The Guide To
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PART 1 TheSophisticated Technology Marketer’s Guide to VolumeCONTENT MARKETING 4 ON LINKEDIN PART 1: Why does my business need LinkedIn? 1 Table of Contents CONTENT MARKETING FOLLOW THE 4-1-1 RULE ON LINKEDIN 3 8 DELIVERING RELEVANT CONTENT: SLIDESHARE: TAP INTO PUBLISHING WITH A PURPOSE VISUAL TENDENCIES 4 9–10 SHOWCASE PAGES: REACH AND BUILD A LINKEDIN GROUPS: RELATIONSHIP WITH SPECIFIC AUDIENCES JOIN THE CONVERSATION 5 11 ATTRACT MORE FOLLOWERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PUBLISHING ON LINKEDIN 6 12 COMPANY UPDATES: TWO NEW POWER RESOURCES FOR ENGAGE YOUR FOLLOWERS YOUR CONTENT MARKETING TOOLBOX 7 13–15 2 Content Marketing ON LINKEDIN This guide is the last of four volumes It’s time to take advantage of and aims to educate Sophisticated publishing on LinkedIn and become Tech Marketers on the most successful the best, most sophisticated tech means of sharing helpful content with marketer in the industry. a specific target audience and how Kelly Kyer to establish thought leadership for Global Marketing Lead — your company. Technology Vertical Become a LinkedIn publisher by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions learning to take advantage of the various means to publish on LinkedIn 1 Eccolo Media, “2015 B2B Technology Content with Company Pages, Showcase Survey Report: Volume 2,” Jan 20, 2015 If you’re a technology marketer Pages, employee amplification, then you already understand the and Sponsored Updates. importance of content marketing Develop an always-on thought and what publishing content can do leadership approach to engage your for businesses and consumers alike. audience and develop a sense of B2B technology decision-makers are leadership and authority. Share high- interested in a wide range of content quality media through SlideShare throughout the purchasing process to further position your brand and 77% of them consume between as a thought leader. 2 to 6 assets before making a purchase.1 To capitalize on the benefits of Join the conversation with LinkedIn content marketing, LinkedIn provides Groups and contribute your knowledge marketers with all the necessary tools and expertise to surrounding to publish with a purpose and deliver professionals. LinkedIn allows you to relevant content to all 347 million+ see which topics matter most to your members. audience and what your target is talking about by showing trending content. Content Marketing on LinkedIn 3 Delivering Relevant Content: PUBLISHING WITH A PURPOSE Earlier we underscored the importance Company Pages, Showcase Pages, of delivering relevant content in order Follow Company Ads and Company to build relationships with your targets. Updates: Be Found and Connect LinkedIn provides the following with Those that Matter Most Mobilize your Employees solutions for delivering relevant There are more than 2 million unique content to our members: publishers actively using the LinkedIn to Amplify your Message • Company Pages, Showcase Share button on their sites to send Best-in-class companies encourage their own employees Pages, Follow Company Ads content into the LinkedIn platform. to share content on LinkedIn with their networks, and Company Updates Company Pages are where you significantly increasing content reach. This is especially • Sponsored Updates can catch the eye of prospective customers by featuring thought powerful for companies whose sales reps are connected • SlideShare leadership content or anything else to the right decision makers. • LinkedIn Groups that would be relevant to your target audience, including links to your latest • Publishing on LinkedIn and greatest whitepapers, eBooks, LINKEDIN: A KEY PLATFORM FOR B2B CONTENT DELIVERY • Content Marketing Score case studies, and how-to content. LinkedIn continues to be the #1 channel to distribute content • Trending Content By delivering useful and engaging content, you’ll foster engagement and help your message spread faster. In fact, our research shows that Company Updates containing links can have up to 45% higher follower engagement than updates without links. And remember — integration with % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 common Social Media Management vendors including Adobe, Hootsuite™, Percolate, Salesforce, Shoutlet, Spredfast and Sprinklr make it easier for you to manage your Page and Source: 2015 B2B Content Marketing Trends/ North America, Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs Company Updates. Delivering Relevant Content: Publishing With a Purpose 4 5 steps to engaging followers on LinkedIn Showcase Pages: 1. Establish your presence REACH AND BUILD A RELATIONSHIP 2. Attract followers WITH SPECIFIC AUDIENCES 3. Engage followers Like many companies, yours likely In other words, you can create a 4. Amplify through the network considers many parts of its business to distinct platform for each aspect be important. And to give each its due of your business that has its own attention, you likely have more than message to share with its own target 5. Analyze and refine one “voice.” With Showcase Pages, audience. It’s a unique way to directly you can build a presence and present engage the right people in the right a unique voice for every important context. And just as with Company part of your business. By creating Pages, your administrators will be able dedicated pages for your more to monitor performance through “ When I ran marketing at a mobile startup, we routinely compared prominent brands, businesses, and dedicated analytics tools within the the impact of each channel at each funnel stage. We plotted initiatives using Showcase Pages, you Showcase Page experience. channels along two dimensions: volume of names and cost can extend your LinkedIn presence. 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 Showcase Pages: Reach and Build a Relationship with Specific Audiences 5 Did You Know: There are more than 2 million unique publishers actively using the LinkedIn Attract More Share button on their sites to send content into the LinkedIn platform FOLLOWERS (Oct, 2014) The more the merrier on the social • Add a Follow button to your merry-go-round. Here are some website. Your web team can pull simple, effective strategies for code for a Follow button from “ Content Marketing is the planning, creation, promotion, attracting more followers with your developer.linkedin.com to add and measurement of content to a target audience with company updates: to your blog or website. This lets the goal of satisfying customers and affecting a business LinkedIn members follow your • Engage your colleagues. A study outcome. LinkedIn offers an incredibly useful platform company with a single click. by BridgtEdge found that 9 out of for research, ideation and the amplification of content the top 10 brands with the most to specific interest groups from your target customers followers on LinkedIn have at least 60% of their employees on to the Influencers that inspire them to take action. LinkedIn. LinkedIn is essential for achieving content • Cultivate a larger following marketing results.” with a multi-channel approach. Encourage your teammates to add Lee Odden, CEO @TopRank Online Marketing, Author: a link to your company page in Optimize, Public Speaker: Integrated Search, Social, and their email signatures. If needed, Content Marketing ask your designer for help creating a customized banner or button. Attract More Followers 6 LINKEDIN BY THE NUMBERS: EXECUTIVES RATE LINKEDIN HIGH ON VALUE THEY GAIN Company Updates: FROM THEIR SOCIAL MARKETING INITIATIVES ENGAGE YOUR FOLLOWERS LinkedIn is the number one choice for professionally relevant content LinkedIn 91% LinkedIn Company Updates are a 3. Attract an audience by aligning your Online News Site 64% powerful way to reach and engage content to members’ needs and Twitter 29% professionals with relevant content interests by making it “snackable” across multiple devices. They are sent and valuable. Facebook 27% from your Company Page and deliver 4. Keep your audience’s attention Google+ 16% targeted content into our members’ by producing content consistently, feeds, increasing their engagement responding to timely events, with your brand. But are your updates engaging members through 1 IN EVERY 3 INTERNET USERS VISIT A BRAND’S SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE optimized? Keep the following best comments, and continually Paid Social Media advertising objectives practices in mind when creating and refining your content strategy. posting your company page updates to dramatically increase engagement 5. Extend your targeted reach beyond Primarily branding related, 45% your Company Page followers e.g. raising awareness, and overall reach. 31% by using Sponsored Updates to influencing brand opinions 1. Optimize introductions and promote your best content. headlines by thinking like a Primarily direct-response 16% related e.g. driving product journalist, adding your point of view, trails or site visits 15% asking thoughtful questions to involve your audience, and 25% including a clear call to action. A mix of both — more than half is branding 29% 2. Stand out in the feed by including a compelling image or some type of rich media. 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