Learn tips and best practices to help drive engagement with your LinkedIn Sponsored Content posts. See how other brands are achieving top engagement rates across a variety of verticals.

1. Creating Sponsored Content Posts
That Earn Engagement
Tips from LinkedIn’s top performing posts in NAMER
April - June 2016

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“What are the best practices for
promoting content on LinkedIn?”
A search for “LinkedIn content best practices” returns over 40 million results on Google.
Promoting content on a social platform does not have to be that complicated. These 5
examples of top-performing sponsored content posts provide tips you can use to earn
engagement in the news feed of a busy (and aspirational) audience.

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Methodology
The following sponsored content posts:
• Targeted an audience in the NAMER region
• Served at least 25K impressions
• Achieved a top engagement rate (NOTE: engagement rate includes clicks +
social actions)
The top posts are broken out across the following categories:
• Overall
• Education
• Technology
• Financial Services

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5 Key Takeaways
1. Drive higher engagement by keeping
description copy <70 characters and
feature a call to action. Keep in mind
that copy will get truncated on desktop
after 100 characters.
2. Your audience doesn’t want to just stay
up to speed on industry news – they
also want to know the impact it will
have on them. On top of reporting key
industry news, provide key insights,
takeaways and your perspective.
3. Creating great, in-depth content can be
time/resource intensive. Find 3rd party
sources that might be developing
content that aligns with your audience’s
4. Use video to tell your story and drive
engagement. YouTube, Vimeo and
SlideShare videos play natively within
the LinkedIn newsfeed, which allows
you to engage your audience without
disrupting their experience.
5. Professionals are people too. Human
interest stories can be a great way to
help establish your brand in an
engaging, less overt manner.

5. Tip #1: keep it concise, prompt an action
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Aim to keep the description copy <70 characters and feature a call to action.
Keep in mind that the copy will get truncated on desktop after 100 characters.

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Tip #2: don’t just report the news, analyze it
In addition to just staying on top of the latest industry news, your audience wants
to know the impact it will have on them. Provide them with valuable insights, key
takeaways and your unique perspective on what’s going on in their world.

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Tip #3: repurpose compelling 3rd party research
Creating your own in-depth research can be time and resource intensive. Lookout
for 3rd party sources that might be developing content that aligns with your
audience’s interests. In this example, SugarCRM and Alteryx shared Gartner’s
new 2016 Magic Quadrant for Advanced Analytics Platforms report.

8. Tip #4: use the power of video to tell your story
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YouTube, Vimeo and SlideShare videos play natively within the LinkedIn
newsfeed, which allows you to engage your audience without disrupting their
experience. NanaWall used this format with great success to showcase their new
FoldFlat wall technology.

9. Tip #5: professionals are people too
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It’s easy to get fixated on publishing brand and product focused content, but
professionals are people too. Human interest stories can be a great way to help
establish your brand in an engaging, less overt manner. Visa tells a story of
swimmer who has persevered to become a two-time world champion to illustrate
their commitment to partnership and innovation.

10. Education

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Tip #1: be audience centric
Find the overlap of what you can talk about with authority versus what your
audience wants to hear about. Kellogg School of Management does a great job
demonstrating their expertise around topics such as authentic leadership.

12. Tip #2: show…and tell
Infographics are still a very effective means to deliver a complex message in an
easy to digest, engaging format. Simplilearn uses image posts to help explain the
benefits of the certification courses they offer.
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13. Tip #3: instill a sense of urgency
Take advantage of the fact that the graduate school admissions process is a finite
timeline – Cornell University conveys a sense of urgency to apply and/or learn
more about the process within their posts.
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Technology

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While showcasing lists of helpful tips, and promoting in-depth research reports
can be effective, you should also try to repackage your content in creative ways.
Here, Bizible turned their overview on marketing attribution into a periodic table.
Tip #1: B2B does not have to = Boring

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Tip #2: spark engagement through insights
Above and beyond “Top 5 ways…” and “7 Tips to…”, you can create intrigue with
your content by asking an insightful question. Spredfast caters to its audience
and poses the question of what restaurant chain is the most instagrammed.

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Tip #3: source unique case studies
Case studies can be invaluable in helping to establish proof that what you’re
offering is as effective as you claim it is. The Learning Machine uses a students
journey through the college application process to highlight the need for their
software within the education industry.

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Financial Services

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Tip #1: engage through video
YouTube, Vimeo and SlideShare videos play natively within the LinkedIn
newsfeed. This enables you to engage your audience without making them leave
the experience that they were already active in.

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Help the audience member clearly understand the value of the content you are
providing as well as the time investment on their end to consume it. AIG
succinctly articulates the topic they are providing guidance on (cyber security),
the format (how-to guide) and time investment (7 steps).
Tip #2: set audience expectations

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Even the most carefully planned editorial calendar can’t account for unforeseen
news and events. But being flexible enough to react and join in on the
conversation can be a great way to engage your audience. AICPA used Prince’s
lack of a will to shine light on how important it is to plan in advance.
Tip #3: be nimble enough to react to timely news

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