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)

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

GOOGLE

‘ULTIMATE GUIDE’ +

‘LINKEDIN SPONSORED UPDATES’

WHAT ARE

SPONSORED UPDATES?

NATIVE ADVERTISING IN THE WORLD’S ONLY

PROFESSIONAL NEWSFEED

THREE FEATURES THAT SET SPONSORED UPDATES

APART

ACCURATE PROFILE-BASED TARGETING

PROFESSIONAL MINDSET CREATES A FAVORABLE

CONTENT MARKETING ENVIRONMENT FOR BRANDS

PREMIUM AUDIENCE

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

WHY GREAT CONTENT

IS ESSENTIAL TO MODERN

MARKETING

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

Keys to Great Thought-Leading Content YOU NOW SHARE YOUR PERSPECTIVE

THROUGH THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

PRO TIP: FOR THE 8 CRITERIA OF THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, CONSULT THE BLOOM GROUP’S BLOG POSTS.

CREATE CONTENT FOR A MINDSET THAT

‘INVESTS TIME’

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

On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional Mindset 6 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHEN

PRODUCING CONTENT FOR LINKEDIN

On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional Mindset GREAT CONTENT ‘FRAMES ALL THE THINGS’

PRO TIP: REVIEW UPWORTHY’S SLIDESHARE PRESENTATION ON ‘THE SWEET SCIENCE OF VIRALITY’ FOR MORE TIPS

On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional Mindset WHAT GREAT CONTENT LOOKS LIKE

On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional Mindset WHAT TO MEASURE: BRAND AWARENESS

On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional Mindset WHAT TO MEASURE: LEAD GENERATION

On LinkedIn, Speak to the Professional Mindset YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ALONE

HOW TO TURN YOUR

CONTENT INTO COMPELLING

SPONSORED UPDATES

Target Your Content to the Right Customers FOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE

Think Like a Journalist THINK LIKE A JOURNALIST

PRO TIP: IMAGE POSTS *GET UP TO 2X

PERFORMANCE

INVEST IN STRONG VISUALS

Make Your Pages Mobile Ready DESIGN FOR MOBILE

PRO TIP: 75% of Sponsored Updates

engagement comes from mobile

Build a Sturdy Campaign Foundation DEVELOP AN ‘ALWAYS-RELEVANT’ APPROACH

ALWAYS BE

TESTING, LEARNING,

& OPTIMIZING

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

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

DON’T BE SCARED TO BID AGGRESSIVELY

REMEMBER THAT WE HAVE AN ENTIRE EBOOK

DEDICATED TO THESE TOPICS

VISIT

MARKETING.LINKEDIN.COM

SUCCESS STORY

WHO WE ARE

3

1

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.

OUR

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

3

3

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

[4] TIPS

FOR FINDING SUCCESS WITH

LINKEDIN SPONSORED

UPDATES

3

5

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

• 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

• 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

• 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

HOW WE

MEASURE SUCCESS

4

0

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

THE

RESULTS

4

2

43

LINKEDIN DRIVES LEADS AND ENGAGEMENT

#1

Channel for content leads

91%

Above average CTR

11%

Above average engagement rate

3X+

Increase in followers

[3] KEY

TAKEAWAYS

4

4

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

HOW TO

GET STARTED TODAY

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

Q&A

THE END.

THANK YOU

FOR YOUR TIME.