live webinar: creating a winning content strategy for sponsored updates

Creating a Winning Content Strategy

for Sponsored Updates

©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 Updates

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Anatomy of an effective post

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• 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 a Sponsored Update

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

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 Updates

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Rich media/large image Sponsored Updates

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Relevancy Score

• Relevancy Score = Bid x Engagement (CTR)

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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