ARTICLE | The Digital Advertising + Social Media...
Social media has more to offer than cute puppies and videos of one-in-a-million sports highlights. It can be the key to finding qualified leads in hyper-specific categories for your economic development organization.
Looking for Chief Marketing Officers in pharma companies based in the southwest? Social can help. Trying to find startup founders in the auto industry across the United States. Well, social can unearth those leads as well.
In this article, we’ll go over a few stats proving how useful social – in general – can be. We’ll then spend some time on our favorite social network of all (spoiler alert…it’s LinkedIn) and show you how it can help you get in touch with the people you need to be talking to. And finally, check out the awesome infographic below full of relevant stats on the most relevant social platforms today. Read on!
Why Social? All the reasons!
Yes, social media has a reputation for being on the time waste-y and disreputable side. But that’s only one small part of social media. The 4.62 billion daily users of social media spend a ton of time being downright productive on these platforms. On top of that, the audience available on social media is growing every day, with year-over-year user growth at over 10% the last time we checked.
Finally, people spend loads of time on social media. An average of almost three hours per day! That’s a ton of eyeballs belonging to a huge cross-section of the population.
Aim small, miss small, with LinkedIn
So social media is big, you’re saying. You (and everyone else) already knew that. Who cares? Well, buried in this massive amount of activity is a veritable gold mine of work-focused, professional users. They’re on LinkedIn and they’re busy making connections and talking to the people you want to talk to.
LinkedIn isn’t a panacea, but it’s downright amazing at a few key things.
Microtargeting EDO leads
Remember the microtargeting we were talking about in the intro? Well, LinkedIn is what lets you do that. You can target people with specific roles, in specific regions, at specific companies, and with specific interests. So you could, for example, target executive-level decision makers at tech companies in the Pacific Northwest. Or marketing professionals at edu-tech firms across Europe. The only limit is your imagination (and LinkedIn’s algorithms).
That magic LinkedIn culture
One of the great things about LinkedIn is that people are there to do business. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, Insta, or TikTok, where people might be interested in talking politics, sports, or god-knows-what, pretty much everyone on LinkedIn should be there to talk about work. So, everyone you reach – whether it’s by InMail (LinkedIn’s version of email) or an ad – is primed for work-related things.
Demographics
LinkedIn’s user base is heavily localized in the economically developed G8 nations, with over 60% of the over-18 population in the US, the UK, and Canada using the site. Further, 60% of LinkedIn’s user base is between the ages of 25 and 34. This ensures you’re connecting with young professionals who are increasingly found in decision making positions in their companies.
In other words, LinkedIn’s users live where the money is and are often movers and shakers in the firms they work for.
But how do I…?
So, now that you know that LinkedIn is where it’s at, how do you make use of that info? There are a couple of ways.
First, you could learn the ropes on your own with LinkedIn’s own online learning resources. There’s nothing wrong with this strategy, but it can be really expensive and time-consuming while you’re figuring out the ins-and-outs of advertising and lead generation on LinkedIn.
Alternatively, you can reach out to us at ROI Digital Labs. We’re experts in transforming LinkedIn’s massive and sophisticated user base into a hyper-specific, interested pool of engaged leads that want to hear what you’ve got to say.
LinkedIn digital advertising wrap-up
We know that lead generation can seem like one of the toughest parts of economic development. Not only do you have to find the right people, you’ve gotta find them at just the right time when they’re considering a move or expansion.
But incorporating social into your leadgen activities can accelerate your ability to contact the people who can benefit from your message. If you do things the right way, you’ll find who you need to find when you need to find them. You’ll also avoid wasting precious time and energy on people who have no likelihood of needing your services or showing any interest in your region.
So, whether you’re planning to go it on your own or want to reach out to us for some help, we’re confident you won’t believe what LinkedIn can do for your economic development organization.