What IT Decision Makers Are Reading, Contextual Targeting, and More from the Latest Content Insights Quarterly

The LinkedIn Content Insights Quarterly, which shares insights about what content is attracting engagement on LinkedIn, returns. In the latest edition, we examined the third quarter of 2019 and explored two areas of interest to marketers:

1. Content that attracted the attention of IT Decision Makers on LinkedIn
2. The top content members engaged with on the topic of contextual targeting. 

In this edition of the Content Insights Quarterly, as always, we also share the top topics and content that LinkedIn’s more than 660 million members engaged with over the last quarter. Read on for inside information on how you can gain a better understanding of how LinkedIn members are engaging with content on the platform — and how you can use that knowledge to help grow your business.  

Audience of the Quarter: IT Decision Makers 

This quarter, we take a closer look at the professionals who are at the center of IT decisions in businesses around the world. There are nearly 7 million IT Decision Makers [ITDMs] on LinkedIn globally. 

Top Topics for ITDMs 

ITDMs are engaging with content directly related to their role. While ITDMs may now be in management and senior level positions, staying up to date on the latest in IT trends remains critical. Most likely, it also reflects a broader interest in the area. 

Lessons for Marketers

Note that security is not only the topic at the head of the list, it also accounts for four of the top 10. Fighting off cyber attackers is a global war, and ITDMs are on the front lines. For marketers, helping this group grapple with security can be a winning strategy.   

Top Articles Engaging ITDMs 

Like other professionals on LinkedIn, ITDMs think about their on-going professional development. The top article for ITDMs in the third quarter of 2019 is about pitfalls for engineering leaders to avoid — something they are clearly keen to do! 

They are also staying up to date on industry trends, recent third party research, and industry news (such as who is getting hired into top positions). They are also looking to learn from other company’s strategies, as the popularity of articles on Capital One, Microsoft, and VMWare attest. 

Top 10 Articles Engaging ITDMs 

1. Six DevOps Pitfalls for Engineering Leaders to Avoid
2. Open Source Best Practices for Enterprises
3. What Capital One's Cybersecurity Team Did (and Did Not) Get Right By Greg Otto, Cyberscoop
4. Former Kimberly-Clark Tech Exec Named Chief Information and Digital Officer of CommonSpirit Health By Peter High, Forbes.com
5. Wells Fargo Continues Focus on Technology Leadership with Industry Veteran Hire  
6. The Head of Microsoft’s Data Cloud Business Says that its Tech 'Battle Hardened' and Ready to Face Google and Amazon on His Home Turf By Rosalie Chan, BusinessInsider
7. VMware CEO Gelsinger Interrupts VMworld Demo, Announces CTO Swap
8. Men Arrested for Breaking into Dallas County Courthouse after Judicial Branch Hires Them to Test 'Vulnerability' of Court Records
9. New e-Learning Package 'Top Tips For Staff' Can Be Completed Online, or Built into Your Own Training Platform
10. Goodbye Mike Assante, Thank You for Literally Everything

Lessons for Marketers

Having access to technology and the internet, even as they grow ever more complex, is taken for granted, and employees increasingly see any tech downtime as a disaster. ITDMs often get the brunt of these complaints, so making sure that information technology is up and running and secure is paramount. These articles underscore that these concerns are foremost in the minds of ITDMs, and marketers should keep this ITDM mindset in the forefront when they communicate with this target market.    

Hot Topic of the Quarter: Contextual Targeting  

The Marketing industry is buzzing with the apparent (re)rise of contextual targeting (which is advertising that it automatically served based on a web page’s content). Marketers can get up to speed on this topic by exploring the top content on LinkedIn on contextual targeting from the third quarter of the year. 

1. Zefr Sells Rights Management Assets to Vobile for $90M By Jon Lafayette, Broadcasting & Cable
2. ‘It’s a Balancing Act’: Media Buyers Want Contextual Targeting Features to Evolve Further By Jessica Davies, Digiday
3. PE Backers And Sizmek Vets Take Over Peer39, Sizmek’s Contextual Data Biz By James Hercher, AdExchanger 
4. Fact Check Series: Contextual Targeting, Audience Targeting, and “Match Rates”
5. Call It a Comeback: The Return of Semantic Contextual Targeting — By Gavin Dunaway, AdMonsters

Lessons for Marketers

There are many ways to target audiences on the internet, and these articles, especially those highlighting businesses investing in contextual targeting, show beyond doubt that contextual targeting remains a highly effective way of getting the right message in front of the right people.  

Hot Topics of the Quarter

The fastest growing topics between July and September were polar opposites — career breaks and sabbaticals in the top spot and returning to work holding down the second spot. These topics may reflect what is top of mind for professionals during school breaks and summer vacations. 

Lessons for Marketers

The fastest growing topics from the third quarter emphasize that people are trying to bring their full selves to work. The topics range from sabbaticals to wellness to costumes. It’s one more reminder that B2B marketers should remember that their audience is made up of humans, who are not all about work but also like taking time off, too.  

Top Topics on LinkedIn 

Business and Management is a topic consistently at the top of this list, quarter after quarter. The fact that Technology has also topped this list suggests that grappling with technology’s pace is one of the major priorities for businesses and their managers.  

Lessons for Marketers

The top 10 topics shine on spotlight on the breadth of conversation on LinkedIn. Of course, it’s no surprise that Technology and Business Management are at the top of this list, but it may be mildly shocking to some marketers that Society and Culture, Health, Politics and Law, and Education and Learning are also on this list. It underscores once again that marketers can speak to the entire human being — not just the worker — on LinkedIn.    

Top Articles on LinkedIn 

Virtually every article in the top 10 most engaging on LinkedIn is about culture in one way or another. The top article encourages people not to waste time with a boss who doesn’t appreciate them. There’s an article simply titled, “Positive Reinforcement.” There is a host of others on how to be a better leader and boss. The bottom line: How to be a better manager is a perennial topic on LinkedIn and one that our members engage with readily.  

1. Work for Someone Who Appreciates Your Ideas, Loyalty and Hard Work By Brigette Hyacinth 
2. A Message to Business Owners Struggling With What to Charge By Scarlett Darbyshire 
3. Positive Reinforcement By Ramesh Krishnaram 
4. Don't Stay Where You're Tolerated, Go Where You're Celebrated By Raja Jamalamadaka
5. A Truly Great Boss is Hard to Find, Difficult to Leave and Impossible to Forget By Brigette Hyacinth 
6. 5 Things to Stop Doing on LinkedIn Immediately By Robert Glazer
7. Good Leaders Don’t Try to be the Smartest Person in the Room By Brigette Hyacinth
8. Empathy is the Most Important Leadership Skill Needed Today By Brigette Hyacinth
9. 5 Best Boss Behaviours I Want to Grow Into By Aanandita Bhatnagar
10. The Best Leaders Are Humble Leaders By Brigette Hyacinth

Lessons for Marketers

One key lesson from the Top 10 is that if you want broad engagement, you probably need a horizontal topic. Articles in the top 10 focus on management and culture, which are topics that applies to virtually every business, from the Fortune 500 to the smallest mom-and-pop shop.  

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