In my last two posts, I shared the five ways to avoid turning IT buyers off, and the five tech topics that are hottest on LinkedIn right now. Winning tech companies make their brands stand out on LinkedIn by avoiding common marketing pitfalls and focusing on content subjects that people are eager to hear about.
From my vantage point leading global content marketing for LinkedIn, I see certain companies rise to the top, while others flail at ground-level. There are three levers that influence how well your content marketing will succeed:
- Reach — Are you speaking to a core group of employees and customers, or are you connecting with new prospects? Sponsored Updates and Follower campaigns are two great ways to extend your reach beyond people who already know and love your company.
- Frequency — When was the last time your company page saw some action? Encouraging in-the-know employees to post more company updates helps amp up the variety and credibility of your social postings, while still sending a honed message.
- Engagement — Are people responding to your updates and content with ongoing discussion and shares? As I discussed in my last post, content quality and relevance is crucial to developing influence and a reputation for thought leadership.
Content that takes off on LinkedIn often does so as a result of those three levers. The five tech companies here are all grabbing eyeballs on LinkedIn because they’ve mastered the art of Reach, Frequency, and Engagement.
1. Symantec uses their company page to build creative stories and inspire conversations with marketers:
In the above post in June, Symantec turned a pretty boring subject (computer security software) into a riveting conversation by tapping into the audience’s fear of surveillance. Symantec also created my all-time favorite marketing video, Dokken vs. Chicken, mock-seriously comparing ’80s hair band Dokken to a computer virus, and a chicken carcass to your hard drive. The results are hilarious, and with their irreverent take on a somewhat dry subject, Symantec pulled the Engagement lever quite well.
2. Box does a great job of sharing publicity about their company without coming across as egomaniacal. Instead of the typical faux-modest intro, they simply pull a solid quote from the piece and use it to introduce the media:
The ensuing customer testimonials in the comments prove that Box is doing self-promo right, smartly pulling the Engagement lever.
3. Kinvey pulls the Reach lever by publishing Sponsored Updates that share news and content about their company with targeted demographics across LinkedIn. By offering a breadth of free content, from eBooks to surveys, they’re reaching out to mobile app developers with solid information that inspires clicks and generates leads.
Because LinkedIn Sponsored Updates offer 38 percent more leads than other channels (at a 65 percent lower cost-per-lead, by the way!), they’re a great way to get your content in front of the right people. But the content still has to be relevant to your target audience if you want to engage them. Kinvey does a great job with this:
4. Lenovo is pulling the Engagement lever with Sponsored Updates like this one—personal insights from a company exec that give a human spin to Lenovo’s content. With insightful content like this, Lenovo has seen a 17 percent increase in brand favorability, achieving four times their previous post-level engagement rates when compared with display averages.
5. Pantheon uses the precise targeting capability of Sponsored Updates to pull the Reach lever, for instance by promoting their gated eBooks. For LinkedIn browsers who are online right now and have time on their hands, this can be a great way to drive traffic to their website and garner quality leads.
Companies like Symantec, Box, Kinvey, Lenovo, and Pantheon are expanding their reach on LinkedIn, mastering the right frequency of posting so as not to overwhelm their audience, and engaging readers in the comments as a result of compelling content. And we know their strategies are working because they are seeing increased referral traffic, higher social engagement, and, ultimately, higher quality leads.
Are your content marketing efforts truly building trust and credibility with the IT Committee – the diverse group who influence tech buying decisions? Learn how IT marketers can avoid common mistakes and build meaningful relationships by downloading our latest research:
*Image Source: venturebeat.com