Linkedin Marketing Lessons From the World’s Top Pages
With 575+ million users, LinkedIn is the most powerful platform for brands looking to recruit top talent, generate leads or target their messaging to professionals. Whilst there are 26 million company pages on the platform, that still equates to just 57% of companies worldwide. In this article, leading marketing agency Moondust is looking at the top company pages on Linkedin, how they achieve success and the Linkedin marketing lessons we can learn from them.
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Must Read Linkedin Marketing Stats
· Of the 2 billion millennials globally, 87 million of them are on LinkedIn.
· Of those 87 million millennial users, 11 million are in decision-making positions.
· LinkedIn makes up more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites & blogs.
· It takes 20 posts per month to reach 60% of your audience
· There are 9 billion content impressions in the LinkedIn feed every week.
· 45% of LinkedIn article readers are in upper-level positions (managers, VPs, Directors, C-level)
· LinkedIn is the #1 channel B2B marketers use to distribute content.
Advertising Options
In recent years Linkedin has really upped its game for advertisers. With plenty of options and the deepest targeting of all the platforms, advertisers are increasingly looking to spend their budget on Linkedin. Here are the advertising solutions that LinkedIn offers
Text Ads- Text ads are PPC or CPM ads that can be created easily using a headline, persuasive description and a small thumbnail image. These will appear within LinkedIn search results, profile pages, group & home pages.
Sponsored Content - Just like a boosted Facebook post, a sponsored Linkedin post will help you target a wider audience allowing your content to appear in the news feed of relevant professionals.
Sponsored InMail - Marketers can target their audience via their LinkedIn inbox by delivering sponsored messages to drive more conversions.
Lead Gen Forms – One of the less known advertising options on Linkedin is Lead Gen Forms. This feature enables you to add forms to your sponsored ads. Users can access these via a call-to-action button. The forms are auto-filled with the user’s profile information so marketers receive complete leads. These are most beneficial for organisations with a dedicated team able to follow them up.
Marketers must carefully consider their target audience and the results they want to see from a campaign. If your target is to generate leads and conversions, then these are the metrics you will need to track:
- Conversions – The number of times a user acted on your ad- eg signup, purchase or download.
- Conversion rate – The frequency of your ads leading to a conversion.
- Cost Per Conversion (CPC) – The total cost of running the ad divided by conversions.
- Leads – The number of leads generated from ads through Lead Gen Forms.
- Cost Per Lead (CPL) – The cost incurred on the ad divided by the number of leads
However, there’s one thing marketers need to understand about advertising. Whatever the platform and however much you spend, the success of a campaign will largely depend on your messaging, content and imagery. And if you can nail them, you might not need to pay for advertising at all because you will achieve great organic results. Let’s look at 3 brands doing just that.
With a high follower count of 1,796,771 followers and consistently high engagement levels, this is a company page we can learn from. The World Economic Forum is successful because it’s figured out the right content strategy and format to add to the public conversation. The organisation focuses on international politics, business and related issues. Its content is high end and intelligent aimed at its users who are accustomed to digesting industry content on LinkedIn. Content topics range from time management, clean energy technology to startup stories. Stories can be quick like a short story on 6 ways to have a more efficient working day or more in-depth, like a case study on This Japanese TV show about work-life balance is a big hit – here's why.
Linkedin Marketing Lessons From The World Economic Forum
- Use infographics- Infographics, charts and diagrams on Linkedin work well. In fact, 8 images work really well to be exact! There isn’t a reason for this but the stats back it up. Certainly, include many images for long form articles or complex topics as the World Economic forum did below.
- Go longform- Recent studies on viral LinkedIn posts show that you should be aiming for between 1700 & 2100 for the best results.
- Try list articles- List articles like “5 reasons why companies are stopping open plan offices” or “10 tips for productivity” are popular. LinkedIn users really like lists, and they like their lists short and easy to digest. Content Marketing Institute found that 30 of the 500 most shared posts on LinkedIn were lists of 5-10 items.
- Be newsworthy- The World Economic Forum often delves into top headlines or findings from the previous week. The ICYMI (in case you missed it) posts create FOMO (fear of missing out) and spark discussion. They also further establish the World Economic Forum a go-to expert in the world of global affairs.
- Create a group- The World Economic Forum has a group linked to their company page. This is a place where users can have breakaway discussions and further discuss relevant topics.
You may think that Google doesn’t need to do marketing. After all, it’s the most famous search engine in the world. That said, in the last reported year, the online conglomerate's marketing spending amounted to close to 16.33 billion U.S. dollars, up from 12.89 billion U.S. dollars in the previous year. Google’s LinkedIn presence is recruitment oriented, but it also focuses on community and news from HQ. Google touches on key issues like – how addressing the gender pay gap and maternity leave play a role in recruiting women, while also positioning the company as a champion for women in the workplace. It also shares heart-warming and humorous updates such as “What’s Take Your Child To Work Day Like At Google”. Other content highlights the brand as a company of values that improves lives through technology.
Linkedin Marketing Lessons From Google
- Do employee advocacy- Employee advocacy is a proven marketing technique. Linked to social proof, it centres around employee connections seeing, liking and sharing posts. A bit like the ripple effect from a pebble in a pond. Of course, it also presents the brand as one that is great to work for, therefore boosting recruitment. Google’s employee perspectives showcase the best of Google and the diversity of its team members. They also bring fresh and authentic content to the table.
- Separate your content- Google separates its content so that users can see the information that’s most relevant to them. As you can see below, Google offers different resources to students. LinkedIn users with Google-related interests can follow various pages under the Google umbrella. For example, the Think with Google page focuses on marketing technology news.
- Keep it short- Whilst those long “read more” posts have been popular on Linkedin recently, the stats say keep it short. According to Oktopost, the ideal character count is 248. That’s about 40 words. Google also livens up posts with relevant emojis keeping things fresh and fun and hashtags for searchability.
- Start doing video- We’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating, video on Linkedin really works. 59% of executives said they would choose to consume information via video and marketers can really utilise this for maximum impact. Whether it’s a tour of the office, meet the team or Ask Me Anything, video definitely has a place on Linkedin. Below, recruiters Jeremy and Liz gave video advice for new candidates.
Sure, they belong on Instagram and Facebook but does a trendy fashion brand really have a place on Linkedin? Yes, it really does. ASOS proves the point that every brand has a place on Linkedin if it hones the appropriate strategy. And it’s no accident that the company is so successful.
Linkedin Marketing Lessons From ASOS
- Take a stand- 75% of millennials will favour a brand that takes an ethical stand on an issue and ASOS is bang on trend for this one. In fact, we browsed their 2018 annual report which highlighted this very issue.
In taking a stand the brand highlighted its participation in pride month with plenty of colourful updates and photos. This also translated to clothing ranges being launched especially.
The company also puts its money where its mouth is by sponsoring key events and charitable initiatives. It’s important for brands to connect with a charity or community cause, to develop their character and add to their story.
- Be transparent- Linkedin users love behind the scenes photos and videos and ASOS does not disappoint. Their behind the scenes photos and employee testimonials add authenticity and trust to the company page.
- Explore related topics- ASOS isn’t all pretty dresses and matching purses, oh no! The company has its finger on the pulse when it comes to production technologies like AI. The below post shows how ASOS is demonstrating its intelligence and in turn creating interest for a whole new Linkedin user group. This cross pollination is a great technique and one which other brands can try for themselves. Selling coffee? Discuss how blockchain could potentially change the tracking of your product. Promoting a service like accounting? Discuss the software you like to use to improve your efficiency.
- Collaborate with other brands- Don’t be afraid of competition, embrace it! Just as ASOS did below when it teamed up with Nike for a wellness month. ASOS sells Nike shoes so this is a great match. But if your brand can collaborate with another then this is a great way to increase traction.
Linkedin is an excellent platform for promoting your brand if you develop the right strategy. Speak to our experienced marketing team about fully managed social media management solutions. You can also read more from our Director Marie-Helene on how to be a Linkedin thought leader.