LinkedIn launches sponsored updates

LinkedIn has announced the launch of ‘Sponsored Updates’, a service through which brands can promote content in the newsfeed of its members. The service will allow companies to promote business content including videos, presentations and product news in newsfeeds of followers and non-followers.

“Content marketing is at the heart of LinkedIn’s marketing solutions strategy,” said Nishant Rao, country manager, LinkedIn India. “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,” he added.

Sponsored updates will appear in member’s feeds on their LinkedIn homepage and will be marked as ‘sponsored’. It is available to marketers on a CPM and CPC basis via a bid-based auction.

The social networking site disclosed that Turkish Airlines, Wall Street Journal, GE, Box, Charles Schwab, Thomson Reuters and Hubspot are among the first brands to leverage this service globally, while HCL Technologies was one of the first from India.

“As a consumer and provider of digital marketing services we derived significantly higher digital outcomes through this first in class initiative,” said Abhishek Shankar, head - digital marketing and brand office, HCL Technologies.