1.
Jon Lombardo
LinkedIn,
Content Marketing Lead
Chris Bolman
Percolate,
Director of Integrated Marketing
HOW TO
GENERATE LEADS AND BUILD BRAND
USING LINKEDIN SPONSORED UPDATES
(in just 29 minutes)

2.
AGENDA
1. WHAT ARE SPONSORED UPDATES?
2. WHY GREAT CONTENT IS ESSENTIAL TO MODERN MARKETING
3. HOW TO TURN YOUR CONTENT INTO SPONSORED UPDATES
4. THE IMPORTANCE OF TESTING, LEARNING, AND OPTIMIZING
5. LEARN FROM A SOPHISTICATED MARKETER: PERCOLATE
6. HOW TO GET STARTED TODAY
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAY

3.
GOOGLE
‘ULTIMATE GUIDE’ +
‘LINKEDIN SPONSORED UPDATES’

4.
WHAT ARE
SPONSORED UPDATES?

5.
NATIVE ADVERTISING IN THE WORLD’S ONLY
PROFESSIONAL NEWSFEED

6.
THREE FEATURES THAT SET SPONSORED UPDATES
APART
ACCURATE PROFILE-BASED TARGETING
PROFESSIONAL MINDSET CREATES A FAVORABLE
CONTENT MARKETING ENVIRONMENT FOR BRANDS
PREMIUM AUDIENCE

7.
THREE REASONS TO INCLUDE SPONSORED
UPDATES IN YOUR MEDIA MIX
OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE, TABLET & DESKTOP
USEFUL FOR BRAND BUILDING, CONTENT ENGAGEMENT
& LEAD GENERATION
PERFORM 3X-5X BETTER THAN TYPICAL DISPLAY ADS

8.
WHY GREAT CONTENT
IS ESSENTIAL TO MODERN
MARKETING

9.
Content Matters:
10
74%
90%
Number of pieces of content buyers engage with to
research their purchase.
-Source: Google, Zero Moment of Truth Study
Of B2B buyers choose a vendor that’s first to help
them with useful content.
-Source: Inside Sales
Amount of purchase process that buyers complete
before making contact with vendor.
-Source: Forrester
PEOPLE BUY YOUR PERSPECTIVE FIRST AND
YOUR PRODUCTS SECOND

10.
Keys to Great Thought-Leading ContentYOU NOW SHARE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
THROUGH THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
PRO TIP: FOR THE 8 CRITERIA OF THOUGHT LEADERSHIP,
CONSULT THE BLOOM GROUP’S BLOG POSTS.

11.
CREATE CONTENT FOR A MINDSET THAT
‘INVESTS TIME’

12.
On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional Mindset
-Source: The Mindset Divide: Revealing the Emotional Differences
Between Personal and Professional Networks
AND EXPECTS TO HEAR FROM BRANDS THAT
OFFER THOUGHT LEADING ANALYSIS

13.
On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional Mindset6 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHEN
PRODUCING CONTENT FOR LINKEDIN

14.
On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional MindsetGREAT CONTENT ‘FRAMES ALL THE THINGS’
PRO TIP: REVIEW UPWORTHY’S SLIDESHARE PRESENTATION
ON ‘THE SWEET SCIENCE OF VIRALITY’ FOR MORE TIPS

15.
On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional MindsetWHAT GREAT CONTENT LOOKS LIKE

16.
On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional MindsetWHAT TO MEASURE: BRAND AWARENESS

17.
On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional MindsetWHAT TO MEASURE: LEAD GENERATION

18.
On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional MindsetYOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ALONE

19.
HOW TO TURN YOUR
CONTENT INTO COMPELLING
SPONSORED UPDATES

20.
Target Your Content to the Right CustomersFOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE

21.
Think Like a JournalistTHINK LIKE A JOURNALIST

22.
PRO TIP: IMAGE POSTS *GET UP TO 2X
PERFORMANCE
INVEST IN STRONG VISUALS

23.
Make Your Pages Mobile ReadyDESIGN FOR MOBILE
PRO TIP: 75% of Sponsored Updates
engagement comes from mobile

24.
Build a Sturdy Campaign FoundationDEVELOP AN ‘ALWAYS-RELEVANT’ APPROACH

25.
ALWAYS BE
TESTING, LEARNING,
& OPTIMIZING

26.
“Always Be Optimizing”SET-UP A ‘SANDBOX’ PAGE TO TEST POSTS

27.
“Always Be Optimizing”MAKE SURE YOU TRACK YOUR POST TRAFFIC

28.
DON’T BE SCARED TO BID AGGRESSIVELY

29.
REMEMBER THAT WE HAVE AN ENTIRE EBOOK
DEDICATED TO THESE TOPICS
VISIT
MARKETING.LINKEDIN.COM

30.
SUCCESS STORY

31.
WHO WE ARE

32.
The System of Record for Marketing
PERCOLATE OVERVIEW
Percolate, provides software
for managing marketing and
advertising campaigns,
content, and workflows,
conducts ongoing marketing
campaigns to share valuable
insights via webinars and
original research to
prospective customers.

33.
OUR
MARKETING OBJECTIVES

34.
34
BUILD BRAND MEMORY, DISTRIBUTE THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP, AND GENERATE LEADS
1. ATTRACT QUALITY LEADS
• Senior marketing decision makers
• Enterprise ($250M+ revenue)
• NAMER and EMEA
2. DRIVING ENGAGEMENT WITH
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
• Editorial and blog posts
• Original research and reports
• Webinars

35.
[4] TIPS
FOR FINDING SUCCESS WITH
LINKEDIN SPONSORED
UPDATES

36.
36
1. Customers buy because of “mental
availability” + “physical availability”
2. Your content system should be
designed for both
3. Best approach we’ve found to date is
original, distinct thought leadership
and data journalism
1. BUILD BRAND WITH VALUE, NOT JUST IMPRESSIONS
Don’t serve an ad, deliver creative content that helps your audience

37.
37
• TAILOR MESSAGES TO DIFFERENT AUDIENCES
• Buyer persona
• Buyer problem or solution need
• Product category / interest
• Industry vertical
• Company size
2. TAILOR MESSAGING TO THE RIGHT AUDIENCE
Keep optimizing your targeting until you have confidence it’s working

38.
38
• Test different paths to conversion
• Sometimes it’s best to just go direct
(response)
• Treat the SU, offer, and content asset
as one complete creative package
3. GO FOR THE CONVERSION
Don’t be afraid to link to a landing page if offer is relevant compelling

39.
39
• Test different variations, Direct
Sponsored Content can help
• Cycle your creative
• Don’t be afraid to completely
reposition the same content
4. KEEP TESTING AND UPDATING CREATIVE
Percolate works on 15, 30 and 90 day cycles

40.
HOW WE
MEASURE SUCCESS

41.
41
• KPIs
• Referral traffic
• Leads (and conversion rates)
• MQLs, SQLs
• Opportunities + revenue
• Calculate your CAC or CPL and
compare it to average revenue per
customer
WHAT WE MEASURE
Traffic, conversions, conversion rates, lead quality, and sales opps

42.
THE
RESULTS

43.
43
LINKEDIN DRIVES LEADS AND ENGAGEMENT
#1
Channel for
content leads
91%
Above average
CTR
11%
Above average
engagement rate
3X+
Increase in
followers

44.
[3] KEY
TAKEAWAYS

45.
45
1. BE CREATIVE. Every element of the creative matters, including copy,
image, and link description. They need to work together to win your
target's attention and fulfill the brand promise around the content.
2. TEST & LEARN. Continue to learn from campaign results – use these
insights to fine-tune updates, improve performance, and provide feedback
to editorial.
3. RE-TOOL. If an update isn’t performing, don’t be afraid to retool it and
put it in front of your audience again.
KEY TAKEAWAYS

46.
HOW TO
GET STARTED TODAY

47.
Time to Put These Ideas to Work!
1. EDUCATE YOURSELF. Visit marketing.linkedin.com to download the
sophisticated marketer’s guide to Sponsored Updates.
2. GET A PARTNER. Ready to scale your content marketing on LinkedIn? Work
with a LinkedIn Certified Marketing Partner today: https://lnkd.in/bTg2XPj.
3. REACH NEW AUDIENCES TODAY. If you’re the admin of your LinkedIn
Company Page, you can also sponsor an update at linkedin.com/ads.
GET STARTED TODAY WITH SOME HELPFUL
RESOURCES

48.
Q&A

49.
THE END.
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR TIME.