Crunching the LinkedIn social media marketing numbers
Most B2B Marketers (70%) have recognised the value of social media in reaching customers. And given that 72% of B2B buyers are using social media to research purchases, this isn’t surprising
But on any given campaign, it’s difficult to know exactly which channel is right for you.
That’s why Earnest will be publishing a series of blogs focused on the key social platforms, full of stats and expert advice that will help you identify the perfect social channel for your objectives.
First up: LinkedIn
How many people are on LinkedIn?
Over half a billion
There are 675m LinkedIn members – this is a huge business audience that you don’t want to leave to your competitors – there is no wonder that 94% of B2B marketers are using this platform, and ⅔ of marketers are planning to boost their usage of LinkedIn in the next 12 months.
Are those people right for my campaign?
You’ll be talking to people who can make change
90m of the users are senior-level decision-makers and 63m are in decision making positions – so it’s a highly influential audience.
Its users are hungry to purchase
On average, LinkedIn has 2 times the buying power of a regular web audience.
What makes LinkedIn so good?
It’s great for conversion
LinkedIn generates the highest lead conversion rate out of all of the other SM networks at 2.74%.
How can I target my audience on LinkedIn?
In a number of ways
LinkedIn’s main advantage over other social media channels is its in-depth targeting and segmentation capabilities – you can determine who’s receiving your materials by company name, size, industry, job function, seniority, age, gender and much more – ensuring that your message reaches the very specific people that you want it to.
If you want to learn more about targeting – here’s Linkedin’s guide.
How do I choose the right LinkedIn ad option?
It depends on what you want to achieve
Choosing the specific ad that you want to create on LinkedIn is all down to the action that you want to drive – LinkedIn advertising supports all kinds of results, from landing page visits to video views to engagements in posts.
Hootsuite have created a guide that highlights the benefits of the different ad types – here are three of the top recommendations that we think you can benefit from.
If you want to boost reach…
Hootsuite recommends that text ads are your best option – this type of ad is most effective when utilised in highly targeted campaigns and are great for helping to drive conversations.
Want to give that personal touch?
Sponsored InMails are ideal – since the message is sent directly to your audiences’ inbox and only to users who are active on the platform, it means that they are notified directly that they have received a message – giving that personal feel.
If you’re after engagement…
Sponsored content is what you’re looking for – this includes blog posts, company videos, business announcements and more. Sponsored content maximises engagement, from shares to page follows – ideal for growing your brand.
Want a more in-depth understanding of the ads? LinkedIn provides best practice for each of their ad options in this handy guide.
How do I optimise my content for Linkedin?
More words = more shares
Longform content is the most popular type of written content on LinkedIn, with 1900 words being the optimum – so aiming for around 1700- 2100 should elevate your content to where it needs to be.
However, If you want conversions
Posts with 248 characters, (around 40 words) generate the most conversions – whether this is to a landing page, or to a basket on your website – keeping it short and snappy will get your readers further in the customer journey.
Split posts into odd numbers of headings for maximum effect
5, 7 and 9 headings are the most effective numbers. Don’t ask us why.
What results can I expect from LinkedIn?
Here’s a benchmark
An average CTR you should aim for is between 2-4%. Of course, this will vary by sector, but this is a good benchmark to keep in mind.
Where in the customer journey should I be integrating LinkedIn?
It has different roles across the funnel
And luckily, LinkedIn lets you input your objectives (e.g. awareness vs engagement), and recommends the best course of action based on those goals.
However, as a general rule of thumb the diagram below shows how much buyers use social at different stages of the buyer journey.
SM is proven to be most popular at the awareness stage
The Figure 1 above shows that just over ⅔ of B2B buyers said that they use social media when in the awareness stage of the customer journey in order to inform their purchases.
Struggling for inspiration?
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[Header photo: Gabriel Varaljay on Unsplash]
Worry no more
Here are some great examples of LinkedIn campaigns that will give you some inspiration for yours.
So there you have it, LinkedIn has endless capabilities that you can harness for your next campaign – especially for reaching senior-level decision-makers.
If you need help using LinkedIn to reach and resonate with decision-makers, drop us a line.
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[Header photo: Gabriel Varaljay on Unsplash]