Linkedin_SophGuide_020314

PART 1:Why does my businessThe Sophisticatedneed Linkedin? From brand building, to lead generation, to contentMarketer’s Guide tomarketing and advertising, Linkedin can help youbuild your business. awarenessLinkedIn is so much more than a place transforming into the enlightening considerationto find a job or an online resume. era. No longer can marketers justIt’s quickly becoming the go-to do social, they need results and actioncontent publishing platform for the actionable insights in order to proveprofessional mindset. the value of their efforts. And no 8:00 a.m.As more professionals are spending longer are we forced to take a spray Most LinkedIn members look for inspirationmore and more time looking for new and pray method to get our message early in the day with peak consumptioncontent and keeping in touch with heard in the noisy world of social. at 8:00 a.m.their networks, it brings with it an The technology is in place that allowsopportunity for marketers. us to take a much more refined approach, a sophisticated approachThe idea of being a sophisticated if you will, to social media marketingmarketer comes from the current on the world’s largest professionalstate of the golden age of social network.media marketing and how it isMarketing and AdvertisingInformation Technology and ServicesFinancial 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 POWERFULLinkedIn is so much more than a place MARKETING transforming into the enlightening SOLUTIONS Itto’sfiqnudicakjloy bbeocroamnionnglitn3heergeosu-tmoe. era. No longer nceanedm4raerskuelttes rasnjdust 5–6 7– 11 do social, theycontent publishing platform for the actionable insights in order to prove PART 4: EXPAND PART 5: EASILYprofessional mindset. tl PYohAOneRUgTvRea3Pr:lRuOaOe rPeFToIILwfMEte IhZIfeNoi Grrceefdfotrotst.aAknedansoprayAs more professionals are spending a nd pray method to get our message YOUR NETWORK KEEP YOUR FINGERmore and more time looking for new OF INFLUENCERS ON THE PULSE content and keeping in touch with h eard in the nois y world of social. their networks, it brings with it an opportunity for marketers. Tu1sh2et–ot1eta4chkenoalomguycihs in place that allows 19– 21 more refined 15 – 18 ocfobmeeins gfroamsotpCPWhAOheITRiNsHTctTui6AEcr:NarPPeTtUUenRBdtPLIOSHSE: approach, a sophisticated approach PART 8: UNLOCK 25 SOCIAL MEDIA iofnyothuewwilol,rtlod’ssolacriaglemsYRPteAOEpdARUrTCiRoaH7fT:me:AEsRaXsGrPikoAEenTNtEaDiDnl gThe idea THE POWER OF EXPERTS YOU NEEDmarketer TO KNOW LINKEDIN’S PARTNER state of the golden ageMAoRf KsEoTcIiNaGl network. ADVERTISING PROGRAMS media marketing and hOoNwLiINt KisEDIN ON LINKEDIN 50– 53 22 –42 43– 49 54-55 2

A Note to theSophisticated 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.2012 was the year of social. 2013 This guide was written with you inwas the year of content. And 2014 is mind, the sophisticated marketer.the year where they come together. Everything you need to know aboutSocial media no longer lives in a marketing on LinkedIn, written bothsilo but instead is a vital component strategically, and instructionally.for the success of many marketing It’s your one-stop shop to the vastcampaigns. With content fueling your opportunities that await—increasesocial marketing, we have arrived at awareness, influence perception,the age of truly integrated marketing generate leads, and ultimately drivestrategy, and it’s being led by a new revenue with LinkedIn.breed of sophisticated marketers. Let’s get started, shall we?The sophisticated marketer issomeone who takes marketing Jason Millertechniques, both old and new, andexecutes them in an overall integrated Senior Content Marketing Manager,marketing strategy. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions 3

Why should I beReading this Guide?The goal of this guide is to provide the absolute best, mostup-to-date, definitive guide for marketers to successfully useLinkedIn as part of their integrated approach to marketing.This guide is a labor of love for us a nice-to-have. It’s a necessaryhere at LinkedIn. We created it to part of a successful integratedbe a one-stop shop for everything marketing approach fora marketer needs to know about driving awareness, leads,getting the most value out of LinkedIn and ultimately revenue.for themselves and their company. It’snot just an instruction manual, but a We call this the guide forstrategic guide with lots of input from sophisticated marketers because wetop thought leaders and LinkedIn feel it’s time to take social mediamarketing experts combined with the marketing to the next level, movingexpertise of the LinkedIn Marketing beyond theory to enlightenedSolutions team. practice. It’s time to get real results with your social marketing, and this isAnd it’s all about how to truly tap the guide that will help you.into the potential and power of socialmedia marketing. That’s becausesocial media marketing is no longer 4

PART 1: Work is no longer a 9–5 activityWhy does my business LinkedIn members are on our platform at all hours and days throughout the week. But depending onneed LinkedIn? where they are and what they’re doing, they may beThese days in the business world, relationships matter more than accessing the platform from their desktops, tablets,ever. That’s because people tune out irrelevant or promotional or mobile devices. In fact, we see desktop usagemessages. But they do want to engage with companies that focus spike during the day, tablet usage spike in theon sharing useful and relevant information and content. And thecompanies that inform and engage aren’t just selling—they’re morning and evening, and mobile devices beingbuilding relationships. used at all hours.LinkedIn members comprise the world’s largest professional community— The world’s largest professional networkand they work in every size company. Consider that: 259,000,000+ There were 184 million unique visitors worldwide to LinkedIn in Q3 of 2013 238 1 of every 3 professionals on the planet is on LinkedIn 187 200 225 150 161 175 Content now garners 6x more engagement than jobs properties on LinkedIn 115 131Plus, all these professionals are highly Our members’ investment is born out Q3’11 Q4’11 Q1’12 Q2’12 Q3’12 Q4’12 Q1’13 Q2’13 Q3’13 Q4’13receptive to relationship building. of their professional mindset. TheThey demonstrate this in what they professional mindset is aspirational.do while on the network. Time on In other words, members are thinkingLinkedIn isn’t simply spent. Time on about how to achieve their ambitionsLinkedIn is invested in professional and further their careers. As a result,development. And it’s reflected in the our members are highly receptive togrowing number of visits to and time advertising, content, and experiencesspent on LinkedIn. that can help make them more knowledgeable and, ultimately, more successful. Source: L inkedIn Press Release PART 1: Why does my business need LinkedIn? 5

PART 1: LinkedIn By the Numbers:LinkedIn is a platform enabling sophisticated marketers to forge LINKEDIN IS THE #1 CHANNEL TO LINKEDIN DRIVES MORE TRAFFICrelationships with these professionals. It’s no wonder LinkedIn DISTRIBUTE CONTENT TO B2B BLOGS & SITEShas quickly become the go-to content publishing platform for % of B2B marketers who use various 90% of the social traffic was driven bymarketers. In fact, a survey of LinkedIn members found that LinkedIn social media sites to distribute content the big three networks, with half of itis considered the most effective social network for delivering B2B coming from LinkedIncontent1. And research conducted by Investis IQ2 found that 91%LinkedIn is the number-one social network for driving traffic to otherscorporate websites. 85%As a growing number of professionals professional decision-making. All 81%spend more time reading news it takes is a sophisticated marketerand keeping in touch with their who seizes the opportunity to 73%network through LinkedIn, you have engage them.an unprecedented opportunity to 55%build and cultivate relationships with What do we mean by a sophisticatedprofessionals the world over. And marketer? The idea of being a LINKEDIN CONSIDERED MOST EFFECTIVE FOR B2B LEAD GENthese relationships can translate sophisticated marketer comes from Among top performing organizations, % of B2B Marketers who rated the Socialinto revenues. Since 2010, the the transition of social media Media Site on effectiveness in generating leadsnumber of B2B and B2C marketers marketing from pure theory togenerating sales via LinkedIn has effective use. But marketers can’t 93%grown consistently. U.S.-based just “do” social. Now they need 84%agencies rate LinkedIn as the most to produce results and actionable 71%important social media platform for insights in order to prove the value of 56%new business. their efforts. Fortunately we no longer are forced to take a spray-and-pray LINKEDIN CONTINUES TO B2C MARKETERS ARE RAPIDLYIn fact, 50% of our members report approach to getting our message CONSISTENTLY GENERATE SALES DISCOVERING LINKEDINthey are more likely to buy from heard in the noisy world of social. FOR B2B MARKETERS Percentage of companies whoa company they engage with on The technology is in place that allows Percentage of companies who acquired acquired a B2C customer throughLinkedIn. And a whopping 80 percent us to adopt a much more refined— a B2B customer through that channel that channelof LinkedIn members want to connect sophisticated—approach, if you will,with companies—because those to social media marketing, using the 1.5x 2.0xconnections provide them world’s largest professional network. 65% 51%opportunities to enhance their 61% 39% 45% 26% 2010 2011 2013 2010 2011 20131 Source: B2B Content Marketing report, Holger Schulze, 2013 Sources: 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends/ North America, Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs. 62 Source: Dazeinfo Webbiquity, Aug 27,2013. “Content Marketing gets Social”, Unisphere research, 2013. HubSpot, State of inbound Marketing 2010,2011,2012.

PART 2: In fact... Accurate targeting, based on authentic data, is theLaying the Foundation: foundation of the LinkedIn platform. LinkedIn’s targeting is highly accurate because it draws from actualTap into Powerful profile data provided by and continually updated byMarketing Solutions our members. You can also target the 1st degree connections of specific members. And you can use LinkedIn offers a tremendous opportunity for marketers like you, their behavior on LinkedIn—like what Groups they whether you are focused on building your brand or generating leads. join, and how much they share and comment— Our solutions allow you to target your messages and interactions to to inform targeting. Marketers can use our targeting the right audience, publish content that connects with that audience, data to tailor their messages and content. and extend engagement both on and off the network. TARGET PUBLISH EXTEND Target with accuracy to Publish relevant content in Extend through social sharingreach a high quality audience a professional context and drive quality traffic and data to your sites PART 2: Laying the Foundation: Tap into Powerful Marketing Solutions 7

PART 2: Quote“As far as I’m concerned, other social networks can have the cats and the memes and the OMGs. LinkedIn is about content andAs the world’s largest professional network, LinkedIn is a powerful connection. As a professional marketer, that’s what I care aboutpublishing platform. We help marketers directly engage LinkedIn most, and LinkedIn delivers every day. If you’re not keepingmembers with content and experiences that are professionally up with the industry using LinkedIn Pulse, you’re missing therelevant. Think of it as “publishing with a purpose.” heartbeat of what’s going on in digital.”By using LinkedIn to build You can also use LinkedIn’s API to Jay Baer, Social Media & Content Marketing Strategist,relationships with the world’s create custom branded experiences New York Times Best Selling Author, Keynote Speaker,professionals, you can achieve a that allow members to engage using Social Pros Podcastfull range of marketing objectives: their LinkedIn login. This simplifies the need for them to enter additional • GENERATING AWARENESS data. Even more importantly, by using the API to access LinkedIn’s rich data, • INCREASING CONSIDERATION you can tailor the user experience AND PREFERENCE based on profile data and encourage virality by triggering your app to • DRIVING TRAFFIC AND LEADS publish updates about a user’s activity on site. • BUILDING COMMUNITY Plus, you can extend the quality • CREATING ADVOCACY traffic of LinkedIn professionals to your own branded sites. EmbeddingThat’s because your campaigns will calls-to-action in your creativeresonate more if they’re targeted on LinkedIn ensures the flow ofto professionals with our targeted influential, affluent and educatedadvertising products. Your content professionals to your ownwill have greater impact and sharing online properties.when it’s published in a professionalcontext. And your effort will extendthrough the social sharing thathappens naturally on LinkedIn. PART 2: Laying the Foundation: Tap into Powerful Marketing Solutions 8

PART 2:Perform branding and lead generation in tandem forultimate effectiveness.Some marketers approach branding and credible authority on a chosen .and lead generation as standalone category, topic or issue. With thatactivities. But when it comes to foundation in place, prospects are “L inkedIn is the only platform that the majority of B2Bstriking 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 youlead generation. That’s because are trying to generate leads. Content Marketing Institute 2014 Content Marketingstrong branding paves the way for Research Reportsuccessful lead generation. After all, In fact, the most successful marketersbrand awareness is all about making take steps to ensure their branding Lead GenerationLead Generationprospective customers familiar with and lead generation strategiesand knowledgeable of your brand. are working in lockstep. LinkedInThe goal is that they associate your Marketing Solutions can help youbrand with certain characteristics address both branding and leadand qualities and recognize—and generation in an integrated,trust—your brand. Ideally, you want effective way.your brand to be seen as a trusted SoluStoiloutniosn BrandingBrandingLinkedIn Display and Text AdsSponsored InMailCompany PageShowcase PagesFollow Company AdsCompany UpdatesSponsored UpdatesSlideShareContent AdsCustom API SolutionsLinkedIn GroupsLinkedIn 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 marketingopportunities. 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 anyonegreat conversations—and your tool are a terrific way to connect with on LinkedIn without an introductionfor starting those conversations is the your existing company followers, or contact information. You getCompany 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 membersa need-to-have. Through a Company beyond those already following INTEGRATION OF DISPLAY ADS WITHPage, you can market your business to your company. SOCIAL MEDIA IS STARTING TO PICK UPthe LinkedIn community, telling yourcompany’s story and giving customers 4. DISPLAY ADVERTISING: 28% 44% 28%and prospects a place to learn about Sophisticated marketers understand Integrating Planning to Noyour business, your employees, and that they must combine push and Integrate Integrationyour brand. pull marketing to reach their target Now audience. For push marketing on2. COMPANY UPDATES: LinkedIn, you can display ads onWhat resonates most with followers various LinkedIn pages, includingand drives engagement? When you profile pages, home pages, inbox,communicate with them in a relevant search results pages, and groupsand personal way. And through pages. With LinkedIn Premium DisplayCompany Updates, sent from your Advertising, you can take advantageCompany Page, you can do that of an uncluttered, premiumby tailoring your company status environment to reach a high-qualityupdate to your followers’ professional professional audience seekinginterests. Specifically, you can deliver insights and information. Or you canhighly targeted content into the feed drive new customers to your businessof LinkedIn members, increasing their with our easy-to-use, self-serve CPCengagement with and loyalty to LinkedIn Ads platform that allows youyour 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 ClarkFounder and CEO of LI: What’s your best advice for writing then a call to action that takes theCopyblogger Media a compelling company page update? relationship to the next level. For those who have been doing contentLI: Do you regulary check your Pulse BC: Tell a story. And more marketing from their own sites forfeed? If so, how do you use it? importantly, relate that story back years, LinkedIn becomes an essential to your ideal prospect’s problems or outpost for that content, mixed withBC: I’ve just started following the desires. Even if the story focuses on in-person engagement.Marketing Strategies category on the founding, evolution, or growthPulse, and it’s a treasure-trove of of your company, make sure people LI: Where do you see LinkedIn incontent all in one place. This has understand that all of those great 5 years?become a great resource not only things happened because of thefor staying up to date on the latest value you provide your audience, BC: LinkedIn appears to be all in onideas from others, but also fuels our customers, and clients. becoming a true media company. I’veown content sharing on other heard some grumblings from earlysocial networks. LI: How can a business best LinkedIn fans that the company and take advantage of LinkedIn for site are losing the singular focus it lead generation? started with, but I see it differently. A business education hub of the sort BC: LinkedIn, unlike Facebook and LinkedIn is building can only increase Twitter, is all about business. The the value of the ecosystem. mindset and intent are naturally more receptive to solving business LI: What’s something that’s not in your problems than the kind of socializing LinkedIn profile? and sharing that happens elsewhere. BC: I’ve made no mention of the That said, you still have to lead with fact that I used to practice law in my 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: This infographic highlights all the opportunities for getting the mostOptimizing from your profile.Your Profile PART 3: Optimizing your Profile 12Every day we see millions of professionals find others and get foundthrough LinkedIn search.Whether someone is searching for such as SlideShare presentaions, videos,people, jobs, companies or groups, and infographics to your profile is awe provide the most relevant results fantastic way to showcase visual assetsbased on your professional identity, your to profile visitors.network, and how the people in yournetwork engage with LinkedIn. Plus, one How Your Company Can Benefit fromof the first steps many members take an Optimized Profilewhen receiving content from a company It goes without saying that your companyor another member is click through to and all of its employees should optimizethe personal profile or Company Page their LinkedIn profiles. After all, anto learn about the sender. That’s why optimized profile can boost the visibilityit’s critical for you and your company to of your company and its content in themaintain complete and optimized profiles. search results—both on and off the network. That’s because search enginesHow You Can Benefit from an like Google scour pages and URLs forOptimized Profile keywords, and LinkedIn profiles offerAs a marketer, you can use LinkedIn many opportunities to embed keywords,for networking and to further your such as within the LinkedIn URL, otherprofession. After all, these days very URLs you list within your profile, jobfew people end up working for a single titles and descriptions, and content linkscompany their entire career. So whether you include. So if your company and itsyou’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 advantagewise to make sure your profile is set up when prospective customers arefor maximum exposure and engagement. searching for companies, products andIn addition, adding rich media content services like yours.

PART 3: Reap the Rewards of NetworkingHere are five things you need to know about LinkedIn Search, as Did you know… the size of your LinkedIn network andsummarized by Stacy Donovan Zapar, the Most Connected Woman participation in LinkedIn Groups can significantly increaseon LinkedIn: your visibility on the LinkedIn network?1. W hen people search LinkedIn, 2. Keywords in your name, headline, 13 the results are sorted by relevance, company name, job title and skills which takes into account rank higher in the search results the following: than keywords in other sections. • 1 st level connections with 3. U sing 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 descending order 4. Use a variety of keywords and 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 in descending order by 5. View LinkedIn search trends to see profile completeness how many times you’ve shown up in search results and how many • 2 nd 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

PART 3:Ask the Expert:Shane AtchisonCEO of POSSIBLE 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 meansLI: What factors are most important currently are? compared to other social networks? that they are who they say they are.to you when considering advertising How does that impact your clients’ You can’t put a fake job title up onchannels for your clients? 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 toSA: Our top ones include audience opportunity to leverage their LinkedIn SA: Most social networks only serve analyze and integrate the platform intoconcentration and relevance, presence. They could use LinkedIn opportunities at the top of the funnel your content strategy.segmentation and targeting in combination with their owned and provide limited ways to engage.functionality, and the ability to extend properties to precisely target, share, You can tailor the LinkedIn platform LI: How are marketers getting it wrongor amplify channel content across and then realize return on their content to each client’s marketing objectives with LinkedIn?other owned and earned properties. investments. But for this, they need a and use it as part of a larger contentWe also leverage our social listening comprehensive strategy that integrates strategy. The platform makes it easier SA: They think of it simply as a hiring,and marketing sciences technologies the LinkedIn platform, their content, for brands to serve audiences with prospecting, or one-dimensionalto identify opportunities for the brand and their CRM efforts. content tailored to the individual— advertising platform. It’s actually awithin each channel and with both in terms of depth and timing. versatile content platform with preciseeach audience. 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 drive engagement lifecycles rather site. For example, B2C brands often SA: The biggest risk, especially for B2B, than one-off opportunities. miss the opportunity LinkedIn provides is a loss of discoverability. LinkedIn to enhance or expand distribution is becoming the de facto starting LI: How do you compare the audience networks or channel partner point when searching for partners targeting capability of LinkedIn with communication plans. They also miss and evaluating solutions. A thoughtful other social networks? the opportunity to build programs LinkedIn presence is not only a great around LinkedIn that leverage content opportunity to increase your visibility SA: There are three major ways LinkedIn to drive engagement lifecycles and as an individual. Corporations can also data is better for targeting: Recency, stimulate organic community building. use it to turn both their workforce and authenticity, and standardization of The platform’s capabilities in this area 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 Networkof InfluencersIn late 2012, we made it possible The Influencer program numbers “It thrills me to see LinkedIn gaining ground as anfor any LinkedIn member to follow more than 300 Influencers (as interesting place to hang out. I’ve long held that LinkedInan exclusive group of Influencers on of October 2013), and we add is the dark horse of the social media platforms—or, atLinkedIn. From C-level executives inspiring thought leaders to the least, it’s the workhorse of the bunch.and entrepreneurs to world leaders program frequently. And you canand philanthropists, these Influencers directly engage with any of these If Twitter is where you go to meet people you don’tcontribute unique business insights Influencers, either by “Liking” a post know and Facebook is where you go to talk withand spark thought-provoking or jumping into a conversation about people you already know, then LinkedIn is where all ofdiscussions on a range of issues. a post. Moreover, through threaded you can meet up to get stuff done together.”Displayed via Pulse, the Influencers comments, you can reply to a post byprogram is a source of truly original an Influencer to start conversations Ann Handley, Author of Content Rules, Chief Contentcontent. But more importantly, it’s and debates with others who are Officer at Marketing Profsmeant to inspire, inform and make reading that post. You can mentionyou a better marketer. other people to draw them into a discussion, and get notified when your comment has received a response. PART 4: Expand your Network of Influencers 15

PART 4: Consider these examples:You can follow an Influencer without being connected to them. 625,000In addition to joining in rich what the people in your network are LinkedIn FOLLOWERSconversations, you will see which reading and reacting to, helping youInfluencers and topics are driving the unearth new ideas. Want to broaden Bill Gates is an Influencer with overmost interest—perhaps sparking an your horizons? Take advantage of 625,000 followers. One of his postsidea of your own for a post or content discovery modules within LinkedIn to garnered over 1,600,000 views, moreasset. Plus the ability for LinkedIn help you find more relevant content than 10,000 thumbs up, and overmembers to like and share Influencer based on the people you’re following 4,000 comments.content lets you quickly find out and the posts you’re reading. 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: 22% are entry-level professionals The average Influencer post garners nearly 30,000 VIEWS 49% of Influencer followers are director- level and above PART 4: Expand your Network of Influencers 16

PART 4:Ask the Expert:Viveka Von RosenLinkedIn Expert & Author: LinkedIn Influencers and Pulse: First Facebook page or Twitter-stream, Group ContentLinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day, of all, LinkedIn truly understands the I can often find something relevant For (soft) market research, considerInternational Keynote Speaker, importance of good content. Right on Pulse—quickly and easily. So LinkedIn Groups. Groups are full ofForbes Top 20 Most Influential 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. OccasionallyLI: What type of content best fueled by the world’s thought leaders aggregator I use. share an article you like. I love theconnects with audiences on LinkedIn? (LinkedIn Influencers.) These people, content and interaction on some ofIs there a specific type of content you most of them household names LinkedIn Update Mentions: As long my Groups and I know I can alwaysprefer to consume on LinkedIn? (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 andVR: That’s kind of an apples or specifically for LinkedIn. You can their content and mention them in greatest in the sales world. It justoranges type question when it follow not only these Influencers, an update. takes some time to find these goodcomes to LinkedIn. I’m a fruit but also channels of content (thanks groups. I recommend asking yoursalad gal myself! to the Pulse interface that LinkedIn I wish I had the time to check on my network what groups they like and purchased last year.) In fact, LinkedIn homepage every hour and read all the why. (For instance, I am a raving fan 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 LinkedIn interface, so that your be honest, I really wouldn’t want to!) fabulous ingestible content). Pulse App on your iPad or iPhone Chances are, you don’t either. So I rely will actually monitor what you do on on LinkedIn Status Update mentions LI: How do you make sure personal 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 content through Pulse. about me, what content of mine they social networks? are sharing and their comments on my I think Pulse is a great place to find updates. So while I don’t listen to VR: LinkedIn is probably less likely 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 RosenPulse, 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 toolusually all good stuff and relevant to relationships with people. Once you you can easily share that page. from Groups to Company Pages andyour business which means you might have established a connection and are beyond. But I guess that’s why I haveeven 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 mindto 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 reachstop 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/LinkedInexpertyou need to do on LinkedIn (monthly, take effort and nurturing. Establishing update or as a tweet. You can post itweekly 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 theLI: How are marketers getting it wrong can be monumental. Getting people LinkedIn Groups you wish to share thewith 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 tools. My favorite is their “Sharing updates will show up on your • N ot making use of the tools Bookmarklet”. To find the Sharing connection’s homepage as well as Bookmarklet, you just come down in your profile under “activity.” • Not realizing its potential to the “Tools” link and then on the right hand side click on the tab that Potential:Selling: says “Sharing Bookmarklet.” Drag Hopefully some of the things I haveI always tell people you will never the Bookmarklet button up to your mentioned will open a few eyes tosell your—um—stuff on LinkedIn. browser bar. Then no matter what web the potential of LinkedIn. There isThe likelihood of someone seeing an page you’re on, all you have to do is just so much you can do with it. Itupdate you have posted on how yousell the best gadget and then buying PART 4: Expand your Network of Influencers 18

PART 5: EparosifleyssdioisncaolvecronnteenwtEasily Keep your Finger We’ve not only improved the overall search functionality with faster auto-complete suggestions, but we’ve alsoon the Pulse made it easier for you to find “What’s New” across timely world events and what’s trending amongWith all the news websites, blogs, and newsletters out there, stayingin-the-know can be time consuming. professionals like you worldwide.In fact, like most marketers, you our partnerships with more than PART 5: Easily Keep your Finger on the Pulse 19probably find it’s increasingly difficult 750 publishers, such as Harvardto figure out what matters most when Business Review, TechCrunch,reading news across multiple sources. and Fast Company.Millions of professionals invest theirtime on LinkedIn, staying on top of Pulse makes it possible to accessindustry 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 businessPulse offers a more relevant news knowledge flowing through LinkedInexperience with content tailored to in the form of news, Influenceryour professional interests throughout posts, industry updates, discussions,LinkedIn. It’s the main vehicle for our comments and more. And becausesocial news experience across web you can customize content based onand mobile. And it’s a key way for your preferences, you can zero in onmarketers to stay current on all the what matters most to you. Think oflatest insights and trends. Pulse as your daily “newspaper”— one that let’s you stay up to speedAccess 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: Influencers and top sources such as PJuumlspesteaxrpteryioeunrce The Wall Street Journal, Ad Week,Organize your daily reads Mashable, and more: the Marketing When you download the new Pulse app on iOS or Android,Lists in the Pulse app allow you to Strategies channel https://www. you will be prompted to sign in using your LinkedIn profile.organize your channels into topics LinkedIn.com/channels/marketing_ Once you’ve done this, we will automatically bring in theof your choice, such as Technology, strategies channels, Influencers and LinkedIn content you followSports, Favorites, or Must Reads. into your Pulse experience. Additionally, Pulse will offerAny Channels or Influencer content Share with your network personalized content recommendations that are customizedthat you follow on LinkedIn.com will We’ve made it even easier for you to to your LinkedIn preferences and professional interests.automatically sync with the Pulse share news and insights from yourapp, and you can also add any Pulse app. With the new, enhancedblog or news feed via the robust social features—easily accessiblesearch functionality on Pulse. As a within every piece of content at theresult, you gain instant access to top of the screen—you can see whatthe most relevant and personalized other professionals are talking aboutnews content that maps to your and instantly like, comment or shareprofessional interests. an article with your professional network on LinkedIn.And here’s a suggestion for aChannel to follow right away for freshinsights on marketing from LinkedInDelivering Smart RecommendationsWe display stories based on a proprietary algorithm that weighs yourinterests 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?CEO @TopRank Online Marketing, LO: This might seem like a cart and 4. Use LinkedIn as a follow upAuthor: Optimize, Public Speaker: horse situation, but it’s important LO: Content participation on any social after meeting people online andIntegrated Search, Social, to have an audience. Updating a network or web platform should be especially at offline events where& Content Marketing company page to 2 followers vs. 200 informed by a company’s business business cards are exchanged just isn’t the same. As with any other and content marketing strategies.LI: Do you regulary check your Pulse publishing platform, think of who your Are customers there and what are Beyond that, LinkedIn’s social networkfeed? If so, how do you use it? network is and what they’re interested they doing? What are they interested platform provides many opportunities in. What do they expect? Giving in? What opportunities are there for to engage with prospects, supportLO: I check LinkedIn daily including people what they want in the form of the brand to be valuable to those individual and brand thoughtthe Pulse feed. I follow a number of useful content, tips and information prospective customers? leadership and connect with otherthe thought leaders and also look about changes at your company is a groups like industry media andfor the news stories my network is great way to attract more followers For most companies that sell into prospective employees. Whether it’sengaging with. The feed offers content and better engage those that you the business market, participating on targeted advertising or curating a mixthat I can interact with through liking, already have. LinkedIn should be a no-brainer. The of industry and company news on thecommenting, sharing on LinkedIn or specific way LinkedIn is used depends brand page, companies that want tocurating to our broader community. From a writing standpoint, write on the company, industry and product attract and engage other businesses snappy, compelling titles. Check mix. It also depends on what kinds need to be on LinkedIn. ubersuggest.org for popular keywords of opportunities there are to be and consider using specific phrases “the best answer” on LinkedIn for the in the title and description, but only things customers are interested in. if they make sense and add value to the message. You can attract more At a minimum: followers to your company LinkedIn 1.Ensure executive LinkedIn profiles page through search on LinkedIn as well as organic search. are filled out and optimized 2. M ake sure the Company Page is robust. PART 5: Easily Keep your Finger on the Pulse 21

PART 6: Mobilize your Employees to Amplify your MessagePublish with aPurpose: Best-in-class companies encourage their own employeesContent Marketing to share content on LinkedIn with their networks,on LinkedIn significantly increasing content reach. This is especially powerful for companies whose sales reps are connectedEarlier we underscored the importance promote content and build to the right decision makers.of delivering relevant content in order relationships. Company Pages areto build relationships with your targets. where you can catch the eye of LINKEDIN: A KEY PLATFORM FOR B2B CONTENT DELIVERYLinkedIn provides the following prospective customers by featuring How effective are these Social Networks in delivering B2Bsolutions for delivering relevant thought leadership content or Content (% of respondents)content to our members: anything else that would be relevant to your target audience, including • C ompany Pages, Showcase links to your latest and greatest Pages,Follow Company Ads white papers, eBooks, case studies, and Company Updates and how-to content. By delivering useful and engaging content, you’ll • Sponsored Updates foster engagement and help your message spread faster. In fact, our • SlideShare research shows that Company Updates containing links can have up to 45% • Content Ads higher follower engagement than updates without links. • LinkedIn Groups • Content Marketing Score • Trending ContentCompany Pages, Showcase Pages, And remember–integration with % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100Follow Company Ads and Company common Social Media Management Effective Ineffective I don’t use itUpdates: Be Found and Connect vendors including Adobe, Hootsuite™,with Those that Matter Most Percolate, Salesforce, Shoutlet, Source: “ Customer Engagement: The Role of Content in the IT Purchase Process & Connecting Content Spredfast and Sprinklr make it easier Marketing to Sales Follow Up.” IDG Enterprise, Sep’2013. N=1,138 range of industries worldwideMore than 3 million companies for you to manage your Page and were surveyed in Spring 2013.leverage their Company Page to Company Updates. 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 LinkedInSpecific Audiences 1. Establish your presenceLike many companies, yours likely In other words, you can create a 2. Attract followersconsiders many parts of its business to distinct platform for each aspect 3. Engage followersbe important. And to give each its due of your business that has its own 4. Amplify through the networkattention, you likely have more than message to share with its own target 5. Analyze and refineone “voice.” With Showcase Pages, audience. It’s a unique way to directlyyou can build a presence and present engage the right people in the righta unique voice for every important context. And just as with Companypart of your business. By creating Pages, your administrators will be ablededicated pages for your more to monitor performance throughprominent brands, businesses, and dedicated analytic tools within theinitiatives using Showcase Pages, you Showcase Page experience.can extend your LinkedIn presence. “W hen 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: • Cultivate a larger following Did You Know Fun Fact: with a multi-channel approach.Attract More Followers Encourage your teammates to add There are more than 1.5 million unique publishers actively using the LinkedIn a link to your company page in Share button on their sites to send content into the LinkedIn platformThe more the merrier on the social their email signatures. If needed, (Q1 2013 earnings)merry-go-round. Here are some ask your designer for help creatingsimple, effective strategies for a customized banner or button. “C ontent Marketing is the planning, creation, promotion,attracting more followers with your and measurement of content to a target audience withcompany updates: • A dd a Follow button to your the goal of satisfying customers and affecting a business website. Your web team can pull outcome. LinkedIn offers an incredibly useful platform • E ngage your colleagues. code for a Follow button from for research, ideation and the amplification of content Employees are 70% more likely developer.linkedin.com to add to specific interest groups from your target customers to engage with your company to your blog or website. This lets to the Influencers that inspire them to take action. updates, so don’t forget to LinkedIn members follow your LinkedIn is essential for achieving content ask them to do it! Initiate company with a single click. marketing results.” communication and make it easy for them to respond. L ee Odden, CEO @TopRank Online Marketing, Author: 8:00 a.m.Optimize, Public Speaker: Integrated Search, Social, and 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 YouWant to encourage members to follow HP has found incredible value byyour Company Page or your Showcase taking advantage of the unmatchedPage? Use Follow Company Ads to targeting available via LinkedIn Followdeliver personalized messages on the Company Ads. In addition to allowinghomepages of your target audience, HP to target the people it wants toestablishing the relevance of your engage–senior-level decision-makersbusiness to these members and in various industries—Follow Adsbuilding your Follower audience. Once empowered the company to increasemembers choose to follow you, their followers by 300,000 in a two-monthnew status will be shared with their full period. Moreover, HP was the firstnetwork: a powerful social means of company on LinkedIn to hitbuilding 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: LinkedIn By the Numbers:Company Updates: Engage Your Followers EXECUTIVES RATE LINKEDIN HIGH ON VALUE THEY GAIN FROM THEIR SOCIAL MARKETING INITIATIVESLinkedIn Company Updates are a 4. Keep your audience’s attention % rating value as either “extremely valuable” or “valuable”powerful way to reach and engage by producing content consistently,professionals with relevant content responding to timely events, Branded Blog 64%across multiple devices. They are sent engaging members through LinkedIn 60%from your Company Page and deliver comments, and continually Twitter 59%targeted content into our members’ refining your content strategy. 58%feeds, increasing their engagement Facebook 50%with your brand. But are your updates 5. E xtend your targeted reach beyond YouTube 48%optimized? Keep the following best your Company Page followerspractices in mind when creating and by using Sponsored Updates to LinkedIn Groupsposting your company page updates promote your best content.to dramatically increase engagementand overall reach. 1 IN EVERY 3 INTERNET USER VISITS A BRAND’S SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE Paid Social Media advertising objectives1. O ptimize introductions and headlines by thinking like a Primarily branding related, 45% journalist, adding your point of view, e.g. raising awareness, 31% asking thoughtful questions to involve your audience, and influencing brand opinions 16% including a clear call to action. 15% Primarily direct-response2. S tand out in the feed by including related e.g. driving product 25% a compelling image or some type of 29% rich media. trails or site visits3. Attract an audience by aligning your A mix of both—more than content to members’ needs and half is branding 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: and whitepaper downloads, create a “Sell something, get a customer for a day. Help someone, get a cadence of helpful insights relevant customer for life.”Follow the 4-1-1 Rule to your audience. Mix in a bit of industry thought leader content; news Jay Baer – digital marketing strategist, speaker, author, andThe 4-1-1 Rule was coined by and trends are a great way to build president of Convince & ConvertTippingpoint Labs and Joe Pulizzi of relationships with prospects whilethe Content Marketing Institute. While keeping current customers in the know. 4 New Tweetsit was originally created with Twitterin mind, it can successfully be applied You’ll authentically engage in 1 Retweetto your company’s content marketing conversations, build awareness, and 1 Self-servingstrategy using LinkedIn. interact with LinkedIn members Tweet without giving the impression thatThe rule states: you’re a self-centered know-it-all. It’s all“For every one self-serving tweet, you part of moving to the new marketingshould retweet one relevant tweet and mindset of “always be helping” insteadmost importantly share four pieces of of the outdated “always be selling.”relevant content written by others.”It’s basically saying to share the love.Instead of constantly bombardingyour followers with demos, webinars,Consistent posting: Create an editorial calendar of updates within your company,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: T ippingpoint Labs. www.tippingpointlabs.com PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 27

PART 6:Sponsored Updates: Content Marketing in the Professional FeedOur members are already engaging • Build relationships with the world’s TUhipndkatoefsTaasrbgeeitnegd naantdiveSapdovnesrotriseidngwith high-quality content from professionals. Publish your contentnews sites, thought leaders, their with Sponsored Updates to create Sponsored updates are native to the browsing experience,connections, and brands. With value and establish trust that incorporated directly into the member’s feed so as notSponsored Updates, you can join sparks ongoing conversations and to interrupt the stream of content.the conversation and appear along deeper customer relationships.with that content. You can publish Bislr, a provider of marketing automation solutions, usedSponsored Updates with rich media Targeting options Sponsored Updates to generate high-quality leads with a highand ensure relevance with robust Sponsored Updates allow you to conversion rate and at a lower cost. Plus, it generated additionaltargeting functionality. And that reach a targeted audience beyond brand awareness as a benefit of organic sharing.means you can reach the right your Company Page followers. You Read Case Studypeople at the right time with your can define your audience usingbest articles, images, infographics, criteria such as location, companyPDFs, presentations, and videos. Plus, size, industry, job function, andSponsored Updates are the only way seniority. Remember, there’s alwaysto reach LinkedIn’s mobile users at a tradeoff between targeting andscale, since they appear in the feed on audience size. If you target toodesktop, tablet, and smartphone. specifically, your update may reach a very small audience.Sponsored Updates are a powerfultool to: Performance tracking You can promote updates in 20 • Raise awareness and shape languages across the 200 countries perception. Send Sponsored and territories where we have Updates to your target audience members. And within a minute or two to rapidly increase awareness of publishing your update, you’ll see and shape the perception of your impression and engagement metrics. brand, products, and services. And reporting on your post will be updated in near real time. That means • D rive quality leads. Generate you can track how well your posts quality leads by sharing insights hit the mark and fine-tune your that professionals seek. Watch strategy instantly. that content spread via the peer sharing that occurs naturally on LinkedIn. PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 28

PART 6: Sponsored Updates are purchased Adobe used Sponsored Updates as part of its campaign to raise through a second-price auction. awareness of the company as an innovator in digital marketing.How Sponsored Updates work Here’s how it works. Each time there As a result of the brand exposure in the LinkedIn feed, research is an opportunity for a Sponsored confirmed that U.S. marketing executives were 50% more likely toGetting a LinkedIn Company Page Update to be shown, LinkedIn runs agree that Adobe can “shape the future of digital marketing.”is the first step to using Sponsored an auction to determine whichUpdates. All Sponsored Updates update to show. For any given Learn Moremust first be created as organic auction, there can be many bidsCompany Updates. from competing advertisers looking to reach that member. That meansSimilar to an ad unit, a Sponsored when you sponsor an update, yourUpdate is sent to a member when campaign enters an auction tothey visit LinkedIn. Sponsored determine whether it’s shown to yourUpdates are clearly distinguished target audience. Sponsored Updatefrom organic content to make sure our inventory is non-guaranteed, but youmembers can differentiate between may adjust your bid and content toorganic and paid content. Currently, perform better in the auction.they are labeled as “Sponsored.”Links in Sponsored Updates can drivetraffic wherever you’d like, includingyour content portals, relevant newsor articles, YouTube or SlideSharechannels, whitepapers, and eventregistration 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 networksExecutive Director, Digital, currently are? are lying about their data, but ratherNissan United because consumers are more apt to CD: Any organization that needs to elaborate on other social networks.LI: What factors are most important do a better job of getting the brandto you when considering advertising in front of affluent people or just the LI: How are marketers getting itchannels for your clients? right professional people. LinkedIn wrong with LinkedIn? is a great platform for targeting thisCD: It all depends on the goals of the type of audience. The other type of CD: They are seeing it as ancampaign or what we are trying to client that needs to be on LinkedIn is advertising platform and theyaccomplish. My focus is on a global any organization that needs to recruit are not leveraging it as a contentcampaign that transcends the US and top talent. platform. Advertisers are trying toEurope so a lot of what we are doing drive lower funnel activities insteadis branding. We look at platforms as LI: How do you compare the audience of participating in the conversation.‘how can we best utilize our money to targeting capability of LinkedIn with I see LinkedIn as a way to continueget in front of as many people as we other social networks? the dialogue in a way that naturallycan to convince them the Nissan is a promotes the value proposition of the CD: The biggest thing that’s come to brand and I think many brands are still our attention is we can trust the using it as an ad platform because results from LinkedIn. People are most media buying agencies follow less apt to elaborate on LinkedIn than the path of least resistance and buy they are on other social networks. what is easy. Getting the creative and 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 ContentWe are all visual thinkers. In fact, Through SlideShare, you can: 1. Send Company Updates – SlideShare content displays directly within the75% of the sensory neurons in our LinkedIn feedbrains process visual information. • Share presentations, videos,Visual content can help set you apart infographics and other documents 2. Sponsor your best content to extend its reachfrom text-heavy competition, and with your LinkedIn networkSlideShare is the perfect channel for 3. Use SlideShare Content Ads to pull SlideShare content into 300x250 adyour visual content. • Upload portfolios, conference placements on LinkedIn talks, PDFs, marketing/salesSlideShare is not just a repository for presentations and more “It’s almost not fair to ask for my take on SlideShare. I consider it one ofyour slide presentations. It’s a social the top three “plays” in my own content marketing efforts. I contributechannel where you can establish • Embed videos in presentations to the SlideShare blog. I recommend it to everyone of my clients andyour brand as a thought leader and add audio to make a webinar am hired often to write and design the presentations.and authority around topicsand keywords. With more than 60 million visitors a month and 3 billion slide views a month (that’s 1,140 slides per second), SlideShare is the world’s largest professional content-sharing community. And that’s something you can’t afford to overlook. 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: SlideShare Did You Know Fun Fact:Here are nine tips to help ensure content domination on SlideShare:1. K eep 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 blogs and renders beautifully “In a recent conference, I was asked my opinion on what is2. Be visual: Shoot for an average of in Twitter the biggest opportunity in B2B Content Marketing? Without 19 images in your 10–30 slides hesitation, I answered “SlideShare.” 8. R epurpose your presentations:3. G et to the point: Aim for an Slice and dice them into blog posts, Michael Brenner, Vice President of Marketing and Content Strategy average of 24 words per slide infographics, webinars at SAP, Speaker, Blogger and Social Business Marketing Leader and videos4. Be the authority on your topic: Choose a topic and own it 9. M ake SlideShare part of every campaign: Add a SlideShare5. F ocus on design and tell a story: checkbox to your campaign Design your deck to pull the reader checklist from one slide to the next If you don’t have a SlideShare6. R ev up the SEO for each account, sign up from LinkedIn to presentation: Include keyword- share your presentations worldwide rich titles, descriptions and tags in and drive more views and traffic. order to give your presentations a fighting chance in the world of search engines as well as inside the SlideShare search resultsHave 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 everypresentation 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 AdInterrupting It Standard content ad enlargedOn LinkedIn, our members are actively Our content ad unit delivers up toconsuming and sharing information five different items of content viaand 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, theyusing Content Ads. update automatically whenever live content featured in them changes.Content Ads use images and videocontent that stand out above the fold Content ads are extremely simpleon our uncluttered, clean LinkedIn to create: you supply us with assetspage 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 signand engage your audience with off, within ten working days. You’ll bewhite papers, videos, brochures and able to leverage the depth of LinkedInother high-value content—without member profiles for accurate targetinginterrupting the user flow and by of your ad, and you’ll get accessenhancing their member experience. to detailed analytics showing how members interact with each content tab.For ad specifications, visithttp://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 AdSlideShare Content Ads are the latest Your audience can interact with the “SlideShare makes it easy to take what you’ve already got to aaddition to LinkedIn’s expanding presentations in these ads just as they much wider audience. And—in stark contrast to most business’Content Ads portfolio. Through the would on SlideShare itself, scrolling experiences with social media today—it delivers measurementSlideShare Content Ad format, you can: forwards and back, and choosing based on real business activity, like leads.” whether to expand the presentation • Extend reach and discoverability of or view it within the ad unit. Plus, you Todd Wheatland, Author of The Marketer’s Guide to SlideShare your SlideShare content can embed a lead capture form in your presentation, which LinkedIn members • Drive engagement by offering can fill in and submit directly from the user value presentation. Importantly, they can do without interrupting their • D emonstrate thought leadership LinkedIn session. and industry expertise Moreover, by combining detailedWith SlideShare Content Ads, LinkedIn Analytics with SlideShare’swe combine SlideShare’s rich, content viewing metrics and lead-professionally relevant content with generation forms, we provide aLinkedIn Marketing Solutions’ unique uniquely in-depth view of engagementtargeting capabilities. SlideShare with your content marketing.Content Ads give your content thereach it deserves, delivering in-depthpresentations through a 300 x 250ad unit that enables broad,flexible distribution. PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 34

PART 6:LinkedIn APIs: Deepen Engagement, Share Content Network-wideLeverage LinkedIn’s professional Here are just a few ways you can take Statoil Taps into LinkedInaudience and platform across your advantage of our APIs: API to Create a Content Hubother digital channels with a rangeof full-fledged APIs and plug-ins that • Invite members to sign up to Statoil wanted to shift its image from a big-oil company to ahelp deepen engagement with your your site using their LinkedIn forward-thinking energy organization. Using a LinkedIn API,audience and share content across our login credentials it created a content hub called Energy Realities that helped itnetwork. You can use LinkedIn’s APIs reach the right audience and amplify its content andto create custom branded experiences • Leverage select areas of the social actions.that allow members to sign in using LinkedIn identity to delivertheir LinkedIn login. This eliminates relevant content Read Case Studythe need for them to enter additionaldata. Even more importantly, by using • Plug LinkedIn feeds into your sitethe API to access LinkedIn’s rich data,you can tailor the member experience • Invite your users to share updatesbased on profile data. You can also across the LinkedIn platformencourage your experience to go viralby triggering it to publish updates To add a LinkedIn plugin to your siteabout a user’s activities. or app, visit developer.LinkedIn.com to generate the required code andWe offer developers powerful add it to the source code of youroptions to leverage our content and site or app. The LinkedIn Certifiedconnections while keeping users Developer Program (CDP) makes iton our site. easy to engage developers certified to work with LinkedIn data, who are trained and supported by LinkedIn. We also offer options for working with a broader range of developers as well. PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 35

PART 6:LinkedIn Groups: Join the ConversationCompanies often talk about ‘joining Plan to participate LinkedIn Groups for Businessthe conversation’ and ‘establishing You can join up to 50 groups butthought leadership.’ By participating in let’s face it—you and your colleagues HubSpot’s Inbound Marketer’s LinkedIn Group is another stellardiscussions taking place in established may not have the time to invest in example of how a marketer can best utilize a group within LinkedIn.LinkedIn Groups, you can join the cultivating conversations, connections, HubSpot now has more than 50,000 followers for its Companyconversation. And by creating your and relationships at that volume. Once Page, and more than 96,000 members for the Inbound Marketerscompany’s own LinkedIn Branded you pinpoint the groups that will prove group—significant audiences for its messages about bestCommunities, you can start the the best investment of your time, it’sconversation. Either way, you’re critical to put in the time to participate. practices for inbound marketing.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 whether that’s content published byAs a sophisticated marketer, you know your company or another organization.that true and meaningful engagement The key is to position yourself as awith prospects and customers is trusted and helpful peer rather than assparked and maintained through a marketer focused on reeling in theinteractions. The trick is finding the next customer.right forum for this engagement,and LinkedIn Groups is a terrific wayto become part of a communitycomprising your target audience. PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 36

PART 6: Did you know?LinkedIn Branded Communities Real customers, real benefits There are more Groups on LinkedIn than nonprofit organizations Philips runs two communities in the United States.Through LinkedIn Branded dedicated to thought leadership inCommunities, you can create your health and lighting. The communities 100,000own exclusively branded forum: a have contributed to a significanttargeted environment that establishes rise in Philips’ net promoter scores. LinkedIn Membersyour company’s expertise and builds Moreover, the company’s health join new Groupsa lively community endorsing community counts tens of thousands everydayyour brand. As the sponsor of the of members and thousands of activeCommunity, you’ll leverage exclusive discussions, making it a role model forad positions to share company, thought leadership on a large scale.brand and product messages; driveengagement with weekly emails Engaging with fellow professionals on the issues they care about, and poolingto Community members; and use their thinking to solve business problems. Starting a Community provides acommunity management tools to stay uniquely interactive platform for showcasing your thinking, driving collaboration,involved in the conversation. Plus, you inviting feedback and engaging key stakeholders.can exclusively promote your contentand messages in the right-hand rail Similarly, Microsoft’s Cloudwith units that support rich media Computing community has attractedand video. more than 9,000 senior managers in relevant industries such as IT,All Branded Communities encourage engineering and consultancy.members to spread your contentacross their LinkedIn networks,sharing links to comments anddiscussions and promoting organicgrowth. Plus, you can use Join GroupAds to boost membership further,with content feeds to give potentialCommunity members a taste of thediscussions taking place—and promptthem to join (see the Advertisingsection for more on Join Group Ads).You can find communities to join in the Groups Directory or view suggestionsof groups you may like. Here’s how to create a new community focused ona particular topic or industry. PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 37

PART 6:Get aligned for community successRemember: marketing creates the the competition gets there. Plus,content but needs to work hand listening to and participating in onlinein hand with sales to ensure they conversations will provide your salesknow the story and can carry the team with keen insight into whatconversation when participating in most concerns your prospects. TheyLinkedIn community discussions. can then offer relevant information—Your sales reps should be engaging such as a link to an eBook, whiteprospects and customers in online paper, webinar or other content—venues. After all, they need to interact that establishes your company as awith 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: Closing the Content Marketing GapTwo New Power Resources for Your Content Marketing Toolbox GLOBAL MARKETERS ARE USING CONTENT MARKETING TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS, BUT DON’T FEEL THEY’RE BEING EFFECTIVE AS THEY COULD BE.We believe in the power of contentmarketing. That’s why we’re continually using content marketingdeveloping new resources that helpyou achieve even more from your feel they’re being effectivecontent marketing strategies andinitiatives. And we are certain you’re Australian 96% 38%going to get tons of value from these US 93% 41%two new resources: UK 88% 48% • Content Marketing Score 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 • Trending Content Association for data-driven marketing & advertising (ADMA), 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends— North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfsContent Marketing Score Like the most effective contentQuantify Your Content Marketing marketers, we bet you reach yourEfforts On LinkedIn audience in multiple ways acrossAs a sophisticated marketer, you know LinkedIn, including via Groups,you need to prove the impact of your company updates, employee posts,content marketing initiatives. Ideally sponsored updates, and influenceryou want to: posts. The Content Marketing Score from LinkedIn ties all of this outreach • U nderstand the content and topics together so you get an integrated view that resonate with your audience of how your efforts are paying off. • M easure the effectiveness of your content-based campaigns • B enchmark the success of 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: Turn Insights Into Content Gold A Dynamic Duo All that information is valuable,Benchmark Your Content Performance but we know insights are useless While Trending Content gives you insight into the hottestThink of the Content Marketing unless you act upon them. And the topics across LinkedIn, the Content Marketing Score isScore as a barometer that helps Content Marketing Score makes specific to your company, product and brand.your company, product and brand that possible by providing specificunderstand the impact of its content recommendations on defining and Your Overall Content Marketing Scoremarketing efforts on LinkedIn. By adjusting your content strategy to By Target Audience and Topicattributing a score to your content, achieve the best results possible.the Content Marketing Score These may include suggestions to WHO: Audience = Decision Makers WHAT: Topic = Leadershipquantifies the influence of your experiment with new ways to increasecompany, product and brand your follower base such as Sponsored 1,400 7 of 10on LinkedIn. Updates, encourage your employees to publish more posts, or focus on 1,200The Content Marketing Score your content relevance.provides this insight by: CMS Score 1,000 Peers: In a nutshell, the Content Marketing Blackrock • Highlighting the audience(s) Score from LinkedIn: 800 Microsoft consuming your content Dell on LinkedIn • A nalyzes who engages 600 Cap Gemini with your content Oracle • Quantifying your company’s 400 Citi content presence and • C ompares you to your peers Amex engagement on LinkedIn 200 Accenture • S uggests how to improve SalesforceIn other words, it tells you if members your score 0within your target audience are Best in classengaging with your content. And To receive your custom Contentit can show you how you stack up Marketing Score, please contact influenceagainst your competitors. You can your LinkedIn account executiveeven see a breakdown of how you’re or account manager.performing across the different areasof LinkedIn – whether by Groups, 250updates, or posts. CLIENT Weaker content influence 40

PART 6: Next-Level Marketers face a challenge in knowing exactly who's Content consuming their content and whether it's reaching theirTrending Content desired audiences. For more engagement, reach and virality YoTuHrETarTgOetPAIuCdSienTcHe AisTonMLiAnkTeTdIEnR marketers need to tune their content strategies to the types ofBe Trendy (With Your Content) content trending for their target audiences.Your target audience is on LinkedIn.Now it’s just a matter of delivering Align Your Content Calendar With TWhHeATTo’SpiTcRsETNhDaINt MG atterthe content that attracts and engages Your Audiencethem. But how do you know just With LinkedIn, you can see trending W*hTaotp’s tTrreenddiinngg topics on LinkedIn, Dec, 2013 - Jan. 2014which topics will catch – and keep topics across all those sources:– their attention? And how do you LinkedIn Groups, news posts, thought *Top trending topics on LinkedIn, Dec. 2013–Jan. 2014know which members will be most leadership posts and discussions,interested in your content? and company pages. You’ll see which 1 Employee 2 Management 3 Sourcing 4 Self-Esteem 5 Social MediaWhether you’re new to content topics matter, and which members are Engagement Marketingmarketing or looking to drive even sharing the most content on any givenmore engagement with your existing subject. You’ll even be able to pinpoint 10 Retirement 9 Job 8 Future 7 Business 6 Foreclosurescontent, Trending Content from which topics are going viral. Search Trends DevelopmentLinkedIn can help you focus on Venture Capitaliststhe topics that matter. How do we deliver this invaluable Source: LinkedIn Internal Data Entrepreneurs data? We evaluate influencer articles,On a daily basis, LinkedIn members network updates and sponsored Who Shares the Mostactively engage with content from updates to understand what contentfour primary sources of inspiration, members are sharing. Using a complex *Audiences sharing the top 15 most shared articles on LinkedIn, Dec. 2013–Jan. 2014insights, and information on algorithm built by our data scienceour network: team, we put each piece of content TOPTToRpETNrDeInNdGinTgOTPoICpSics into one or more of over 17,000 topic (Janu(Jarayn2u0a1r4y) 2014) Small Business Owners • N ews from publishers categories. We then layer on member profile attributes to understand who is leadership Women • P eers on LinkedIn groups sharing the content. Young Upwardly Mobile • T hought leaders With all that insight, you can fine- tune your strategy to align with the entrepFrineannecuiarl sAhdivpisors • B rands latest trends. That means you can increase the likelihood of your own online advertising Mass Af uents Retirement content going viral, and reach and mobile devices engage more LinkedIn members. To Career receive your custom Trending Content Changers analysis, please contact your LinkedIn account executive or account manager. Chief Executive Of cers healthcare Source: LinkedIn Internal Data PART 6: Publish with a Purpose: Content Marketing on LinkedIn 41

Ask the Expert:Lisa WeinsteinPresident, Global Digital, consumer behaviors on a platform like media, marketers get hung up on a lot of time in the space looking atData and Analytics at Starcom LinkedIn and then, as the consumer is chasing the social networks’ specific trends of topics and keywords whichMediaVest Group 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 companiesLI: What factors are most important It starts with behavior which is investments are moving the needle like Visible Measures on the videoto you when considering advertising informed by data, which we use against the core macro objective. side. It can be different with video,channels for your clients? 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 thatLW: One of the things we say is that LI: How are your clients’ marketing spectrum of objectives ranging from will most likely drive certain earnedit’s about behavior, not channels. objectives different on LinkedIn brand lift and consideration, to ROI responses. We also share that partFrom our perspective, when you start compared to other social networks? and direct response. LinkedIn works to plan how our video content canwith consumer behavior you usually How does that impact your clients’ against key measures whether they drive greater shares because westart with data. We really believe content strategy? are top or bottom of the funnel. think it’s a strategic question. It’s vitalthat data helps to create experiences to our strategy to think about theand we use the phrase ‘created by LW: I would argue that the objectives LI: How would you advise a marketer intersection of paid, owned,data’ and ‘creating its own data.’ of a platform like LinkedIn should looking to create more “shareable” and earned.You can use data to understand not be different from other social content? Are there specific strategies networks and that all networks should or tools you recommend? adder up to the overall marketing objectives of clients. As you drill down LW: We believe sharing is an indicator into the use case for LinkedIn, there of valuable consumer behavior. are absolutely some more tactical We’ve spent a lot of time on tools and specific initiatives it could be provided by a company like ShareThis, leveraged for. But if you’re talking which provide powerful indicators of about marketing objectives broadly, the types of content that are most I’d like to think that everything we do sharable. We’ve built a planning tool and all these things we create ladders that allows our planners to buy ads up to bigger objectives like sales, top against content that is more likely to 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 LinkedInBy combining mass reach with LinkedIn Display Adsaccurate targeting, LinkedIn Through LinkedIn Display Ads, youadvertising solutions allow you to: can reach a professional audience in a context where they actively seek • E ngage 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 information, offering targeting by • Increase awareness, credibility sector, job function, seniority, location and impact through the power of and more: a targeted approach social proof that drives engagement, relevance and response. • Drive traffic and leads to your siteHere are the LinkedIn advertisingsolutions at your disposal to help youachieve those results: • Display Ads • Sponsored InMail PART 7: Expand your targeted reach: Advertising on LinkedIn 43

PART 7:LinkedIn Premium Display Advertising for Awareness WrtiemaicethhontLhtehinerkigemdhoItsntauaDdccieoinuscpneltaaabytleAthmedesrd,iiguyhmotuand Consideration at Scale Depending on the type you choose, display ads can appear onWith LinkedIn Premium Display Ads, Asia. It then targeted those members a home page, profile pages, group pages, company pages, onyou can target the exact audience with Display Ads and Sponsored Polls. members’ inbox and messages pages, or at the bottom of ayou want in a premium uncluttered LinkedIn’s accurate targeting resulted page to catch the eye of members before they navigate away.environment. That makes it easier to in 1,324 poll responses from businessuse existing ad creative to drive brand travelers and a total of 97 product “From a marketing standpoint, the targeting is unprecedented.awareness and consideration at scale recommendations. According to the For marketing campaigns, LinkedIn can identify who to send itamong LinkedIn’s audience. international airline’s Vice President to and when to send it but with precision we have never seen Marketing Americas, the campaign before. The success stories are still building, but we will seeDisplay ads give you a fantastic share was successful in spreading brand more B2B marketers drive success via LinkedIn over the nextof voice. That’s because, unlike other awareness and connecting couple years.”digital publishers, LinkedIn only with customers.serves two visual ads on a page at Craig Rosenberg, The Funnelholic www.funnelholic.comany one time. Combine this with ourpowerful targeting capabilities andit’s a no-brainer.Here’s an example of how CathayPacific realized these benefits. Therenowned airline wanted to increasebrand awareness within its targetmarket, so it identified LinkedInmembers who belong to LinkedIngroups related to business travel in 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 timely—but deep as well. target audience would look like a • U tilize the potential that LinkedIn combination of the following: Ads has to help precisely connect LI: How do you make sure personal you with your target audience. time spent on LinkedIn is productive? • Establish robust profiles that makeAuthor, Maximize Your Social, How does this differ from other them discoverable in LinkedInTrilingual Social Media Strategy & social networks? profile search.Social Business Coach, Consultant,Trainer & Speaker NS: I spend my personal time on • Share relevant content LinkedIn 2 ways: 1) Keeping up-to- consistently from their personalLI: What type of content best date and engaging with my network, profile.connects with audiences on LinkedIn? and 2) Business intelligence lookingIs there a specific type of content you for information on people, companies, • Reach out and connect with thoseprefer to consume on LinkedIn? or news in my industry. I limit my time from their target audience that and remain clear on my objectives. they know but have yet to connectNS: The content that best connects with.with audiences on LinkedIn is LI: What recommendations do youundoubtedly the type that makes us have for marketers looking to connect • Proactively utilize their LinkedIndo our job better as well as invest with target audiences on LinkedIn? network for introductions to keyin our professional brand. Without a people in their target audience,doubt the recently added Influencer NS: LinkedIn, like any other social using LinkedIn Inmails when ancontent is of the highest quality, but network, is about people that are introduction is not possible. using social media for communication with others as well as information • Engage in relevant groups. gathering. Professionals are not looking to be sold to, but they are • Create a group to represent your company. PART 7: Expand your targeted reach: Advertising on LinkedIn 45

PART 7:LinkedIn Ads for Pay-Per-Click (PPC) PerformanceLinkedIn Ads is a self-service on characteristics like job title, jobadvertising 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 canLinkedIn’s professional audience. Your also control your advertising coststext-based ad includes a headline, by setting a budget as low as $10 perdescription, and can even feature day and can choose to pay on aa 50x50 image. You specify which cost-per-click or impression basis—LinkedIn members view your ads by all without any contractsselecting a target audience based or commitments.HubSpot generates quality leads with accuratetargeting using LinkedIn AdsHubSpot creates marketing software their businesses, or networking “With LinkedIn Ads, we’ve been able to generatethat helps businesses grow web traffic, with other professionals.” HubSpot a clickthrough rate that is 60% higher than ourgenerate inbound leads, and convert also needed to accurately target its average across other social networks—and atleads into paying customers. The campaigns beyond simply just location, the same time, the quality of leads comingchallenge for HubSpot was finding keywords, and interests, drilling down through LinkedIn is greater than through otheradvertising venues with the right mix of into specific professional attributes of social media channels.”marketing professionals who respond its potential customers—a capabilitywell to HubSpot’s offers of free that other social networks do Dan Slagen, Head of Paid Marketing, HubSpotmarketing materials. not provide. PART 7: Expand your targeted reach: Advertising on LinkedIn 46HubSpot first experimented with ad Using LinkedIn Ads, HubSpot has beencampaigns on social networks other able to achieve clickthrough ratesthan 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 thenetworks,” 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: Send a personalized message directly to a member’s inboxSponsored InMail: Deliver Directly to Members’ InboxesUsing Sponsored InMail, you can Sponsored InMail is ideal for: Ensure standout: just one message is sent every 60 daysreach high-value, targeted prospectson LinkedIn with attention-grabbing • Boosting conversion through Prompt members to take action via a customizable response buttonmessages that speak directly to targeted product andtheir interests. You can designate service promotions Encourage ongoing dialogue with optional social widgetsrecipients by geography, job role,group membership, company size and • Supporting display ad campaigns Quoteother criteria. by emphasizing key messages and calls to action “Your first connection with someone you don’t know shouldThese notifications are prominently simply be to get a positive response. Don’t look to do anythingdisplayed on the LinkedIn homepage Our 60-day exclusivity rule prevents more. The simplest way to get a response, a valuable one atand in members’ inboxes for high other companies from messaging your that, is to ask for their expertise. Even LinkedIn understands howvisibility that cuts through the clutter. target audience and ensures 100% valuable that request is that they’ve made “Expertise Request”In addition, you can amplify your share of voice. And the flexible format a drop-down option when sending an InMail message.”message by including social media makes it simple to integrate contentwidgets that empower your audience and messaging from across your D avid Spark (@dspark), Founder of the brand journalism firm,to easily spread your message to like- LinkedIn ecosystem, such as from your Spark Media Solutions. Blogger at Spark Minute and podcasterminded professionals. Company Page. Accurate targeting at the Tear Down Show. ensures you reach the members that matter most, from across our network of over 259 million professionals.Apple used personalized, targeted emails to raiseawareness of the iPad 2 as a business tool, increasingconsideration 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 InMailsCEB (www.executiveboard.com), the The title of CEB’s InMail specifically “Using LinkedIn’s targeting to reach executives at the momentleading member-based advisory addressed executive challenges: when the CEB pitch would be most relevant is the key to thiscompany, markets its research “How will you ensure long-term campaign’s success.”in human resources, information success in your new role?” The InMailtechnology, and corporate innovation went on to congratulate the LinkedIn Rory Channer, Managing Director of Marketing for CEBto a rarified group of highly senior member on his or her professionalexecutives. It was challenging to shift, invited them to try out CEB’sconvince highly influential executives Leadership Transition Service, andto take the time to check out some offered a free white paper on theof the compelling thought-leadership hallmarks of successful leadershipmaterials that CEB offers. transitions.Rory Channer, Managing Director The InMail campaign generated openof Marketing for CEB, and his rates that were four times the ratemarketing colleagues knew that a of CEB’s typical online marketingdefining moment for connecting with campaigns, and twice the typicalan executive about CEB services is clickthrough rate.during a period of transition. UsingLinkedIn targeting capabilities, theychose to focus on executives inhuman resources and sales that hadbeen promoted or added significantnew 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. opportunity because no one network or specific tools that you wouldClient Director, Strategy is especially nailing it right now. recommend?LI: What types of clients should be LI: How are marketers getting it NS: From a tool standpoint, a reallyleveraging LinkedIn more than they wrong with LinkedIn? good social listening service cancurrently are? cover a wide swath of sources. It can NS: There’s still some education also provide access to other media,NS: Because of the association of the required. LinkedIn is viewed as, even search trends and search behaviorscontent on LinkedIn, as well as with before being thought of as a media so you have a rich tapestry to drawthe audience that goes to the site, opportunity for advertisers, as a from in terms of what is relevant forany category where a client is aiming marketer’s in-house PR firm—the PR consumers, particularly your targetto make headway from a leadership mechanism, if you will. I think the first audience. Good listening is the firstperspective. If you’re looking to make step is recognizing that it has quite step. You’re not going to createa leadership statement and/or be a bit to offer from an advertising shareable content if what you’reseen curating a point of view with perspective. The second thing is building is not relevant and intriguingcontent, there is a lot of upside to that there are a lot of categories that to consumers. Sometimes it’s athe LinkedIn proposition. 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 Powerof LinkedIn’s Partner ProgramsLinkedIn’s Partner Programs are designed to work with companies “P artnering with LinkedIn has enabled us to deliver robustthat share our goal of serving our members’ needs. From entertaining audience demographics, content analytics, and publishingpromotions to targeted multi-channel messages, LinkedIn’s platform capabilities to today’s biggest brands across every industry.can significantly increase your consumer engagement beyond Brands are using this context and capability to deliver greatLinkedIn.com. The three partner programs of greatest interest to experiences that make professionals more productive andmarketers are: successful, and as a result, are building valuable and lasting relationships. ”• C ertified Developer Program LinkedIn Certified Developer Program (CDP) (CDP): This program allows marketers Jim Rudden, CMO Spredfast Inc. like you to grow engagement with• S ocial Media Management your brand through custom marketing program campaigns and solutions that leverage the LinkedIn platform. The program is• Ads API 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