Case Study about Chevron on LinkedIn: Connecting with 12,000+ opinion leaders Visit marketing.linkedin.com for more success stories.
2
Marketing Solutions Challenge • Connect with hard-to-reach energy leaders • Encourage ongoing dialogue about complex issues • Engage opinion leaders and policymakers Solution • Establish Chevron Custom Group on LinkedIn • Target energy industry professionals, policymakers, NGOs, academia, financial services, and media • Use LinkedIn ads and Partner Messaging to drive group membership Why LinkedIn? • High-quality audience • Precise targeting by industry, job title, company, and seniority • Professional, respectful group interaction Results • Exceeded campaign goals by 41% • Doubled membership due to peer recommendations from LinkedIn members • 90% repeat visit rate • 87% of members read discussions • 92% of members read group digest emails Chevron is one of the world's largest integrated energy companies, engaging in every aspect of the oil and gas industry. Chevron also develops energy resources of the future, including biofuels and other renewables, because meeting growing demand is going to take all the energy we can find – in all forms. Pioneering online discussion In 2004, Chevron called for energy leaders to work together to meet the world's energy challenges. In 2005, Chevron launched the industry's first online energy forum, willyoujoinus.com. The forum invites people worldwide to discuss energy issues, understand different points of view, and appreciate the complexity of energy challenges facing us all. Willyoujoinus.com has successfully attracted millions of visitors since its launch. Chevron Case Study Connecting with 12,000+ opinion leaders on LinkedIn Reaching energy leaders on LinkedIn With the growth of social media, energy related discussions began happening on social networking sites, in blogs, and elsewhere on the Web. In 2009, Chevron identified the ‘Big 4’ social media platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube – where they could connect with people who are passionate about energy, and began hosting official pages on those sites. “We wanted to encourage conversation and learning in a place where people interested in energy visit and congregate,” explains Jeordan Legon, Chevron’s managing editor of digital media. “It's particularly challenging to engage industry professionals. Rather than asking them to come to us, we thought we’d go to them – which led us to LinkedIn.” ®
Transcript
Marketing Solutions
Challenge • Connect with hard-to-reach energy leaders
• Encourage ongoing dialogue about complex issues
• Engage opinion leaders and policymakers
Solution• Establish Chevron Custom Group on LinkedIn
• Target energy industry professionals, policymakers, NGOs, academia, �nancial services, and media
• Use LinkedIn ads and Partner Messaging to drive group membership
Why LinkedIn? • High-quality audience
• Precise targeting by industry, job title, company, and seniority
• Professional, respectful group interaction
Results • Exceeded campaign goals by 41%
• Doubled membership due to peer recommendations from LinkedIn members
• 90% repeat visit rate
• 87% of members read discussions
• 92% of members read group digest emails
Chevron is one of the world's largest integrated energy companies, engaging in every aspect of the oil and gas industry. Chevron also develops energy resources of the future, including biofuels and other renewables, because meeting growing demand is going to take all the energy we can �nd – in all forms.
Pioneering online discussion In 2004, Chevron called for energy leaders to work together to meet the world's energy challenges. In 2005, Chevron launched the industry's �rst online energy forum, willyoujoinus.com. The forum invites people worldwide to discuss energy issues, understand different points of view, and appreciate the complexity of energy challenges facing us all. Willyoujoinus.com has successfully attracted millions of visitors since its launch.
ChevronCase StudyConnecting with 12,000+ opinion leaders on LinkedIn
Reaching energy leaders on LinkedIn With the growth of social media, energy related discussions began happening on social networking sites, in blogs, and elsewhere on the Web. In 2009, Chevron identi�ed the ‘Big 4’ social media platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube – where they could connect with people who are passionate about energy, and began hosting of�cial pages on those sites.
“We wanted to encourage conversation and learning in a place where people interested in energy visit and congregate,” explains Jeordan Legon, Chevron’s managing editor of digital media. “It's particularly challenging to engage industry professionals. Rather than asking them to come to us, we thought we’d go to them – which led us to LinkedIn.”
In 2010, Chevron established a custom LinkedIn Group and invited people connected to the industry – and those interested in energy – to join the discussion. A LinkedIn Group is an online, facilitated community where like-minded professionals gather to collaborate and connect around a shared interest. Groups provide marketers the opportunity to foster long-term interaction and engagement with a select community of professionals.
Today, 53 percent of the Chevron Group on LinkedIn is comprised of employees, former employees, and energy industry professionals. Other professionals in Chevron’s target audience, such as academics, NGOs, oil ministers, government leaders, and politicians make up an additional 5 percent.
Campaign exceeds targets by 41% Chevron promoted the LinkedIn Group with targeted display ads as well as LinkedIn Partner Messaging, which allowed Chevron to communicate directly with its target audience through their LinkedIn inbox. Chevron also used LinkedIn ads to highlight conversations in the group and provide potential members with a real-time preview of interesting discussion topics. Group ads also showed whether the recipient’s LinkedIn network included members of the Chevron Group, further motivating people to join.
Chevron’s goal was to increase membership by 30 percent in 13 weeks. They surpassed that goal by 41 percent during the campaign period, which reduced the cost per member signi�cantly. Group participation continues to rise and today exceeds 12,000 members.
Jeordan Legon says, “Using the advertising and targeting tools that LinkedIn provided, we were able to reach the exact people we wanted to engage. We’ve found that the audience members we reach on LinkedIn are passionate, positive, and most importantly, understand the complexity of the industry. They’re able to communicate in a sophisticated way, which fosters thoughtful, high-quality discussion.”
Outstanding engagement levels Among the people who’ve joined the Chevron Group on LinkedIn, over 90 percent have become repeat visitors. Eighty-seven percent of Chevron Group members read the online discussions, and 92 percent regularly read digest emails summarizing active and most recommended conversations in the group.
To ensure a positive experience for participants, Chevron used research from the LinkedIn Research Network (LRN) to measure group engagement and explore members' goals and interests. Through LRN, Chevron learned what motivates different segments of the group to join and stay active. For example, one segment of the group joins to stay abreast of industry news and better understand energy trends and technologies, whereas Chevron employees tend to join the group to understand perspectives outside the organization and stay connected in the industry. These and other LRN insights help guide Chevron’s content strategies and moderator involvement.
For example, to encourage participation and repeat visits, the Chevron Group provides discussion forums where moderators post thought-provoking topics and facilitate the conversation. Chevron also keeps members engaged with fresh, educational content on topics such as geothermal energy, deepwater drilling, energy ef�ciency, and safety – along with the latest industry news and information on the Chevron corporation.
Membership grows virally Jeordan says, “The beauty of the Chevron Group on LinkedIn is that we are extending the reach of our messages. The group is made up of supportive, knowledgeable people who are active in discussions and extend conversations even beyond the boundaries of the group. When we advertised to invite people to join, we ultimately gained more than twice the number of members we expected – because for every person brought in by advertising, there was another brought in virally. And every time someone posts or 'likes' a comment in the group, their network sees that activity. The viral nature of LinkedIn has really paid off.”
Jeordan continues, “We were the �rst global energy company to have a custom group on LinkedIn, and the level of the people joining has been really gratifying.
With LinkedIn there’s a great deal of trust – it’s a place where people share ideas openly. The dialog is spirited but respectful. You can see the professional background of who’s contributing, so it’s a great place for peer-to-peer education. Because of our experience with other social network sites, we were initially cautious about how much time we would need to invest in moderating the conversation, but people have been very professional on LinkedIn.”
Visit marketing.linkedin.com to learn how other marketers have successfully met their marketing objectives.
Sample Chevron group ad providing a live snapshot of current group discussions. LinkedIn group ads are network-aware, meaning that they have the ability to reference group members within the recipient’s professional network.
