In the social advertising world, consumer-focused platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat generally attract a frequent cadence of industry attention. But fresh data from eMarketer showing another strong year of growth for LinkedIn suggest that the professional networking site may be emerging as the 2020 belle of the social networking ball.
Earlier this month, eMarketer revised previous growth estimates for LinkedIn, projecting that adult users in the U.S. would grow more than 4% in 2021 to 65 million. More notable, however, is the fact that advertising revenues are expected to grow by more than 11%, which eMarketer analyst Jillian Ryan attributes to the platform’s commitment to delivering new innovations for both users and advertisers. Here are a few examples of how marketers are benefiting from those investments.
Video Victory
At first, LinkedIn users could only embed video content from other sources. But recent innovations have made it possible for businesses to run Shared Video, Native Video and Live Video campaigns on their company pages.
While there’s almost no organic reach on Facebook anymore, LinkedIn is one of the few social platforms that actually encourages users to create and publish content on its site and assures that it will be seen and shared. As a result, LinkedIn is the easiest network in the world on which to go viral. This is because anytime someone comments, shares, or engages with a LinkedIn post, it immediately goes to a portion of their network. This explains why eMarketer noted LinkedIn video as among the top 3 video ad B2B platforms shortly after the capability launched.
Growing Beyond Business Only
While LinkedIn is known primarily for B2B campaigns, it’s increasingly proving to be a powerhouse for consumer engagements. Drawn by the highly targeted—and affluent—user base, numerous consumer brands have begun using the platform to reach specific demographics. Kate Spade, for example, has been using the platform to target busy professional women who might be interested in its Scallop 2 Smartwatch. Similarly, Mercedes Benz took to LinkedIn to identify recently promoted professionals whose new status might increase interest in a luxury car purchase. That campaign reportedly led to conversion rates three times higher than auto industry standards, a testament to the power of video marketing to a highly targeted, primed audience.
More Creative for More Efficacy
As LinkedIn grows in prominence among all advertisers, it will require the same commitment to top-notch creative as any other platform—something that advertisers need to focus on more in 2020, according to LinkedIn’s Head of EMEA Marketing Jennifer Bunting. “The biggest challenges come down to perceived cost and as a result, lack of agility. This often limits a marketer’s ability to tailor content for different audiences, formats and environments,” she told The Drum, adding that having limited creative resources will have a downstream impact on effectiveness. For 2020, she urged brands to go beyond recycling TV commercials for their digital efforts and investing in creative specifically tailored to an outlet and audience.
Of course, for many marketers, the agility issue is tightly linked to the challenges of effectively managing a growing arsenal of assets. But creative asset management is seamless when managed in one platform that allows easy access for all teams who need it. Marketers can give more focus to what they do best—brilliant storytelling—when Extreme Reach takes care of the rest.