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LinkedIn has been busy positioning itself as the content channel of choice for B2B marketers over the last few years. To move this mission forward, it has launched a series of content-focused updates – from its powerful publishing platform to its popular Paid Updates’ and inspiring influencers’ programme.
Below, we will address the untapped potential of LinkedIn’s mega platform and explore the many ways that crafty content marketers can benefit from – more reach, better targeting options, native advertising opportunities, and reaching the right people at the right time. We promise it’s effective.
Read also: 12 Tools To Help You Increase Your Content Marketing Gains
Tap the Influential LinkedIn Audience:
As every other content marketer knows, a social network is just as successful as its audience. So first let’s get to know the LinkedIn audience – then you can determine if they are worth investing in. With more than 300 million registered users, LinkedIn is one of the largest social networking websites in the world. But the most fascinating part of it? It’s home to some of the top real estate markets you can tap into – from senior policy makers to business influencers.
The annual revenue of LinkedIn users is $83,000, according to Brian Thome, Product Marketing Director at LinkedIn. What’s more, the LinkedIn community has proven to be highly interested in content – 6 out of 10 users are actively seeking industry insights. The LinkedIn platform gives your brand access to a whole host of trained professional and powerful people with a strong search intention (when you visit LinkedIn, you already have your industry cap on and are actively searching knowledge).
Go Native with LinkedIn Sponsored Updates:
With LinkedIn Sponsored Notifications, you can ensure that your content reaches the right audience and decision-makers at the right time and on the device they want. But the best part of it? It offers you sophisticated and reliable targeting choices that most other social media networks simply cannot deliver. Sponsored Notifications are the kind of native ads that brands are heading towards this year and beyond.
Benefits of LinkedIn Sponsored Updates:
1. Advanced Targeting Options
With LinkedIn Sponsored Updates, not only do you get traditional demographic details from most of the major social media networks, such as age, gender and location – you can also target additional factors such as job title and industry. Sponsored Updates brings you a variety of deeper customer insights and targeting choices. And it makes sense too, the more detail a LinkedIn user offers the greater chance of finding their profile.
You can target your ad by:
- Industries (company size and names)
- Industries (company size and names)
- Industries (company size and names)
- Industries (company size and names)
- Industries (company size and names)
- Industries (company size and names)
2. Low Cost & Powerful Lead Generator
HooteSuite has recently shown that Sponsored Updates are a great way to generate high quality leads at a low cost. Their experiment showed that Sponsored Updates had a 32 percent lower cost per form fill compared to other paid outlets, along with a 14.6 percent conversion rate from click to read (22.8 times higher than other platforms).
Read also: 7 Ideas For Developing Your Business Blog Content Plan
3. Native Ads People Want
Sponsored Updates are LinkedIn’s first real switch to native ads. In essence, native advertising means putting paying content advertisements in front of your viewers, which are distributed in an unbridled way in the stream of the user. Unlike a regular ad, the nature of the Sponsored Update ensures that it adds value to the user interface and appears in the natural flow of the user’s news feed.
In a world of content abundance, you (as a content marketer) need to be smarter about delivering the content and ensuring that it reaches the right audience. If you are trying to monetize the delivery of content, native advertising is certainly worth considering. It means that your content is targeted to the right people in the right way and most importantly, it doesn’t bother or distract you from the message – your content.
Get Informed with LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform:
LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform enables users with a LinkedIn account to build and upload content directly to LinkedIn – without the need for a website or blog. The big advantage for content marketers is that it helps you to boost your personal online brand and highlight your content by sharing it with your network and showcasing it on your profile.
Also read: How To Humanize Your Organization’s Digital Marketing Efforts
Benefits of LinkedIn Publishing Platform:
1. Place Yourself as a Leader of Thought
One of the key benefits of the LinkedIn Publishing Platform is that it helps you to put yourself as a thought leader in your related industry. Publishing content on LinkedIn adds value to your skills and experience and allows you to highlight your talent as a content marketer.
2. Reach a Relevant Audience with a Strong Search Purpose
Publishing content on LinkedIn helps you to meet a target audience that is already investing in your industry. You can share your content with your entire network – normally made up of highly active professionals with a strong search intent. These are the people you want to see your stuff – they might even share it with their own network.
3. Your Content is Displayed in Your Profile
The nifty feature of LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform is that it shows your content on the top right of your profile. This ensures that when potential business customers or industry contacts view your profile, they can easily view your content. Impress them enough, and you might just seal your next contract or land your next interview.
4. Extend Your Content Scope By Engaging ‘Followers’
People who are not specifically linked to you on LinkedIn can instead “follow” you. This enhances the influence and scope of your content as it has the ability to be featured in more people’s news streams. By not being restricted to the scope of your LinkedIn network, you will catch the attention of new potential business connections – all free of charge.
Engine With Influencers in LinkedIn Community:
The aim of the LinkedIn Community is to set up a hub for quality industry discussions. Identify and join the related communities that give you access to the right influential people in your industry. Choose and select few groups (depending on how much time you have and ensure that you contribute importance, opinions and ideas on a regular basis. And note, it’s not just about sharing your material – it’s about creating true and enduring relationships with people who matter.
Benefits of Publishing LinkedIn Groups:
- Targeting the right customers organically without having to pay for advertising – perfect for small businesses with minimal budgets.
- Tap into a committed group that can give you input on topics or suggestions, or contribute ideas to your industry-leading surveys.
- Read the material of others and learn from their opinions, perspectives and ideas.
- Gain access to a quality suite of Demographic Analytics to help you develop your content strategy.