The Mindset Divide

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Christina:Hello, I’m Christina Jenkins and I lead the EMEA Insights team at LinkedIn, based in London. I’d like to introduce Nick Nyhan, Chief Digital Officer of WPP’s Kantar. We’d like to spend the next few minutes today sharing the key highlights from global research that LinkedIn conducted with Kantar’s TNS to understand the drivers and mindset of people when using various social media sites. We surveyed more than 6000 people in 12 countries to explore the frame of mind, what people are thinking, when they visit various social media networks. We looked at why people go on each network, what content they are looking for, and what they’re expecting when they get there

Christina: There were three key takeaways from this research that we wanted to talk to you about today.1 - Using professional networking platforms is driven by deep emotions, aspirations, achievement – it’s about improving one’s lifeContrary to what people typically think, there are rich underlying emotions on professional networks and these emotions actually drive the usage and mindset that people are in when they are visiting various social and professional platforms. 2 - Mindset that people are in is very different between network types: People ‘Spend Time’ when they’re on personal networks. On professional networks, they ‘Invest Time’ on meaningful activities. So we have the spend vs invest mindset divide. 3 – And lastly, the research showed that people expect brand content on professional networks. There is a greater receptivity to hear from brands on professional sites like LinkedIn - more than general social networksLet’s dive into the first finding...(hand over to Nick)

Nick: The first key finding from this study was that emotion plays an important role in BOTH personal and professional networks, but these emotions – what people are feeling and thinking about – are dramatically different. Emotion as part of personal social networking may seem obvious when you think about how people use social networking sites to connect in a very personal way with family and friends, but what surprised us was the types of emotions that came out when people were using professional networking sites. People tend to think of professional networks as job boards that are void of emotion. But we found in our interviews that there are some very deep emotions on professional networks that are very different from personal networks.

Nick: Emotions on personal networks are about reminiscing with family and friends, and entertainment. What people are thinking and feeling are emotions around nostaligia; it’s about having fun, and it’s also about a distraction. It’s more casual and informal. In the research, people talked about being “in the moment” and also reflective of past moments, parties, vacations, holidays. It’s passing time on personal platforms without necessarily having a clear motivation to “do” something on personal sites. Some of the quotes from the research (if you want to use): “Personal networking, is usually informal and not typically used to obtain anything tangible. ” - U.S.“I social network using Twitter and Facebook, but that is purely entertainment and making personal arrangements mainly. “ – U.K. "On Facebook, you find too much unnecessary information, which sometimes make you lose focus.” -- Brazil

Nick: Whereas, the emotions on professional network are motivated by a sense of purpose to achieve goals. It’s about empowerment and achievement. Professional networking is much more goal-oriented and purposeful. There is also an aspirational component, where people are looking for future opportunity. The emotions are about being the best you can be, improving yourself. They’re looking for information to work smarter, and that behavior is driven by a deeply emotional desire to succeed. It’s a tool that enables professional success. Particularly for marketers who want to tap into this aspirational mindset, this is an important finding. How can marketers think about attaching themselves to these emotions as part of their messaging and a part of the tonality that they use on professional sites. Christina: Some of the quotes we heard from professional network users were: “The main benefit of an extensive professional network is that we can get help in our work.” – Singapore“It is an essential part of being successful in my business. - US

Nick: These emotions on professional networks are just below the surface. People come to professional networks to network with colleagues and search for opportunities, but the underlying motivation behind that behavior are deep emotions around achievement, happiness, goals, and security. These are big feelings that go far beyond, just leveraging professional networking sites to find a job. These drivers are aspirational and about achieving your goals.Think about when you bought your first car or when you bought your first apt or house? How were you feeling when you got that promotion you’ve been working for? Think about what you were thinking and feeling and that sense of achievement from succeeding and realising your goal. These are the feelings and emotions that come into play on professional platforms. There’s a feeling that opportunity exists through your connections and that at some point in the future, knowing someone will lead to something greater, a new business opportunity or a new skill. This is a unique opportunity for brands, because emotional advertising has been shown to lead to greater ROI. And they can tap these deep emotions on professional networks. Professionals are people too and they want to be spoken to in a relevant way that appeals to the emotional side.

Christina: Our 2nd major finding was that we saw a major divide in the reasons why people use various social networks.Personal networks are where people go to “Spend time.” They’re looking to socialize, be entertained and even kill time. While on professional networks people are looking to invest their time. They’re working with a purpose or an aspiration. You can see the difference very clearly. Professional networks are driven first and foremost by maintaining their professional identity and reputation. They also want to make useful contacts, search for opportunities, and keep up to date for their career. What this means for you as brands and marketers is that by understanding the mindset of users on each network, you can deliver more relevant content and build deeper relationships with your audience. By matching your messaging to the mindset, you will see more favorable results.

Christina:And the 3rdkey finding from the researchis that there is a huge difference between the content people expect on the different networks. Personal network users are looking for content and info that gives immediate gratification – info on friends, entertainment, updates on their personal interests.Professional networks users want content that can help them build and achieve– info related to their work and careers and updates from companies they are interested in. When we asked people what type of information they wanted to hear from brands/companies/products, the personal side was about hobbies, entertainment, concert updates, etc. The professional side was about how to improve yourself, how to be better in your career and in your industry, they want brands to talk to them in a relevant way to tap into this type of content.You can build relationships with professionals by sharing insights and information. Professionals crave content and insights. Personal network users are looking for content and info that gives immediate gratification – coupons, games, entertainmentProfessional networks users want content that can help them some time in the future – insights that help them work smarter and updates from brands they are interested in.Top types of information they like to receive from their connections:Personal:Information relevant to family and friends – 46%Information relevant to my hobbies and personal interests – 40%Updates on entertainment, music, and film – 37%Professional:Information relevant to careers, work, and colleagues – 44%Updates and developments on companies and brands that interest me – 24%Current affairs and politics updates – 19%

Christina to explain the case studyChallengesMercedes was facing stiff competition from the BMW 3 Series and the Audi A4 in the luxury car market, and needed to demonstrate its innovation while creating a community of “hand raisers.”Specifically, the company wanted to improve perceptions and raise awareness of its C-Class car.SolutionMercedes and LinkedIn decided to associate the brand with a professional activity – in this case, managing and improving members’ LinkedIn profiles via InTips ads.The Mercedes interactive content ad allowed LinkedIn members to request brochures and test drives, and encouraged them to follow the Company Page.The Mercedes Company page allowed followers to share their experiences with the car and recommend it to other social media connections.Why LinkedIn?Ability to target affluent professionals holding senior management positions.Ability to drive traffic to Company Page creates community, increases reach of recommendations.Multiple touch points for messages from Mercedes to the right people, at the right time.ResultsInTips ads created increased engagement with LinkedIn members – generating a clickthrough rate of 0.20%.Follow ads generated a clickthrough rate of 0.77%Recommendation ads outclassed standard display advertising: created 139,354 viral impressions with engagement rate of 0.27%.12,000+ company page followers in only 5 weeksMember Quotes from Company Page“Great car! I picked up my new C-Class 2 weeks ago and it’s the nicest exec car I’ve owned. Super drive and super comfy. Great technology in it too!” –IT director, Birmingham, UK“Mercedes just gets better in its field.” – Marketing manager, Nottingham, UK

Final takeaways:Recognize the separation between personal and professional networks and the opportunities they present for your brand. If you are only advertising on one type of network, there is a whole side of your customers’ lives that you are not reaching. Marketers can reach a new network of connections on professional networks in a trusted context. Align your brand with emotion by matching your message to the user mindset – casual, entertaining updates versus rich professional content. Understanding mindset is key to relevance. On personal networks, help users “spend time” by providing light, entertaining, playful content. On professional networks, help users “invest time” with deeper, more thoughtful information and insights. Create emotional appeals around achievement and success to connect with your audience in a deep and powerful way. As a result, your advertising messages will be considered more relevant, impactful, and timely. Understand the type of brand content users expect to see – coupons and discounts on personal; brand news and insights on professional.Frame how your brand helps users gain knowledge and success on professional networks.Help users accomplish their goals and show how your brand can become a part of their success.Enable professionals to help each other and create opportunities for your brand to participate.

Thank you very much. If you’d like to download the complete results, you can do so at lnkd.in/mindset.

Our research shows that your ability to adopt these best practices will ultimately play a big role in your success on LinkedIn. And our team at LinkedIn is committed to helping you win by continuing to educate our clients on the best ways to drive meaningful relationships on LinkedIn. In fact, we’ve worked together on a best practices guide that we’ve printed and packaged up in binders for each of you to take home. They are available at the back of the room for you to take.