How can you reach engaged target audiences on LinkedIn to build more successful marketing programs across branding, email, demand gen or social? After talking to marketers who have been using LinkedIn’s Sponsored InMail and looking at thousands of different campaigns, we’ve put together data-driven best practices to help you succeed with this highly underutilized tool. Combat data decay and reach highly engaged target audience on LinkedIn with valuable content that resonates! In this session join LinkedIn's Global Product Marketing Manager Irina Skripnik and Business Analytics Manager Sophia Wong as they take a data driven approach to best practices. - Featuring best in class customer examples and case studies - Tutorial on leveraging your existing email content - Live demo of real-time reporting dashboard and targeting capabilities

1. Irina Skripnik
Global Product Marketing Manager,
LinkedIn
Sophia Wong
Marketing Intelligence & Analytics Manager,
LinkedIn
Data-Driven Best Practices for Sponsored InMail

2. Questions? Send them via Webex Q&A feature
Recorded? Of course!
Before we get started…
Feedback? Survey will be available at the end of the webinar

3. INTERNAL USE ONLY
Today’s Agenda
1
What pain points
will Sponsored
InMail alleviate?
2
LinkedIn’s secret
sauce for
Sponsored InMail
3
Campaign Launch
Prep Tips
4
Top Sponsored
InMails

4. INTERNAL USE ONLY
Today’s Agenda
1
What pain points
will Sponsored
InMail alleviate?

5. Annual rate of B2B customer data decay:
66% job title, function, or company change
37% email address change
Source: 2015 study by Biznology
http://biznology.com/2015/02/b2b-data-decay-list-rental-buyer-beware/
How do you combat data decay?

6. 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
57% will browse existing discussions on
LinkedIn
Source: 2014 B2B Buyer Landscape, Demand Gen, Pardot
How do you make sure your
content is consumed?

7. 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
Professionals rely on LinkedIn as a content hub
to educate themselves on buying decisions

8. Combat dirty data & decay to decrease
bounce rates and unsubscribe rates
Benchmark email bounce rate: 1.10% and unsubscribe rate: 0.23%
Sponsored InMail bounce rate: 0% (it doesn’t bounce) and unsubscribe
rate: .10%
Timeframe January – August 2015. Sponsored InMail click rate based on sends.
Source: http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-marketing-benchmarks/

9. Improve content consumption by 2X
Timeframe January – August 2015. Sponsored InMail click rate based on sends. Unsubscribe rate based on opens.
Source: http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-marketing-benchmarks/
Benchmark email open rate: 22.1% and CTR: 2.9%
Sponsored InMail open rate: 41.2% and CTR: 4.8%

10. Sponsored InMail average open and CTR by
vertical
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Construction
Legal
Educational
Corporate
Arts
Transportation
Government
High-tech
Non-Profit
Manufacturing
Consumer
Service
Recreational
Media
Medical
Finance
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14%
Construction
Manufacturing
High-tech
Educational
Government
Finance
Corporate
Non-Profit
Service
Consumer
Medical
Recreational
Transportation
Media
Arts
Legal
Average Open Rates Average CTR

11. Timely, convenient, and personal messages to people that matter most
to your business
LinkedIn Sponsored InMail
Optimized for desktop and mobile

12. Sponsored InMail provides exclusive share of
voice
70.6% receive only 1
Sponsored InMail annually
29.3% receive 2-3
Sponsored InMail annually

13. LinkedIn Sponsored InMail
Examples
“What’s our secret sauce?

14. Clear, time sensitive, Sponsored InMail delivers a 8x
registration boost
Email
24.6% Opens
.74% Registrations
Sponsored InMail
41.8% Opens
8.7% Registrations

15. A compelling premium offer achieved CTR > 30%
Open rate: 41%
CTR: 32%

16. 1 in 5 recipients downloaded report specific to their
region
Open rate: 67.4%
CTR: 20.5%
Open rate: 56.9%
CTR: 22.0%

17. INTERNAL USE ONLY
Today’s Agenda
3
Campaign Launch
Prep Tips

18. Context + Value + Mindset

19. .
New LinkedIn Messenger Experience is HereNEW
Threaded
messages
Chat style
interface
People centric
list view

20. .
New LinkedIn Messenger Experience is HereNEW
Custom call to
action button
Image banner for
branding impact
Easy to navigate
left pane
Custom
greeting

21. Seamless Member Experience on Mobile

22. How can you target and how should
you target

23. Shares and
consumes
content on
LinkedIn
Member of
groups about
entrepreneurship
and business
Keeps his
profile
updated

24. Advance
his career
Help his
company grow
Build
new skills

25. FixDex Inc., 201-500, Internet
Member of networking Groups
Senior Individual Contributor
Male
San Francisco, CA USA
COMPANY
NAME
INDUSTRYSIZE
SCHOOL
LOCATION
JOB TITLE
SENIORITY
FUNCTION
MIT
FIELD OF STUDY
Computer Science
DEGREE Bachelor’s
GRADUATION 2007, 30AGE
CCNP, virtualization, cloudSKILLS
Senior Network engineer
GENDER
GROUPS
IP

26. User Entered Title

Standardized Title

Function
Examples:
• Product Marketing Lead → Marketing
function
• Inventory manager → Operations function
• Yield manager → Sales function
INFERRED FROM USER ENTERED TITLE
Function
Pro Tip: target by function to get relevancy + scale; target
by title to reach experts and specialists with a highly

27. User Entered Title

Standardized Title

Seniority
Examples:
• Product Marketing Lead → Senior IC
• Operations manager → Manager
• Solutions marketing → Entry IC
INFERRED FROM USER ENTERED TITLE
Seniority
Pro Tip: IC and Sr. IC are both decision makers and
influencers. Don’t use Director + unless your message is

28. Company Entered Name

Company Entered Industry

Company Entered # of employees
Sample Targeting Facets:
• Company Name → LinkedIn
• Company Industry → Internet
• Company Size → 5,000-10,000
INFERRED FROM COMPANY PAGE
Company Size & Industry

29. 4 Most Common Methods of
Targeting
• Titles
• Job Function + Seniority
• Skills + Seniority
• Groups (+ Seniority)
Pro tip: Add company size, industry to narrow in
your target market
TEST AUDIENCES TO FIND BIGGEST IMPACT
Scale Your Target Audience Efficiently

30. “How do you take your Sponsored
InMails from Great to Outstanding?”
Campaign Launch Prep Tips

31. Let your audience know
this message is relevant
for them but don’t go
overboard i.e.. “Hi
California event planner
working at an enterprise
level company…”
TAILOR YOUR CONTENT ACCORDINGLY – CALL OUT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
1. Target audiences want relevant content
PRO TIP:

32. 2. Focus on DM’s and Influencer audiences
NARROW IN ON THOSE WHO ARE MOST LIKELY TO ENGAGE
Influence the Influencer:
• Consider targeting Senior IC as part of
your audience these are the Senior
System Network Engineers, Senior
Developers, Accountants, Lawyers,
Scientists
• You have a much bigger audience that
will test products and influence the
purchase vs. person signing the
contract
Pro tip: Owner/Partner/CXO content should
be crafted specifically for this audienceOwner
Partner
CXO
VP
Director
Manager
Senior
Entry
Training
Unpaid

33. GIVE THE MEMBER A GOOD REASON TO ENGAGE WITH YOUR CONTENT
3. The Impact of Your Message Starts with the
Preview
Sender:
Person = personalized 1st person content
“I”
Company = content on behalf of a team or
product
Subject:
Be concise about what the value member
will get from the message.
Description:
Give member specific instructions what to
do with your message ex. Register for…
download the…

34. 4. Good subject lines
Short, impactful subject
lines often utilize some of
the following key words:
1. Thanks
2. Exclusive invitation
3. Connect
4. Job opportunities
5. Join us
LET THEM STAND OUT IN THE INBOX

35. THINK MEMBERS FIRST WHEN CRAFTING YOUR CONTENT
5. Give your message a unique and genuine voice
Strong visual: Support your
message content and call to
action, but not distract
Be concise, personal and
relevant: Keep your copy under
1000 characters and include a
body link
Strong call to action: should be
clear what action should be
taken

36. The Helpful Advisor The VIP Invitation The Cliffhanger
Start by explaining how
your piece of content will
help your target achieve
professional success.
Get your audience to react by
inviting them to an exclusive event.
Let them know it’s a limited
opportunity
Tell your audience just enough
to pique their interest but not so
much that they aren’t compelled
to learn more.
6. Create content that’s helpful, informative and/or
entertaining
TRY WRITING FROM THESE PERSPECTIVES

37. PRO TIP: CLEAR CTA WILL MAXIMIZE CLICKS AND CONVERSIONS TO GATED CONTENT
7. Clear calls to action
Top InMail CTA keywords
1) Try
2) Register
3) Reserve
4) Join
5) Confirm
6) Download
Top Sponsored Update CTAs
1) Apply
2) Stop by
3) Download
4) Read
5) Check
6) Register

38. Never miss an opportunity to reach your target
audience—no matter where they are or how
and when they choose to consume content.
8. Take advantage of quick lead opportunities
AS PROFESSIONALS CATCH UP ON CONTENT AT HOME

39. 9. Optimize the content for mobile
For best mobile performance make
sure:
• The copy is fewer than 1000 characters or
eliminate it all together.
• The CTA is clear.
• The landing page is optimized for the small
screen.

40. SYNERGISTICALLY WITH MULTIPLE FULL-FUNNEL PRODUCTS
10. Multi-Product Marketers gain performance
128% higher
open rates among those
exposed to Display and
Sponsored Updates first
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
Shape Perception
Establish Trust
Drive Traffic
for Nurturing
Nurture to
Convince
and Convert
Earn New Leads

41. Best Practices Cheat Sheet
1. Optimizing for
relevance
• Ensure your message
resonates with your target
audience
• Always ask, “why would the
audience read this?
• Consider targeting the
influencer to the decision
• Use a sender with credibility
among the target audience
2. Optimizing content
• Clearly outline benefits to
the member for engaging
with this message
• Use concise, compelling
and conversational intros
• Include a concise call to
action and be clear about
what the reader should do
• Make sure landing pages
are optimized for mobile
traffic
3. Amplify and
personalize
• Test to see what works with
the audience and then refine
• Be resourceful and use your
existing content by
reworking it to be
conversational
• Be genuine

42. INTERNAL USE ONLY
Today’s Agenda
4
Top Sponsored
InMails

43. Easy to read message with clear
value benefit to the target audience.
Concise message to a specific target
audience is the best approach for
offers and trials.
Uses the intro copy to address the
target audience and adds credibility
by referencing their engineers
Landing page does the educating and
converting
Top Sponsored InMails- Q3 2015

44. Provides a lot of upfront value by
referencing that this is an updated
report for this target audience.
The message is passive and focused
on information sharing not hard
selling.
These tactics are effective ways to
distribute content like survey results
or a research report.
Top Sponsored InMails- Q3 2015

45. The message is highly personalized
and sites relevancy both for target
audience and location.
Very clever tactic to gather decision
makers in a community environment.
Taps into a very broad desire to
network: the main reason
professionals use LinkedIn. The
message is appropriate to the
platform.
Top Sponsored InMails- Q3 2015

46. Captivating subject line
Message fits in well to be sent
from a company
Call-out that this is a once in a
lifetime opportunity
Message has a sense of limited
availability and time sensitivity
Top Sponsored InMails- Q3 2015

47. Highly personalized and concise
messaging got high engagement
and registrations
Message is easy to engage with
across desktop and mobile
The image adds visual appeal to
the message on desktop.
Top Sponsored InMails- Q3 2015

48. Niche content finds a place on
LinkedIn with the use of an effective
targeting strategy.
Specific instructions on how the
report will be delivered and what to
expect.
The intro copy is concise and clear
and adds to the image and call to
action.
Top Sponsored InMails- Q3 2015

49. Top Don’t Tips
1. Pushy Content
• Content that sounds like a
brochure or infomercial. Ex.
Who does ABC trust for
XYZ? Us! See what XYZ
can do for your business
• Don’t cast too wide of a net
Ex. You or a colleague may
benefit from this…
• Avoid !!! and ALL CAPS
• Don’t overload message
with multiple calls to action,
focus on one action and
building trust
2. Hard to Navigate
Website
• The landing page should
match the call to action and
message. (ex. Demo in
message vs. whitepaper or
about us on landing page)
• Your landing page should
align with your goal ex. PDF
is not ideal for conversions
3. Too much or too vague
• Avoid getting all details into the
message, your landing page
should do the educating
• Have a call to action that’s too
long
• Using a closing salutation if the
message is coming from a
company
• Technical content coming from
marketing or sales contacts

51. Questions?
Irina Skripnik
Global Product Marketing Manager,
LinkedIn
Sophia Wong
Marketing Intelligence & Analytics Manager,
LinkedIn