LinkedIn launches Sponsored Updates

Professional networking website Linkedin, today announced the launch of LinkedIn Sponsored Updates, providing brands with a new way to build relationships with followers and non-followers alike on the network.

Sponsored Updates will allow companies to promote business content but not limited to, videos, presentations and product news in the newsfeed of LinkedIn members, extending the reach of their page and allowing them to engage with new audiences.

"Content marketing is at the heart of LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions strategy. Our goal is to develop a definitive professional publishing platform and create opportunities for marketers to drive business results by sharing relevant content with our members," said said Nishant Rao, country manager, LinkedIn India.

Sponsored Updates will appear in member’s feeds on their LinkedIn homepage and will be clearly marked as "sponsored". Posts will appear across desktop, tablet and mobile and will be available to marketers both on a CPM and CPC basis via a bid-based auction. Companies can track post/campaign effectiveness through comprehensive analytics to glean insights and fine-tune strategy in real time.

The member experience will be seamless with a combination of organic and sponsored content in their newsfeed. Members can engage with the content via "Like," "Share," and "Comment" options and they can also "Follow" the company that generated it.

"HCL Technologies was one of the select trial partners ahead of general availability for LinkedIn sponsored updates. As a consumer and provider of digital marketing services we derived significantly higher digital outcomes through this first in class initiative," Abhishek Shankar, Head Digital Marketing and Brand Office.

Turkish Airlines, Wall Street Journal, GE, Box, Charles Schwab, Thomson Reuters, Hubspot among first brands in the world to leverage LinkedIn Sponsored Updates

As of today, sponsered updates, will be available to customers with an account representative, and LinkedIn will begin making it available to any company with a LinkedIn Company Page by the end of this month. "Customers will be able to select either CPC or CPM pricing and can promote updates in 20 languages across the 200 countries and territories where we have members. Additionally, companies can track the effectiveness of their posts through comprehensive analytics that provide insights to help them

fine-tune their strategy in real time," David Hann, VP product management, LinkedIn.