Professional Documents
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LinkedIn Advertising PDF
LinkedIn Advertising PDF
2017
LIMI TED ED I TI ON
Table of Contents
A NOTE TO THE WHY SHOULD CHAPTER 1: CHAPTER 2:
SOPHISTICATED I BE READING WHY DOES MY MARKET TO
MARKETER THIS GUIDE? BUSINESS NEED WHO MATTERS
LINKEDIN?
1 2 3—4 5—8
Research released by the Content We’ve updated this Guide for 2017, with
What is a Sophisticated Marketer? Marketing Institute (CMI) at the start of all of the latest LinkedIn features, tips and
It’s someone who understands the 2017 shows more content marketers tactics to help Sophisticated Marketers like
fundamental, unchanging principles of finding success on LinkedIn than on any you get more from our platform. It’s both an
marketing but has absolute confidence other social platform . That’s because instruction manual and a strategic guide –
applying those principles to new techniques LinkedIn is the natural environment for a a one-stop shop to the vast opportunities
and platforms. Sophisticated Marketer. As the world’s for increasing awareness, influencing
largest professional content platform perception, driving high-quality leads and
The Sophisticated Marketer is hungry to it embodies the potential of social and growing revenue.
try new things and learn new skills – but content combined – but it can do a lot
equally committed to testing effectiveness, more besides. Let’s get started, shall we?
optimising around what works, and
demanding robust data and ROI. They On LinkedIn, you can target audiences Jason Miller
recognise social media and content with precision, delivering innovative display Senior Content Marketing Manager,
marketing as threads that run throughout ads and mail messages with guaranteed LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
their integrated marketing strategies – deliverability and exceptional response
rates. You can tailor content to your
1
Why Should I Be
Reading This Guide?
LinkedIn has products that impact every stage of the purchase process.
The goal of this guide is to provide the absolute best, most up-to-date,
definitive guide for marketers to learn how to market to who matters on
LinkedIn as part of their integrated approach to marketing.
This guide is a labor of love for us here at LinkedIn. We created it to be a one-stop shop
for everything a marketer needs to know about getting the most value out of LinkedIn for
yourself and your company. It’s not just an instruction manual, but a strategic guide with
lots of input from top thought leaders and LinkedIn marketing experts, combined with the
expertise of the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions team.
And it’s all about how to truly tap into the potential and power of social media marketing.
That’s because social media marketing is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a necessary
part of a successful integrated marketing approach for driving awareness, leads
and ultimately revenue.
We call this "The Sophisticated Marketer's Guide" because we feel it’s time to take social
media marketing to the next level, moving beyond theory to enlightened practice. It’s time
to get real results with your social marketing, and this guide will help.
2
CHAPTER 1
On LinkedIn, we have:
platforms; we're driven by our members’
professional aspirations.
467
450
430
413
• 61 million senior-level influencers The world’s professionals come to 396
LinkedIn for: 380
• 40 million decision makers 341
350
332
• Industry news 313
• 10.7 million opinion leaders 296
277
• Expert advice 259
238
218
• 6.8 million C-level execs
• Career training
• 3 million MBA graduates
• Peer insights and recommendations
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3
• C
ontent published by LinkedIn’s 2013 2014 2015 2016
500+ Influencers
Source: “LinkedIn Announces First Quarter 2016 Results,” LinkedIn, 2016
others
all searching for the right destinations to effective use. But marketers can’t just “do”
89%
find the best information, and there are social. Now they need to produce results
actually fewer places where we’re gathering and actionable insights in order to prove 77%
in large numbers. the value of their efforts. Fortunately, we no 77%
longer are forced to take a spray-and-pray
61%
With LinkedIn, you’re reaching a quality approach to getting our messages heard in
audience in a professional context. And, the noisy world of social.
you can engage them in a very meaningful LINKEDIN CONSIDERED MOST EFFECTIVE FOR B2B LEAD GEN
way: by sharing valuable content with The technology is in place that allows us 80% of social media B2B leads come from LinkedIn.
products tailored to how professionals to adopt a much more refined approach,
engage. By doing so, you become part sophisticated if you will, to social media 80.33%
of your audience’s conversations and marketing, using the world’s largest
12.73%
education on the platform. professional network.
6.73%
All it takes is a sophisticated marketer who 0.21%
seizes the opportunity to engage them.
LinkedIn 91%
Online News Sites 64%
That’s where the Linked platform delivers Get to the Right Engage Your audience
value, by: Professional Audience with content
With your specific end goal now in mind, Based on your goals and the metrics you’ll
1. Target our targeting is the core of what enables use to grade success of your programs—
Creating awareness of your brand and your success on LinkedIn. The authentic and given how members engage on the
products early in the purchase process member-generated, first party data on platform—you can take advantage of a
LinkedIn is more accurate and highly mix of organic content and paid
2. Engage differentiated in the market noise of advertising opportunities.
Positioning your brand as a thought leader audience data. We make it easy for you
and engaging audiences more deeply to segment and reach your audience by
with content as they’re forming perceptions offering:
and decisions
• R
ich demographic data
3. Optimize Job Function, Seniority, Company
Driving the right audiences to take action, Name, Geo, Industry Our innovative products help marketers navigate the complex B2B
helping you generate quality leads and buying process, where multiple touchpoints influence every sale.
new business • Interest-based targeting
Group Membership, Skills,
Field of Study
“LinkedIn is the only platform that the majority of B2B marketers consider
• Persona targeting to be effective.”
Job Searchers, Opinion Leaders,
Mass Affluent, Business Travelers — "Content Marketing Research Report," Content Marketing Institute, 2016
ORGANIC
You can build your brand and content presence through:
Optimizing This infographic highlights all the opportunities for getting the most
Your Profile
from your profile.
Every day, we see millions of professionals find others and get found
through LinkedIn search.
Whether someone is searching for people, jobs, companies or groups, we provide the most
relevant results based on your professional identity, your network and how the people in
your network engage with LinkedIn. Plus, one of the first steps many members take when
receiving content from a company or another member is clicking through to the personal
profile or Company Page to learn about the sender. That’s why it’s critical for you and your
company to maintain complete and optimized profiles.
188,000+
Want to broaden your horizons? Take
advantage of discovery modules within
LinkedIn to help you find more relevant
content based on the people you’re FOLLOWERS
following and the posts you’re reading.
Joe Pulizzi, a speaker, entrepreneur,
author, and founder of Content
Marketing Institute, has over 188,000
LinkedIn followers. One of his posts
pulled in nearly 130K (138,825) views,
800 (804) thumbs up and over 200
(211) comments. It’s easy to be part
of such a rich discussion!
30,000
VIEWS
22% are entry-level 49% of Influencer
professionals. followers are director-
level and above.
Pulse offers a more relevant news experience with content tailored to your professional
interests throughout LinkedIn. It’s the main vehicle for our social news experience across
web and mobile. And it’s a key way for marketers to stay current on all the latest insights
and trends.
Pulse makes it possible to access tailored news based on your interests. Specifically, you as
a marketer can easily leverage all the great business knowledge flowing through LinkedIn in
the form of news, Influencer posts, industry updates, discussions, comments and more. And
because you can customize content based on your preferences, you can zero in on what
matters most to you. Think of Pulse as your daily “newspaper”—one that let’s you stay up to
speed whether you’re on your desktop, mobile phone (Android or iOS) or tablet!
• Long-form posts
Company Pages are where you can catch the eye of prospective customers by featuring
thought leadership content or anything else that would be relevant to your target audience, LinkedIn continues to be the #1 channel to distribute content.
including links to your latest and greatest whitepapers, e-books, case studies and how-to
content.By delivering useful and engaging content, you’ll foster engagement and help your
message spread faster.
And remember: Integration with common Social Media Management vendors including
Adobe, Hootsuite™, Percolate, Salesforce, Shoutlet, Spredfast and Sprinklr makes it easier
for you to manage your Page.
% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Build Your Brand and Company Presence Organically: Content Marketing On LinkedIn 18
CHAPTER 6
Build Your Brand and Company Presence Organically: Content Marketing On LinkedIn 19
CHAPTER 6
The more the merrier on the social merry-go-round. Here are some simple, effective There are more than 2 million unique publishers actively using the LinkedIn Share
strategies for attracting more followers with your company updates: button on their sites to send content into the LinkedIn platform.
• E
ngage your colleagues. A study by BrightEdge found that 9 of the top 10 brands with
the most followers on LinkedIn have at least 60% of their employees on LinkedIn. “Content marketing is the planning, creation, promotion and measurement
of content to a target audience with the goal of satisfying customers and
• C
ultivate a larger following with a multi-channel approach. Encourage your teammates to affecting a business outcome. LinkedIn offers an incredibly useful platform
add a link to your company page in their email signatures. If needed, ask your designer for research, ideation and the amplification of content to specific interest
for help creating a customized banner or button. groups from your target customers to the Influencers that inspire them to
take action. LinkedIn is essential for achieving content marketing results.”
• A
dd a Follow button to your website. Your web team can pull a Follow button code from
developer.linkedin.com to add to your blog or website. This lets LinkedIn members follow —Lee Odden, CEO @TopRank Online Marketing, Author: Optimize, Public Speaker:
your company with a single click. Integrated Search, Social, and Content Marketing
Build Your Brand and Company Presence Organically: Content Marketing On LinkedIn 20
CHAPTER 6
Build Your Brand and Company Presence Organically: Content Marketing On LinkedIn 21
CHAPTER 6
SlideShare is not just a repository for your slide presentations. It’s a social channel where However, I’m biased for many reasons. Atop the list: SlideShare—and its
you can establish your brand as a thought leader and authority around topics and keywords. 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
Through SlideShare, you can: copywriting for the web, and is helping to bring me all kinds of opportunities
including new business, partnerships, and speaking engagements.
• S
hare presentations, videos, infographics and other documents with your
LinkedIn network 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
• Upload portfolios, conference talks, PDFs, marketing/sales presentations and more exactly how the service can align with your marketing goals.”
• Embed videos in presentations and add audio to make a webinar —Barry Feldman, Feldman Creative
Each month, more than 400,000 new pieces of content are added to SlideShare, which
hosts 70 million unique visitors monthly. On an average day, nearly 4 million people visit
SlideShare (just on desktop!). That makes SlideShare the world’s largest professional
content-sharing community. And that’s something you can’t afford to overlook.
Build Your Brand and Company Presence Organically: Content Marketing On LinkedIn 22
CHAPTER 6
Here are Nine Tips to Help Ensure SlideShare Did You Know:
Content Domination on SlideShare:
More than 30 million pieces of content are uploaded to SlideShare.
1. Keep your presentations short and sweet: Between 10–30 slides is optimal. (February, 2016)
4. Be the authority on your topic: Choose a topic and own it.
5. Focus on design, and tell a story: Design your deck to pull the reader from one slide
to the next.
6. Rev up the SEO for each presentation: Include keyword-rich titles, descriptions and
tags in order to give your presentations a fighting chance in the world of search engines
as well as inside the SlideShare search results.
7. Integrate your presentations into multiple channels: SlideShare easily embeds into landing
pages and blogs and renders beautifully in Twitter. “In a recent conference, I was asked my opinion on what is the biggest
opportunity in B2B Content Marketing? Without hesitation, I answered
8. Repurpose your presentations: Slice and dice them into blog posts, infographics, 'SlideShare.'”
webinars and videos.
—Michael Brenner, Vice President of Marketing Insider Group,
9. Make SlideShare part of every campaign: Add a SlideShare checkbox to your campaign Speaker, Blogger and Social Business Marketing Leader
checklist.
If you don’t have a SlideShare account, sign up from LinkedIn to share your presentations
worldwide and drive more views and traffic.
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?
Build Your Brand and Company Presence Organically: Content Marketing On LinkedIn 23
CHAPTER 6
Build Your Brand and Company Presence Organically: Content Marketing On LinkedIn 24
CHAPTER 7
Similar to an ad unit, a Sponsored Content post can be viewed by members when they
visit LinkedIn. Sponsored Content is clearly distinguished from organic content to make
sure our members can differentiate between organic and paid content. Currently, they are
labeled as “Sponsored.” Links in Sponsored Content can drive traffic wherever you’d like,
including your content portals, relevant news or articles, YouTube or SlideShare channels,
whitepapers and event registration forms.
LI: What type of content best connects LI: What recommendations do you • C
reate a group to represent
with audiences on LinkedIn? Is there a have for marketers looking to connect your company.
specific type of content you prefer to with target audiences on LinkedIn?
consume on LinkedIn? • P
romote your LinkedIn Company Page,
NS: LinkedIn, like any other social network, build up a follower base, and engage
NS: The content that best connects with is about people that are using social media with them.
audiences on LinkedIn is undoubtedly the for communication with others as well as
type that makes us do our job better as well information gathering. Professionals are not • U
tilize Text Ads potential to help
as invest in our professional brand. Without looking to be sold to, but they are seeking precisely connect you with your target
a doubt, the recently added Influencer out information that can help them do their audience.
content is of the highest quality, but there is jobs better. The best approach that I would
other great content to be found in Network recommend for marketers to connect with
their target audience would look like a
combination of the following:
Using Sponsored InMail, you can reach A Unique Product in an Send a personalized message directly to a member’s inbox.
high-value, targeted prospects on LinkedIn Uncluttered Environment
with attention-grabbing messages that Engage your key target audiences across desktop and mobile.
speak directly to their interests. You can • M
obile-optimized design for easy clicks:
designate recipients by geography, job Persistent call-to-action button remains Drive conversations by delivering personalized messages within the
role, group membership, company size on top of content while user scrolls. uncluttered LinkedIn inbox environment.
and other criteria.
• R
eal-time delivery ensures timely
These notifications are prominently reach: Sponsored InMail messages Sponsored InMail leverages the credibility of the LinkedIn platform so that they
displayed on the LinkedIn homepage and are only delivered when members are more likely to be opened, read and acted on— unlike conventional email
in members’ inboxes for high visibility that are on LinkedIn campaigns.
cuts through the clutter. Discover a new
way to increase the effectiveness of your • U
ncluttered professional context: Strict
email marketing effort and drive leads delivery frequency caps ensure your
from LinkedIn. Reach members only when message gets maximum mindshare.
they are active on the LinkedIn site to
boost engagement. • F
lexibility to tailor your content: Send a
personalized message that will resonate
Sponsored InMail is ideal for: most with your target audience.
• B
oosting conversions with targeted
product and service promotions
• Promoting
content your audience wants
to see, such as infographics, white
papers, and reports.
“With so many competitors going after the same customers, VistaVu knew it
• P
ersonalizing invitations to was time to rethink its strategy. Our goal was to break away from the crowd
events and conferences. by really demonstrating our industry focus and unique value proposition.
For us, it was about getting our message and differentiated product
The flexible format makes it simple to offerings to the right audience, Not only did we receive more leads, but the
integrate content and messaging from quality and the promise of the leads was unmatched.”
across your LinkedIn ecosystem. Accurate
targeting ensures you reach the members —Nicole Baron, Marketing Manager, VistaVu Solutions
that matter most, from across our network
of over 467 million professionals.
The majority of applicants to the program in the past have come in from word-of-mouth
referrals. However, Duke wanted to promote the program to new prospects in diverse global
regions who would not have learned about it otherwise.
Hogan rolled out Sponsored InMails targeted by seniority, geography, and degree resulting
in an open rate of 68 percent, 400 percent increase in conversions and sales pipeline
closure speed increased by 300 percent.
Customer list
Companies
LinkedIn on LinkedIn
Account Targeting
Through LinkedIn Display Ads, you can reach a professional audience in a context where
they actively seek advice and recommendations from brands and companies. All LinkedIn
Display Ad formats leverage the unique depth of our member profile information, offering
targeting by sector, job function, seniority, location and more: a targeted approach that
drives engagement, relevance and response.
As a sophisticated marketer, you know that We've also launched programmatic buying
message relevancy is critical to successfully as a way to access LinkedIn Display Ads.
connecting with target audiences and This means you can now work with your
driving desired actions. And LinkedIn preferred buying platform to buy highly
Dynamic Ads makes it possible to visible ads that help you reach and engage
accurately target decision makers and the right buyers and build your brand in the 60% of marketers say personalizing the customer experience is their
deal influencers with highly relevant, premium context of LinkedIn. top marketing objective.
dynamically generated, customizable
creative on LinkedIn.com. Using Dynamic Our goal with programmatic buying is to
Ads, you can: give you more flexibility in how you work
with us, and expand the ways we can
• T
arget the audiences that matter. partner to meet your marketing goals.
Select the audiences you want to reach
based on a wide range of professional How it works
targeting options, including company, You have the option to purchase our
work experience, groups and interests. display ads programmatically either through
an Open Auction or via LinkedIn Private
• C
ustomize your creative; personalize Auctions. Both give you the flexibility and
your message. Craft your ad copy, control to reach your target audiences
choose your call to action and leverage on LinkedIn. If you’re already buying
dynamically generated images from programmatically, Open Auction is the
LinkedIn member profiles. fastest way to buy LinkedIn Display Ads
programmatically. For advertisers looking
• G
row your company follower count. for additional targeting capabilities, the
Encourage LinkedIn members to Private Auction is a great option.
follow your company and build better
relationships with your target audience When using your own first or third party
with one-click “Follow Company” data like website visitors and CRM
calls to action. contacts, our Private Auction offers the
ability to explicitly target the LinkedIn.com
homepage as a placement. As another
benefit, our Private Auction purchasing
option allows advertisers to target select
LinkedIn audience segments (e.g., target “IT
decision makers”) if you don’t want to use
your own first or third party data.
• E
asily create and launch well-targeted
campaigns with customized creative in
just minutes.
• F
ine-tune your target audience based
on location, demographics, skills,
interests and work history to achieve
the right mix of volume and precision.
• G
ain meaningful insights into your
campaign and creative performance
with powerful audience segmentation
analytics. and social engagement
measurement tools
Sources: Content Marketing in the UK: 2015 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), 2016 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/
MarketingProfs
Chapter 8 38
CHAPTER 8
Quantify Your Content Benchmark Your Turn Insights In a nutshell, the Content Marketing Score
Marketing Efforts on LinkedIn Content Performance Into Content Gold from LinkedIn:
As a sophisticated marketer, you know Think of the Content Marketing Score as All that information is valuable, but we
you need to prove your content marketing a barometer that helps your company, know insights are useless unless you can • A
nalyzes who engages
initiatives' impact. Ideally you want to: product and brand understand the impact act upon them. The Content Marketing with your content
of its content marketing efforts on LinkedIn. Score makes that possible by providing
• U
nderstand the content and topics By attributing a Content Marketing Score specific recommendations on defining and • Compares you to your peers
that resonate with your audience. to your content, it quantifies the influence adjusting your content strategy to achieve
of your company, product and brand on the best results possible. These may • S
uggests how to improve
• M
easure the effectiveness of your LinkedIn. include suggestions to experiment with your score
content-based campaigns. new ways to increase your follower base by
The Content Marketing Score provides this utilizing Sponsored Updates, encouraging To receive your custom Content Marketing
• Benchmark your program success. insight by: employees to publish more posts or Score, please contact your LinkedIn
focusing on your content relevance. account executive or account manager.
• S
ee how you stack up against your • H
ighlighting the audience(s) consuming
competition. your content on LinkedIn
• R
ank your brand with a comprehensive • Q
uantifying your company’s content A Dynamic Duo
score. presence and engagement on LinkedIn
Unlike Trending Content, which gives you insight into the hottest topics
Like the most effective content marketers, In other words, it tells you if members within across LinkedIn, the Content Marketing Score is specific to your company,
you probably reach your audience your target audience are engaging with product and brand.
in multiple ways across LinkedIn, via your content. And it can show you how
employee posts, Sponsored Content, you stack up against your competitors. You
and influencer posts. LinkedIn's Content can even see a breakdown of how you’re
Marketing Score ties all of this outreach performing across the different areas of
together so you get an integrated view of LinkedIn—whether by Groups, updates Your Overall Content Marketing Score
how your efforts are paying off. or posts. By Target Audience and Topic
1,200
7 of 10
1,000
Peers:
Blackrock
CMS Score
800
Microsoft
600
Dell
Capgemini
400
250 Oracle
200 Citi
Amex
0
CLIENT Accenture
Best in class Weaker content Salesforce
influence influence
Chapter 8 39
Next-Level Marketers face a challenge in knowing exactly who's
Content
consuming their content and whether it's reaching their
CHAPTER 8 desired audiences. For more engagement, reach and virality
marketers need to tune their content strategies to the types of
content trending for their target audiences.
Be Trendy (With Your Content) Align Your Content Calendar THE TOPICS
Your Target THAT
Audience MATTER
is on LinkedIn
Your target audience is on LinkedIn. Now With Your Audience
it’s just a matter of delivering the content With LinkedIn, you can see trending topics
The Topics That Matter
that attracts and engages them. But how across all those sources: LinkedIn Groups, WHAT’S TRENDING
What’s Trending
do you know just which topics will catch— news posts, thought leadership posts and *Top trending topics on LinkedIn, Nov ’14-Jan ’15
and keep—their attention? And how do discussions, and Company Pages.
you know which members will be most
interested in your content? Whether you’re You’ll see which topics matter and which
new to content marketing or looking to members are sharing the most content on
drive even more engagement with your any given subject. You’ll even be able to 1 Social Media 2 Recruiting 3 Integrated 4 Marketing 5 Web Marketing
Marketing Marketing
existing content, Trending Content from pinpoint which topics are going viral.
LinkedIn can help you focus on the topics
that matter. How do we deliver this invaluable data? We
evaluate influencer articles, network updates 10 sem 9 Social Media 8 Employee 7 Self-Esteem 6 Online
On a daily basis, LinkedIn members and Sponsored Updates to understand Engagement Advertising
actively engage with content from four which content members are sharing. Using a
primary sources of inspiration, insights and complex algorithm built by our data science Who
Source: Shares Internal
LinkedIn the MostData
*Audiences sharing the top 15 most shared articles on LinkedIn, Dec. 2013–Jan. 2014
information on our network: team, we put each piece of content into one
or more of over 17,000 topic categories. We Small Business Owners
With all that insight, you can fine-tune your Financial Advisors Venture Capitalists
Chapter 8 40
CHAPTER 8
Chapter 8 41
CHAPTER 9
Ads Partners Custom Apps Partners —Jim Rudden, CMO Spredfast Inc.
Manage and optimize your advertising Boost Brand engagement and create
campaigns leveraging industry-leading unique experiences through custom-built
technology and expert strategists. marketing solutions. Find a Partner
44
25 Social Media Experts
You Need to Know
15. D
ave Kerpen 19. Lee Odden 23. K
oka Sexton
CEO Likeable Local CEO at TopRank Online Marketing Global Sr. Marketing Manager
Author, Speaker Author, Speaker at LinkedIn
Blog: davekerpen.com/blog Blog: toprankblog.com Blog: kokasexton.com/word/
Twitter: @DaveKerpen Twitter: @leeodden Twitter: @kokasexton
Linkedin: in/davekerpen Linkedin: in/leeodden Linkedin: in/kokasexton
16. S
tephanie Sammons 20. J
oe Pulizzi 24. Mike Stelzner
Founder of Wired Advisor™ Founder at Content Marketing Institute Founder of Social Media Examiner,
Speaker Author, Speaker Author
Blog: blog.wiredadvisor.com Linkedin: in/joepulizzi Blog: socialmediaexaminer.com
Twitter: @StephSammons Twitter: @JoePulizzi Twitter: @Mike_Stelzner
Linkedin: in/stephaniesammons Blog: contentmarketinginstitute.com LinkedIn: in/stelzner
45
About Us Relationships Matter