You know how important content marketing is—98% of your fellow B2B marketers say it’s core to their marketing strategy and more than half of them plan to increase their content marketing budget this year. And, if you’re like your peers, you’re looking to drive a higher return on investment for all your content marketing efforts. We get it and we can help. Join LinkedIn product marketing manager Selin Tyler and content marketing evangelist Jaime Pham as they show you how to drive killer results using Sponsored Updates. They’ll bring their winning content strategies to life by showcasing real campaigns from top-performing B2B brands. Learn how to leverage your best content to appeal to and engage more of the right people.

1. WEBINAR
Selin Tyler (@selingt)
Senior Product Marketing
Manager, LinkedIn
Jaime Pham (@jaimelynn09)
Content Marketing Evangelist,
LinkedIn

2. Questions? Send them via Webex Q&A Feature
Recorded? Of course!
Before we get started…
Shout outs? Tweet them via #LinkedInContent
Feedback? Survey will be available at the end of the Webinar

3. Today’s Agenda
ONE TWO THREE
Content
Management Best
Practices
Campaign Set up
Tips & Tricks
Top Sponsored
Updates of 2015 (so
far)

4. Content Through the Buyer’s Journey
4

5. B2B Buyers are consuming an
average of 10.4 pieces of content
on their way to a purchase decision.
Source: Zero Moment of Truth Study, Google

6. Where are they finding it?
6

7. Nearly half of B2B buyers start their
solution research with a web search,
and 72% of buyers will use Google at
some point in the research stage
Source: 2014 B2B Buyer Landscape, Demand Gen, Pardot

8. That same percentage of buyers using
search will also use social media
Asked for
suggestions/
recommendations
from users
Connected directly
with potential
vendors
Connected with
individual thought
leaders for opinions
Did not use social Browsed existing
discussions

9. “How do you take your Sponsored
Updates from Great to Outstanding?”
9
ONE
Content
Management Best
Practices

10. 1
Source: LinkedIn Internal Study May 2015
Followers and target audiences want different things:
Here’s what followers want to hear, tailor your content accordingly
Provide a steady stream of content for your followers: Best in
class marketers post one to three updates per day on their
Company or Showcase Pages.

11. • Sponsor two to four updates at any time to maximize your reach to your target audience.
• Proactively optimize or cycle out the updates that aren’t achieving your key performance indicators (KPIs).
1 Followers and target audiences want different things:
Here are topics some of the popular target segments consume on LinkedIn

12. Shape Perception
Establish Trust
Drive Traffic
for Nurturing
Nurture to
Convince
and Convert
Earn New Leads
2 Pick content for the full marketing funnel:
Build trust first, then ask for contact information
Infographics, blog posts, industry trends, influencer
content, “behind the scenes” and exclusive content
Best practice guides, case studies, product reviews,
analyst reports, webinars, blog posts
White papers, research briefs, product demos, trials,
product reviews and comparisons, analyst reports
Newsletters, recommendations, case studies, product
news, tutorials
You have 10+ opportunities
to publish Sponsored Updates
that effectively introduce your
brand, build trust, provide helpful
information, and ultimately inform
a purchase decision. Deliver
relevant content at every step
of the buyer’s journey.

13. 2 Pro Tip:
Clear calls to action will maximize your clicks and conversions to gated content
This CTA from Hortonworks for a whitepaper download couldn’t be more direct:

14. Make the most out of your gated content by repurposing it in a variety
of full funnel pieces such as blogs, infographics, webinars
and SlideShare presentations
3 Boost your content ROI through repurposing
Make the most of your gated content by repurposing it in a variety
of full funnel pieces such as blogs, infographics, webinars
and SlideShare presentations.

15. 4 Leverage your employee network to scale up your reach
Employees are a valuable secret
weapon in scaling your Sponsored
Updates campaign.
In a recent Sponsored Updates case study, Dutch
Bank ABN AMRO revealed that their “secret
weapon” for scaling always-on content is their
people.
The Bank’s social media team distributes a
content calendar to all employees every week,
explaining what they’ll be posting to their
Company Page and when.
Now they have 600 people who can share ABN
AMRO’s content with their connections.
Results: Engagement rates as high as 3.25% on their content.
Over 28,000 visits to ABN Amro Insights site in one month.

16. The Helpful Advisor The Conversationalist The Cliffhanger
Start by explaining how
your piece of content will
help your target achieve
professional success.
Make a bold statement or ask
a question to spark a conversation
and get your audience to react.
Tell your audience just enough
to pique their interest but not so
much that they aren’t compelled
to learn more.
5 Create content that is helpful, informative and/or entertaining
Try writing from these perspectives:

17. 6 Optimize your content for mobile
For best mobile performance make sure:
 Your intro copy is fewer than 150 character or eliminate it all together
 Your CTA is clear
 Your landing page is optimized for the small screen

18. 7 Use images to drive engagement
Let your images stand out in the feed
• Adhere to published specifications to ensure your
image is the proper resolution.
• Use the image to expand on the content
or emphasize the CTA.
• Make sure you choose an image that accurately
reflects your content. Consistency between image
and story conveys the topic before the member
even reads a word.

19. 8 Test and improve performance with Direct Sponsored Content
At any time, test 2 to 3
versions of your content
to continuously improve
performance.
Think Simple:
Consider testing personalization
or variations of your CTA.

20. Never miss an opportunity to reach your target
audience—no matter where they are or how
and when they choose to consume content.
9
Adopt an always on mindset…
…as professionals catch up on content at home

21. of decision makers use
social media to research
the solution purchase.
of B2B purchase decision
makers said that winning
content had a significant
impact on their decision.*
9
Pro Tip: For content, think always on content strategy
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to impact your prospects’ buying decision
Make sure your solutions are always in the consideration set of your
target audience by adopting an always-on Sponsored Updates strategy.
*The 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Study, Demand Gen, January 29, 2014

22. 10 Expand your reach to similar audiences
Use Audience Expansion to discover audiences similar to your target
Make your content last longer:
Before you retire a campaign that’s showing fatigue,
consider enabling the Audience Expansion function.
It’s a great way to reach new audiences similar to
your target audience, and expose them to your brand
message.
Remember, these audiences haven’t seen
your content, so it’s new to them.

23. Best Practices Cheat Sheet
Optimizing content
• Always ask, “why would my audience read
this?”
• Use concise and compelling
intros and headlines
• Ask compelling questions to involve the target
audience
• Include a clear call to action, regardless of the
objective
• Make sure your landing pages are optimized for
mobile traffic
Managing updates
• Plan your editorial calendar, but also react to
timely events
• Respond to comments regularly
• Consider keeping updates running through the
weekend
• Test to see what works with your audience and
then refine
Optimizing visuals
• Always include an image, presentation, or video
• Ensure your image is relevant to your content
1 2
3

24. 2
4
TWO
Campaign Set up
Tips & Tricks

25. You have 4 levers to optimize your campaigns
CONTENT
AUDIENCE BUDGET
BID
TARGETING

26. RELEVANCE MATTERS
Test your content to boost your CTR and lower your CPC
CONTENT

27. BID ONLY AS MUCH AS YOUR WILLINGNESS TO PAYBID
Pricing model options:
CPM (cost per thousand impressions)
CPC (cost per click)
In both cases, you only pay enough to beat the next highest bidder
in the 2nd price auction
$

28. .
Shift your budget based on performanceAUDIENCE

29. START BROAD, CHISEL DOWNTARGETING
Chisel, don’t piece-together
Run-of-professionals (ROP) doesn’t mean “no targeting” it
means “all targeting”
Pay for your target audience at ROP rate!
Let the robots work their magic
While marketers are great at understanding “who” their
audience is, optimization algorithms “know” who clicks
and optimize accordingly

30. 3
0
THREE
Top Sponsored
Updates of Q2 2015

31. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• Stands out from the rest of the
news feed by using a casual tone
and incorporating a meme
• Uses a short-form article format
for easy engagement
• Uses the intro copy to deliver an
upbeat message as a hook
3
1

32. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• Provides a lot of upfront value with
the use of statistics in the intro
copy and an infographic for visual
engagement
• These tactics are effective ways to
tease out longer content like
survey results or a research report
3
2

33. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• The post optimizes mobile
engagement by eliminating the
intro copy
• Taps into a very broad desire to be
more successful: the main reason
professionals use LinkedIn. The
message is appropriate to the
platform
3
3

34. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• Niche content finds a place on
LinkedIn with the use of an
effective targeting strategy
• The image adds context to the
post
3
4

35. Top Updates- Q2 2015
• What makes it engaging?
• It keeps content social by
using human stories and
peer learning
• The intro copy is concise
and clear and adds to the
image and title
3
5

36. 36
marketing.linkedin.com

37. ©2014 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
3
7
Questions?
Selin Tyler (@selingt)
Senior Product Marketing
Manager, LinkedIn
Jaime Pham (@jaimelynn09)
Content Marketing Evangelist,
LinkedIn