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PART 1:

Why does my business


need Linkedin? The Sophisticated
From brand building, to lead generation, to content
marketing and advertising, Linkedin can help you
build your business.
Marketer’s Guide to awarene
ss
LinkedIn is so much more than a place transforming into the enlightening
consider
to find a job or an online resume.
It’s quickly becoming the go-to
era. No longer can marketers just
do social, they need results and
ation
content publishing platform for the actionable insights in order to prove
professional mindset. the value of their efforts. And no
As more professionals are spending longer are we forced to take a spray
more and more time looking for new and pray method to get our message action
content and keeping in touch with heard in the noisy world of social.
their networks, it brings with it an The technology is in place that allows
opportunity for marketers. us to take a much more refined

8:00 a.m.
approach, a sophisticated approach
The idea of being a sophisticated if you will, to social media marketing
marketer comes from the current on the world’s largest professional
state of the golden age of social network.
media marketing and how it is Most LinkedIn members look for inspiration
early in the day with peak consumption
at 8:00 a.m.
Marketing and Advertising

Information Technology and Services

Financial Services

PART 1: Why does my business need LinkedIn? 1


Table of Contents
A NOTE TO THE WHY SHOULD PART 1: WHY DOES PART 2: LAYING
SOPHISTICATED I BE READING MY BUSINESS NEED THE FOUNDATION:
MARKETER
THIS GUIDE? LINKEDIN? TAP INTO POWERFUL
MARKETING
LinkedIn is so much more than a place transforming into the enlightening SOLUTIONS
to find a job or an online resume. era. No longer can marketers just
3 go-to
It’s quickly becoming the do social, they need 4 results and 5– 6 7– 11
content publishing platform for the actionable insights in order to prove
PART 3: OPTIMIZING PART 4: EXPAND PART 5: EASILY
professional mindset. the value of their efforts. And no
YOUR PROFILE YOUR NETWORK KEEP YOUR FINGER
As more professionals are spending longer
are we forced to take a spray OF INFLUENCERS ON THE PULSE
more and more time looking for new and
pray method to get our message
content and keeping in touch with heard
in the noisy world of social.
their networks, it brings with it an The technology is in place that allows
opportunity for marketers. 12–14
us to take a much more refined 15–18 19– 21
approach, a sophisticated approach
PART 6: PUBLISH PART 7: EXPAND PART 8: UNLOCK 25 SOCIAL MEDIA
The idea of being a sophisticated if you will, to social media marketing
WITH A PURPOSE: YOUR TARGETED THE POWER OF EXPERTS YOU NEED
marketer comes from the current
CONTENT on the world’s largest professional
REACH: LINKEDIN’S PARTNER TO KNOW
state of the golden age of social
MARKETING network. ADVERTISING PROGRAMS
media marketing and how it is
ON LINKEDIN ON LINKEDIN

22 –42 43–49 50– 53 54-55

2
A Note to the
Sophisticated Marketer
This type of marketer is grounded in
timeless, Mad Men-era tactics and
combines them with new, modern
technology. What worked during the
golden age of marketing still works
today, but marketers need to adapt.
Social media is their playground,
content is their fuel, and platforms like
LinkedIn are the new black.

This guide was written with you in


mind, the sophisticated marketer.
2012 was the year of social. 2013 Everything you need to know about
was the year of content. And 2014 is marketing on LinkedIn, written both
the year where they come together. strategically, and instructionally.
Social media no longer lives in a It’s your one-stop shop to the vast
silo but instead is a vital component opportunities that await—increase
for the success of many marketing awareness, influence perception,
campaigns. With content fueling your generate leads, and ultimately drive
social marketing, we have arrived at revenue with LinkedIn.
the age of truly integrated marketing
strategy, and it’s being led by a new Let’s get started, shall we?
breed of sophisticated marketers.
Jason Miller
The sophisticated marketer is
someone who takes marketing Senior Content Marketing Manager,
techniques, both old and new, and LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
executes them in an overall integrated
marketing strategy.

3
Why should I be
Reading this Guide?
The goal of this guide is to provide the absolute best, most
up-to-date, definitive guide for marketers to successfully use
LinkedIn as part of their integrated approach to marketing.

This guide is a labor of love for us a nice-to-have. It’s a necessary


here at LinkedIn. We created it to part of a successful integrated
be a one-stop shop for everything marketing approach for
a marketer needs to know about driving awareness, leads,
getting the most value out of LinkedIn and ultimately revenue.
for themselves and their company. It’s
not just an instruction manual, but a We call this the guide for
strategic guide with lots of input from sophisticated marketers because we
top thought leaders and LinkedIn feel it’s time to take social media
marketing experts combined with the marketing to the next level, moving
expertise of the LinkedIn Marketing beyond theory to enlightened
Solutions team. practice. It’s time to get real results
with your social marketing, and this is
And it’s all about how to truly tap the guide that will help you.
into the potential and power of social
media marketing. That’s because
social media marketing is no longer

4
PART 1:

Why does my business Work is no longer a 9–5 activity


LinkedIn members are on our platform at all hours

need LinkedIn? and days throughout the week. But depending on


where they are and what they’re doing, they may be
accessing the platform from their desktops, tablets,
These days in the business world, relationships matter more than or mobile devices. In fact, we see desktop usage
ever. That’s because people tune out irrelevant or promotional spike during the day, tablet usage spike in the
messages. But they do want to engage with companies that focus morning and evening, and mobile devices being
on sharing useful and relevant information and content. And the used at all hours.
companies that inform and engage aren’t just selling—they’re
building relationships.
LinkedIn members comprise the world’s largest professional community—
and they work in every size company. Consider that:

There were 184 million unique visitors worldwide to LinkedIn in Q3 of 2013 The world’s largest professional network
1 of every 3 professionals on the planet is on LinkedIn

Content now garners 6x more engagement than jobs properties on LinkedIn

Plus, all these professionals are highly Our members’ investment is born out 259,000,000+
receptive to relationship building. of their professional mindset. The
238
They demonstrate this in what they professional mindset is aspirational. 225
do while on the network. Time on In other words, members are thinking 200
187
LinkedIn isn’t simply spent. Time on about how to achieve their ambitions 175
150 161
LinkedIn is invested in professional and further their careers. As a result,
131
development. And it’s reflected in the our members are highly receptive to 115
growing number of visits to and time advertising, content, and experiences
spent on LinkedIn. that can help make them more
knowledgeable and, ultimately,
more successful.
Q3’11 Q4’11 Q1’12 Q2’12 Q3’12 Q4’12 Q1’13 Q2’13 Q3’13 Q4’13

Source: L inkedIn Press Release


PART 1: Why does my business need LinkedIn? 5
PART 1:
LinkedIn is a platform enabling sophisticated marketers to forge LinkedIn By the Numbers:
relationships with these professionals. It’s no wonder LinkedIn
LINKEDIN IS THE #1 CHANNEL TO LINKEDIN DRIVES MORE TRAFFIC
has quickly become the go-to content publishing platform for DISTRIBUTE CONTENT TO B2B BLOGS & SITES
marketers. In fact, a survey of LinkedIn members found that LinkedIn % of B2B marketers who use various 90% of the social traffic was driven by
is considered the most effective social network for delivering B2B social media sites to distribute content the big three networks, with half of it
coming from LinkedIn
content1. And research conducted by Investis IQ2 found that 91%
LinkedIn is the number-one social network for driving traffic to

others
85%
corporate websites. 81%

73%
As a growing number of professionals professional decision-making. All
55%
spend more time reading news it takes is a sophisticated marketer
and keeping in touch with their who seizes the opportunity to
network through LinkedIn, you have engage them. LINKEDIN CONSIDERED MOST EFFECTIVE FOR B2B LEAD GEN
an unprecedented opportunity to Among top performing organizations, % of B2B Marketers who rated the Social
build and cultivate relationships with What do we mean by a sophisticated Media Site on effectiveness in generating leads
professionals the world over. And marketer? The idea of being a
these relationships can translate sophisticated marketer comes from 93%
into revenues. Since 2010, the the transition of social media 84%
number of B2B and B2C marketers marketing from pure theory to
generating sales via LinkedIn has effective use. But marketers can’t 71%
grown consistently. U.S.-based just “do” social. Now they need 56%
agencies rate LinkedIn as the most to produce results and actionable
important social media platform for insights in order to prove the value of LINKEDIN CONTINUES TO B2C MARKETERS ARE RAPIDLY
new business. their efforts. Fortunately we no longer CONSISTENTLY GENERATE SALES DISCOVERING LINKEDIN
are forced to take a spray-and-pray FOR B2B MARKETERS Percentage of companies who
In fact, 50% of our members report approach to getting our message Percentage of companies who acquired acquired a B2C customer through
they are more likely to buy from heard in the noisy world of social. a B2B customer through that channel that channel
a company they engage with on The technology is in place that allows
LinkedIn. And a whopping 80 percent us to adopt a much more refined— 1.5x 2.0x
65%
of LinkedIn members want to connect sophisticated—approach, if you will, 61% 51%
with companies—because those to social media marketing, using the 45% 39%
connections provide them world’s largest professional network. 26%
opportunities to enhance their
2010 2011 2013 2010 2011 2013

1
Source: B2B Content Marketing report, Holger Schulze, 2013 Sources: 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends/ North America, Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs.
2
Source: Dazeinfo Webbiquity, Aug 27,2013. “Content Marketing gets Social”, Unisphere research, 2013.
6
HubSpot, State of inbound Marketing 2010,2011,2012.
PART 2:

Laying the Foundation:


Tap into Powerful
Marketing Solutions
LinkedIn offers a tremendous opportunity for marketers like you,
whether you are focused on building your brand or generating leads.
Our solutions allow you to target your messages and interactions to
the right audience, publish content that connects with that audience,
In fact...
Accurate targeting, based on authentic data, is the
and extend engagement both on and off the network.
foundation of the LinkedIn platform. LinkedIn’s targeting
is highly accurate because it draws from actual
profile data provided by and continually updated by
our members. You can also target the 1st degree
connections of specific members. And you can use
their behavior on LinkedIn—like what Groups they
join, and how much they share and comment—
TARGET PUBLISH EXTEND
Target with accuracy to Publish relevant content in Extend through social sharing to inform targeting. Marketers can use our targeting
reach a high quality audience a professional context and drive quality traffic data to tailor their messages and content.
and data to your sites

PART 2: Laying the Foundation: Tap into Powerful Marketing Solutions 7


PART 2:
As the world’s largest professional network, LinkedIn is a powerful
publishing platform. We help marketers directly engage LinkedIn “As far as I’m concerned, other social networks can have the cats
members with content and experiences that are professionally
relevant. Think of it as “publishing with a purpose.”
Quote
and the memes and the OMGs. LinkedIn is about content and
connection. As a professional marketer, that’s what I care about
most, and LinkedIn delivers every day. If you’re not keeping
up with the industry using LinkedIn Pulse, you’re missing the
By using LinkedIn to build You can also use LinkedIn’s API to
relationships with the world’s create custom branded experiences
heartbeat of what’s going on in digital.”
professionals, you can achieve a that allow members to engage using
full range of marketing objectives: their LinkedIn login. This simplifies Jay Baer, Social Media & Content Marketing Strategist,
the need for them to enter additional New York Times Best Selling Author, Keynote Speaker,
• GENERATING AWARENESS data. Even more importantly, by using Social Pros Podcast
• INCREASING CONSIDERATION the API to access LinkedIn’s rich data,
AND PREFERENCE you can tailor the user experience
• DRIVING TRAFFIC AND LEADS based on profile data and encourage
virality by triggering your app to
• BUILDING COMMUNITY publish updates about a user’s activity
• CREATING ADVOCACY on site.

That’s because your campaigns will Plus, you can extend the quality
resonate more if they’re targeted traffic of LinkedIn professionals to
to professionals with our targeted your own branded sites. Embedding
advertising products. Your content calls-to-action in your creative
will have greater impact and sharing on LinkedIn ensures the flow of
when it’s published in a professional influential, affluent and educated
context. And your effort will extend professionals to your own
through the social sharing that online properties.
happens naturally on LinkedIn.

PART 2: Laying the Foundation: Tap into Powerful Marketing Solutions 8


PART 2:
Perform branding and lead generation in tandem for
ultimate effectiveness.
Some marketers approach branding and credible authority on a chosen .
and lead generation as standalone category, topic or issue. With that
activities. But when it comes to foundation in place, prospects are “LinkedIn is the only platform that the majority of B2B
striking the right marketing mix, more open to responding to your ads, marketers consider to be effective.”
it’s critical to balance branding with content and offers when you
lead generation. That’s because are trying to generate leads. Content Marketing Institute 2014 Content Marketing
strong branding paves the way for Research Report
successful lead generation. After all, In fact, the most successful marketers
brand awareness is all about making take steps to ensure their branding
prospective customers familiar with and lead generation strategies
and knowledgeable of your brand. are working in lockstep. LinkedIn
The goal is that they associate your Marketing Solutions can help you
brand with certain characteristics address both branding and lead
and qualities and recognize—and generation in an integrated,
trust—your brand. Ideally, you want effective way.
your brand to be seen as a trusted

SolutionsSolution
Branding
Branding
Lead Generation
Lead Generation
LinkedIn Display and Text Ads
Sponsored InMail
Company Page
Showcase Pages
Follow Company Ads
Company Updates
Sponsored Updates
SlideShare
Content Ads
Custom API Solutions
LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Partners

PART 2: Laying the Foundation: Tap into Powerful Marketing Solutions 9


PART 2:
Now that you understand the power of marketing on LinkedIn, let us highlight five strategic marketing
opportunities. We’ll explore these in greater detail in Part 6 and 7:

1. COMPANY PAGES: 3. SPONSORED UPDATES: 5. INMAIL:


The best relationships are rooted in While organic company updates Through InMail, you can reach anyone
great conversations—and your tool are a terrific way to connect with on LinkedIn without an introduction
for starting those conversations is the your existing company followers, or contact information. You get
Company Update on your Company Sponsored Updates allow you to professional, credible outreach—
Page. It’s no wonder Company Pages extend your reach by delivering with your LinkedIn profile attached.
have evolved from a nice-to-have to updates into the feeds of members
a need-to-have. Through a Company beyond those already following
Page, you can market your business to your company.
the LinkedIn community, telling your
company’s story and giving customers 4. DISPLAY ADVERTISING:
and prospects a place to learn about Sophisticated marketers understand
your business, your employees, and that they must combine push and INTEGRATION OF DISPLAY ADS WITH
your brand. pull marketing to reach their target
SOCIAL MEDIA IS STARTING TO PICK UP
audience. For push marketing on
2. COMPANY UPDATES: LinkedIn, you can display ads on
What resonates most with followers various LinkedIn pages, including
and drives engagement? When you profile pages, home pages, inbox,
28% 44% 28%
communicate with them in a relevant search results pages, and groups
and personal way. And through pages. With LinkedIn Premium Display
Company Updates, sent from your Advertising, you can take advantage Integrating Planning to No
Company Page, you can do that of an uncluttered, premium Now Integrate Integration
by tailoring your company status environment to reach a high-quality
update to your followers’ professional professional audience seeking
interests. Specifically, you can deliver insights and information. Or you can
highly targeted content into the feed drive new customers to your business
of LinkedIn members, increasing their with our easy-to-use, self-serve CPC
engagement with and loyalty to LinkedIn Ads platform that allows you
your brand. to get your message in front of your
audience in just minutes.

Sources: Responses, Cross-Channel Marketing Report, 2012

PART 2: Laying the Foundation: Tap into Powerful Marketing Solutions 10


PART 2:

Ask the Expert:


Brian Clark
LI: What’s your best advice for writing then a call to action that takes the
a compelling company page update? relationship to the next level. For
those who have been doing content
BC: Tell a story. And more marketing from their own sites for
importantly, relate that story back years, LinkedIn becomes an essential
to your ideal prospect’s problems or outpost for that content, mixed with
desires. Even if the story focuses on in-person engagement.
the founding, evolution, or growth
of your company, make sure people LI: Where do you see LinkedIn in
understand that all of those great 5 years?
things happened because of the
value you provide your audience, BC: LinkedIn appears to be all in on
Founder and CEO of customers, and clients. becoming a true media company. I’ve
Copyblogger Media heard some grumblings from early
LI: How can a business best LinkedIn fans that the company and
LI: Do you regulary check your Pulse take advantage of LinkedIn for site are losing the singular focus it
feed? If so, how do you use it? lead generation? started with, but I see it differently.
A business education hub of the sort
BC: I’ve just started following the BC: LinkedIn, unlike Facebook and LinkedIn is building can only increase
Marketing Strategies category on Twitter, is all about business. The the value of the ecosystem.
Pulse, and it’s a treasure-trove of mindset and intent are naturally
content all in one place. This has more receptive to solving business LI: What’s something that’s not in your
become a great resource not only problems than the kind of socializing LinkedIn profile?
for staying up to date on the latest and sharing that happens elsewhere.
ideas from others, but also fuels our BC: I’ve made no mention of the
own content sharing on other That said, you still have to lead with fact that I used to practice law in my
social networks. value to generate qualified leads. LinkedIn profile. Some people may
LinkedIn’s focus on content marketing still hold that against me. ;-)
has primed the audience to expect
information and insight first, and

PART 2: Laying the Foundation: Tap into Powerful Marketing Solutions 11


PART 3:

Optimizing
This infographic highlights all the
opportunities for getting the most
from your profile.

Your Profile
Every day we see millions of professionals find others and get found
through LinkedIn search.
Whether someone is searching for such as SlideShare presentaions, videos,
people, jobs, companies or groups, and infographics to your profile is a
we provide the most relevant results fantastic way to showcase visual assets
based on your professional identity, your to profile visitors.
network, and how the people in your
network engage with LinkedIn. Plus, one How Your Company Can Benefit from
of the first steps many members take an Optimized Profile
when receiving content from a company It goes without saying that your company
or another member is click through to and all of its employees should optimize
the personal profile or Company Page their LinkedIn profiles. After all, an
to learn about the sender. That’s why optimized profile can boost the visibility
it’s critical for you and your company to of your company and its content in the
maintain complete and optimized profiles. search results—both on and off the
network. That’s because search engines
How You Can Benefit from an like Google scour pages and URLs for
Optimized Profile keywords, and LinkedIn profiles offer
As a marketer, you can use LinkedIn many opportunities to embed keywords,
for networking and to further your such as within the LinkedIn URL, other
profession. After all, these days very URLs you list within your profile, job
few people end up working for a single titles and descriptions, and content links
company their entire career. So whether you include. So if your company and its
you’re actively seeking a new position or employees have optimized their profiles,
maximizing the job you are already in, it’s you could very well gain an advantage
wise to make sure your profile is set up when prospective customers are
for maximum exposure and engagement. searching for companies, products and
In addition, adding rich media content services like yours.

PART 3: Optimizing your Profile 12


PART 3:
Here are five things you need to know about LinkedIn Search, as
summarized by Stacy Donovan Zapar, the Most Connected Woman
on LinkedIn:
Reap the Rewards of Networking
1. When people search LinkedIn, 2. Keywords in your name, headline, Did you know… the size of your LinkedIn network and
the results are sorted by relevance, company name, job title and skills participation in LinkedIn Groups can significantly increase
which takes into account rank higher in the search results your visibility on the LinkedIn network?
the following: than keywords in other sections.

•1
 st level connections with 3. Using all fields and options
profiles that are 100% complete available to you—like joining
(or close to it) and have the 50 LinkedIn groups—boosts
most in-common connections/ your ranking.
shared groups, ranked in 4. Use a variety of keywords and
descending order terms in describing what you do
• 1st level connections with the and offer to show up in a variety
fewest in-common connections/ of search results.
shared groups, ranked 5. View LinkedIn search trends to see
in descending order by how many times you’ve shown up
profile completeness in search results and how many
• 2nd level connections ranked people have viewed your profile
in descending order by over the past three months—and
profile completeness then adjust your profile as needed.

• 3rd level connections ranked


in descending order by
profile completeness
• Shared group members
(outside of your network),
ranked in descending order
by profile completeness
• Everyone else (those outside your
network), ranked in descending
order by profile completeness

13
PART 3:

Ask the Expert:


Shane Atchison
LI: What types of clients should be LI: How are your clients’ marketing to date—something they rarely do on
leveraging LinkedIn more than they objectives different on LinkedIn other networks. Authenticity means
currently are? compared to other social networks? that they are who they say they are.
How does that impact your clients’ You can’t put a fake job title up on
SA: I think that clients with investments content strategy? LinkedIn. And the standardization of
in content are missing a massive user generated data makes it easier to
opportunity to leverage their LinkedIn SA: Most social networks only serve analyze and integrate the platform into
presence. They could use LinkedIn opportunities at the top of the funnel your content strategy.
in combination with their owned and provide limited ways to engage.
properties to precisely target, share, You can tailor the LinkedIn platform LI: How are marketers getting it wrong
and then realize return on their content to each client’s marketing objectives with LinkedIn?
investments. But for this, they need a and use it as part of a larger content
CEO of POSSIBLE comprehensive strategy that integrates strategy. The platform makes it easier SA: They think of it simply as a hiring,
the LinkedIn platform, their content, for brands to serve audiences with prospecting, or one-dimensional
LI: What factors are most important and their CRM efforts. content tailored to the individual— advertising platform. It’s actually a
to you when considering advertising both in terms of depth and timing. versatile content platform with precise
channels for your clients? LI: What is the risk of a client not having This makes content smarter and data that can be integrated into a
a company presence on LinkedIn? relevant at scale. As a result, it can variety of programs on and off the
SA: Our top ones include audience drive engagement lifecycles rather site. For example, B2C brands often
concentration and relevance, SA: The biggest risk, especially for B2B, than one-off opportunities. miss the opportunity LinkedIn provides
segmentation and targeting is a loss of discoverability. LinkedIn to enhance or expand distribution
functionality, and the ability to extend is becoming the de facto starting LI: How do you compare the audience networks or channel partner
or amplify channel content across point when searching for partners targeting capability of LinkedIn with communication plans. They also miss
other owned and earned properties. and evaluating solutions. A thoughtful other social networks? the opportunity to build programs
We also leverage our social listening LinkedIn presence is not only a great around LinkedIn that leverage content
and marketing sciences technologies opportunity to increase your visibility SA: There are three major ways LinkedIn to drive engagement lifecycles and
to identify opportunities for the brand as an individual. Corporations can also data is better for targeting: Recency, stimulate organic community building.
within each channel and with use it to turn both their workforce and authenticity, and standardization of The platform’s capabilities in this area
each audience. followers into brand ambassadors. data. Recency means that people tend are unmatched and underutilized.
to keep their LinkedIn in profiles up

PART 3: Optimizing your Profile 14


PART 4:

Expand your Network


of Influencers
In late 2012, we made it possible The Influencer program numbers
for any LinkedIn member to follow more than 300 Influencers (as
an exclusive group of Influencers on of October 2013), and we add
“It thrills me to see LinkedIn gaining ground as an
LinkedIn. From C-level executives inspiring thought leaders to the interesting place to hang out. I’ve long held that LinkedIn
and entrepreneurs to world leaders program frequently. And you can is the dark horse of the social media platforms—or, at
and philanthropists, these Influencers directly engage with any of these least, it’s the workhorse of the bunch.
contribute unique business insights Influencers, either by “Liking” a post
and spark thought-provoking or jumping into a conversation about
discussions on a range of issues. a post. Moreover, through threaded If Twitter is where you go to meet people you don’t
Displayed via Pulse, the Influencers comments, you can reply to a post by know and Facebook is where you go to talk with
program is a source of truly original an Influencer to start conversations people you already know, then LinkedIn is where all of
content. But more importantly, it’s and debates with others who are
meant to inspire, inform and make reading that post. You can mention
you can meet up to get stuff done together.”
you a better marketer. other people to draw them into a
discussion, and get notified when your Ann Handley, Author of Content Rules, Chief Content
comment has received a response. Officer at Marketing Profs

PART 4: Expand your Network of Influencers 15


PART 4:
You can follow an Influencer without being connected to them. Consider these examples:

625,000
In addition to joining in rich what the people in your network are
conversations, you will see which reading and reacting to, helping you
Influencers and topics are driving the unearth new ideas. Want to broaden
most interest—perhaps sparking an your horizons? Take advantage of
idea of your own for a post or content discovery modules within LinkedIn to LinkedIn FOLLOWERS
asset. Plus the ability for LinkedIn help you find more relevant content Bill Gates is an Influencer with over
members to like and share Influencer based on the people you’re following 625,000 followers. One of his posts
content lets you quickly find out and the posts you’re reading. garnered over 1,600,000 views, more
than 10,000 thumbs up, and over
4,000 comments.

11,000
LinkedIn FOLLOWERS
Joe Pulizzi, a speaker, entrepreneur,
author, and founder of Content
Marketing Institute with over 11,000
LinkedIn followers. One of his posts
pulled in nearly 38,000 views and over
140 comments. It’s easy to be part of
such a rich discussion!

The Numbers Speak for Themselves:


The average Influencer post garners nearly

30,000
VIEWS
49% of Influencer 22% are entry-level
followers are director- professionals
level and above

PART 4: Expand your Network of Influencers 16


PART 4:

Ask the Expert:


Viveka Von Rosen
LinkedIn Influencers and Pulse: First Facebook page or Twitter-stream, Group Content
of all, LinkedIn truly understands the I can often find something relevant For (soft) market research, consider
importance of good content. Right on Pulse—quickly and easily. So LinkedIn Groups. Groups are full of
now it’s the only social media site Pulse gets more of my attention like-minded targeted audiences. Ask
to have its own blogging platform than any other RSS feed or news questions. Ask for help. Occasionally
fueled by the world’s thought leaders aggregator I use. share an article you like. I love the
(LinkedIn Influencers.) These people, content and interaction on some of
most of them household names LinkedIn Update Mentions: As long my Groups and I know I can always
(best-selling authors, Fortune 500 as you are connected to a person, go there to get quick answers to my
CEO’s, Heads of State) create content or follow a company, you can share questions and find out the latest and
specifically for LinkedIn. You can their content and mention them in greatest in the sales world. It just
follow not only these Influencers, an update. takes some time to find these good
LinkedIn Expert & Author: but also channels of content (thanks groups. I recommend asking your
LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day, to the Pulse interface that LinkedIn I wish I had the time to check on my network what groups they like and
International Keynote Speaker, purchased last year.) In fact, LinkedIn homepage every hour and read all the why. (For instance, I am a raving fan
Forbes Top 20 Most Influential recently updated the Pulse app to updates from every one of my 29K+ of Jill Konrath’s Group: Fresh Sales
interact more freely through the connections, but I don’t. (OK—and to Strategies because it always offers
LI: What type of content best LinkedIn interface, so that your be honest, I really wouldn’t want to!) fabulous ingestible content).
connects with audiences on LinkedIn? Pulse App on your iPad or iPhone Chances are, you don’t either. So I rely
Is there a specific type of content you will actually monitor what you do on on LinkedIn Status Update mentions LI: How do you make sure personal
prefer to consume on LinkedIn? LinkedIn and make suggestions for and LinkedIn’s new(ish) Notifications time spent on LinkedIn is productive?
you. You can also very easily share this tab to see what people are saying How does this differ from other
VR: That’s kind of an apples or content through Pulse. about me, what content of mine they social networks?
oranges type question when it are sharing and their comments on my
comes to LinkedIn. I’m a fruit I think Pulse is a great place to find updates. So while I don’t listen to VR: LinkedIn is probably less likely
salad gal myself! relevant business content to share ALL updates, I listen to the ones than some of the other social sites
not only on LinkedIn, but other social that involve me in some way. to suck you into the rabbit hole of
sites as well. When a client needs a singing cats and surfing dog videos.
good business article to post to their But messages, updates, Groups and

PART 4: Expand your Network of Influencers 17


PART 4:

Ask the Expert:


Viveka Von Rosen
Pulse, can certainly suck you in. It’s it is unlikely. LinkedIn is about creating click on the ‘share on LinkedIn’ link and is a completely under-utilized tool
usually all good stuff and relevant to relationships with people. Once you you can easily share that page. from Groups to Company Pages and
your business which means you might have established a connection and are beyond. But I guess that’s why I have
even spend more time there since it’s moving from the “know” each other to Not all websites are LinkedIn-centric. a job! If you have questions about how
“allowed.” I recommend scheduling the “like and trust” each other level of so if you find a website, blog post or it can help with prospecting, lead gen,
your LinkedIn (and other “social”) time engagement—only then do you have a article that doesn’t have the LinkedIn relationship building and top of mind
to make sure you have a start and good chance of sharing your products share button, you can still share it by awareness, please feel free to reach
stop time. I also suggest you create and services with someone likely to clicking on the “Share on LinkedIn” out to me! http://www.LinkedIn.com/
a checklist that covers everything purchase them. But these relationships button. You can post the page as an in/LinkedInexpert
you need to do on LinkedIn (monthly, take effort and nurturing. Establishing update or as a tweet. You can post it
weekly and daily). that sense of “like and trust” might to your Groups, by clicking the Group
seem like a lot of work, but the payoff option and typing in the name of the
LI: How are marketers getting it wrong can be monumental. Getting people LinkedIn Groups you wish to share the
with LinkedIn? to buy from you on LinkedIn means a post with. You can even send it to
time investment, but to me it is well an individual.
VR: Basically marketers do these three worth it.
things wrong: This is a very quick and easy way to
Tools: post helpful, useful, and interesting
•S
 elling too much LinkedIn has so many cool little content with your network. These
•N
 ot making use of the tools tools. My favorite is their “Sharing updates will show up on your
Bookmarklet”. To find the Sharing connection’s homepage as well as
• Not realizing its potential
Bookmarklet, you just come down in your profile under “activity.”
Selling: to the “Tools” link and then on the
I always tell people you will never right hand side click on the tab that Potential:
sell your—um—stuff on LinkedIn. says “Sharing Bookmarklet.” Drag Hopefully some of the things I have
The likelihood of someone seeing an the Bookmarklet button up to your mentioned will open a few eyes to
update you have posted on how you browser bar. Then no matter what web the potential of LinkedIn. There is
sell the best gadget and then buying page you’re on, all you have to do is just so much you can do with it. It

PART 4: Expand your Network of Influencers 18


PART 5:

Easily Keep your Finger Easily discover new


professional content
on the Pulse We’ve not only improved the overall search functionality
with faster auto-complete suggestions, but we’ve also
With all the news websites, blogs, and newsletters out there, staying made it easier for you to find “What’s New” across
in-the-know can be time consuming. timely world events and what’s trending among
professionals like you worldwide.
In fact, like most marketers, you our partnerships with more than
probably find it’s increasingly difficult 750 publishers, such as Harvard
to figure out what matters most when Business Review, TechCrunch,
reading news across multiple sources. and Fast Company.
Millions of professionals invest their
time on LinkedIn, staying on top of Pulse makes it possible to access
industry news through Pulse, the news tailored news based on your interests.
app and content brand for LinkedIn. Specifically, you as a marketer can
easily leverage all the great business
Pulse offers a more relevant news knowledge flowing through LinkedIn
experience with content tailored to in the form of news, Influencer
your professional interests throughout posts, industry updates, discussions,
LinkedIn. It’s the main vehicle for our comments and more. And because
social news experience across web you can customize content based on
and mobile. And it’s a key way for your preferences, you can zero in on
marketers to stay current on all the what matters most to you. Think of
latest insights and trends. Pulse as your daily “newspaper”—
one that let’s you stay up to speed
Access more relevant content whether you’re on your desktop,
With the LinkedIn Pulse app, you can mobile phone (Android or iOS),
access full articles and rich graphics or tablet!
from a wealth of resources, through

PART 5: Easily Keep your Finger on the Pulse 19


PART 5:

Jumpstart your
Organize your daily reads Influencers and top sources such as
Lists in the Pulse app allow you to The Wall Street Journal, Ad Week,
organize your channels into topics Mashable, and more: the Marketing
of your choice, such as Technology,
Sports, Favorites, or Must Reads.
Any Channels or Influencer content
Strategies channel https://www.
LinkedIn.com/channels/marketing_
strategies
Pulse experience
that you follow on LinkedIn.com will
automatically sync with the Pulse Share with your network When you download the new Pulse app on iOS or Android,
app, and you can also add any We’ve made it even easier for you to you will be prompted to sign in using your LinkedIn profile.
blog or news feed via the robust share news and insights from your Once you’ve done this, we will automatically bring in the
search functionality on Pulse. As a Pulse app. With the new, enhanced
channels, Influencers and LinkedIn content you follow
result, you gain instant access to social features—easily accessible
the most relevant and personalized within every piece of content at the into your Pulse experience. Additionally, Pulse will offer
news content that maps to your top of the screen—you can see what personalized content recommendations that are customized
professional interests. other professionals are talking about to your LinkedIn preferences and professional interests.
and instantly like, comment or share
And here’s a suggestion for a an article with your professional
Channel to follow right away for fresh network on LinkedIn.
insights on marketing from LinkedIn

Delivering Smart Recommendations


We display stories based on a proprietary algorithm that weighs your
interests and the stories trending among professionals worldwide.

PART 5: Easily Keep your Finger on the Pulse 20


PART 5:

Ask the Expert:


Lee Odden
LI: What’s your best advice for writing LI: How can a business take advantage 3. Curate useful news as status
a compelling company page update? of LinkedIn as part of a content updates and on the Company Page
marketing strategy? 4. Use LinkedIn as a follow up
LO: This might seem like a cart and after meeting people online and
horse situation, but it’s important LO: Content participation on any social especially at offline events where
to have an audience. Updating a network or web platform should be business cards are exchanged
company page to 2 followers vs. 200 informed by a company’s business
just isn’t the same. As with any other and content marketing strategies. Beyond that, LinkedIn’s social network
publishing platform, think of who your Are customers there and what are platform provides many opportunities
network is and what they’re interested they doing? What are they interested to engage with prospects, support
in. What do they expect? Giving in? What opportunities are there for individual and brand thought
people what they want in the form of the brand to be valuable to those leadership and connect with other
CEO @TopRank Online Marketing, useful content, tips and information prospective customers? groups like industry media and
Author: Optimize, Public Speaker: about changes at your company is a prospective employees. Whether it’s
Integrated Search, Social, great way to attract more followers For most companies that sell into targeted advertising or curating a mix
& Content Marketing and better engage those that you the business market, participating on of industry and company news on the
already have. LinkedIn should be a no-brainer. The brand page, companies that want to
LI: Do you regulary check your Pulse specific way LinkedIn is used depends attract and engage other businesses
feed? If so, how do you use it? From a writing standpoint, write on the company, industry and product need to be on LinkedIn.
snappy, compelling titles. Check mix. It also depends on what kinds
LO: I check LinkedIn daily including ubersuggest.org for popular keywords of opportunities there are to be
the Pulse feed. I follow a number of and consider using specific phrases “the best answer” on LinkedIn for the
the thought leaders and also look in the title and description, but only things customers are interested in.
for the news stories my network is if they make sense and add value to
engaging with. The feed offers content the message. You can attract more At a minimum:
that I can interact with through liking, followers to your company LinkedIn 1.Ensure executive LinkedIn profiles
commenting, sharing on LinkedIn or page through search on LinkedIn as are filled out and optimized
curating to our broader community. well as organic search. 2. M
 ake sure the Company Page
is robust.

PART 5: Easily Keep your Finger on the Pulse 21


PART 6:

Publish with a Purpose: Mobilize your Employees to


Amplify your Message
Content Marketing Best-in-class companies encourage their own employees

on LinkedIn to share content on LinkedIn with their networks,


significantly increasing content reach. This is especially
powerful for companies whose sales reps are connected
Earlier we underscored the importance promote content and build to the right decision makers.
of delivering relevant content in order relationships. Company Pages are
to build relationships with your targets. where you can catch the eye of
LinkedIn provides the following prospective customers by featuring
solutions for delivering relevant thought leadership content or
content to our members: anything else that would be relevant
•C
 ompany Pages, Showcase to your target audience, including
Pages,Follow Company Ads links to your latest and greatest
and Company Updates white papers, eBooks, case studies, LINKEDIN: A KEY PLATFORM FOR B2B CONTENT DELIVERY
and how-to content. By delivering How effective are these Social Networks in delivering B2B
• Sponsored Updates useful and engaging content, you’ll Content (% of respondents)
• SlideShare foster engagement and help your
• Content Ads message spread faster. In fact, our
research shows that Company Updates
• LinkedIn Groups containing links can have up to 45%
• Content Marketing Score higher follower engagement than
updates without links.
• Trending Content

Company Pages, Showcase Pages, And remember–integration with


% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Follow Company Ads and Company common Social Media Management
Updates: Be Found and Connect vendors including Adobe, Hootsuite™, Effective Ineffective I don’t use it
with Those that Matter Most Percolate, Salesforce, Shoutlet,
Spredfast and Sprinklr make it easier
More than 3 million companies for you to manage your Page and
leverage their Company Page to Company Updates.
Source: “
 Customer Engagement: The Role of Content in the IT Purchase Process & Connecting Content
Marketing to Sales Follow Up.” IDG Enterprise, Sep’2013. N=1,138 range of industries worldwide
were surveyed in Spring 2013.

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 22


PART 6:
Showcase Pages: Reach and Build a Relationship with 5 steps to engaging followers on LinkedIn
Specific Audiences
1. Establish your presence
Like many companies, yours likely In other words, you can create a
considers many parts of its business to distinct platform for each aspect
be important. And to give each its due of your business that has its own 2. Attract followers
attention, you likely have more than message to share with its own target
one “voice.” With Showcase Pages, audience. It’s a unique way to directly
you can build a presence and present engage the right people in the right 3. Engage followers
a unique voice for every important context. And just as with Company
part of your business. By creating Pages, your administrators will be able 4. Amplify through the network
dedicated pages for your more to monitor performance through
prominent brands, businesses, and dedicated analytic tools within the
initiatives using Showcase Pages, you Showcase Page experience. 5. Analyze and refine
can extend your LinkedIn presence.

“When I ran marketing at a mobile startup, we routinely compared


the impact of each channel at each funnel stage. We plotted
channels along two dimensions: volume of names and cost
per lead. LinkedIn topped all other lead sources—across both
dimensions and at every stage of the funnel. When it came to
content distribution and lead generation, LinkedIn quickly became
the first dollar budgeted each quarter.”

Joe Chernov – Former VP of Marketing at Kinvey,


now VP of Content at Hubspot

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 23


PART 6:
Attract More Followers Did You Know Fun Fact:
The more the merrier on the social • Cultivate a larger following There are more than 1.5 million unique publishers actively using the LinkedIn
merry-go-round. Here are some with a multi-channel approach. Share button on their sites to send content into the LinkedIn platform
simple, effective strategies for Encourage your teammates to add (Q1 2013 earnings)
attracting more followers with your a link to your company page in
company updates: their email signatures. If needed,
•E
 ngage your colleagues. ask your designer for help creating
Employees are 70% more likely a customized banner or button.
to engage with your company • Add a Follow button to your
“Content Marketing is the planning, creation, promotion,
updates, so don’t forget to website. Your web team can pull
ask them to do it! Initiate code for a Follow button from and measurement of content to a target audience with
communication and make it easy developer.linkedin.com to add the goal of satisfying customers and affecting a business
for them to respond. to your blog or website. This lets outcome. LinkedIn offers an incredibly useful platform
LinkedIn members follow your for research, ideation and the amplification of content
company with a single click.
to specific interest groups from your target customers
to the Influencers that inspire them to take action.
LinkedIn is essential for achieving content
marketing results.”

L ee Odden, CEO @TopRank Online Marketing, Author:


Optimize, Public Speaker: Integrated Search, Social, and

8:00 a.m.
Content Marketing

Most LinkedIn members look for inspiration


early in the day with peak consumption
at 8:00 a.m.

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 24


PART 6:
Follow Company Ads: Encourage Members to Follow You
Want to encourage members to follow HP has found incredible value by
your Company Page or your Showcase taking advantage of the unmatched
Page? Use Follow Company Ads to targeting available via LinkedIn Follow
deliver personalized messages on the Company Ads. In addition to allowing
homepages of your target audience, HP to target the people it wants to
establishing the relevance of your engage–senior-level decision-makers
business to these members and in various industries—Follow Ads
building your Follower audience. Once empowered the company to increase
members choose to follow you, their followers by 300,000 in a two-month
new status will be shared with their full period. Moreover, HP was the first
network: a powerful social means of company on LinkedIn to hit
building your audience further. 1,000,000 followers.

Accelerate relationships with your key audiences


• Maximize success by being easily discoverable
• Ensure follower quality through advanced targeting

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 25


PART 6:
Company Updates: Engage Your Followers LinkedIn By the Numbers:
LinkedIn Company Updates are a 4. Keep your audience’s attention EXECUTIVES RATE LINKEDIN HIGH ON VALUE THEY GAIN
powerful way to reach and engage by producing content consistently, FROM THEIR SOCIAL MARKETING INITIATIVES
professionals with relevant content responding to timely events, % rating value as either “extremely valuable” or “valuable”
across multiple devices. They are sent engaging members through
from your Company Page and deliver comments, and continually Branded Blog 64%
targeted content into our members’ refining your content strategy.
feeds, increasing their engagement LinkedIn 60%
5. Extend your targeted reach beyond
with your brand. But are your updates your Company Page followers Twitter 59%
optimized? Keep the following best by using Sponsored Updates to Facebook 58%
practices in mind when creating and promote your best content.
posting your company page updates YouTube 50%
to dramatically increase engagement LinkedIn Groups 48%
and overall reach.
1 IN EVERY 3 INTERNET USER VISITS A BRAND’S SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE
1. Optimize introductions and
Paid Social Media advertising objectives
headlines by thinking like a
journalist, adding your point of view,
asking thoughtful questions Primarily branding related, 45%
to involve your audience, and e.g. raising awareness,
influencing brand opinions 31%
including a clear call to action.
2. Stand out in the feed by including Primarily direct-response 16%
a compelling image or some type of related e.g. driving product
trails or site visits 15%
rich media.
3. Attract an audience by aligning your
A mix of both—more than 25%
content to members’ needs and
half is branding 29%
interests by making it “snackable”
and valuable.
A mix of both—more than 14%
half is direct-response 25%

ADVERTISERS AGENCIES

Sources:“Content Marketing gets Social,” Unisphere research, 2013, N= 217


Nielsen, Paid Social Media Advertising Report, 2013. N = 500 U.S. digital marketing and
media professionals

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 26


PART 6:
Follow the 4-1-1 Rule
The 4-1-1 Rule was coined by and whitepaper downloads, create a
Tippingpoint Labs and Joe Pulizzi of cadence of helpful insights relevant
the Content Marketing Institute. While to your audience. Mix in a bit of
“Sell something, get a customer for a day. Help someone, get a
it was originally created with Twitter industry thought leader content; news customer for life.”
in mind, it can successfully be applied and trends are a great way to build
to your company’s content marketing relationships with prospects while Jay Baer – digital marketing strategist, speaker, author, and
strategy using LinkedIn. keeping current customers in the know. president of Convince & Convert

The rule states: You’ll authentically engage in


“For every one self-serving tweet, you conversations, build awareness, and
should retweet one relevant tweet and interact with LinkedIn members
most importantly share four pieces of without giving the impression that
relevant content written by others.” you’re a self-centered know-it-all. It’s all
part of moving to the new marketing
It’s basically saying to share the love. mindset of “always be helping” instead
Instead of constantly bombarding of the outdated “always be selling.”
your followers with demos, webinars,

Consistent posting: Create an editorial calendar of updates within your company, 4 New Tweets
and highlight relevant third-party material. Then share it with company followers.
Building a cadence around the 4-1-1 rule will continually add value for your followers.
Sources: Tippingpoint Labs. www.tippingpointlabs.com

1 Retweet

1 Self-serving
Tweet

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 27


PART 6:
Sponsored Updates: Content Marketing in the Professional Feed
Our members are already engaging • Build relationships with the world’s
with high-quality content from professionals. Publish your content
news sites, thought leaders, their with Sponsored Updates to create
connections, and brands. With value and establish trust that
Sponsored Updates, you can join sparks ongoing conversations and
the conversation and appear along deeper customer relationships.
with that content. You can publish
Sponsored Updates with rich media Targeting options
and ensure relevance with robust Sponsored Updates allow you to
targeting functionality. And that
means you can reach the right
people at the right time with your
reach a targeted audience beyond
your Company Page followers. You
can define your audience using
Think of Targeted and Sponsored
best articles, images, infographics,
PDFs, presentations, and videos. Plus,
Sponsored Updates are the only way
criteria such as location, company
size, industry, job function, and
seniority. Remember, there’s always
Updates as being native advertising
to reach LinkedIn’s mobile users at a tradeoff between targeting and Sponsored updates are native to the browsing experience,
scale, since they appear in the feed on audience size. If you target too incorporated directly into the member’s feed so as not
desktop, tablet, and smartphone. specifically, your update may reach
to interrupt the stream of content.
a very small audience.
Sponsored Updates are a powerful
tool to: Performance tracking
• Raise awareness and shape You can promote updates in 20
perception. Send Sponsored languages across the 200 countries
Updates to your target audience and territories where we have
to rapidly increase awareness members. And within a minute or two
and shape the perception of your of publishing your update, you’ll see
brand, products, and services. impression and engagement metrics.
And reporting on your post will be Bislr, a provider of marketing automation solutions, used
• Drive quality leads. Generate updated in near real time. That means
quality leads by sharing insights Sponsored Updates to generate high-quality leads with a high
you can track how well your posts
that professionals seek. Watch hit the mark and fine-tune your conversion rate and at a lower cost. Plus, it generated additional
that content spread via the peer strategy instantly. brand awareness as a benefit of organic sharing.
sharing that occurs naturally on
LinkedIn.
Read Case Study

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 28


PART 6:
How Sponsored Updates work
Getting a LinkedIn Company Page Sponsored Updates are purchased
is the first step to using Sponsored through a second-price auction.
Updates. All Sponsored Updates Here’s how it works. Each time there
must first be created as organic is an opportunity for a Sponsored
Company Updates. Update to be shown, LinkedIn runs
an auction to determine which
Similar to an ad unit, a Sponsored update to show. For any given
Update is sent to a member when auction, there can be many bids
they visit LinkedIn. Sponsored from competing advertisers looking
Updates are clearly distinguished to reach that member. That means
from organic content to make sure our when you sponsor an update, your Adobe used Sponsored Updates as part of its campaign to raise
members can differentiate between campaign enters an auction to awareness of the company as an innovator in digital marketing.
organic and paid content. Currently, determine whether it’s shown to your
As a result of the brand exposure in the LinkedIn feed, research
they are labeled as “Sponsored.” target audience. Sponsored Update
Links in Sponsored Updates can drive inventory is non-guaranteed, but you confirmed that U.S. marketing executives were 50% more likely to
traffic wherever you’d like, including may adjust your bid and content to agree that Adobe can “shape the future of digital marketing.”
your content portals, relevant news perform better in the auction.
or articles, YouTube or SlideShare
Learn More
channels, whitepapers, and event
registration forms.

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 29


Ask the Expert:
Chris D’Alessandro
a brand for them.’ Question number actually getting the person you’re makes it harder for them to buy.
one is always, ‘can we build the brand targeting, and my personal version They can simply put an ad on the
on this platform?’ of why I prefer LinkedIn over other page instead of engaging the creative
social networks is because I know agency and building a plan that will
LI: What types of clients should be who I’m getting. I trust LinkedIn data be better in the long run.
leveraging LinkedIn more than they not because other social networks
currently are? are lying about their data, but rather
because consumers are more apt to
CD: Any organization that needs to elaborate on other social networks.
do a better job of getting the brand
in front of affluent people or just the LI: How are marketers getting it
right professional people. LinkedIn wrong with LinkedIn?
Executive Director, Digital, is a great platform for targeting this
Nissan United type of audience. The other type of CD: They are seeing it as an
client that needs to be on LinkedIn is advertising platform and they
LI: What factors are most important any organization that needs to recruit are not leveraging it as a content
to you when considering advertising top talent. platform. Advertisers are trying to
channels for your clients? drive lower funnel activities instead
LI: How do you compare the audience of participating in the conversation.
CD: It all depends on the goals of the targeting capability of LinkedIn with I see LinkedIn as a way to continue
campaign or what we are trying to other social networks? the dialogue in a way that naturally
accomplish. My focus is on a global promotes the value proposition of the
campaign that transcends the US and CD: The biggest thing that’s come to brand and I think many brands are still
Europe so a lot of what we are doing our attention is we can trust the using it as an ad platform because
is branding. We look at platforms as results from LinkedIn. People are most media buying agencies follow
‘how can we best utilize our money to less apt to elaborate on LinkedIn than the path of least resistance and buy
get in front of as many people as we they are on other social networks. what is easy. Getting the creative and
can to convince them the Nissan is a Sometimes you don’t know if you’re content development teams involved

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 30


PART 6:
SlideShare: Tap into Visual Tendencies How to Use LinkedIn to Amplify SlideShare Content
We are all visual thinkers. In fact, Through SlideShare, you can: 1. Send Company Updates – SlideShare content displays directly within the
75% of the sensory neurons in our • Share presentations, videos, LinkedIn feed
brains process visual information. infographics and other documents
Visual content can help set you apart with your LinkedIn network
from text-heavy competition, and 2. Sponsor your best content to extend its reach
SlideShare is the perfect channel for • Upload portfolios, conference
your visual content. talks, PDFs, marketing/sales
presentations and more
3. Use SlideShare Content Ads to pull SlideShare content into 300x250 ad
SlideShare is not just a repository for • Embed videos in presentations placements on LinkedIn
your slide presentations. It’s a social and add audio to make a webinar
channel where you can establish
your brand as a thought leader With more than 60 million visitors
and authority around topics a month and 3 billion slide views
and keywords. a month (that’s 1,140 slides per
second), SlideShare is the world’s
largest professional content-sharing “It’s almost not fair to ask for my take on SlideShare. I consider it one of
community. And that’s something you the top three “plays” in my own content marketing efforts. I contribute
can’t afford to overlook. to the SlideShare blog. I recommend it to everyone of my clients and
am hired often to write and design the presentations.

However, I’m biased for many reasons. Atop the list: SlideShare—
and its integration with LinkedIn—accounts for a massive chunk of
my website’s traffic, has a lot to do with the authority I’ve gained in
content marketing and copywriting for the web, and is helping bring
me all kinds of opportunities including new business, partnerships,
and speaking engagements.

If you’re not using SlideSlide to distribute your content, you’re missing


out on, what, 60 million eyeball opportunities a month? And if you are,
you know exactly how the service can align with your marketing goals.”

Barry Feldman, Feldman Creative

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 31


PART 6:
Here are nine tips to help ensure content domination on SlideShare: SlideShare Did You Know Fun Fact:

1. Keep your presentations short 7. Integrate your presentations into More than 15 million pieces of content uploaded to SlideShare
and sweet: Between 10–30 slides multiple channels: SlideShare easily (December 5, 2013)
is optimal embeds into landing pages and
2. Be visual: Shoot for an average of blogs and renders beautifully
19 images in your 10–30 slides in Twitter

3. Get to the point: Aim for an 8. Repurpose your presentations:


average of 24 words per slide Slice and dice them into blog posts,
infographics, webinars
4. Be the authority on your topic: and videos
Choose a topic and own it
9. Make SlideShare part of every
5. Focus on design and tell a story: campaign: Add a SlideShare
Design your deck to pull the reader checkbox to your campaign
from one slide to the next checklist
6. Rev up the SEO for each
presentation: Include keyword- If you don’t have a SlideShare “In a recent conference, I was asked my opinion on what is
rich titles, descriptions and tags in account, sign up from LinkedIn to
order to give your presentations the biggest opportunity in B2B Content Marketing? Without
share your presentations worldwide
a fighting chance in the world of and drive more views and traffic. hesitation, I answered “SlideShare.”
search engines as well as inside the
SlideShare search results Michael Brenner, Vice President of Marketing and Content Strategy
at SAP, Speaker, Blogger and Social Business Marketing Leader

Have I got a story for you!

A good story captivates an audience. Think about your favorite book,


TV show or movie—the plot and way it is told hooks you in. Now what if every
presentation you sat through—or gave—was that spell-binding?

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 32


PART 6:
Content Ads: Enhance the Member Experience without Standard Content Ad
Interrupting It
On LinkedIn, our members are actively Our content ad unit delivers up to
consuming and sharing information five different items of content via
and insights. And you have an different tabs, including blog posts,
opportunity to share content with case studies, white papers and video.
LinkedIn’s professional audience Because the ads are RSS enabled, they
using Content Ads. update automatically whenever live
content featured in them changes.
Content Ads use images and video
content that stand out above the fold Content ads are extremely simple
on our uncluttered, clean LinkedIn to create: you supply us with assets
page design. Use them to position and content and we’ll create your ad,
your company as a thought leader including a preview for you to sign
and engage your audience with off, within ten working days. You’ll be
white papers, videos, brochures and able to leverage the depth of LinkedIn
other high-value content—without member profiles for accurate targeting
interrupting the user flow and by of your ad, and you’ll get access
enhancing their member experience. to detailed analytics showing
how members interact with each Standard content ad enlarged
content tab.

For ad specifications, visit


http://adspecs.liasset.com/category.php?category=Content+Ads.

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 33


PART 6:
SlideShare Content Ads: Enable Seamless Engagement SlideShare Content Ad
SlideShare Content Ads are the latest Your audience can interact with the
addition to LinkedIn’s expanding presentations in these ads just as they
Content Ads portfolio. Through the would on SlideShare itself, scrolling
SlideShare Content Ad format, you can: forwards and back, and choosing
• Extend reach and discoverability of whether to expand the presentation
your SlideShare content or view it within the ad unit. Plus, you
can embed a lead capture form in your
• Drive engagement by offering presentation, which LinkedIn members
user value can fill in and submit directly from the
• Demonstrate thought leadership presentation. Importantly, they can
and industry expertise do without interrupting their
LinkedIn session.
With SlideShare Content Ads,
we combine SlideShare’s rich, Moreover, by combining detailed
professionally relevant content with LinkedIn Analytics with SlideShare’s
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions’ unique content viewing metrics and lead-
targeting capabilities. SlideShare generation forms, we provide a
Content Ads give your content the uniquely in-depth view of engagement
reach it deserves, delivering in-depth with your content marketing.
presentations through a 300 x 250
ad unit that enables broad, “SlideShare makes it easy to take what you’ve already got to a
flexible distribution.
much wider audience. And—in stark contrast to most business’
experiences with social media today—it delivers measurement
based on real business activity, like leads.”

Todd Wheatland, Author of The Marketer’s Guide to SlideShare

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 34


PART 6:
LinkedIn APIs: Deepen Engagement, Share Content Network-wide
Leverage LinkedIn’s professional Here are just a few ways you can take
audience and platform across your advantage of our APIs:
other digital channels with a range • Invite members to sign up to
of full-fledged APIs and plug-ins that your site using their LinkedIn
help deepen engagement with your login credentials
audience and share content across our
network. You can use LinkedIn’s APIs • Leverage select areas of the
to create custom branded experiences LinkedIn identity to deliver
that allow members to sign in using relevant content
their LinkedIn login. This eliminates • Plug LinkedIn feeds into your site
the need for them to enter additional
• Invite your users to share updates
data. Even more importantly, by using
across the LinkedIn platform
the API to access LinkedIn’s rich data,
you can tailor the member experience
based on profile data. You can also
To add a LinkedIn plugin to your site
or app, visit developer.LinkedIn.com
Statoil Taps into LinkedIn
encourage your experience to go viral
by triggering it to publish updates
about a user’s activities.
to generate the required code and
add it to the source code of your
site or app. The LinkedIn Certified
API to Create a Content Hub
Developer Program (CDP) makes it Statoil wanted to shift its image from a big-oil company to a
We offer developers powerful easy to engage developers certified forward-thinking energy organization. Using a LinkedIn API,
options to leverage our content and to work with LinkedIn data, who are
it created a content hub called Energy Realities that helped it
connections while keeping users trained and supported by LinkedIn. We
on our site. also offer options for working with a reach the right audience and amplify its content and
broader range of developers as well. social actions.

Read Case Study

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 35


PART 6:
LinkedIn Groups: Join the Conversation
Companies often talk about ‘joining Plan to participate
the conversation’ and ‘establishing You can join up to 50 groups but
thought leadership.’ By participating in let’s face it—you and your colleagues
discussions taking place in established may not have the time to invest in
LinkedIn Groups, you can join the cultivating conversations, connections,
conversation. And by creating your and relationships at that volume. Once
company’s own LinkedIn Branded you pinpoint the groups that will prove
Communities, you can start the the best investment of your time, it’s
conversation. Either way, you’re critical to put in the time to participate.
establishing thought leadership for Weigh in on active discussions,
your company. and point fellow group members
to additional information of value,
Participate in Group Discussions
As a sophisticated marketer, you know
that true and meaningful engagement
whether that’s content published by
your company or another organization.
The key is to position yourself as a
LinkedIn Groups for Business
with prospects and customers is trusted and helpful peer rather than as HubSpot’s Inbound Marketer’s LinkedIn Group is another stellar
sparked and maintained through a marketer focused on reeling in the
example of how a marketer can best utilize a group within LinkedIn.
interactions. The trick is finding the next customer.
right forum for this engagement, HubSpot now has more than 50,000 followers for its Company
and LinkedIn Groups is a terrific way Page, and more than 96,000 members for the Inbound Marketers
to become part of a community group—significant audiences for its messages about best
comprising your target audience. practices for inbound marketing.

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 36


PART 6:
LinkedIn Branded Communities Did you know?

Through LinkedIn Branded Real customers, real benefits There are more Groups on LinkedIn than nonprofit organizations
Communities, you can create your Philips runs two communities in the United States.
own exclusively branded forum: a dedicated to thought leadership in
targeted environment that establishes health and lighting. The communities
your company’s expertise and builds have contributed to a significant

100,000
a lively community endorsing rise in Philips’ net promoter scores.
your brand. As the sponsor of the Moreover, the company’s health
Community, you’ll leverage exclusive community counts tens of thousands
ad positions to share company, of members and thousands of active
brand and product messages; drive discussions, making it a role model for
engagement with weekly emails thought leadership on a large scale. LinkedIn Members
join new Groups
to Community members; and use
community management tools to stay

everyday
involved in the conversation. Plus, you
can exclusively promote your content
and messages in the right-hand rail
with units that support rich media Engaging with fellow professionals on the issues they care about, and pooling
and video. their thinking to solve business problems. Starting a Community provides a
uniquely interactive platform for showcasing your thinking, driving collaboration,
All Branded Communities encourage inviting feedback and engaging key stakeholders.
members to spread your content
across their LinkedIn networks,
sharing links to comments and
discussions and promoting organic
growth. Plus, you can use Join Group
Ads to boost membership further, Similarly, Microsoft’s Cloud
with content feeds to give potential Computing community has attracted
Community members a taste of the more than 9,000 senior managers
discussions taking place—and prompt in relevant industries such as IT,
them to join (see the Advertising engineering and consultancy.
section for more on Join Group Ads).

You can find communities to join in the Groups Directory or view suggestions
of groups you may like. Here’s how to create a new community focused on
a particular topic or industry.

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 37


PART 6:
Get aligned for community success
Remember: marketing creates the the competition gets there. Plus,
content but needs to work hand listening to and participating in online
in hand with sales to ensure they conversations will provide your sales
know the story and can carry the team with keen insight into what
conversation when participating in most concerns your prospects. They
LinkedIn community discussions. can then offer relevant information—
Your sales reps should be engaging such as a link to an eBook, white
prospects and customers in online paper, webinar or other content—
venues. After all, they need to interact that establishes your company as a
with prospective customers wherever valuable and trusted resource.
they are spending time—and before

Invest in Building a Community


You can drive increased membership of your community using
Join Group Ads.

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 38


PART 6:
Two New Power Resources for Your Content Marketing Toolbox Closing the Content Marketing Gap

We believe in the power of content GLOBAL MARKETERS ARE USING CONTENT MARKETING TO ACHIEVE THEIR
marketing. That’s why we’re continually GOALS, BUT DON’T FEEL THEY’RE BEING EFFECTIVE AS THEY COULD BE.
developing new resources that help using content marketing
you achieve even more from your
feel they’re being effective
content marketing strategies and
initiatives. And we are certain you’re
Australian 96% 38%
going to get tons of value from these
two new resources: US 93% 41%
UK 88% 48%
• Content Marketing Score
• Trending Content
Sources: Content Marketing in the UK: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Content Marketing
Institute/DMA UK, Content Marketing in Australia: 2013 Trends – Content Marketing Institute/The
Association for data-driven marketing & advertising (ADMA), 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—
North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Content Marketing Score
Quantify Your Content Marketing
Efforts On LinkedIn
As a sophisticated marketer, you know Like the most effective content
you need to prove the impact of your marketers, we bet you reach your
content marketing initiatives. Ideally audience in multiple ways across
you want to: LinkedIn, including via Groups,
•U
 nderstand the content and topics company updates, employee posts,
that resonate with your audience sponsored updates, and influencer
posts. The Content Marketing Score
•M
 easure the effectiveness of your
from LinkedIn ties all of this outreach
content-based campaigns
together so you get an integrated view
•B
 enchmark the success of of how your efforts are paying off.
your program
• See how you stack up against
your competition
• Rank your brand with
a comprehensive score

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 39


PART 6:
Benchmark Your Content Performance Turn Insights Into Content Gold
Think of the Content Marketing All that information is valuable,

A Dynamic Duo
Score as a barometer that helps but we know insights are useless
your company, product and brand unless you act upon them. And the
understand the impact of its content Content Marketing Score makes
marketing efforts on LinkedIn. By that possible by providing specific
attributing a score to your content, recommendations on defining and
While Trending Content gives you insight into the hottest
the Content Marketing Score adjusting your content strategy to topics across LinkedIn, the Content Marketing Score is
quantifies the influence of your achieve the best results possible. specific to your company, product and brand.
company, product and brand These may include suggestions to
on LinkedIn. 
 experiment with new ways to increase
your follower base such as Sponsored
The Content Marketing Score Updates, encourage your employees
provides this insight by: to publish more posts, or focus on
your content relevance.
• Highlighting the audience(s)
consuming your content In a nutshell, the Content Marketing
on LinkedIn Score from LinkedIn:
• Quantifying your company’s
content presence and • Analyzes who engages
engagement on LinkedIn with your content
• Compares you to your peers Your Overall Content Marketing Score
In other words, it tells you if members By Target Audience and Topic
within your target audience are • Suggests how to improve
engaging with your content. And your score WHO: Audience = Decision Makers WHAT: Topic = Leadership
1,400

it can show you how you stack up


against your competitors. You can To receive your custom Content
1,200
7 of 10
1,000
Peers:
even see a breakdown of how you’re Marketing Score, please contact Blackrock

CMS Score
800
Microsoft
performing across the different areas your LinkedIn account executive 600
Dell
of LinkedIn – whether by Groups, or account manager. 400
Cap Gemini
250 Oracle
updates, or posts. 200 Citi
Amex
0
CLIENT Accenture
Best in class Weaker content Salesforce
influence influence

40
Next-Level Marketers face a challenge in knowing exactly who's

Content
consuming their content and whether it's reaching their
desired audiences. For more engagement, reach and virality

PART 6: marketers need to tune their content strategies to the types of


content trending for their target audiences.

Your Target Audience is on LinkedIn


Trending Content THE TOPICS THAT MATTER
Be Trendy (With Your Content) Align Your Content Calendar With The Topics
WHAT’S That Matter
TRENDING
Your target audience is on LinkedIn. Your Audience *Top trending
What’s Trending topics on LinkedIn, Dec, 2013 - Jan. 2014
Now it’s just a matter of delivering With LinkedIn, you can see trending *Top trending topics on LinkedIn, Dec. 2013–Jan. 2014

the content that attracts and engages topics across all those sources:
them. But how do you know just LinkedIn Groups, news posts, thought
which topics will catch – and keep leadership posts and discussions,
– their attention? And how do you and company pages. You’ll see which
know which members will be most topics matter, and which members are 1 Employee 2 Management 3 Sourcing 4 Self-Esteem 5 Social Media
Engagement Marketing
interested in your content? sharing the most content on any given
Whether you’re new to content subject. You’ll even be able to pinpoint
marketing or looking to drive even which topics are going viral.
more engagement with your existing
content, Trending Content from How do we deliver this invaluable 10 Retirement 9 Job 8 Future 7 Business 6 Foreclosures
Search Trends Development
LinkedIn can help you focus on data? We evaluate influencer articles, Source: LinkedIn Internal Data
the topics that matter. network updates and sponsored
Who Shares the Most
updates to understand what content *Audiences sharing the top 15 most shared articles on LinkedIn, Dec. 2013–Jan. 2014
On a daily basis, LinkedIn members members are sharing. Using a complex TOPTop
TRENDING
TrendingTOPICS
Topics
actively engage with content from algorithm built by our data science (January 2014) 2014)
(January Small Business Owners

four primary sources of inspiration, team, we put each piece of content


insights, and information on into one or more of over 17,000 topic leadership
Women
our network: categories. We then layer on member Young Upwardly Mobile

profile attributes to understand who is entrepreneurship Venture Capitalists


Financial Advisors
•N
 ews from publishers sharing the content.
Retirement Entrepreneurs
•P
 eers on LinkedIn groups online advertising
With all that insight, you can fine- Career
•T
 hought leaders tune your strategy to align with the Changers
Mass Affluents
•B
 rands latest trends. That means you can mobile devices Chief Executive Officers
increase the likelihood of your own
content going viral, and reach and
healthcare
engage more LinkedIn members. To
receive your custom Trending Content
Source: LinkedIn Internal Data
analysis, please contact your LinkedIn
account executive or account manager.

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 41


Ask the Expert:
Lisa Weinstein
consumer behaviors on a platform like media, marketers get hung up on a lot of time in the space looking at
LinkedIn and then, as the consumer is chasing the social networks’ specific trends of topics and keywords which
engaged, he or she creates new data metrics and at the end of the day, are another indicator of things being
to help you optimize that experience. what has to matter is that a marketer’s shared. We partner with companies
It starts with behavior which is investments are moving the needle like Visible Measures on the video
informed by data, which we use against the core macro objective. side. It can be different with video,
to inform content. LinkedIn has proven effective for and they have years worth of data
clients leveraging it across the on the types of video content that
LI: How are your clients’ marketing spectrum of objectives ranging from will most likely drive certain earned
objectives different on LinkedIn brand lift and consideration, to ROI responses. We also share that part
compared to other social networks? and direct response. LinkedIn works to plan how our video content can
How does that impact your clients’ against key measures whether they drive greater shares because we
President, Global Digital, content strategy? are top or bottom of the funnel. think it’s a strategic question. It’s vital
Data and Analytics at Starcom to our strategy to think about the
MediaVest Group LW: I would argue that the objectives LI: How would you advise a marketer intersection of paid, owned,
of a platform like LinkedIn should looking to create more “shareable” and earned.
LI: What factors are most important not be different from other social content? Are there specific strategies
to you when considering advertising networks and that all networks should or tools you recommend?
channels for your clients? adder up to the overall marketing
objectives of clients. As you drill down LW: We believe sharing is an indicator
LW: One of the things we say is that into the use case for LinkedIn, there of valuable consumer behavior.
it’s about behavior, not channels. are absolutely some more tactical We’ve spent a lot of time on tools
From our perspective, when you start and specific initiatives it could be provided by a company like ShareThis,
with consumer behavior you usually leveraged for. But if you’re talking which provide powerful indicators of
start with data. We really believe about marketing objectives broadly, the types of content that are most
that data helps to create experiences I’d like to think that everything we do sharable. We’ve built a planning tool
and we use the phrase ‘created by and all these things we create ladders that allows our planners to buy ads
data’ and ‘creating its own data.’ up to bigger objectives like sales, top against content that is more likely to
You can use data to understand of funnel, etc. Too often in social be shared. We’ve actually spent

PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 42


PART 7:

Expand your Targeted Reach:


Advertising on LinkedIn
By combining mass reach with LinkedIn Display Ads
accurate targeting, LinkedIn Through LinkedIn Display Ads, you
advertising solutions allow you to: can reach a professional audience in
a context where they actively seek
• Engage your target from among advice and recommendations from
the most affluent, influential, brands and companies. All LinkedIn
and educated audience on Display Ad formats leverage the
social media unique depth of our member profile
• Increase awareness, credibility information, offering targeting by
and impact through the power of sector, job function, seniority, location
social proof and more: a targeted approach
that drives engagement, relevance
• Drive traffic and leads to your site and response.

Here are the LinkedIn advertising


solutions at your disposal to help you
achieve those results:

• Display Ads
• Sponsored InMail

PART 7: Expand your targeted reach: Advertising on LinkedIn 43


PART 7:
LinkedIn Premium Display Advertising for Awareness
and Consideration at Scale
With LinkedIn Display Ads, you
With LinkedIn Premium Display Ads,
you can target the exact audience
Asia. It then targeted those members
with Display Ads and Sponsored Polls.
reach the right audience at the right
time on the most accountable medium
you want in a premium uncluttered LinkedIn’s accurate targeting resulted
environment. That makes it easier to in 1,324 poll responses from business
use existing ad creative to drive brand travelers and a total of 97 product
awareness and consideration at scale recommendations. According to the
among LinkedIn’s audience. international airline’s Vice President Depending on the type you choose, display ads can appear on
Marketing Americas, the campaign a home page, profile pages, group pages, company pages, on
Display ads give you a fantastic share was successful in spreading brand members’ inbox and messages pages, or at the bottom of a
of voice. That’s because, unlike other awareness and connecting
page to catch the eye of members before they navigate away.
digital publishers, LinkedIn only with customers.
serves two visual ads on a page at
any one time. Combine this with our
powerful targeting capabilities and
it’s a no-brainer.

Here’s an example of how Cathay


Pacific realized these benefits. The
renowned airline wanted to increase
brand awareness within its target
market, so it identified LinkedIn “From a marketing standpoint, the targeting is unprecedented.
members who belong to LinkedIn
groups related to business travel in
For marketing campaigns, LinkedIn can identify who to send it
to and when to send it but with precision we have never seen
before. The success stories are still building, but we will see
more B2B marketers drive success via LinkedIn over the next
couple years.”

Craig Rosenberg, The Funnelholic www.funnelholic.com

44
PART 7:

Ask the Expert:


Neal Schaffer
there is other great content to be seeking out information that can help • Promote your LinkedIn Company
found in Network Updates as well as them do their jobs better. The best Page, build up a follower base,
relevant Groups. It all comes down approach that I would recommend and engage with them.
to content that is both relevant and for marketers to connect with their • Utilize the potential that LinkedIn
timely—but deep as well. target audience would look like a Ads has to help precisely connect
combination of the following: you with your target audience.
LI: How do you make sure personal
time spent on LinkedIn is productive? • Establish robust profiles that make
How does this differ from other them discoverable in LinkedIn
social networks? profile search.
• Share relevant content
NS: I spend my personal time on consistently from their personal
Author, Maximize Your Social, LinkedIn 2 ways: 1) Keeping up-to- profile.
Trilingual Social Media Strategy & date and engaging with my network,
• Reach out and connect with those
Social Business Coach, Consultant, and 2) Business intelligence looking
from their target audience that
Trainer & Speaker for information on people, companies,
they know but have yet to connect
or news in my industry. I limit my time
with.
LI: What type of content best and remain clear on my objectives.
connects with audiences on LinkedIn? • Proactively utilize their LinkedIn
Is there a specific type of content you LI: What recommendations do you network for introductions to key
prefer to consume on LinkedIn? have for marketers looking to connect people in their target audience,
with target audiences on LinkedIn? using LinkedIn Inmails when an
NS: The content that best connects introduction is not possible.
with audiences on LinkedIn is NS: LinkedIn, like any other social • Engage in relevant groups.
undoubtedly the type that makes us network, is about people that are
• Create a group to represent
do our job better as well as invest using social media for communication
your company.
in our professional brand. Without a with others as well as information
doubt the recently added Influencer gathering. Professionals are not
content is of the highest quality, but looking to be sold to, but they are

PART 7: Expand your targeted reach: Advertising on LinkedIn 45


PART 7:
LinkedIn Ads for Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Performance
LinkedIn Ads is a self-service on characteristics like job title, job
advertising solution that allows function, industry, geography,
you to place text ads on prominent company size, company name,
pages across LinkedIn to reach LinkedIn Group, and more. You can
LinkedIn’s professional audience. Your also control your advertising costs
text-based ad includes a headline, by setting a budget as low as $10 per
description, and can even feature day and can choose to pay on a
a 50x50 image. You specify which cost-per-click or impression basis—
LinkedIn members view your ads by all without any contracts
selecting a target audience based or commitments.

HubSpot generates quality leads with accurate


targeting using LinkedIn Ads
HubSpot creates marketing software their businesses, or networking
that helps businesses grow web traffic, with other professionals.” HubSpot
generate inbound leads, and convert also needed to accurately target its
leads into paying customers. The campaigns beyond simply just location,
challenge for HubSpot was finding keywords, and interests, drilling down
advertising venues with the right mix of into specific professional attributes of
“With LinkedIn Ads, we’ve been able to generate
marketing professionals who respond its potential customers—a capability
well to HubSpot’s offers of free that other social networks do a clickthrough rate that is 60% higher than our
marketing materials. not provide. average across other social networks—and at
the same time, the quality of leads coming
HubSpot first experimented with ad Using LinkedIn Ads, HubSpot has been through LinkedIn is greater than through other
campaigns on social networks other able to achieve clickthrough rates
social media channels.”
than LinkedIn, but the campaigns did ranging from 0.1% to 0.3%
not yield satisfactory results. “There’s with an average CPC of about $3,
a lot of distraction on other social “which is actually a fraction of the Dan Slagen, Head of Paid Marketing, HubSpot
networks,” Dan Slagen, the company’s cost of paid search advertising,”
head of paid marketing, says. “People Slagen explains.
are there for reasons besides improving

PART 7: Expand your targeted reach: Advertising on LinkedIn 46


PART 7:
Sponsored InMail: Deliver Directly to Members’ Inboxes Send a personalized message directly to a member’s inbox

Using Sponsored InMail, you can Sponsored InMail is ideal for: Ensure standout: just one message is sent every 60 days
reach high-value, targeted prospects
on LinkedIn with attention-grabbing • Boosting conversion through
messages that speak directly to targeted product and Prompt members to take action via a customizable response button
their interests. You can designate service promotions
recipients by geography, job role, • Supporting display ad campaigns Encourage ongoing dialogue with optional social widgets
group membership, company size and by emphasizing key messages and
other criteria. calls to action

Quote
These notifications are prominently
displayed on the LinkedIn homepage Our 60-day exclusivity rule prevents
and in members’ inboxes for high other companies from messaging your
“Your first connection with someone you don’t know should
visibility that cuts through the clutter. target audience and ensures 100%
In addition, you can amplify your share of voice. And the flexible format simply be to get a positive response. Don’t look to do anything
message by including social media makes it simple to integrate content more. The simplest way to get a response, a valuable one at
widgets that empower your audience and messaging from across your that, is to ask for their expertise. Even LinkedIn understands how
to easily spread your message to like- LinkedIn ecosystem, such as from your valuable that request is that they’ve made “Expertise Request”
minded professionals. Company Page. Accurate targeting
a drop-down option when sending an InMail message.”
ensures you reach the members that
matter most, from across our network
of over 259 million professionals.  avid Spark (@dspark), Founder of the brand journalism firm,
D
Spark Media Solutions. Blogger at Spark Minute and podcaster
at the Tear Down Show.

Apple used personalized, targeted emails to raise


awareness of the iPad 2 as a business tool, increasing
consideration and sales.

Sponsored InMail leverages the credibility of the LinkedIn platform so that,


unlike conventional email campaigns, they are more likely to be opened,
read and acted on.

PART 7: Expand your targeted reach: Advertising on LinkedIn 47


PART 7:
CEB reaches executives in transition with LinkedIn Sponsored InMails

CEB (www.executiveboard.com), the The title of CEB’s InMail specifically


leading member-based advisory addressed executive challenges:
company, markets its research “How will you ensure long-term “Using LinkedIn’s targeting to reach executives at the moment
in human resources, information success in your new role?” The InMail when the CEB pitch would be most relevant is the key to this
technology, and corporate innovation went on to congratulate the LinkedIn campaign’s success.”
to a rarified group of highly senior member on his or her professional
executives. It was challenging to shift, invited them to try out CEB’s
Rory Channer, Managing Director of Marketing for CEB
convince highly influential executives Leadership Transition Service, and
to take the time to check out some offered a free white paper on the
of the compelling thought-leadership hallmarks of successful leadership
materials that CEB offers. transitions.

Rory Channer, Managing Director The InMail campaign generated open


of Marketing for CEB, and his rates that were four times the rate
marketing colleagues knew that a of CEB’s typical online marketing
defining moment for connecting with campaigns, and twice the typical
an executive about CEB services is clickthrough rate.
during a period of transition. Using
LinkedIn targeting capabilities, they
chose to focus on executives in
human resources and sales that had
been promoted or added significant
new responsibilities.

PART 7: Expand your targeted reach: Advertising on LinkedIn 48


Ask the Expert:
Nate Stricker
LI: How do you compare the audience the obvious ones. It’s not just an to get across versus the passions that
targeting capability of LinkedIn with environment for the Wells Fargos ignite the interest of the consumer.
other social networks? and the Bank of Americas and the
University of Phoenixes of the world, The second part is having compelling
NS: With LinkedIn, with content but has huge value for the GEs and content that leverages things like sight,
generation, there’s an opportunity the Geicos and the Chryslers, etc. I sound and motion that uses the
with native content to be a bit more think that’s a story that can be better listening platform to find topics that
surgical with the data you have, and flavored in the marketplace. have a currency to them, and then
the kind of content you deliver— finally making it easy to share so
the holy grail of the audience and LI: How would you advise a marketer a user can choose to share in
the content equation together. I think looking to create more “shareable” whichever platform they are most
that’s definitely an area where there is content? Are there specific strategies comfortable with.
Client Director, Strategy opportunity because no one network or specific tools that you would
is especially nailing it right now. recommend?
LI: What types of clients should be
leveraging LinkedIn more than they LI: How are marketers getting it NS: From a tool standpoint, a really
currently are? wrong with LinkedIn? good social listening service can
cover a wide swath of sources. It can
NS: Because of the association of the NS: There’s still some education also provide access to other media,
content on LinkedIn, as well as with required. LinkedIn is viewed as, even search trends and search behaviors
the audience that goes to the site, before being thought of as a media so you have a rich tapestry to draw
any category where a client is aiming opportunity for advertisers, as a from in terms of what is relevant for
to make headway from a leadership marketer’s in-house PR firm—the PR consumers, particularly your target
perspective. If you’re looking to make mechanism, if you will. I think the first audience. Good listening is the first
a leadership statement and/or be step is recognizing that it has quite step. You’re not going to create
seen curating a point of view with a bit to offer from an advertising shareable content if what you’re
content, there is a lot of upside to perspective. The second thing is building is not relevant and intriguing
the LinkedIn proposition. that there are a lot of categories that to consumers. Sometimes it’s a
could benefit from LinkedIn beyond balance of what the advertiser wants

PART 7: Expand your targeted reach: Advertising on LinkedIn 49


PART 8:

Unlock the Power


of LinkedIn’s Partner Programs
LinkedIn’s Partner Programs are designed to work with companies
that share our goal of serving our members’ needs. From entertaining “Partnering with LinkedIn has enabled us to deliver robust
promotions to targeted multi-channel messages, LinkedIn’s platform audience demographics, content analytics, and publishing
can significantly increase your consumer engagement beyond capabilities to today’s biggest brands across every industry.
LinkedIn.com. The three partner programs of greatest interest to Brands are using this context and capability to deliver great
marketers are: experiences that make professionals more productive and
successful, and as a result, are building valuable and
• Certified Developer Program LinkedIn Certified Developer Program lasting relationships. ”
(CDP) (CDP): This program allows marketers
• Social Media Management like you to grow engagement with Jim Rudden, CMO Spredfast Inc.
program your brand through custom marketing
campaigns and solutions that leverage
• Ads API the LinkedIn platform. The program is
intended to help you develop custom
applications, micro-sites, marketing
promotions, social monitoring tools
or any other execution that uses
LinkedIn’s APIs.

PART 8: Unlock the Power of LinkedIn’s Partner Programs 50


PART 8:
Collaborate with Certified Developer Partners Social Media Management program: Ads API Program
Best-in-Class Partners As certified partners, they receive This program enables you to manage The Ads API program allows
The CDP charter partners were attention and communications from your company’s engagement on marketers to run and manage self-
selected and certified based on their LinkedIn to help them effectively use LinkedIn, including the administration serve LinkedIn Ads campaigns
ability to deliver unique value to LinkedIn’s platform products to build of Company Pages, Showcase Pages effectively at scale.
marketers using our APIs and platform custom marketing programs. and Groups, using the platforms of
products. They also have a proven our SMM partners.
track record of delighting customers
with successful application launches.
API Partners
This includes exclusive access
to LinkedIn technical specialists,
enabling them to deliver innovative ads API Partners
and impactful marketing solutions in
the following categories:
• Custom applications
• Social media promotions
• Social media management
• Social media analytics

PART 8: Unlock the Power of LinkedIn’s Partner Programs 51


PART 8:

Ask the Expert:


Kristina Jaramillo
decision makers (my prospects), key Here are some other forms of content KJ: You create a LinkedIn strategy that
professionals that influence business that have worked well for me and for includes identifying your goals, (lead
marketing decisions, and potential my Get LinkedIn Help clients: generation, brand awareness, thought
referral sources/white label partners. leadership, strengthening strategic
Radio show interviews—I host a B2B alliances, community building, getting
LI: What type of content best connects marketing radio show at http://www. more VAR, etc.) defining your target
with audiences on LinkedIn? Is there a b2bmarketingradioshow.com where audience, locating the Groups your
specific type of content you prefer to guest experts, including LinkedIn’s targeted audiences belong to and
consume on LinkedIn? senior content marketing manager identifying the type of content that
Jason Miller, share their insights. your audience will relate to. Within
KJ: The best type of content that your strategy, you have to also map
I found is case studies and real life SlideShare presentations and videos out the actions needed to take on
LinkedIn Marketing Expert, examples—this demonstrates your which support your case study and LinkedIn (webinars, webcasts, white
GetLinkedInHelp.com relevance. Most business leaders and result-based LinkedIn profile. Some papers, email marketing).
B2B marketers’ LinkedIn profiles do of our clients most read discussions
LI: How are your marketing objectives not have case studies. They talk about were based on their SlideShare LI: How are marketers getting it wrong
different on LinkedIn compared to their skills and expertise but there is no presentation content. with LinkedIn?
other social networks? content for their targeted prospects
to see why they should connect. Blog posts and articles that change the KJ: Marketers are getting it wrong
KJ: I do not do anything on Facebook Within the different LinkedIn Groups, way people think and act—I personally with LinkedIn in a number of
as my complete focus is on CEOs, you should also create discussions on love content that is meant to start a ways including: They’re basically
C-level marketing and sales executives real life case studies. This gives B2B debate. The goal is to change how completing brand maintenance
and small business owners in B2B organizations a chance to showcase people present themselves on LinkedIn activities instead of a tool for lead
organizations. Twitter, I use as a tool to their expertise and at the same time and how they market on LinkedIn. generation. They may do some
broadcast my different messages. educate prospects on the challenges updates and some commenting on
companies are having and the steps LI: How do you make sure personal discussions but there is no strategy
I use LinkedIn to directly connect with they need to take to overcome time spent on LinkedIn is productive? behind their efforts. They are
and build relationships with key the challenge. How does this differ from other just connecting with anyone
social networks? and everyone.

PART 8: Unlock the Power of LinkedIn’s Partner Programs 52


PART 8:

Ask the Expert:


Kristina Jaramillo
B2B marketers (especially technology Group. I also created a number
companies) are creating content for of discussions inside the different
prospects in the later buying cycles. LinkedIn Groups to make my article
They are creating tutorials and go viral.
product demos and trying to create
conversations on it. LI: What’s something that’s not in your
LinkedIn profile?
They’re also failing to integrate
the rest of their content marketing KJ: You won’t find a resume on my
activities with LinkedIn marketing. LinkedIn profile. For example, you
Content Marketing Institute’s latest won’t find me putting Founder of
study shows that B2B organizations Get LinkedIn Help as my previous
are using at least 13 different content position and a listing of my past
marketing tactics. Now, how many positions. What you’ll find are positions
of those tactics did they integrate that speak to different audiences with
into their social media and LinkedIn different needs.
marketing efforts. Let me show
you what I mean by integration. Each section of my LinkedIn profile
I built a relationship with a key is meant to establish a relationship
Forbes.com column editor through with you, build credibility, show why
LinkedIn. She approached me to you need to connect with me—and
write an article. Within a couple days most importantly get you into my
the article had several thousand hits sales funnel. Too many B2B marketing
and over 200 tweets. Everyone that and sales professionals have copy
tweeted (that was a targeted prospect that would speak to HR and
or potential referral source for me) I recruiting executives.
thanked and invited them to connect
on LinkedIn and to join my LinkedIn

PART 8: Unlock the Power of LinkedIn’s Partner Programs 53


25 Social Media Experts
You Need to Know
Stay in the know with tips 1. Jay Baer 5. Brian Carter 10. Ann Handley
Speaker, Author, Consultant VP of Marketing at Infinigraph, Head of Content at Marketing
and advice from the leading
Blogs: jaybaer.com, Author, Speaker Profs, Author
social media experts. Here’s convinceandconvert.com Blog: briancarteryeah.com/blog/ Blog: marketingprofs.com
a list of some of our favorites Twitter: @jaybaer Twitter: @briancarter Twitter: @annhandley
representing the best of the LinkedIn: in/jasonbaer LinkedIn: in/briancarterms LinkedIn: /in/annhandley

best when it comes to social 2. Michael Brenner 6. Brian Clark 11. Matt Heinz
media marketing. Senior Director, Global Marketing Founder and CEO of Copyblogger President at Heinz Marketing Inc
at SAP, President and Co-Founder Blog: copyblogger.com/blog/ Blog: heinzmarketing.com
of Business2Community Twitter: @copyblogger Twitter: @HeinzMarketing
Blog: b2bmarketinginsider.com LinkedIn: pub/brian-clark/8/606/b5a Linkedin: in/mattheinz
Twitter: @BrennerMichael
LinkedIn: in/michaelbrenner 7. Heidi Cohen 12. Doug Karr
Columnist Chief Marketing Officer at
3. Michael Brito Blog: heidicohen.com/tag/blog/ CircuPress, Author
Group Director Media and Twitter: @heidicohen Blog: marketingtechblog.com/
Engagement at WCG, Linkedin: in/heidicohen author/douglaskarr/
a W2O Company Twitter: @douglaskarr
Blog: britopian.com 8. Steven Farnsworth Linkedin: in/douglaskarr
Twitter: @Britopian Chief Digital Strategist at Jolt
LinkedIn: in/michaelbrito Digital Marketing, Author, Speaker 13. Jason Keath
Blog: stevefarnsworth.wordpress.com CEO of Social Fresh
4. Jeff Bullas Twitter: @steveology Blog: socialfresh.com
Consultant, Speaker, Blogger Linkedin: in/stevefarnsworth Twitter: @jasonkeath
Blog: jeffbullas.com LinkedIn: in/jasonkeath
Twitter: @jeffbullas 9. Barry Feldman
LinkedIn: in/jeffbullas Owner at Feldman Creative, Speaker
Blog: feldmancreative.com/blog
Financial Services Twitter: @FeldmanCreative
Linkedin: in/feldmancreative

54
25 Social Media Experts
You Need to Know
14. Nichole Kelly 18. Jason Miller 22. Neal Schaffer
CEO at Social Media Explorer, Sr. Manager, Content Marketing, Author, Speaker
SME Digital LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Linkedin: in/nealschaffer
Author, Speaker Blog: rocknrollcocktail.com/ Blog: maximizeyoursocial.com/
Blog: socialmediaexplorer.com Twitter: @JasonMillerCA Twitter: @NealSchaffer
Twitter: @Nichole_Kelly Linkedin: in/jsnmiller Linkedin: in/nealschaffer
Linkedin: in/nicholekelly
19. Lee Odden 23. Koka Sexton
15. Dave Kerpen CEO at TopRank Online Marketing Global Sr. Marketing Manager
CEO Likeable Local Author, Speaker at LinkedIn
Author, Speaker Blog: toprankblog.com Blog: kokasexton.com/word/
Blog: davekerpen.com/blog Twitter: @leeodden Twitter: @kokasexton
Twitter: @DaveKerpen Linkedin: in/leeodden Linkedin: in/kokasexton
Linkedin: in/davekerpen
20. Joe Pulizzi 24. Mike Stelzner
16. Stephanie Sammons Founder at Content Marketing Founder of Social Media
Founder of Wired Advisor™ Institute Examiner, Author
Speaker Author, Speaker Blog: socialmediaexaminer.com
Blog: blog.wiredadvisor.com Linkedin: in/joepulizzi Twitter: @Mike_Stelzner
Twitter: @StephSammons Twitter: @JoePulizzi LinkedIn: in/stelzner
Linkedin: in/stephaniesammons Blog: contentmarketinginstitute.com
25. Todd Wheatland
17. David Meerman Scott 21. Viveka Von Rosen VP of Marketing at Kelly Services
Marketing Strategist, LinkedIn Expert, Author Author, Speaker
Speaker, Author Blog: linkedintobusiness.com/ Blog: slide-guidebook.com/
Blog: webinknow.com Twitter: @LinkedInExpert Twitter: @ToddWheatland
Twitter: @dmscott LinkedIn: in/linkedinexpert Linkedin: in/wheatland
LinkedIn: in/davidmeermanscott

Financial Services

55
About Us Relationships Matter

LinkedIn members number more With LinkedIn Marketing Solutions,


than 259 million professionals. That’s brands build relationships with the
over one-third of the 600 million world’s professionals by using accurate
professionals on the planet. targeting to deliver relevant content
This represents the largest group and communications.
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and educated people. As today’s connected professionals
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