing field. Get
ahead in the game
with The Little Big
Book of LinkedIn
Advertising:
http://bit.ly/1hlyOlx
Tune in as industry
leaders discuss
practical insignts
on how academic
institutions can
best leverage
LinkedIn:
http://bit.ly/1BifEqw
Are you ready to
provide the first
(and best) solution
to suit your
prospects’ needs?
http://bit.ly/1BifEqw
WHAT TO
SHARE
#SophisticatedMktg
27. LINKEDIN SPONSORED
CONTENT & DIRECT
SPONSORED CONTENT
Lead Generation
Thought Leadership
Brand Awareness
MEETING YOUR
OBJECTIVES
KEY METRICS
Engagement rate1
Impressions2
Company or Showcase
page followers
3
Inquiries/ qualified marketing
leads generated
4
28. LINKEDIN SPONSORED
CONTENT & DIRECT
SPONSORED CONTENT
ACTION ITEMS
Select a compelling visual1
Run Sponsored Content 2-4 times a week2
Run for 3 weeks, then test & iterate3
Add URL tracking codes to measure
post-click actions (site visits & conversions)
4
Set up campaigns by audience5
Shift budget to the audience with the
highest engagement rate
6
29. LINKEDIN
SPONSORED
CONTENT
Visual is the new headline1
Keep it short & sweet2
Snack-able stats work wonders3
Variety is the spice of life4
BEST
PRACTICES
#SophisticatedMktg
30. Rich demographic data
Job Function, Seniority,
Company Name, Geo, Industry
Interest-based targeting
Group Membership, Skills,
Companies Followed
Persona targeting
Job Searchers, Opinion Leaders, Mass
Affluent, Business Travelers
Your own audience data
Target Account Lists
Market to Who Matters:
GET TO THE RIGHT PROFESSIONAL AUDIENCES
#SophisticatedMktg
31. How we deliver relevancy to our target audience
Total addressable audience
Any member in the marketing, media
or communication job function ● Geo targeting
● Title targeting
● Company size targeting
● Account Based Targeting
● Skills targeting
● Company targeting
● Industry targeting
Segmentation within our addressable audience
32. Content and targeting strategies must be aligned
Seniority = entry, manager,
senior
Seniority = director, VP, CXO,
Owner, Partner
34. Using title and skills targeting to differentiate
between brand and demand generation marketer
Job title = Demand Generation
Manager, Digital Marketing,
Acquisition Marketing, SEO Marketing,
Search Engine Marketing, Marketing
Automation Manager, etc
Job title = Brand Manager, Brand
Marketing Manager, Global Marketing
Manager, Director Brand Marketing,
etc
36. GETTING
STARTED
KEY
TAKEAWAYS
Set up a LinkedInCompany/Showcase Page1
Utilize rich media and A/B test everything2
Implement a good mix of organic and paid3
Try audience expansion4
#SophisticatedMktg
38. MARKET TO WHO
MATTERS
For the first time in the history of media, you can reach the world’s professionals-all
in one place. More than 433M people worldwide gather on LinkedIn to stay connected
and informed, advance their careers, and work smarter. Together they comprise the
largest global community of business professionals. These are the decision-makers,
influencers, and the leaders of today and tomorrow-precisely the people you want to
target.
For more information, visit marketing.linkedin.com.
Notes de l'éditeur
Why are the world’s professionals now gathering in this one place, on LinkedIn? Because the people you’re looking to market to are just like you and me. We’re all searching for the right destinations to find the best information, and there are actually fewer places where we’re gathering in large numbers. Think Amazon for buying stuff, Google (and Baidu) for finding information across the web, FB (and QQ) for connecting with friends/family, YouTube for watching videos
Why are the world’s professionals now gathering in this one place, on LinkedIn? Because the people you’re looking to market to are just like you and me. We’re all searching for the right destinations to find the best information, and there are actually fewer places where we’re gathering in large numbers. Think Amazon for buying stuff, Google (and Baidu) for finding information across the web, FB (and QQ) for connecting with friends/family, YouTube for watching videos
This is what it would look like without.
Size and text-safe size.
Places you can find free image tools.
Stock photography is a dirty word around here.
This is what it would look like without.
Size and text-safe size.
Places you can find free image tools.
Stock photography is a dirty word around here.
Find older example of promoted post. (Increased impressions gained from sponsoring.)
Talk about reach.
-Test things organically before you’re ready to spend
Another advanatge of paying to play is the Follow button appears at the top right, making it easier to expand your reach. Optional if people don’t want to pay for it.
587% increase in impressions delivered
Taking from that list, here is sort of a elementary way of how we think about targeting. Our total addressable for the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions brand on LinkedIn is basically any member who is in a marketing or media/communication job function. However, we layer on different targeting features to basically slice out parts of that audience that are most relevant to us for that specific campaign. To the right is a list of various targeting parameters we use based on what the goal and content of our campaign is. These targeting features allow us to identifying relevant audiences that will find value in our content and engage with our sponsored content and if we’re doing our jobs right, make them want to engage further with us by becoming a showcase page follower. Also, keep in mind the more engagement you get with it a post, the more opportunity you have to deliver impressions and gain organic reach. So it’s important to make sure you are driving relevancy with your audience.
One thing I want to advise on that might feel like a bit contradictory is to avoid the temptation to hyper target audiences. With all the targeting options available it can be easy to narrow in on a very niche audience. It a fine art to balance scale and relevancy. Always start with broad targeting and then monitor and itierate your targeting based on the audiences engaging most with the content, which you can view in campaign manager. Then once you’ve identified audiences that you are seeing engagement with, try the audience expansion tool which will allow you to find similar audiences.
Marketing Skills, Exec Playbook
We have talked a little when we talk about delivering relevancy to your audience. When you’re thinking about your targeting strategy on LinkedIn, you have to think about why people are on LinkedIn in the first place. They come to consume content for their professional development. A good content marketing strategy is one that aims to be useful to your audience. Serve that purpose for them.
When you think about the audience you are trying to engage with on LinkedIn and you have defined who you are going to target, make sure you are serving that audience with content that is also serving their professional goals or wants/needs. Don’t be self-serving. If you’re are asking them to do something for you (i.e. fill out a form) give them content that will be mutually beneficial.
So here are two examples that do extremely well for us on Sponsored Content. The example to the left of your screen is an eBook we did in partnership with Hubspot called the Marketing Skills handbook.
The same goes for the eBook to the right. On the right is a guide geared more towards our executive audience. How to have social presence and leadership. Both are top Sponsored Updates performers, do very well. They see these in the feed and they want to consume this, to help them do better in their roles.
The executive playbook on the right is one of our top revenue driving pieces of content. It is one thing to run a campaign targeting executive decision makers, but they are downloading this content and consuming it. We are not just asking them to fill out a form so that our sales team has a lead they can follow up on, we are sharing with them our expertise on having a professional social presence for executives. So my point here, is content and targeting must be aligned. Make sure your content serves your audience well.
We use industry targeting a lot. So as we continue to optimize our targeting strategy we have tried to take a more targeted, personalized approach in our messaging. Many of us have heard about how the future of marketing is about shifitng from 1:many conversations to 1:1 conversations. We’re trying to adopt that approach in the way we communicate in our advertising and content.
We target case studies to industries that company is in. Or we have eBooks that directly address pain points in a specific industry. However, even if you don’t have a huge content engine pumping out industry specific content, you can use sponsored posts to directly speak to those industries or any other audience you want to speak to for that matter.
This campaign was for the launch of our big 2016 research. While the research itself is relevant to a wide group of marketers, we want to make sure we were addressing specific audiences within our marketer audience that this research would be especially relevant to. So you see we have one creative that is generic and the targeting is pretty broad. Then we have two creatives targeted on industry (tech industries and finance related industries) that speak directly to those marketers.
As you can imagine performance was much higher in the personalized creatives. The tech creative had a 185% higher engagement rate. However, I think the purpose here is bigger than that. The stats are nice to look at, but you could argue that these marketers would have clicked on the generic version regardless. But its the ability to use targeting to have 1:1 conversations in the LinkedIn feed with targeted professional in your audience. This is so extremely valuable in today’s world of advertising and social media. And it has really helped us build a relationship with our audience and climb to that 100k followers.
+184%
Next is an example of how we’ve used title and skills targeting. I touched on this in the first slide
Recognizing that there are many different roles and responsibilities within the marketing job function and with that, every marketer has different goals and pain points they are trying to solve for. Our content team has identified subsets of our target audience and we use LinkedIn targeting to reach those specific groups within our audience.
The example to the left is a guide our team wrote on how to use LinkedIn for Demand Gen goals and same approach to the right for for marketer’s with brand goals. We’ve identified what we think are top job titles and skills for demand gen and brand marketing. On the slide here are some examples of some of the titles we used to reach these audiences with this highly specialized content.
Just to recap some targeting best practices as your grow your sponsored content:
Don’t hyper target, balance between scale and relevancy
Iterate