HP may no longer be the brightest light in Silicon Valley, but it has 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, vice president marketing at LinkedIn, 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.
“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, vice president, digital marketing for HP, in the post.
LinkedIn's ad business grew
68% to $83.2 million in the fourth quarter, while overall revenue increased 81% to $303 million.