One problem advertisers often face on LinkedIn is telling the story behind their product, service, or brand. Without properly illustrating your company’s “why” in the ad, consumers don’t feel compelled enough to click on what you’re trying to sell them.
However, it’s almost impossible to tell your brand’s full story in only one ad, which is why LinkedIn has now begun introducing carousel ads for sponsored content.
Let’s address the importance of carousel ads, your story and a top-notch content marketing strategy.
How to find your “Why”
Many business owners often wonder what the secret is behind some of the world’s leading and successful organisations, how some leaders inspire and influence more easily and how some companies retain their customers and employees’ loyalty.
If you are an entrepreneur or business owner, Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle theory is a great way for every business founder to understand how legendary leaders like Steve Jobs and Martin Luther King Jr were able to genuinely inspire and motivate thousands of people.
Every business owner must have an unwavering answer to the three basic questions you will be asked about your company at every point in your journey – Why, How and What.
Let me take you away for a short minute to Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle concept in his famous book ‘Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action‘ to help you find your “why”.
3 Key Takeaways from Simon’s Golden Circle concept
Simon’s take on how businesses operate is immensely insightful. This is how he defines What, How and Why:
– Why: the purpose, cause, belief and reason why your company exists
– How: the method and approaches you follow, your USP that differentiates you from others and how exactly you fulfill your core belief
– What: the products or services you offer and what your company does to fulfill your core belief
Simon asserts that while every organisation certainly knows “WHAT” they do, only some organisations know “how” they do it and very few know for sure “why” they do what they do. His sage words for all entrepreneurs is to start with answering the “why” first and not the “what”.
The essentials of storytelling for every brand
Sharing your brand’s story and journey is an experience that can unite people and establish deeper, meaningful connections. Storytelling is a powerful tool that enables you to connect with what is going on in the market, consumer and society. Sharing your story across the world in creative ways is a way to ensure that customers look at your brand.
In other words, it is important to tell a good story that does not make your consumers think twice about why they should spare a minute and check out your brand.
When you create a marketing strategy, do not forget to focus on the most important element to grab the spotlight in a decade of intense competition – what makes you and your brand human?
I encourage you to aim for three things as follows:
– Be unforgettable, unique and genuine
– Build a tribe and community rather than clients, like Apple did
– Be human and seek to grow into a legacy instead of just another brand
Organic VS sponsored content
Don’t you miss those days when organic content was the go-to marketing strategy? For the longest time, businesses only posted original content that people were generally interested in.
Over time, with the need to be heard, seen and recognised amongst the “noise” and because of the change in social algorithms, businesses lost hope in organic content.
The best way to understand organic content is to use an analogy from the food sector – produced and consumed naturally, sustainably and responsibly. It essentially means the content you do not pay to get published, no click bait and a lot less salesy.
Sponsored content, on the other hand, is carefully curated to get more engagement from the audience and is usually crafted by another brand, publisher or influencer.
Trust plays a major role in a sponsored content to get the audience to engage with your brand.
Sponsored content usually comes from recognised brands and platforms like Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for instance who are already well versed and connected to your core audience, who are more likely to be interested in your brand’s identity and content. So, your brand comes out as more of a natural fit rather than a forced advertisement.
But if have been following the content trend, the same information and brand overload all around us in the world of digital media has pushed companies to go back to organic content and following yet again if they really wish to stand out.
What has worked for your business?
To make the most of so many different tools available out there, every company should experiment with both kinds of content. This is where LinkedIn has been a gamechanger with their new feature – carousel ads.
Why you need both types of content – paid and organic
Carousel ads bring your companies mission to life by allowing users to swipe horizontally through a series of up to ten cards while on their LinkedIn feed. A single carousel ad can feature multiple visuals, which is what makes it so dynamic.
Businesses now have the flexibility to either showcase multiple offerings at once or present an in-depth look at one product specifically. The interactive nature of carousel ads is fostering a new level of visual storytelling that allows businesses to engage with their audience exactly how they want to.
What are carousel ads
So far over 300 companies are using carousel ads, and 75% of beta advertisers said they will use them in their next Sponsored Content campaign. The driving force behind these figures is simple: carousel ads offer better click-through rates and a larger return on investment. They’re the natural evolution of LinkedIn marketing campaigns because they’re making the user experience more memorable.
If getting more traffic to your website is your goal, then give carousel ads a shot. They can showcase your brand in an interactive format that resonates with consumers and brings new energy to advertising.
What else can you do to get more traffic to your website?
Luckily for small businesses, there isn’t one single tool to help you generate quality traffic to your website. Carousel ads is a good, reliable way indeed – but don’t restrict yourself.
Here are some other things you can try:
– Create a Google My Business listing to redirect your audience to the website.
– Set up an on-page and off-page SEO strategy to increase your rank in search engines.
– Generate reliable backlinks with leading influencers and get noticed soon.
– Hashtag and keywords research is a must for every company
– Start email marketing and newsletters to stay in touch with your customers and give them a reason to come back to you.
Getting more visitors, customers and business takes a while. But if you give these a shot, you will reap the benefits. It doesn’t end here – it is important for you to analyse, repackage and repurpose your brand’s content and marketing strategy to make your way up the ladder.
Other ways we can help you
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- Work with our team privately
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