HP may no longer be the brightest light in Silicon Valley, but it’s become the first company to reach 1 million followers on LinkedIn.
The computer giant says its million followers
are in turn connected to 43 million people on LinkedIn, or roughly a quarter of the professional network’s 200 million users. How did HP do it?
In a blog post today, Nick Besbeas, VP marketing, at Linked points to factors including posts by HP
CEO Meg Whitman as part of the “Influencer” blog network set up last year on the site. Beyond Whitman’s star power, HP also used targeted Follow Ads to boost followers by 300,000
over a two-month period.
The company’s followers are also 2.5 times more likely to recommend HP than non-followers, helping to amplify brand advocacy. With a range of 19 business
categories, HP has also segmented its follower community, and messaging, accordingly.
“The targeting possibilities are both broad and specific and allow us to optimize our content
strategy in real-time, increasing the value of every single piece of content from HP,” stated Natalie Malaszenko, VP, digital marketing for HP, in the post.
LinkedIn's ad business grew
68% to $83.2 million in the fourth quarter, while over revnue increased 81% to $303 million.