How do I hibernate LinkedIn enterprise product?

Hibernating a LinkedIn enterprise product can be a useful way to temporarily suspend it without deleting it entirely. This allows you to easily reactivate the product later if needed. Here are the key things to know about hibernating a LinkedIn enterprise product:

What is hibernating a LinkedIn enterprise product?

Hibernating a LinkedIn enterprise product essentially puts it into a dormant state. Your product will become unavailable and unusable for the duration of the hibernation. Specifically, hibernating a product will:

• Make it unavailable to your target audience or customers
• Pause any active campaigns, ads, or organic content distribution
• Halt any new sign-ups, lead generation, or sales
• Stop any product analytics tracking and reporting

However, hibernating keeps the product intact in LinkedIn’s systems so that you can reactivate it later. Your product name, assets, configuration, and historical data will all be retained.

When to hibernate a LinkedIn enterprise product

Here are some common situations when hibernating a LinkedIn enterprise product can be useful:

• You are experiencing seasonal ebbs and flows in demand or campaign effectiveness
• You need to pause campaigns or initiatives due to budget constraints
• You want to temporarily shelve a product that is underperforming to rework it
• You need to focus engineering resources on higher priority products
• You intend to relaunch the product later with major changes

Essentially, hibernating allows you to press “pause” instead of fully shutting down a product. This avoids having to rebuild it entirely from scratch later.

How to hibernate a LinkedIn enterprise product

Hibernating a LinkedIn enterprise product is relatively straightforward. Here are the steps:

1. Log into your LinkedIn Campaign Manager account
2. Go to the “Products” section
3. Locate the product you want to hibernate on the list
4. Click on the 3 dots icon next to the product name
5. Select “Hibernate” from the dropdown menu
6. Confirm that you want to hibernate the product

It is important to note that only the original creator of the product or an admin can hibernate it. You cannot hibernate products created by others.

Once you hibernate a product, it will become inactive and unavailable immediately. All campaigns, ads, and tracking will stop. You will see a “Hibernated” tag on the product if you view it in Campaign Manager.

How long can a LinkedIn product remain hibernated?

LinkedIn enterprise products can remain hibernated indefinitely. There is no time limit on how long a hibernation can last. Your product will stay hibernated until you actively choose to reactivate it.

This allows you to hibernate products for as long as you need – whether it’s weeks, months, or even years. The product will remain safely dormant and ready for reactivation during that time.

What happens when you reactivate a hibernated LinkedIn product?

Reactivating a hibernated LinkedIn enterprise product is similarly straightforward from the Campaign Manager interface:

1. Navigate to the “Products” section
2. Locate the hibernated product you want to reactivate
3. Click the 3 dots icon next to the product name
4. Select “Activate product” from the dropdown menu
5. Confirm that you want to reactivate the product

Once reactivated, the product will become live and available again immediately. However, here are some important things to note:

• Any active ads or campaigns will NOT automatically restart
• You will have to manually re-enable and restart any initiatives
• Analytics data collection will resume from that point forward
• Previous analytics data and reporting will remain intact

Essentially, reactivating a product just flips the switch back on. You will still have to reboot all of the working parts associated with it.

Best practices for hibernating LinkedIn products

Here are some best practices to follow when hibernating LinkedIn enterprise products:

• Give advanced notice – Inform your teams, partners, and customers that the product will be hibernated to avoid surprises.
• Hibernate for a reason – Have a clear, strategic reason for hibernating instead of doing it ad hoc.
• Manage expectations – Be clear about what hibernation entails and set expectations about reactivation.
• Plan the reactivation – Map out how and when you will reboot the product upon reactivation.
• Evaluate regularly – Periodically review hibernated products instead of forgetting about them.

Using hibernation purposefully and strategically can provide major benefits. But haphazard hibernation can create confusion for your business initiatives. That makes it critical to follow best practices when shelving LinkedIn products.

Key takeaways

Here are some key takeaways about hibernating LinkedIn enterprise products:

• Hibernation suspends a product without deleting it
• It can be useful for seasonal fluctuations or temporary resource constraints
• Products can remain hibernated indefinitely until reactivated
• Reactivating just re-enables the product but does not restart campaigns
• Give notice, have a plan, and follow best practices for hibernations

Used strategically, hibernating LinkedIn products allows you to efficiently pause and restart B2B initiatives as needed. Just be sure to communicate clearly and have a plan for eventual reactivation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I hibernate my LinkedIn Showcase Page?

No, LinkedIn Showcase Pages cannot be hibernated. Showcase Pages are designed to always be available to share your brand, products, and content. However, you can temporarily stop posting new content to a Showcase Page by archiving or deleting previously posted content.

What subscription do I need to hibernate LinkedIn products?

You need an active LinkedIn Campaign Manager contract in order to hibernate products. The specific Campaign Manager plan required depends on the type of product. For example, hibernating Sponsored Content requires the “Advertise” plan or higher.

Can I reactivate a product on a schedule?

No, LinkedIn does not currently support automatically reactivating hibernated products on a set schedule. You will need to manually reactivate the product when desired. However, you can schedule social media posts and ad campaigns to automatically start when you manually reactivate a product.

Do I still pay fees while a product is hibernated?

You will not be charged subscription fees for a hibernated LinkedIn product, since it is essentially paused from use. However, you will still pay fees for any active Campaign Manager contract. Fees will resume when you reactivate the hibernated product.

Can I edit a hibernated product?

No, you cannot edit the name, configuration, campaigns, or any settings of a hibernated LinkedIn product. You will have to first reactivate the product, then edit it as desired.

Conclusion

Hibernating LinkedIn enterprise products is an effective way to temporarily pause initiatives when needed. With the right strategic approach, it can help you efficiently manage ebbs and flows in campaigns and resourcing. Just be sure to communicate timelines, have a plan for reactivation, and follow best practices when shelving products. Used properly, hibernation gives valuable flexibility to activate and deactivate LinkedIn tools as your marketing needs evolve.