You know how important content marketing is—98% of your fellow B2B marketers say it’s core to their marketing strategy and more than half of them plan to increase their content marketing budget this year.
And, if you’re like your peers, you’re looking to drive a higher return on investment for all your content marketing efforts. We get it and we can help.
Join LinkedIn product marketing manager Selin Tyler and content marketing evangelist Jaime Pham as they show you how to drive killer results using Sponsored Updates. They’ll bring their winning content strategies to life by showcasing real campaigns from top-performing B2B brands.
Learn how to leverage your best content to appeal to and engage more of the right people.
2. Questions? Send them via Webex Q&A Feature
Recorded? Of course!
Before we get started…
Shout outs? Tweet them via #LinkedInContent
Feedback? Survey will be available at the end of the Webinar
3. Today’s Agenda
ONE TWO THREE
Content
Management Best
Practices
Campaign Set up
Tips & Tricks
Top Sponsored
Updates of 2015 (so
far)
7. Nearly half of B2B buyers start their
solution research with a web search,
and 72% of buyers will use Google at
some point in the research stage
Source: 2014 B2B Buyer Landscape, Demand Gen, Pardot
8. That same percentage of buyers using
search will also use social media
Asked for
suggestions/
recommendations
from users
Connected directly
with potential
vendors
Connected with
individual thought
leaders for opinions
Did not use social Browsed existing
discussions
9. “How do you take your Sponsored
Updates from Great to Outstanding?”
9
ONE
Content
Management Best
Practices
10. 1
Source: LinkedIn Internal Study May 2015
Followers and target audiences want different things:
Here’s what followers want to hear, tailor your content accordingly
Provide a steady stream of content for your followers: Best in
class marketers post one to three updates per day on their
Company or Showcase Pages.
11. • Sponsor two to four updates at any time to maximize your reach to your target audience.
• Proactively optimize or cycle out the updates that aren’t achieving your key performance indicators (KPIs).
1 Followers and target audiences want different things:
Here are topics some of the popular target segments consume on LinkedIn
12. Shape Perception
Establish Trust
Drive Traffic
for Nurturing
Nurture to
Convince
and Convert
Earn New Leads
2 Pick content for the full marketing funnel:
Build trust first, then ask for contact information
Infographics, blog posts, industry trends, influencer
content, “behind the scenes” and exclusive content
Best practice guides, case studies, product reviews,
analyst reports, webinars, blog posts
White papers, research briefs, product demos, trials,
product reviews and comparisons, analyst reports
Newsletters, recommendations, case studies, product
news, tutorials
You have 10+ opportunities
to publish Sponsored Updates
that effectively introduce your
brand, build trust, provide helpful
information, and ultimately inform
a purchase decision. Deliver
relevant content at every step
of the buyer’s journey.
13. 2 Pro Tip:
Clear calls to action will maximize your clicks and conversions to gated content
This CTA from Hortonworks for a whitepaper download couldn’t be more direct:
14. Make the most out of your gated content by repurposing it in a variety
of full funnel pieces such as blogs, infographics, webinars
and SlideShare presentations
3 Boost your content ROI through repurposing
Make the most of your gated content by repurposing it in a variety
of full funnel pieces such as blogs, infographics, webinars
and SlideShare presentations.
15. 4 Leverage your employee network to scale up your reach
Employees are a valuable secret
weapon in scaling your Sponsored
Updates campaign.
In a recent Sponsored Updates case study, Dutch
Bank ABN AMRO revealed that their “secret
weapon” for scaling always-on content is their
people.
The Bank’s social media team distributes a
content calendar to all employees every week,
explaining what they’ll be posting to their
Company Page and when.
Now they have 600 people who can share ABN
AMRO’s content with their connections.
Results: Engagement rates as high as 3.25% on their content.
Over 28,000 visits to ABN Amro Insights site in one month.
16. The Helpful Advisor The Conversationalist The Cliffhanger
Start by explaining how
your piece of content will
help your target achieve
professional success.
Make a bold statement or ask
a question to spark a conversation
and get your audience to react.
Tell your audience just enough
to pique their interest but not so
much that they aren’t compelled
to learn more.
5 Create content that is helpful, informative and/or entertaining
Try writing from these perspectives:
17. 6 Optimize your content for mobile
For best mobile performance make sure:
Your intro copy is fewer than 150 character or eliminate it all together
Your CTA is clear
Your landing page is optimized for the small screen
18. 7 Use images to drive engagement
Let your images stand out in the feed
• Adhere to published specifications to ensure your
image is the proper resolution.
• Use the image to expand on the content
or emphasize the CTA.
• Make sure you choose an image that accurately
reflects your content. Consistency between image
and story conveys the topic before the member
even reads a word.
19. 8 Test and improve performance with Direct Sponsored Content
At any time, test 2 to 3
versions of your content
to continuously improve
performance.
Think Simple:
Consider testing personalization
or variations of your CTA.
20. Never miss an opportunity to reach your target
audience—no matter where they are or how
and when they choose to consume content.
9
Adopt an always on mindset…
…as professionals catch up on content at home
21. of decision makers use
social media to research
the solution purchase.
of B2B purchase decision
makers said that winning
content had a significant
impact on their decision.*
9
Pro Tip: For content, think always on content strategy
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to impact your prospects’ buying decision
Make sure your solutions are always in the consideration set of your
target audience by adopting an always-on Sponsored Updates strategy.
*The 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Study, Demand Gen, January 29, 2014
22. 10 Expand your reach to similar audiences
Use Audience Expansion to discover audiences similar to your target
Make your content last longer:
Before you retire a campaign that’s showing fatigue,
consider enabling the Audience Expansion function.
It’s a great way to reach new audiences similar to
your target audience, and expose them to your brand
message.
Remember, these audiences haven’t seen
your content, so it’s new to them.
23. Best Practices Cheat Sheet
Optimizing content
• Always ask, “why would my audience read
this?”
• Use concise and compelling
intros and headlines
• Ask compelling questions to involve the target
audience
• Include a clear call to action, regardless of the
objective
• Make sure your landing pages are optimized for
mobile traffic
Managing updates
• Plan your editorial calendar, but also react to
timely events
• Respond to comments regularly
• Consider keeping updates running through the
weekend
• Test to see what works with your audience and
then refine
Optimizing visuals
• Always include an image, presentation, or video
• Ensure your image is relevant to your content
1 2
3
27. BID ONLY AS MUCH AS YOUR WILLINGNESS TO PAYBID
Pricing model options:
CPM (cost per thousand impressions)
CPC (cost per click)
In both cases, you only pay enough to beat the next highest bidder
in the 2nd price auction
$
29. START BROAD, CHISEL DOWNTARGETING
Chisel, don’t piece-together
Run-of-professionals (ROP) doesn’t mean “no targeting” it
means “all targeting”
Pay for your target audience at ROP rate!
Let the robots work their magic
While marketers are great at understanding “who” their
audience is, optimization algorithms “know” who clicks
and optimize accordingly
31. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• Stands out from the rest of the
news feed by using a casual tone
and incorporating a meme
• Uses a short-form article format
for easy engagement
• Uses the intro copy to deliver an
upbeat message as a hook
3
1
32. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• Provides a lot of upfront value with
the use of statistics in the intro
copy and an infographic for visual
engagement
• These tactics are effective ways to
tease out longer content like
survey results or a research report
3
2
33. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• The post optimizes mobile
engagement by eliminating the
intro copy
• Taps into a very broad desire to be
more successful: the main reason
professionals use LinkedIn. The
message is appropriate to the
platform
3
3
34. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• Niche content finds a place on
LinkedIn with the use of an
effective targeting strategy
• The image adds context to the
post
3
4
35. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• What makes it engaging?
• It keeps content social by
using human stories and
peer learning
• The intro copy is concise
and clear and adds to the
image and title
3
5
Buyer’s journey is drastically different. They have access to great content to aid their B2B decisions. Over 10 pieces of content to be exact
So you have 10 chances to make an impact, differentiate your brand offering from the crowd and influence the buyer’s journey
So if it is so important to get your content in front of your prospects, it is really important to understand where they are finding the content
Where you need to distribute your content
So search is where it all starts for nearly 3 out of 4 professional
However, same number is also true for social media
3 out of 4 of your prospects use social media to find content to educate themselves along their buyer journey
And LinkedIn is the world’s only professional network where buyers increasingly rely on to make these purchase decisions. For executives, LinkedIn is a top source for social media engagement
Linkedin is increasingly becoming a professional content hub, with 7x more engagement with content than jobs
Let’s get right to it – how do you put your best foot forward on linkedin to make the most out of the content you have? Chisel it, test it and Use it most effectively to make a lasting impression on your target audience?
Your company page is your company’s identity on linkedin – so it is really important to start there. For the organic content you are posting, here is how to keep your followers engaged on your company page
What is a follower? It is a member who opted in to learning more about your company and receive your company news in their feed
Let’s see here what they are interested in
We also see that posting a steady stream of content, daily if not multiple times a day is a best practice to keep your followers engaged
And now let’s talk about your target audience
It’s important to notice that what they are looking for is not the same as your company page followers
On linkedIn what you will see is that “recruiting” is always a top topic in any industry. We classify professional betterment type of content as recruiting. So here think of any type of content that can help your target audience become more successful professionally
But as you see here, there are also differing topics based on industry/members. For illustration, you can see here two of our most popular audiences. You can also look at topics in groups for inspiration. What people are discussing organically are natural areas of interest
And to maximize your reach to your target audience in the feed, we recommend having 4 updates at any time – proactively cycle out what is not working to boost your performance and keep testing/improving
Let’s start with a cocktail story – would someone from your sales team approach a prospect at a party and ask for their contact info? Probably not
Assume the similar holds for content – if you are looking to acquire leads, you also need to invest in branding/thought leadership content to start introducing yourself to your prospects to increase your chances to drive leads with your gated content
Remember you have 10 opportunities to make an impression – delivery relevant content at every step to increase your chances of success. See here what type of content works well at each stage based on our experience. Can you map your current content efforts to this funnel – that’s a great place to start to identify where you may have gaps in your campaigns
Does that mean you need to produce 10 pieces of content? That’s a ton of work right? Let’s talk about how to use the content you have and not hire a content agency to produce a ton of content for you in our next tip
Quick note on gated / lower funnel content
To drive higher clicks and conversions, make your Call to action clear
Let your audience know that they will be downloading a white paper – this hortonworks example is one of our best performing content. Which shows you that you can write about a fairly niche (yet super popular in its industry) topic and drive great results
So here’s what I was talking about… You do not need 10 pieces of content but a great “repurposing strategy” to invest in 1 big rich gated content and then slicing/dicing it to create content that fits your entire funnel from infographics to webinars to blog posts
You can really stretch the purpose and useful life of your content investments with this strategy – which is a very popular one we leverage here at linkedin
This webinar is all about how to stretch your content budget to help you boost your ROI
Another secret weapon we discovered is employees- if you can get them genuinely engaged in becoming advocates for your brand and content, you can scale your reach far beyond your campaign budget
Earned media combined with the added virality can boost your ROI as we’ve seen with ABN Amro
They get over 3% engagement rates on their content on LinkedIn thanks to their active employees
Content marketing is part science part art
While your content may be helpful and relevant, it is also important to think about how to verbalize and present your content to grab the reader’s attention
We see 3 perspectives that work well time and time again
See here how Xerox asks you whether you are doing these things proactively and helping you get better at job search
The conversationalist – is starting with a bold statement or a thought provoking question to spark a conversation. Ask your audience a question or make a statement that stops them on their tracks and feel compelled to read and respond
The Cliffhanger is also a great one – here’s a successful example from athenahealth- the description tells the reader just enough that their interest is piqued but leave out just enough that the reader is curious to follow the thought
Speaking of writing tips, optimizing the content for mobile is a key imperative these days
Here’s what we see works on linkedin
Introduction should be concise and under 150 characters
Or it can be eliminated all together with a really punchy headline
Make sure you are focusing on a really clear and compelling call to action
And don’t forget your landing page – if it is hard to read, then you will lose those precious prospects who want to learn about you and your brand
An image can be worth a thousand words so you can also let your image do the heavy lifting in grabbing attention like the example from AIG here
To make sure you put your best foot forward, we highly recommend checking out our ad specs – adspecs.liassets.com (also hyperlinked in this presentation which you will receive after this webinar)
An image matching the content like the airplane image, an overlay of a useful fact can help convey to the user the value they will be receiving from the content and make them more inclined to click
When talking to clients, I sometimes hear, we know what works we will do this and they get great results.
However sometimes after our conversations we convince them to try new ideas based on our best practices and see their engagement rates double, triple (and in some cases even more!)
And when it comes to testing, think simple. It doesn’t have to be a full optimization task. Making small tweaks such as calling out your audience or testing your call to action could be the difference between good to great
For instance we learned that discover is not the most effective call to action for our audience for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions – which was very counterintuitive for us!
I want to talk about one of the biggest a-ha moments I had during my time at LinkedIn – realizing that professionals actually consume as much (if not more) content at home and on the weekends – to catch up
So by turning off your campaigns over the weekend, you may be missing out on a big chunk of your audience
We can take a step back and apply the same principle to your overall content strategy. Think about setting up your campaigns as audiences not just episodic conversations to promote a webinar or an ebook. It is cultivating a conversation with your target audience (or audiences)
You don’t turn off your website. So apply the same strategy to your content marketing efforts!
64% of B2B purchase decision makers base their decisions on content – take the opportunity to make an impression
Here’s a really interesting function that is also a little known secret to turbo charge your content efforts
Audience expansion finds audiences similar to the ones you selected. For instance if you were targeting certain groups or titles, you may be missing out on people who belong to similar LinkedIn groups or have similar titles
With the click of a button, LinkedIn helps you find these audiences
Why is this important for your content ROI? Because by extending your campaign to simllar audiences, you can extend the shelf life of your content. These new audiences have not seen your content yet, no need to retire the content quite yet.
Here is a take-away summary best practices slide for your reference
I will not dive deep since we already talked about all of these in detail
Now let’s talk about your levers to set your campaigns up for success beyond content
At a high level you have 4 levers to optimize your campaigns
You can test/revise your content based on the best practices we already covered
Or also think about these other three
Looking at how to optimally allocate budget to audiences
Understand how you can bid smarter
Or chisel your targeting strategy
Let’s dive deeper
Let’s talk about the first lever content and why it is so important
Good content can literally save you money
At LinkedIn we want to ensure that our members receive the most relevant content. So when you are competing in the sponsored updates auction, we will take both your bid and your relevance into consideration
Based on this logic, the more you can improve your relevance (or the quality of your content), the less you need to bid to win the auction. We hope the best practices on content that we covered so far can help you with this process
Next let’s understand bidding
As you may know we have 2 pricing models CPM and CPC
Choose the bidding model that fits your campaign objectives
If you are looking to reach your audience with your message on linkedin, paying by impression may make more sense. If you are driving traffic to your site, make sure you only pay for clicks
And remember that this is a second price auction so what you bid is not what you pay. You only pay a penny over the second highest bid. Make sure your bid is your willingness to pay for the impressions or clicks
And another tip is on audience
We highly recommend as I said earlier, setting up your campaigns based on your target audience. And based on the performance you are seeing, you can start shifting your budget around so you can spend on the audiences that engage with your content – and also pair the content that works for that audience
And lastly let’s talk about targeting best practices
We recommend starting broad and analyzing your campaign manager reports to understand what audiences are more receptive to your audience
Remember if you start with run of professionals targeting and add geo, you are still targeting CXOs!
And then let our algorithms optimize for you. As said if you pick a CPC campaign, we will optimize for the types of members who engage/click and if it is a cpm campaign, we will optimize delivery to your target audience
So let the robots do the work for you!
And now let’s put it all together by looking at some content and analyzing what best practices we see
For more best practices, case studies, details about Sponsored Updates we encourage you to check out our site marketing.linkedin.com
That’s all we had for today – it looks like we have some time for questions. Let’s take a few questions from Webex