LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 800 million users worldwide. This makes it an extremely valuable platform for influencer marketing. LinkedIn influencer marketing involves partnering with influential professionals on LinkedIn to promote your brand and content to their large follower base. The key benefits of LinkedIn influencer marketing include:
- Access to a targeted audience – LinkedIn users are there for professional reasons, so you can easily find and connect with influencers in your industry.
- Builds trust and credibility – Getting recommendations from real professionals that your target audience knows and respects helps establish authority and trust for your brand.
- Drives traffic – Influencers can drive large amounts of relevant traffic to your website and content.
- Boosts brand awareness – Partnering with influencers exposes your brand to new audiences organically.
- Cost-effective – Compared to other forms of marketing, influencer campaigns are relatively affordable and provide excellent ROI.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to run successful LinkedIn influencer marketing campaigns, including:
How to identify the right LinkedIn influencers
The first step is identifying and vetting relevant influencers who can help promote your brand and content to your ideal audience on LinkedIn. Here are some tips:
- Leverage LinkedIn’s advanced search filters – Use filters like location, industry, job function, interests etc. to find influencers in your niche.
- Check follower count – Influencers with 5000+ followers generally have good reach.
- Analyze engagement – Look at likes, comments, reshares on posts to assess engagement.
- Evaluate relevance – Ensure the influencer’s content and topics align with your brand.
- Consider company size – Bigger brands tend to have larger follower bases.
- Check recommendations – Numerous recommendations imply good reputation.
- Review post frequency – Posting 1-2 times per week is ideal.
You can also use LinkedIn’s influencer marketing tools like Elevate and Campaign Manager to discover influencers.
How to reach out to LinkedIn influencers
Once you’ve identified potential influencers, it’s time to reach out. Here are some best practices for making contact:
- Personalize your message – Address them by name and be specific about why you want to partner with them.
- Highlight what’s in it for them – Collaborating will grow their audience and platform too.
- Keep it short – Get to the point clearly and concisely in 2-3 paragraphs.
- Provide specific collaboration ideas – Suggest creative ways they can partner with your brand like giveaways, guest articles etc.
- Follow up – If they don’t respond, follow up 3-7 days after your initial message.
Avoid overly formal, salesy or templated outreach messages. The goal is start a real conversation and show them the partnership opportunity.
Types of LinkedIn influencer content collaborations
There are many creative ways you can collaborate with LinkedIn influencers to create compelling content and amplify your message. Popular options include:
Sponsored LinkedIn posts
You can pay influencers to create and publish sponsored posts promoting your brand, content, offers etc. This instantly puts your brand in front of their audience.
Guest articles
Influencers can write guest posts on your company blog. This attracts their audience to your site and positions you as an authority. You can repost their article on LinkedIn too.
Co-hosted webinars or events
Hosting a co-branded webinar or virtual event allows you to tap into the influencer’s audience. Make sure to promote across both your networks.
Exclusive video content
Creating a compelling brand video together showcases your brand creatively to the influencer’s loyal following on LinkedIn.
Social media takeovers
Letting an influencer “takeover” your brand’s LinkedIn or social media account for a day is a fun way to engage their audience through a unique insider’s perspective.
Product/service reviews
Ask influencers to test out and review your latest product or service. This provides social proof directly from experts your audience trusts.
Giveaways & contests
Influencers can help promote giveaways and contests through their social channels, driving more entries from their engaged followers.
Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions
Live AMA sessions with influential thought leaders allow your audience to gain valuable insights. These interactive sessions also humanize your brand.
Measuring the ROI of LinkedIn influencer marketing
It’s crucial to track the return on investment from your LinkedIn influencer campaigns. This allows you to calculate the value derived and refine future initiatives. Here are some key metrics to monitor:
- Engagement rate – Likes, comments, reshares, clicks etc. on posts
- Audience reach – Total number of new users exposed to content
- Website traffic – New visitors driven from LinkedIn to your site
- Leads/sales generated – Track leads and revenue resulting from the campaign
- Content shares – How widely content was reshared organically
- Social followers – Follower growth on LinkedIn and other channels
Set specific benchmarks and use LinkedIn’s analytics to track these metrics before, during and after your campaign. Compare performance across influencers and pieces of content as well. This data will reveal your campaign’s true impact and ROI.
LinkedIn influencer marketing tips & best practices
Here are some additional tips to ensure your LinkedIn influencer marketing efforts are a success:
- Partner with multiple mid-tier and micro influencers rather than just one big name.
- Educate influencers about your brand so content is authentic and accurate.
- Set clear expectations with influencers on timelines, performance goals, branding rules etc.
- Give influencers creative freedom to craft content that resonates best with their audience.
- Develop long term relationships rather than one-off transactionsal partnerships.
- Repurpose and natively share influencer content on your own LinkedIn and social channels.
- Compensate influencers fairly for their work based on projected results.
- Spotlight influencer partners visually on your website or media pages.
- Amplify reach by blending LinkedIn influencer marketing with paid LinkedIn ads.
- Offer exclusive perks and deals to incentivize their audience to take action.
Following these proven best practices will help you develop mutually beneficial influencer relationships and execute high-converting LinkedIn influencer campaigns.
Conclusion
LinkedIn’s highly engaged user base presents a significant opportunity for brands to tap into influencer marketing. By partnering strategically with relevant experts who align with your niche, you can expand your reach, drive meaningful engagement and grow your business on LinkedIn. The key is identifying and vetting the right influencers, proposing compelling collaborations, developing long-term partnerships and tracking ROI diligently. Implementing these steps will allow you to leverage LinkedIn influencers and their networks to achieve your marketing objectives successfully.