This presentation, shared with attendees at Social Media Week 2012 in London, provides an overview of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions offering and a step-by-step approach to building and implementing a successful B2B social media strategy on LinkedIn. The focus is mainly on using LinkedIn groups to build a strong sense of community among B2B audiences and customers specifically through: discovery, strategy, promotion, content, community, lead generation and measurement.

1. Using LinkedIn to drive:
[community]
[collaboration]
[sales]

2. LINES ARE BLURRING
BETWEEN PUBLIC
R E L AT I O N S , M A R K E T I N G , B
RANDING AND SALES.
Decision-makers Unflattering It’s possible to
can obtain more news, negative connect on a nearly one-
information from commentary, or to-one basis with very
more sources than a poor product review targeted customers
ever before can
spread rapidly
2

3. Why B2B [Social Media]?
1. Purchases are costly; buyers seek education and
information.
2. Sales cycle is long and complex.
3. Buyers are influenced by peer reviews and
expert insights.
4. Companies have fewer customers.
5. Buyers highly value their supplier relationships.
All of these factors are positively impacted
by social media

4. Today’s B2B [buyers]
• 48% follow industry conversations and topics online
• 59% engage with peers who have used the product or service
in the past
• 37% have posted questions on social networking sites while
making a buying decision
• 20% have connected directly with a potential solution
provider via a social networking channel
• 59% have shared learnings from their research and buying
process with others
Source: Inside the Mind of the New B2B Buyer
DemandGen/Genius Report 2010
4

5. The [LinkedIn] mission
To connect the worlds professionals
to make them more productive and
successful

6. [LinkedIn]
Connect the world’s professionals to make
them more productive and successful.
Identity Insights Everywhere
Connect, find and Be great at what We work where our
be found you do members work

7. Scale
150M+
1
LinkedIn Members
640M+
2
Worldwide Professionals
3,300M+
2
Worldwide Workforce
1 LinkedIn members as of November 3, 2011 | 2 Source: International Planning & Research

8. The globally connected
professional network
UK
NL
8M+
2M+
DACH
registered members (as of Feb 2012)
2M+
France
2M+
Italy
Canada
Spain 2M+
5M+ Europe
1M+
USA 35M+
60M+ India
13M+
Brazil
Australia
7M+
2.9M
+

9. [LinkedIn]
More c-suite and sr. managers daily than
any other business/news site measured.
Director/VP/Other Sr Mgmt C-suite
19.2%
LinkedIn
14.8%
BBC.com 17.7%
10.4%
2.8%
FT.com 3.3%
Bloomberg.c… 1.7%
1.8%
Economist.com 1.2%
1.2%
0.3%
WSJ.com 0.6%
HBR.org 0.6%
0.5%
CNBC.com 0.6%
0.4%
CNN.com 1.9%
0.3%
Source: BE:Europe 2011

10. LinkedIn [Marketing Solution]
at a glance.
Advertising
Custom / API
Data & Social
Insight
Custom / API
10

11. LinkedIn Marketing Ecosystem
Create
Experiences Attract Audience
• Company Page • Display/LinkedInAds
• Groups • Social Ads
• Platform • Partner Messages
• Followers/Members
Amplify through Engage in
Network Conversation
• Network Update Status • Polls/Content Ads
• Share, Comment, Discuss, V • Groups
ote • Company Status
• Viral effect Updates

12. LinkedIn Groups
1,000,000 +
professionally orientated groups
1,500+
created every day
81%
Of users belong to at least 1 group with
52%
Participating in discussions

13. A [process] to launch your B2B
program on LinkedIn:
Create
Evaluate Attract
Engage

14. Discovery & Strategy
CREATE

15. Create
Create a clear [strategy] Evaluate
Engage
Attract
1. Clarify your priorities and business need
2. Research your social media landscape
3. Evaluate your findings
4. Set clear and measureable objectives

16. Create
Clarify your priorities and Evaluate Attract
business need Engage
Define value [internally]
 What business need will you affect?
 How must your business benefit?
 How can you extract value from the community?

17. Create
Research and evaluate the Evaluate Attract
social landscape Engage
Define value [externally] Social media audit:
 What audiences will you connect  Target audience
with? – Interests
 What needs will you fulfill, what – Preferences
value will you provide? – Behaviours
 Where do they discuss these topics – Influencers
online?  Share of Voice
–
 Who influences the conversations? Brand mentions
– Brand opportunities
– Competitive climate
Key considerations: – Sentiment
– “Value” is subjective and can come in  Key influencers
many forms i.e. access, insight, two- – Brand preference
way dialogue – Brand opportunities
– What are you willing to offer; what’s – Preferences, behaviours & relationships
off limits?

18. Create
Set clear and measurable Evaluate Attract
objectives Engage
• Define what success • Sample objectives:
looks like: – Change perception of
 Brand Brand X as a leader in
awareness, preference, a the category
dvocacy – Drive innovation through
 Lead generation customer/partner
 Support before/after collaboration, feedback
sales and future product
development
 Customer retention and
loyalty – Impact the sales pipeline
by driving £X in potential
 Customer insights leads through LinkedIn
 Thought leadership

19. Create
Determine the channel/product Evaluate Attract
mix that works for your audience Engage
LinkedIn Group options and customization levels:

20. Promoting community growth
ATTRACT

21. Create
[Target] existing Evaluate Attract
LinkedIn members Engage
Target members within Linkedin
through:
• Display advertising
• Social ads
• Partner InMail
 30-35% open rate and 6-10%
CTR are typical after a 4-6
week period (partner
message)
 Target specific based on:
industry, function, location, se
niority, age and profile
keywords*
*Profile keyword targeting only available for Partner InMail

22. Create
[Attract] audiences Evaluate Attract
externally Engage
- Digital advertising
- Online influencer outreach
- Earned media trade and business coverage
- Face to face events and activations
- Integration with owned digital platforms
- Integration with offline marketing materials

23. Content, Community & Lead Generation
ENGAGE

24. Create
Establish a strong Evaluate Attract
[content strategy] Engage
What you want to say and how you say it is just
as important as where it’s said.
•Define brand positioning and key characteristics within the
Voice community
Style
•Define a list of themes to focus on
Topics •Weave in topics that are directly and indirectly related to
Themes business priorities
•Ensure you have a steady flow of long-term inspiration
Assets •Remember your focus is always dialogue and exchange, not
Sources broadcasting
•Consider expertise within the community as a source of content

25. Create
Contribute compelling and Evaluate Attract
[balanced] content Engage
Product
Content that
extends
and reinforces awareness
Practical
Content that teaches and supports
Passion
Content that forges
a connection

26. Create
Establish an internal Evaluate Attract
[content management] system Engage
• Set yourself up for a
steady and strategic flow
of content
• Create a system that
addresses your unique
needs:
 Aligning topics & themes
with marketing campaigns
 Organizing platform,
publisher and timing
details
 Tracking development and
approval progress

27. Create
Nurture your community Evaluate Attract
on an [ongoing basis] Engage
When you create an online community, it
becomes your responsibility to ensure its
long-term quality.
Listen •Actively listen to discussions
Respond •Look for opportunities to engage
Engage •Prioritize what’s important to you
•Don’t ignore what’s important to your members
Activate
•Reprimand members who are detracting from the quality of the group
Lead by Example •Choose a good community manager – high emotional intelligence, social
savvy
•Spark discussion around topics that are important to you
•Drive discussion in the right direction
•Plan to be in it for the long haul

28. Create
The [community] manager Evaluate
Engage
Attract
• Role: Guiding principles:
– Your eyes and ears
– Central point of contact (internal &
external)
– Social intelligence agent
1. Be authentic, transparent
– Voice of the brand, 24 hours a day and consistent
– Part of internal team or external
agency 2. Share knowledge and
passion
• Responsibilities:
– Upholds brand reputation within 3. Show interest in others
the community
– Sets the tone of conversation 4. Facilitate meaningful
– Responds to customer questions conversations
– Reacts quickly to negative incidents
– Manages what, how and when 5. Establish yourself as a go-
content is published to resource

29. Create
LinkedIn as a platform for Evaluate Attract
[lead generation] Engage
1. Support customers as they consider and
research your products/services
2. Nurture connections and relationships with
qualified leads within your community
3. Be aware of peer-generated reviews and
opinions as they relate to your brand
4. Encourage positive WOM where appropriate
5. …but recognize that Community Manager is not
a sales rep or business developer

30. Create
Lead generation and Evaluate Attract
[decision support] for members Engage
Sales opportunities can come in several forms:
• Inquiries about your brand, products, services
• Questions related to your area of expertise
• Advice around specific situations
Prepare for 1. Establish internal subject matter experts
2. Educate your community managers on your sales process
effective lead
3. Educate your sales team on social media best practices
management: 4. Provide guidance around the impact of private vs. public answers
5. Manage internal expectations – not a direct sales platform!
[Be direct but not too aggressive.]
In this environment, decision support often takes the form of nurturing customer
relationships by sharing relevant information, insight and guidance.

31. Evaluating success
MEASUREMENT

32. Create
Measure against Evaluate Attract
[objectives] Engage
• Develop metrics that support the
measurement of social media
objectives
• Consider multiple sources of data:
– LinkedIn data
– Qualitative research and analysis
– Customer support data
– Sales funnel data

33. Questions?
Don’t hesitate to get in touch:
brandy.fleming@fleishmaneurope.com
kristen.zemlak@fleishmaneurope.com
skeane@linkedin.com
hcliffordjones@linkedin.com
Sally Keane Henry Clifford-Jones Brandy Fleming Kristen Zemlak
Account Director Director EMEA Digital Director Digital
Global Marketing Marketing Fleishman-Hillard Account Manager
Solutions, LinkedIn Solutions, LinkedIn Fleishman-Hillard