Business Situation:

The challenge we faced was attracting new B2B marketers who had yet to escape the gravitational pull of the twin giants of digital advertising - Facebook and Google (combined 2/3rd 2021 market share).

Brief:

LinkedIn is different from other social platforms by design - it is a place where professionals nurture relationships and grow their businesses. But is it a network for corgi racing videos? Probably not. How do you elevate that point to prove there is no better place to reach the right audience in the right mindset? Essentially, make people think twice about where they’re doing business.

Objectives:

By highlighting what you would NOT expect to see on LinkedIn, we will catch the attention of B2B Marketers (no easy task) and make LMS the obvious choice for B2B marketing. In doing so we will make LMS a foundational element of future B2B campaigns, not an afterthought.

Coming across a post about a pug in a costume on LinkedIn? Not something you see every day.

Yes, LinkedIn is a social network. But it’s not where you go for 245,000,000 search results for “cat memes” or dance tutorials or food recipes? LinkedIn is where people come to do business, and what better way to prove that point than by bringing “meme-able” postings from the internet onto the LinkedIn feed for the first time. Things started to look a bit out of place. And that was the point. This visual language of the Internet demonstrated that the place to reach your key audience in the mindset to do business is on LinkedIn – because on LinkedIn, videos of pugs in bunny costumes are not getting in the way. Instead, with LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, your digital plan reaches the right people thinking business thoughts, not "pugs in costumes" thoughts.

Truth 1:

LinkedIn is the place where people come to do business. On LinkedIn you know you enter into a professional environment with an engaged community ready thinking professional/business thoughts.

Truth 2:

The internet these days can provide much needed and welcomed distractions – whether it's dancing pugs or oddly satisfying squished sand sculptures - but when you come to LinkedIn you may be looking to shift focus to achieving personal growth or business success.

Truth 3:

B2B marketing professionals are generally used to being talked to in a very B2B way – a lot of the messaging looks familiar, in a similar tone, with typical B2B imagery. But B2B professionals are just like any other marketing professional – they appreciate humor and reward those that step out of the “expected” B2B world of advertising.

We researched what “meme-able” content was getting the most engagement on the internet. The top category for our audience: animals - specifically dogs in costumes.

This wildly popular content when placed on LinkedIn would feel completely out of place. Because on LinkedIn you enter with a professional mindset, ready for business, so what better way to stop thumbs then with Officer McPuggins in the LinkedIn feed. Our dogs in costumes were posted organically to the globally accessible LinkedIn feed, on the LMS blog and through PR, with a CNBC article being posted to the LinkedIn feed to reach our audience. The message and the medium worked hand in hand. This content would only work and standout on LinkedIn - proving our LMS message: why would you want to compete with these memes on other platforms, on LinkedIn you come to do business where business is done.

The virtual duopoly of Facebook and Google will take some time to crack, but the initial results we saw were very impressive. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions saw its business increase by 50% in the quarter, as advertisers increasingly turned to the platform as the trusted way to reach professionals when they are ready to do business.

Over the course of the year, LinkedIn also saw a 23% year-over-year increase in revenue, resulting in a record quarter for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions ad business.

Not bad for a pug in a silly custom (oh, and a killer insight).