In these difficult times, many of us marketers have hit the pause button on our marketing activities. Without campaigns to optimize and measure, we might consider using this time to do research about how we can get the most out of our future marketing efforts. Of course, it can be difficult to get access to the top shelf research we need to make the most informed decisions.
We’re here to help.
For a limited time, you can download a recent eMarketer report, Engaging Professional Audiences on LinkedIn: How Brands Can Unlock First-Party Data and Connections. This report examines the ways that marketers can most efficiently and effecively use LinkedIn.
Here are the top takeaways from the report:
B2B Marketers Continue to Use LinkedIn More Than Any Other Social Media Platform
Sagefrog Marketing Group’s survey data further solidifies LinkedIn as the go-to social media platform for B2B marketers.
B2C Industries Are Increasingly Connecting with Professional Audiences on LinkedIn
The last few years have seen more “high-consideration” and “high-lifetime value” B2C brands connecting their consumer goods with select audiences on LinkedIn. Some of the more active B2C industries have included:
- Automotive
- Consumer financial services and financial advisors
- Higher education
- Job applications (across sectors)
- Legal services
- Luxury goods
- Travel
- Senior care
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer; on LinkedIn, you’ll find an engaged audience of professionals in your neighborhood and across the globe.
LinkedIn Leads the Social Media Pack in B2B Leads Driven
Social media management platform Oktopost asked its B2B customers for a breakdown of lead sources. In all, 58% of B2B leads were sourced from LinkedIn, accounting for more than 2.5x more leads than the next social media platform.
“The Premier Channel for B2B Marketing”
When it comes to B2B marketing effectiveness, one of the biggest differentiators between LinkedIn and other social media platforms is who, exactly, you have the ability to reach. Search strategist Hannah Elemary points to LinkedIn’s ability to reach a C-suite audience as a primary factor for favoring LinkedIn over other channels. “Our clients choose LinkedIn over Facebook and Twitter because it is a place to share thought leadership and industry insights at the executive level,” she says.
This strength-in-audience sentiment is echoed by Mike Stocker, VP of strategic partnerships at RollWorks, an account-based marketing (ABM) solution vendor. “Companies today that are trying to reach professionals and other business buyers need to be on LinkedIn,” Stocker says. “LinkedIn has an engaged audience and strong scale. It really is the premier channel for B2B marketing.”
Millennials Trust LinkedIn as an Information Source
LinkedIn is by far the most trusted social media platform among millennial B2B professionals when it comes to industry and job info. Also of note is how millennial B2B professionals are using social media. Per a September 2019 survey from Demand Gen Report and The Mx Group:
- Nearly two-thirds of respondents browsed social media discussions to learn more about a topic
- More than half asked their network for suggestions and recommendations
- 38% connected directly with potential vendors and sellers
- 27% connected with thought leaders to request their opinions
New Features Make It Easier for Marketers to Expand Organic Reach on LinkedIn
The 2019 CMI and MarketingProfs survey found that of all North American B2B marketers with a social distribution strategy, 95% use LinkedIn for organic content marketing.
B2B marketers who enrich their audience’s professional lives have long enjoyed the many benefits that come with organic reach on LinkedIn. In this mutually beneficial tradition, LinkedIn has rolled out new ways for marketers to better understand how they can share more of what their professional peers want. Options for sharing your message include executive thought leadership, employee advocacy, influencer marketing and LinkedIn Live, among many other opportunities to reach new audiences from your brand’s LinkedIn Page.
Objective-Based Advertising + Audience Data = Highly Focused Paid Campaigns
Ad spend on LinkedIn is expected to rise again in 2020, in large part due to marketers having more and more means by which to show ROI for their B2B budget. To help streamline this connection between goals and results, LinkedIn launched Objective-Based Advertising, allowing advertisers to customize goals around three primary objectives: awareness, consideration, and conversion.
Once an objective is chosen, marketers can then build audiences and segment messages based on a broad array of demographic, behavioral, and firmographic data.
Many B2B marketers take advantage of their existing audience data, using LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences feature to build robust audience segments in minutes. The LinkedIn Insight Tag pixel enhances B2B marketers’ ability to nurture customers during longer sales cycles, also opening a clearer line of sight into attribution.
Whatever your audience is into professionally, they’re into it on LinkedIn.
Download the eMarketer report.
Stay abreast of the latest ways for B2B marketers to connect with professional audiences when you subscribe to the LinkedIn Marketing Blog.
