Last week we hosted a webcast introducing our LinkedIn Certified Marketing Content Partners – who they are, what they do, and how they can help your brand’s content marketing efforts. There were some great questions, and we wanted to highlight some of the key asks in a follow-up, along with provide you with links to the webcast recording, materials, and case studies that were referenced in the session.
As you set out to improve your content marketing efforts on LinkedIn, we hope that our Certified Content Partners can help. You can learn more about the full suite of partners we work with here.
Q&A About LinkedIn Certified Marketing Partners:
Q1: Who are LinkedIn’s Certified Content Partners and how can they help my brand?
There are currently 10 LinkedIn Certified Content Partners. We’ve categorize them in three different ways to meet your needs:
- Publisher Content Partners: If you have a need for an authoritative partner to lend credibility and expertise around key pillars/themes, you might consider working with The Atlantic, Bloomberg, CBS Interactive or IDG.
- Custom Content Partners: If you have a need for ownable content tailored around very specific messaging themes and objectives, you might consider working with Freshwire, Atlantic Media Strategies, Group SJR or Contently.
- Content Platforms: If you have a need to leverage content across multiple sources to provide a diverse perspective on pillars/ themes or to establish longer-term content enablement, you might consider working with Percolate or Newscred.
Q2. What if I already create/have content; what is the benefit of using a LinkedIn Content Partner?
A: Depending on your LinkedIn messaging objectives, Content Partners can complement your existing content by 1) auditing and translating existing content to connect best with a LinkedIn audience, or 2) enhancing your messaging by adding thought-leadership content into the mix with your branded/promotional content.
Q3. What happens if another company has the same/similar content?
A. Any branded or custom white-labeled content should be exclusively yours, so if other companies use your content as their own that is in direct violation of your content rights. They can, however, share your content on their LinkedIn page – and you should promote other companies to do so. This helps you build authority, extend the reach of your content and drive traffic to owned sites that house your content. Keep in mind that you can do the same on your LinkedIn page. When sharing other industry-wide content, include your POV on the content being shared within the text of your LinkedIn post. It’s important to translate the value of the content for your target audience and inject your brand voice to build a strong relationship with followers.
Q4. Do you have to engage a Publisher to share their content?
A. Sharing a link to content that drives to a publisher’s site is great to do organically, however once you decide to sponsor that content it becomes an ad, which requires rights. It’s always a best practice to consult your company’s legal team about content distribution procedures and engage a partner to ensure that all legalities are being handled. Partners can also help you determine the appropriate content to sponsor with paid social support based on what performs well and will best drive your business goals.
Q5. How is this relevant to my LinkedIn Company Page or Showcase Page?
A. Content Partners can help you produce and manage content for your LinkedIn Company Page, Showcase Page or both. If you’re having trouble maintaining a consistent presence on LinkedIn by publishing each week to your pages, a LinkedIn Content Partner can help you outline a strategy to engage your audiences consistently and help you produce the content you need to deliver on this strategy.
Q6. I already have content, but what I really need is more powerful tools to manage and optimize my campaigns. Do you work with partners who can help with this?
A. Yes, we do! Many marketers have told us that they need campaign management dashboards built for power users. If this sounds like you, then you should explore working with our LinkedIn Certified Sponsored Updates Partners: AdStage, Brand Networks, SHIFT, Social.com, and Unified. They’ve built ad dashboards with advanced features that help marketers improve the performance of their Sponsored Updates and other campaigns across social channels. For example, partner tools offer A/B testing, bulk edit capabilities, campaign scheduling and cloning, advanced reporting, and real-time performance alerts.
Want to learn more about LinkedIn Certified Marketing Partners, including Content Partners and Sponsored Updates Partners? Watch the full webcast here.
Looking for LinkedIn Partner Case Studies?