LinkedIn, a New Territory for Communications

SOCIAL HIVE LinkedIn A new territory for communications

SummaryExecutive summary3Avant propos4Entretien 5B LinkedIn, a communications tool that’s underutilized 6C LinkedIn’s Ecosystem 72.1 A look at the Company space 72.2 A look at the Careers space 82.3 A look at the Products and Services space 82.4 A look at the Group space 9D Which strategy should you adopt? 103.1 Define your objectives… 103.2 …and possible focus areas 103.3 Structure your ecosystem 113.4 Activate your ecosystem 123.5 Best practices: Dell and Microsoft 133.6 A content strategy in line with different types of usage 143.7 The Company space: using your audience to generate clicks 15E Resources 164.1 Entry level: Engage employees 164.2 he importance of involving high potentials T 164.3 The role of top management 164.4 Community managers and ambassadors 174.5 he role of community animators T 17 F Measurement 185.1 Performance measurement 185.2 Proposed KPIs 18 Check list: how can I develop my presence on LinkedIn? 19

Executive Summary LinkedIn is the biggest professional social network in the world. Most companies develop their presence on it as part of their recruitment policy, but LinkedIn is so much more than just a recruitment tool – it’s a professional networking platform, and a B2B communications channel. According to a recent study*, LinkedIn generates four times more B2B leads than any other social network, including Facebook and Twitter. So why are companies still not using LinkedIn to its full potential? In this whitepaper we highlight the benefits an enterprise can reap from having a structured LinkedIn ecosystem and outline how to develop the right editorial approach for the ‘Company’ and ‘Groups’ spaces. We believe that: Most companies aren’t making full use of LinkedIn’s potential for communications and building their corporate image ompanies need to develop a dedicated editorial strategy and community C management policy to encourage discussion, and increase awareness among their target audience (including potential employees, partners and industry professionals) LinkedIn offers powerful business solutions with a range of tools that companies need to exploit if they’re to grow their influence Employees act as potential ambassadors, and this fact should be leveraged on LinkedIn: those ambassadors can carry corporate messaging, share experiences and support the company’s values When measuring the impact of your company’s LinkedIn activity, do take into account criteria beyond traditional HR indicators: as for any other social network (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), the commitment rate, active membership and reach prove to be the main KPIs * Hubspot study, 2011: http://www.hubspot.com/eBooks/learning-linkedin-from-the- experts/3 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

LinkedIn – a neglected communications tool Today, the world of social media and digital communication is heavily focused on Facebook and Twitter, based on the significant audience and creative communications campaigns seen on them. LinkedIn byDigital Identity comparison is considered a somewhat humble and understated social network. But don’t be fooled - a look at some factoids about the globalStanislas Magniant, professional network tells a different story:EMEA Head of Social Hive, • More than 161 million members, across 200 countriesMSLGROUP • Since December 31st, LinkedIn has seen it’s fastest growth within the student and graduate demographic Twitter account: • Two new members join LinkedIn every second, - that is 1 million new@msl_group members every week • Recruiting solutions proposed by LinkedIn are used by 82 out of 100 of Fortune’s 2011 largest companies Sites: • More than 2 million businesses have a corporate LinkedIn pagewww.mslgroup.com • As of 31 March 2012, more than 400,000 unique domains actively use the LinkedIn «Share» button from their web-sites in order to share relevant SOCIAL HIVE content on the LinkedIn platform LinkedIn is a corporate communications platform that is at once both deeply efficient and significantly undervalued • LinkedIn has evolved and grown significantly over the past few years. It is no longer just an HR platform that caters to recruiters, candidates and professional networking. • With the development of LinkedIn Enterprise, LinkedIn Today, and a slew of social applications, LinkedIn has become a corporate communications platform, as effective as it is undervalued. • Communication directors, marketing directors and even sales departments should focus less on how to grow their fanbase on the company Facebook page and more on the opportunities that LinkedIn presents. They can share their company’s activities, develop expertise and thought leadership, leverage a network of employees to develop an e-ambassadors program and even generate commercial leads using LinkedIn. • In short, companies can replicate what they currently do on Facebook, but in a more professionally appropriate and effective way to engage employees, business partners and potential candidates. • This whitepaper is not meant to be a detailed manual, but an introduction to the opportunities that LinkedIn offers corporate communications and B2B professionals. • It is also a guide for community managers who wish to develop the right editorial strategies on LinkedIn. If you’re looking to develop your company’s presence and reputation on social networks, we invite you to take another look at LinkedIn’s potential using our whitepaper. LinkedIn Guide for Brands 4

L au r e n c e B r e t MARK ETING DIRECTOR, L i n ked I n E U R O P E Interview a platform for editorial content LinkedIn has significantly evolved over the last year and product called the LinkedIn Talent Pipeline that allows added apps such as the newsfeed and LinkedIn Today. Can recruiters to integrate external sources into this working you share with us the reason behind this increased focus environment such as a candidate’s or an employee’s CV. on content? Among other reasons, LinkedIn members log on to the In addition, in the area of employer branding, we offer network to access information about the sector they work in. the Careers space, which allow businesses to promote Information plays a key role in the decision making process, themselves and disseminate job offers. And we fully and we need to offer quicker access to it. That is why LinkedIn contextualize this space based on recruitment needs and the offers information applications such as LinkedIn Today, company’s targets. discussion groups, company spaces and members’ status updates. In addition to these products for recruiters, we offer the opportunity for advertisers to communicate through our There are more than a million groups on LinkedIn today. 81% marketing solutions. This offer includes both “classic” of our members subscribe to group discussions and 50% products such as text ads and posters as well as social are active participants. In addition, 47% of our members use networking opportunities offered exclusively through LinkedIn to find and understand the latest trends in their LinkedIn. industry. What benefits might one expect as a result of developing Tell us more about the editorial feature ‘LinkedIn Today’. a content management strategy for a Company and Group LinkedIn Today is a fairly revolutionary tool in terms of space on LinkedIn? content curation: it automatically selects and distributes to Creating a Company space helps increase visibility on each user the information that is most relevant for him or the network. This space can then include paid marketing her. services. The company space helps in marketing the brand, both business to business (B2B) and business to consumer Articles are selected based on popularity amongst members (B2C). You can also use our advertising solutions to reach on LinkedIn and what fellow industry members are reading. a very specialized audience, by targeting your campaign This allows our users to stay up to date with the current based on member profiles. trends and receive a continuous flow of information about those trends. LinkedIn Today is a popular feature that builds Companies can publish articles and status updates on their visitors’ engagement. space and allow members to follow their content. Since LinkedIn is a professional network, following a company Do companies use LinkedIn more as a source of information on it brings more opportunities to engage in a professional rather than a communications tool? fashion, than on other social networks. This allows companies to create more involved communities around LinkedIn’s activity for recruiters is based on two pillars: their brands and services. sourcing and employer branding. The latter evolves around communication campaigns. In terms of sourcing, our flagship product is the Recruiter, which provides unlimited access to the entire network as well as the ability to post job announcements. We have also recently launched another5 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

1 LinkedIn, a communications tool that’s underutilized Most companies have a LinkedIn pages of the 10 most followed companies* as of 10/05/2012 very practical approach to LinkedIn, using it primarily to hunt for potential employees. Number of Status Links to Online Company However, LinkedIn has also followers Updates blog discussions proved itself as an essential communications tool both IBM 649,210 from an HR communications Hewlett-Packard 485,641 perspective and in terms of a company’s image and Microsoft 473,197 influence. Accenture 467,689 Google 457,638 Oracle 321,910 Deloitte 317,242 Apple 286,192 Cisco Systems 264,104 Dell 277,892 * According to The Tecnica http://thetecnica.com/2012/04/top-10-most-followed-companies-on-LinkedIn LinkedIn is a communications platform that the majority of companies have not yet fully integrated into their communications strategies. The 10 most followed companies on LinkedIn* animate their space with status updates (in most cases with new hires and job announcements), but only five update their space with blog posts and only three have a proper community management strategy, which involves generating discussions on the page. LinkedIn Guide for Brands 6

2 LinkedIn’s Ecosystem N Y SPACE PA 2.1 A look at the Company space M TH E CO A Company space is created LinkedIn offers information and automatically as soon as a statistics for your company’s LinkedIn user declares herself presence on the network, as well an employee of a given company as a News space which is open for The Company space on her profile. So your company other users’ comments. Certain on LinkedIn can be might already be present on types of information are managed compared with fan pages LinkedIn, but you’re perhaps not by the company, others are not. on Facebook : it acts aware, and may not control that as a hub for all the presence. company’s activities on the network There are two types of LinkedIn users to target: your employees and users who follow your company. Logo and company branding Statistics : • Number of employees, demographics, data and history • Number of followers LinkedIn members who show up as employees of your company A space dedicated to your subsidiaries More space for If your company has a blog or a Twitter information about your account, you can promote these links company on your page This space shows activities on LinkedIn, including: job offers, new hires and appointments, blog posts and any other communications published by the company. This space can be managed to a degree. Messages published in this space are visible in the information flow of members of the page. One can like the news, comment and share it in the same way as on Facebook.7 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

SPACE RS 2.2 A look at the Careers space EECA R The Careers space showcases your recruitment This space is completely under activities on LinkedIn: new your control. It’s possible to job announcements, HR personalize it by adding yourThe Careers page is communications and other company’s colors and yourusually integrated into information about your company objectives. The space can bethe Company SPACE. You can add value to the space. further modified to match the typecan have access to your of visitor, so a communicationsCompany SPACE without professional would not see theviewing the Careers same home page as an engineerSPACE. for example. The Careers space is paid for and is not mandatory Personalized banners for different types of visitors Links to the Company’s A personalized introduction career site depending on the type of visitor Statistics Job offers at your company - personalised for different types of visitors Video campaigns 2.3 A look at the Products and Services space LinkedIn offers all Company including expert points of view. spaces a special tab to promote Think about managing what you their products and services. post here, keeping in mind the content should be consistent with Like in the Careers space, you the story you want to tell about have full control over the the your business. content under this tab and you can target your content in line The only social aspect of this tab with your visitors’ demographics. is that LinkedIn members can recommend your products and The space is fully customizable: services. you can add banners and a video to showcase products or services. Rather than adding an advertisement, consider more personal and original content LinkedIn Guide for Brands 8

PACE PS U 2.4 A look at the Group space O GR Current job offers, information Group space is not managed by about training sessions and best the company, but by individuals. practices can all be shared on Group space. In addition, most A Group is a space for LinkedIn users tend to look for employees to exchange expert opinions in the Groups. best practices with industry experts. It’s an Unlike the Company space, a optimal platform for exchange of ideas within your company! Logo and description Launch a discussion or a poll Group news, updates RSS feed with the latest on new members discussions Ads A list of the most active users in the Group, which effectively highlights the most The most commented on influential experts in discussions. It’s possible to the discussion space like a status, add a comment and share it in the same way you would on Facebook. The Group’s statistics Types of messages : • Experience, knowledge and best-practice sharing • Job offers or training sessions9 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

3 Which strategy should you adopt? 3.1 Define your objectives… Don’t only think of LinkedIn as To achieve your goals, be active As with other social a recruitment tool. LinkedIn in on the site, and develop your own networks, simply being fact enables companies to build tone of voice. A member connects on LinkedIn is not an image that attracts talent to the network on average 1-2 sufficient. You need and makes people want to work times a month. The challenge is to do more. And before for your company. In addition to find a way to be there when that, you need to define to advertising, joining in the they are connected and have the your objectives. discussions on LinkedIn also content you posted highlighted. gives you the opportunity to polish You can help do this by interacting your employer brand. So, look with more active members who beyond traditional recruitment log in several times a day, and goals, and make sure you set exchanging experience and best new ones: reaching out to expert practices with them. communities, attracting new suppliers, influencing professional communities, etc. 3.2 …and possible focus areas Define a focus area that’s in line Once you’ve defined your focus On LinkedIn, more then with your expertise, strengths and area, you will be in a good position anywhere else, the the values of your organisation. to develop an editorial strategy for best way to add value Why would following you or each LinkedIn space. to your company is to participating in the discussions be animate spaces via an added value for a professional? editorial content. Are you considered a talent incubator in your field? Is your expertise acknowledged worldwide? Have you adopted an innovative management system? These are all assets that can add value when shaped through the prism of your ambassadors and your employees, and their stories and experiences. LinkedIn Guide for Brands 10

Structure your ecosystem R TY GR PA O D T Y G RO UP THIR AR U 01 P P0 TH I RD 1 TARY GR IE O R UP PROP 01 The Company Space The Company space is the center of your LinkedIn ecosystem. It should enhance S AND SER the visibility of the company’s CT U news, its views, projects VI T H E PRO D CE and goals. It should also be a S S PAC hub for your entire LinkedIn ecosystem. E The Careers Space E The Careers space is the AC TY G RO SP AR U space dedicated to HR – Y P P0 TH I RD N 2 A opportunities, career paths, MP testimonials – a showcase CO dedicated to recruitment. The THE TY G RO TARY GR AR U pages are most useful for IE P P0 TH I RD O R 2 medium or large companies UP PROP that have to manage a 02 significant number of prospective employees. The Groups Space The Groups are the main spaces for conversation RS S PACE on LinkedIn, and need a EE R T H E CA targeted, clear and content- focused editorial positioning. A company can create and animate several groups based on various professional communities, its target, its core businesses or its geographical locations... The challenge is to structure these groups so as to be able to tap into both internal and TY G RO AR external audiences that are U P A RY G R P0 TH I RD broad enough to encourage ET 3 I O R UP PRO P dialogue and a fruitful 03 exchange. TY G RO AR U P P0 TH I RD 311 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

3.4 Activate your ecosystem In order to create a Focus on the three components of your editorial policy real LinkedIn ecosystem, you need to create synergies between • Corporate information and news • Thought leadership the Company space, the Careers spACE and 1. First off, include this on the 1. Depending on the topic, add the Groups. The most Company space to the relevant themed Groups effective way to do so as to encourage discussion this is to create links 2. Add it to the Careers space, and attract people to the Group between these spaces, if that’s in line with your through exclusive content but at the same time company’s HR and CSR policy maintain the particular 2. You can also add to the identity and purpose 3. Add news to the Group pages Company space to support the of each page. Do take only if it relates to those users corporate vision, and leverage into consideration that the discussions and the users spend less time dynamism of the group on LinkedIn than on • Third-party content (*curation) Facebook, therefore it’s 3. Add to themed Groups that are better to concentrate 1. In the first instance, include similar to the current Group on the quality versus this on the Group pages. This in terms of either audience of quantity where content is essential if you’re going to subject matter is concerned. animate conversations between professionals interested in the 4. Add to the Careers space same topic (warning : make sure only if the content talks to it does not exceed 50% of your top management’s vision or editorial content) throws fresh light on HR and management policy 2. Include in the Careers space only if the content focuses on career paths within the company 3. Add to the Company space only if the article, which should be available online, provides a new perspective on the company *Curation is the art of selecting, filtering, organizing, indexing and commenting on content across specific topics12 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

3.5 est practices: Dell and Microsoft BDell is one of the 10 most-followed Alongside the editorialcompanies on LinkedIn with nearly approach, the company also engages270,000 followers. The company in real-time community managementmakes the most of this significant activity: each post is monitoredcommunity through a content and as soon as a follower of themanagement strategy: interesting page in question reacts, a companyarticles, company news and an spokesperson responds. Thanksupdated calendar help to turn this to this openness, the companypotential audience into an actual has established a dialogue whichaudience. helps engage people in the long- term. Moreover, Dell is sharing its messages and values n a way that i brings a strong human element to the brand. Microsoft is one of the most active companies on LinkedIn and its Company page is exemplary. Followed by just under 500,000 people, Microsoft has embraced LinkedIn at the heart of its communications strategy. Working with both company and industry news as well as employee testimonials, Microsoft works off an editorial strategy focused on several new posts each day. That said, you can’t help notice that while their the community manager has adopted a very engaging way of posting articles, s/he is somewhat reserved when it comes to responding to comments. Microsoft’s Company page is an example a dynamic company, of looking to the future and open to its followers’ comments. LinkedIn Guide for Brands 13

3.6 A content strategy in line with different types of usage Each space that LinkedIn offers includes a number of complementary features and tools. While some content, like news / short updates, Help on how to adapt each space according to how it’s used: can be found in all three types of spaces, other types of content are less or more Y SPACE SPACE s N RS up relevant to any given PA EE ro M R space. g TH E CO T H E CA {TARGETED Company News APPROACH NEEDED} Curation {TARGETED Thought Leadership APPROACH NEEDED} {TARGETED Job Opportunities APPROACH NEEDED} Discussions - -14 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

3.7 he Company space: T using your audience to generate clicksearly 2012 a new feature enabling Company space to target the posts published to a veryspecific category of followers was offered.Do you want to find out what a communityof senior telecom specialists, who follow you, think of one of your latest innovations without spamming others? Now you can! LinkedIn now gives companies a legitimate way to talk directly to their target audience….. LinkedIn Guide for Brands 15

4 Resources 4.1 Entry level : Engage employees When you’re starting out, the most cost-effective and efficient approach is to let employees know, via your traditional internal communication channels, that your spaces and groups on LinkedIn exist. The core of your LinkedIn community are your employees. It may be useful to incentivize contributors so as to create a little competition. 4.2 he importance of involving T high potentials LinkedIn provides a forum for high potentials. Their involvement in LinkedIn’s Groups discussions can humanize communications, highlight their talent... and keep them in the company! They can animate one or more groups by posting articles, links and opinions... It’s a win/win strategy : personal branding is the motivation while you’re also helping develop the company’s employer brand. 4.3 The Role of top management As well as average users and high potentials, the role of top management can be crucial in bringing to life internal and professional communities. Simply posting a «like» or commenting on a colleague’s post can be powerful, and encourage further participation. PARTY GR RD O I UP TY GR TH PAR O 03 D U IR P0 TH 3 PARTY GR RD O I UP TH 0316 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

4.4 ommunity managers C and ambassadorsCreating a thriving social network is impossible without a community manager,and LinkedIn is no exception. A question left unanswered, a post that’s beenignored.... These are factors that can dampen enthusiasm in a community, andcause your audience’s engagement levels to dip. Every post, message, question...should be addressed, no matter how small or insignificant.As far as professional communities are concerned, the level of expertise must beextremely high. That’s why you must identify Ambassadors, high potentials whoembody excellence within their profession, their peer group, their role… Thesepeople need to actively participate in the animation of their thematic groups –supported by a community manager, someone who is responsible for the flowof communications, for measuring it and helping members and followers findtheir way around.4.5 The role of community animators Community Manager Ambassadors • Monitoring • Editorial planning • Sectors and topic monitoring • Content publication • Content publication, providing links, • Comments management, posting thought leadership… answering members/followers • Answering questions/comments on • Help/redirect members/followers expert topics • Acts as a link between the • Engages the company’s employees company and LinkedIn users • Posts in the ‘Answers’ space and thus • Alert management should a ultimately earns Expert status on sensitive topic come up their profile • Moderates LinkedIn Guide for Brands 17

5 Measurement 5.1 Performance measurement What are the KPIs for LinkedIn? If you decide to implement an editorial strategy, the KPIs should be the same as those of the other social networks where your company has a presence: engagement rate, audience, loyalty, etc. In addition, any impact on the employer brand, the number of CVs received, and the cost of hiring using traditional methods should be taken into consideration. 5.2 Proposed KPIs Quantitative • The engagement rate for the Company space posts (based on the number of interactions with the audience) • Visitors to the Company and Group spaces • Internal and external reach rate • The number of discussions where your company’s experts participate on Group spaces (yours and affiliates’) • The number of CVs received • The number of information requests received Qualitative • The tone of comments received across the company’s LinkedIn presence (Company and Group spaces)18 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

Check list: how can I develop mypresence on LinkedIn? 1. Audit what you have How many pages are linked to your company and its focus areas (name, audience, employee usage rate)? 2. Define your objectives There are three types of objectives : - Business objectives - HR objectives - Image/reputation objectives 3. Define your focus areas and structure your LinkedIn ecosystem - Restructure your Company space, and if you have them, your Careers and Products and Services spaces according to the objectives you’ve already defined - Outline your editorial strategy for spaces you manage - Identify Groups in which your company can legitimately add comments, and also new Groups it can create - Identify your internal ambassadors - Produce a guide for employees as to how they can best be part of your company’s LinkedIn presence 4. Community management Implement a community management strategy. Contact us Follow us FRANCE/ EMEA http://www.linkedin.com/company/ MSLgroup Stanislas Magniant stanislas.magniant@ consultants.publicis.fr http://www.twitter.com/msl_group ASIA http://www.youtube.com/ Gaurav Mishra mslgroupofficial gaurav.mishra@mslgroup.com http://www.mslgroup.com/ AMERICAS Stephen Marino stephen.marino@mslgroup.com SOCIAL HIVE LinkedIn Guide for Brands 19

20 LinkedIn Guide for Brands

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LinkedIn, a New Territory for Communications

by MSLGROUP on Jul 16, 2012

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LinkedIn, a New Territory for Communications Document Transcript