1.
PART 1:
Why Sophisticated
The does my business
Marketer’s Guide to
need Linkedin?
From brand building, to lead generation, to content
marketing and advertising, Linkedin can help you
build your business.
LinkedIn is so much more than a place
to find a job or an online resume.
It’s quickly becoming the go-to
content publishing platform for the
professional mindset.
As more professionals are spending
more and more time looking for new
content and keeping in touch with
their networks, it brings with it an
opportunity for marketers.
The idea of being a sophisticated
marketer comes from the current
state of the golden age of social
media marketing and how it is
Marketing and Advertising
ss
consider
ation
action
8:00 a.m.
Publish with a Purpose:
Information Technology and Services
Financial Services
transforming into the enlightening
era. No longer can marketers just
do social, they need results and
actionable insights in order to prove
the value of their efforts. And no
longer are we forced to take a spray
and pray method to get our message
heard in the noisy world of social.
The technology is in place that allows
us to take a much more refined
approach, a sophisticated approach
if you will, to social media marketing
on the world’s largest professional
network.
awarene
Most LinkedIn members look for inspiration
early in the day with peak consumption
at 8:00 a.m.
CONTENT MARKETING
ON LINKEDIN
PART 1: Why does my business need LinkedIn?
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Publish with a Purpose:
Content Marketing
on LinkedIn
As the world’s largest professional
network, LinkedIn is a powerful
publishing platform. We help marketers
directly engage LinkedIn members
with content and experiences that
are professionally relevant. Think of
it as “publishing with a purpose.” On
LinkedIn, you have the opportunity to
build relationships with your targets
by using accurate targeting to share
relevant content. LinkedIn provides
the following solutions for delivering
content to our members:
• ompany Pages, Showcase Pages,Follow Company
C
Ads and Company Updates
• Sponsored Updates
• SlideShare
• Content Ads
• LinkedIn Groups
If you liked this excerpt from the Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn, Download the Full Guide Here
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Publish with a Purpose:
Content Marketing
on LinkedIn
Company Pages, Showcase Pages,
Follow Company Ads and Company
Updates: Be Found and Connect with
Those that Matter Most
LINKEDIN: A KEY PLATFORM FOR B2B CONTENT DELIVERY
How effective are these Social Networks in delivering B2B
Content (% of respondents)
• ore than 3 million companies leverage their
M
Company Page to promote content and build
relationships
• ompany Pages allow you to showcase thought
C
leadership content to prospective clients
% 0
10
20
Effective
30
40
50
Ineffective
60
70
80
90
100
I don’t use it
• ompany Updates containing links can have up to
C
45% higher follower engagement than those without
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.
Download the Full Guide Here
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Showcase Pages:
Reach and Build a Relationship
with Specific Audiences
• uild a presence and present a unique voice for
B
every part of your business
• reate dedicated pages for your more prominent
C
brands, businesses and initiatives to extend your
LinkedIn presence and deliver specific messages
for each target audience
• onitor performance through dedicated
M
analytic tools
5 steps to engaging followers on LinkedIn
1. Establish your presence
2. Attract followers
3. Engage followers
4. Amplify through the network
5. Analyze and refine
Download the Full Guide Here
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5.
Attract
More Followers
• ngage your colleagues. Employees are 70% more
E
likely to engage with your company updates, so ask
them to participate
• ultivate a larger following with a multi-channel
C
approach – add a link to your company page in
e-mail signatures, create a customized banner
or button
• dd a Follow button to your website
A
Did You Know Fun Fact
There are more than
1.5 million unique
publishers actively
using the LinkedIn share
button on their sites to
send content into the
LinkedIn platform.
Download the Full Guide Here
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Follow Company Ads
• eliver personalized messages right to the
D
homepages of your target audience
• nce members choose to follow you, their
O
new status is shared with their full network
• t’s a powerful social means of building
I
your audience
Download the Full Guide Here
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7.
Company Updates
A
powerful tool to reach and engage
professionals with relevant content
• hink like a journalist and add a point of view,
T
ask a thoughtful question or include a clear call
to action
LinkedIn By the Numbers:
EXECUTIVES RATE LINKEDIN HIGH ON VALUE THEY GAIN
FROM THEIR SOCIAL MARKETING INITIATIVES
% rating value as either “extremely valuable” or “valuable”
Branded Blog
64%
LinkedIn
60%
Twitter
59%
Facebook
58%
YouTube
50%
LinkedIn Groups
48%
• tand out with a compelling image or rich media
S
• ake your content snackable and valuable
M
• eep your audience’s attention and produce
K
content consistently
•
Use Sponsored Updates to promote your
best content
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
Download the Full Guide Here
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Sponsored Updates
Place your content right alongside
content from news sources, thought
leaders and brands
• Raise awareness and shape perception
• Drive quality leads
• uild relationships with the world’s professionals
B
• each a targeted audience beyond your Company
R
Page followers
• ear real-time reporting and analytics help you
N
fine-tune your strategy instantly
Think of Targeted and Sponsored
Updates as being native advertising
Sponsored updates are native to the browsing
experience, incorporated directly into the
member’s feed so as not to interrupt the
stream of content.
Download the Full Guide Here
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SlideShare
Tap into the visual tendencies
• stablish your brand as a thought leader around
E
topics and keywords
• hare presentations, videos, infographics and other
S
documents with your LinkedIn network
• pload portfolios, conference talks, marketing/sales
U
presentations and more
• mbed videos in presentations and add audio
E
to make a webinar
60 MILLION
visitor a month and
3 BILLION
slide views per month
SlideShare is the world’s largest
professional content-sharing community
Download the Full Guide Here
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Content Ads
Standard Content Ad
Enhance the Member Experience
without interrupting it
• ontent ads use images and video content that
C
stand out above the fold on LinkedIn’s clean,
uncluttered page design
• osition your company as a thought leader and
P
engage your audience with white papers, videos,
brochures and other high-value content without
interrupting the user flow and enhancing the
member experience
Standard content ad enlarged
Download the Full Guide Here
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SlideShare
SlideShare Content Ad
Content Ads
Enable seamless engagement
• xtend the reach and discoverability of your
E
SlideShare content
• Drive engagement by offering user value
• emonstrate thought leadership and
D
industry expertise
SLIDESHARE content ad enlarged
• our audience interacts with a presentation
Y
in the ads just as they would on SlideShare
• mbedding a lead capture form within
E
the presentation allows your audience to
connect with you without interrupting their
LinkedIn session
•
Analytics and metrics provide a uniquely in-depth
view of engagement with your content
Download the Full Guide Here
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LinkedIn APIs
Deepen engagement and share
content network-wide
• Create custom branded experiences
• embers sign in using their LinkedIn login without
M
entering additional data
• Experiences can be tailored based on profile data
• ncourages your experience to go viral by triggering
E
it to publish updates about a user’s activities
Statoil Taps into LinkedIn
API to Create a Content Hub
Statoil wanted to shift its image from a
big-oil company to a forward-thinking energy
organization. Using a LinkedIn API, it created
a content hub called Energy Realities that
helped it reach the right audience and amplify
its content and social actions.
Read Case Study
Download the Full Guide Here
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LinkedIn Groups
Join the conversation
• oin up to 50 groups that will prove the best
J
investment of your time and then participate
• eigh in on active discussions
W
• oint fellow members to additional
P
high-value information
• osition yourself as a trusted and helpful peer
P
LinkedIn Groups for Business
HubSpot’s Inbound Marketer’s LinkedIn Group
is another stellar example of how a marketer can
best utilize a group within LinkedIn. HubSpot
now has more than 50,000 followers for its
Company Page, and more than 96,000 members
for the Inbound Marketers group—significant
audiences for its messages about best practices
for inbound marketing.
Download the Full Guide Here
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Branded Communities
Join the conversation
• reate your own exclusively branded forum –
C
a targeted environment that establishes your
company’s expertise and builds an active
community that endorses your brand
• s the Community sponsor, you’ll leverage
A
exclusive ad positions to share company,
brand and product messages
• eekly emails to Community members
W
drive engagement
100,000
LinkedIn Members join
new Groups everyday
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.
• ommunity management tools help you stay
C
involved in the conversation
• romote your content and messages in the
P
right-hand rail with units that support rich
media and video
Download the Full Guide Here
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15.
About Us
Relationships Matter
LinkedIn members number more
than 259 million professionals. That’s
over one-third of the 600 million
professionals on the planet.
This represents the largest group
anywhere of influential, affluent
and educated people.
With LinkedIn Marketing Solutions,
brands build relationships with the
world’s professionals by using accurate
targeting to deliver relevant content
and communications.
Professional Publishing Platform
Our evolution into a professional
publishing platform drives increased
engagement on LinkedIn. Compared
with other professional publishers,
content on LinkedIn works differently.
The rich data on our platform means
we can deliver the most relevant
content to our members.
LinkedIn Corporation © 2014
As today’s connected professionals
seek out ideas and insights from the
people and brands they trust,
marketers use LinkedIn to target
advertising and publish relevant
content in a professional context.
Brands extend reach through the
social sharing that occurs naturally
on LinkedIn, as well as by extending
LinkedIn data to their sites and
brand experiences through APIs.
For more information, please visit
our Marketing Solutions site.