Creating a Winning Content Strategy
for Sponsored Content
©2013 LinkedIn
Corporation. All Rights
Reserved.

Introductions
Amanda Green
Content Campaign Strategist
LinkedIn
Caitlin Morrison
Senior Ad Strategist
LinkedIn
Nicholas Maalouf
Account Manager
LinkedIn

3
Agenda
• Building Your Content Calendar
• Advertising with a Purpose
• Developing Messaging that Resonates
• Creating Best-in-Class Content

The three key phases of content marketing
1.
Develop
2. Distribute
3.
Optimize

1.
Develop
2. Distribute
3.
Optimize
Develop your content strategy

6
Building Your Content Calendar

7
• Plan your content resources
• Provide visibility for internal teams
• Prevent a lapse in conversation with your
audience
• Measure trends in engagement and performance
Why build a content calendar?

8
Sample calendar

1.
Develop
2. Distribute
3.
Optimize
Distribute content through proper channels

10
Advertising with a Purpose

11
Marketing
Goals
Brand
Awareness
Lead
Generation
Does your advertising match your goals?

Who is this for?
Where are they in the buyer’s journey?
How does this make them more
productive and successful?
How will we measure success?
Map every piece of content to your mission
statement by asking four key questions

Thought
Leadership
Blog Post Rich Media/
Infographic
Examples of content for branding

Webinar Whitepaper Form Fill
Examples of content for lead generation

1.
Develop
2. Distribute
3.
Optimize
Optimize program for effectiveness

16
Developing Messaging that Resonates

17
Types of Sponsored Content

18
Anatomy of an effective post

19
• Image - Select a compelling visual that’s descriptive and
accurately reflects your content.
• Headline - Include a call to action, a snackable stat, or a
thought-provoking message.
• Teaser Text - Pique interest with an intriguing message
to draw your audience in. Provide transparency and
context.
• Messaging - Use language that is relatable to your target
demographic.
Strongest elements of Sponsored Content

20
Creating Best-in-Class Content

21
Write copy that creates a “curiosity gap”
Too vague, and
nobody cares. Too
specific, and nobody
needs to click.
- Peter Koechley, Cofounder, Upworthy

22
Optimize for mobile
149 characters (150 cutoff)
Link in the body
Large Image Format

23
Use concise, interactive copy to drive interest

24
Best practices for content frequency
• LinkedIn members can see up to 4 unique posts from an
advertiser in a 48-hour period
• It is important to run 4 creative variations in any live
campaign to take full advantage of the distribution
settings
• Fresh content should be rotated into the campaigns 1-2
times a month
• Sponsored Content generates more followers to your
Company Page. Continue to post organic content as
well to engage with those members.

25
Effective A/B testing
• Ad variations can be represented through minor changes in
copy or images
• It’s important to focus on one ad element when creating a set
of ad variations

26
Standard format Sponsored Content

27
Rich media/large image Sponsored Content

28
Relevancy Score
• Relevancy Score = Bid x Engagement (CTR)

29
LinkedIn performance benchmarks
• CTR: .30%
• Engagement Rate: .40%

30
Presentation recap
• Build a content calendar to plan resources,
provide visibility and measure trends
• Align advertising with the proper distribution
method and target audience
• Leverage creative best practices to drive results

Q&A

Thank You