At the upcoming Native Advertising Days 2024 in Copenhagen, Claire Austin, Principal Consultant at LinkedIn, will present LinkedIn's new and groundbreaking research paper ‘The Art and Science of Brand.’
Using a machine learning algorithm, LinkedIn analyzed 680 native brand lift studies to identify the specific campaign factors that drive positive brand lift within the LinkedIn ecosystem.
The presentation represents a unique opportunity to learn the actual and concrete steps to success with B2B brand awareness campaigns. Not just on LinkedIn, but on any social media platform really.
And btw. “These are things that all companies can do regardless of how big they are, and how much budget they have to fund into their paid,” Claire Austin says.
Sounds intriguing?
We sat down with Claire Austin to get a sneak peak of the presentation and pick her brain about current affairs in native advertising.
Introducing "The Art and Science of Brand"
Claire Austin, at the Native Advertising Days 2024, you’re going to present the key takeaways from the new LinkedIn study "The Art and Science of Brand". What is the main purpose of the study?
“So basically the reason we’ve done this study is that we want to help marketers maximize their brand performance on LinkedIn. We’ve wanted to provide practitioners and marketers with an actionable guide based on comprehensive research. What I can present at the conference Is the contributing creative and media factors that have proven time and time again to drive positive brand lift within brand campaigns,” Claire Austin explains.
Why brand awareness is critical
Studies show that approximately 95% of buyers are "out-of-market" in any given quarter therefore representing a critical segment for advertisers to invest in as they will drive future sales. The goal is to build memory structure so that the customers think of you in the right buying situation. This is where brand awareness can help.
Claire Austin acknowledges the current challenges in the industry, particularly the tendency to focus on performance marketing over brand awareness.
She explains, “On our platform we see a lot of opportunity to improve the brand campaigns, and we also see that most companies are focused on performance marketing. So we really wanted to delve into how we can help marketers understand how native advertising can drive effective brand awareness. And for us, as a business we wanted to better understand what is driving good brand awareness on the platform.”
Building effective creative content
To effectively build brand awareness and recall on LinkedIn, the The Art and Science of Brand study recommends investing in creative that grabs attention in a competitive environment. Dwell time is the critical metric as it indicates attention.
Claire Austin will discuss how top-performing creatives use emotion, storytelling, and soundtracks to capture attention. She advises using formats that drive dwell time, such as short videos, and leveraging distinctive brand codes like logos, colors, and mascots to enhance mental availability and recall.
Exposing the audience to multiple creatives allows brands to connect with customers in different buyer situations, ensuring strategic consistency in creative ideas and visual cohesion.
The key to effective media planning
Among media planning factors, reach and recency are the most effective. Companies that reach a broader audience via brand campaigns have better chances of reaching multiple people in the buying committee in the 95% of out of market buyers.
Claire Austin will also highlight the importance of not being too narrow in focus to maximize the reach of category buyers both in and out of the market. She emphasizes that B2B purchases are often made by groups of stakeholders, making it crucial to consider this when defining the target audience.
Delivering consistent messaging ensures the target audience sees communications regularly, keeping the brand top of mind and driving better brand lift.
Want more detailed insights from Claire Austin? Make sure to attend her presentation at the Native Advertising Days 2024 in Copenhagen.