Hilal Koc
Partner & Agency Lead, EMEA
LinkedIn
Jon Lombardo
Content Marketing Lead, EMEA
LinkedIn

Keys to Great Thought-Leading ContentSOME HOUSEKEEPING BEFORE WE START
1.Questions? Send them via Webex Q&A Feature.
2.Recorded? Of course and will be emailed to you.
3.Feedback? Survey will be available at the end of the
Webinar.

AGENDA
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Keys to Great Thought-Leading ContentWHAT WE’LL COVER TODAY
1. Why Sponsored Updates?
2. The Changing Buyer’s Journey
3. Creating Compelling Sponsored Updates
4. Top Performing Sponsored Updates
5. Campaign Optimization Tips
6. Q&A

WHY
SPONSORED UPDATES?

NATIVE ADVERTISING IN THE WORLD’S ONLY
PROFESSIONAL NEWSFEED

THREE FEATURES THAT SET SPONSORED UPDATES
APART
ACCURATE PROFILE-BASED TARGETING
PROFESSIONAL MINDSET CREATES A FAVORABLE
CONTENT MARKETING ENVIRONMENT FOR BRANDS
PREMIUM AUDIENCE

THREE REASONS TO INCLUDE SPONSORED
UPDATES IN YOUR MEDIA MIX
OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE, TABLET & DESKTOP
USEFUL FOR BRAND BUILDING, CONTENT ENGAGEMENT
& LEAD GENERATION
PERFORM 3X-5X BETTER THAN TYPICAL DISPLAY ADS

THE CHANGING
BUYER’S JOURNEY
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Content Matters:
10
74%
90%
Number of pieces of content buyers engage with
to research their purchase.
-Source: Google, Zero Moment of Truth Study
Of B2B buyers choose a vendor that’s first to help
them with useful content.
-Source: Inside Sales
Amount of purchase process that buyers complete
before making contact with vendor.
-Source: Forrester
PEOPLE BUY YOUR PERSPECTIVE FIRST AND
YOUR PRODUCTS SECOND

Keys to Great Thought-Leading ContentYOU NOW SHARE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
THROUGH THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
PRO TIP: FOR THE 8 CRITERIA OF THOUGHT LEADERSHIP,
CONSULT THE BLOOM GROUP’S BLOG POSTS.

CREATE CONTENT FOR A MINDSET THAT
‘INVESTS TIME’

On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional Mindset
-Source: The Mindset Divide: Revealing the Emotional Differences
Between Personal and Professional Networks
AND EXPECTS TO HEAR FROM BRANDS THAT
OFFER THOUGHT LEADING ANALYSIS

CREATING COMPELLING
SPONSORED UPDATES
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4

On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional MindsetGREAT CONTENT ‘FRAMES ALL THE THINGS’
PRO TIP: REVIEW UPWORTHY’S SLIDESHARE PRESENTATION ON
‘THE SWEET SCIENCE OF VIRALITY’ FOR MORE TIPS

On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional MindsetGREAT CONTENT FRAMES IMAGE, HEADLINE,
AND URGENCY

Target Your Content to the Right CustomersFOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE

Think Like a JournalistWRITE LIKE A JOURNALIST

PRO TIP: IMAGE POSTS *GET UP TO 2X
PERFORMANCE
INVEST IN STRONG VISUALS

Make Your Pages Mobile ReadyDESIGN FOR MOBILE
PRO TIP: 75% of Sponsored Updates
engagement comes from mobile

Build a Sturdy Campaign FoundationDEVELOP AN ‘ALWAYS-RELEVANT’ APPROACH

TOP PERFORMING
SPONSORED UPDATES

TOP UPDATES
WHAT MAKES IT ENGAGING?
1. It keeps content social by using
human stories and peer learning
2. The intro copy is concise and clear
and adds to the image and title
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3

TOP UPDATES
1. Stands out from the rest of the
news feed by using a casual tone
and incorporating a meme
2. Uses a short-form article format
for easy engagement
3. Uses the intro copy to deliver an
upbeat message as a hook
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4

TOP UPDATES
1. Provides a lot of upfront value with
the use of statistics in the intro copy
2. Infographic for visual engagement
3. These tactics are effective ways to
tease out longer content like survey
results or a research report
2
5

TOP UPDATES
1. The post optimizes for mobile by
eliminating the intro copy
2. Taps into a very broad desire to be
more successful
3. The message is appropriate to the
platform context
2
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TOP UPDATES
1. Niche content works with an
effective targeting strategy
2. The image adds context and drives
engagement to the post
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CAMPAIGN
OPTIMIZATION TIPS

You have 4 levers to optimize your campaigns
1. CONTENT
2. BID
3. AUDIENCE
4. TARGETING

RELEVANCE MATTERS
Test your content to boost your CTR and lower your CPC
1. CONTENT

BID ONLY AS MUCH AS YOUR WILLINGNESS TO PAY2. BID
PRICING MODEL OPTIONS:
• CPM (cost per thousand impressions)
• CPC (cost per click)
IN BOTH CASES, YOU ONLY PAY ENOUGH TO BEAT THE NEXT
HIGHEST BIDDER IN THE 2ND PRICE AUCTION
$

.
SHIFT YOUR BUDGET BASED ON PERFORMANCE3. AUDIENCE

START BROAD, CHISEL DOWN4. TARGETING
CHISEL, DON’T PIECE-TOGETHER
• Run-of-professionals (ROP) doesn’t mean “no targeting” it
means “all targeting”
• Pay for your target audience at ROP rate!
LET THE ROBOTS WORK THEIR MAGIC
• Marketers are great at understanding “who” their
audience is
• Optimization algorithms are great at “knowing” who
clicks and optimize accordingly

FOR MORE
INFORMATION
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REMEMBER THAT WE HAVE AN ENTIRE EBOOK
DEDICATED TO THESE TOPICS

MARKETING.LINKEDIN.COM

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Q&A

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THANK
YOU