Introduction
Company Overview
Created in 2005, LinkedIn is “the world's largest professional network with nearly 800 million members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide”. Of the 800 million members LinkedIn reports that 180(+) members are located within the United States. Their mission to "connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful" is the main focus of their signature story (LinkedIn. (n.d.).
Audience Profile
Demographics: My target audience is males, females, and non-binary subjects aged 18-24.
Psychographics: Subjects who have obtained an associate, bachelors, or master’s degree from an US College or University
Geographic Location: Subjects who live in the North-Northeast, South, and Western area of the United States
According to Statista, 18–24-year old's only comprised 20.3% of LinkedIn users in 2021. With this mentorship program, LinkedIn could assist in recruiting a younger generation to begin working in unfilled positions. This could help lead to long-term retention. Additionally, I chose these areas of the United States because of their proximity to companies that they partner with. Fortune reports that the top 15 cities in which Fortune 500 companies are located are in areas of the North, Northeast, South, and Western areas of the United States (Fortune, 2020).
Campaign Objective and Timeline
The objective for this campaign will be to promote a mentorship service offered by LinkedIn. These mentorship programs will aim to help the target audience adjust into their working environments. The mentors will also be trained professionals from the corporations and organizations that partner with LinkedIn to advertise their open positions. This way, the target audience can get personalized, first hand, insight on their experiences. Additionally, subjects will be matched according to location, interests, skills, and position. Ideally, the mentorship should last throughout the first two years of the subject's employment.
Months 1-6: LinkedIn will begin creating the workplace mentorship program and establishing the mission, vision, goals, strategies and other logistics of the program.
Months 6-12: Developers will connect with existing partnering corporations for recruitment of the program. Developers will also design and create an algorithm to connect newly hired employees with potential mentors.
Months 12-24 This 12 months will be a trial launch of the program. Ideally, the actual program would last for the first two years of a new employees career. The developers will be able to spot and correct any issues of the program. Additionally, LinkedIn will begin promoting this service to gain attention for the actual release.
Digital Press Release
For this digital press release, I wanted to gather attention and raise awareness for the upcoming new service that LinkedIn would launch at a later date. I corrected many grammatical errors from the first version. I also rearranged the information to flow in an inverted pyramid style.
I considered what kinds of stories should be told for the campaign to be successful. I chose the Brand Story, because the “why” of the subcategory closely relates to the mission of LinkedIn. I also considered what the “must-haves” of this subcategory would consist of and how it would set LinkedIn apart from other competitors. I also wanted to ensure that this story could be told by many different characters that offer their own perspective to “keep it fresh” as Aaker states (2018).
Blog Post
The Blog Post for my corporation
For the Blogpost, I wanted to present the beginning of the overall signature story. My aim was to present the idea of “What's Next” after you are hired for a position since this is ideally when the mentorship will begin. Similar to my press release, I wanted to raise awareness to the “why” behind the campaign. As Aaker (2018) explains “Stories Affect Behavior” which is the main goal of this campaign (p.62). When completing this assignment, I wanted to affect behavior by allowing the readers to put themselves in the shoes of a newly hired employee and ask the question “what’s next” in order to guide them to a resource such as a workplace mentorship with LinkedIn.
Additionally, I considered Aaker’s “Higher Purpose Challenges” (p.74). I aim to create a higher purpose story that “ inspires both employees and consumers, motivating them to action”. In this instance a workplace mentorship program will inspire existing employees to serve as mentors and recruit younger newly hired employees. This blog post also mentions some of the must-haves of the program to help ensure success. I edited the format of this blog post to flow better. I also changed some of the language in order to better tell a signature story.
Micro-Podcast
The micro-podcast I have created for this organization recounts my personal professional experience working as a police telecommunicator. I wanted to focus on my experience to illustrate how a workplace mentorship program would have helped me transition into the role.
I also wanted to utilize methods suggested by Aaker to reach the three main audiences. For the external audience I used a borrowed, personal story for relevance. For the internal audience, I described how the must-haves would be beneficial to the structure of the organization. I also mentioned the opportunities current employees would have to participate in the program and “help strengthen the mission”. For the executive audience, I described how this service would be an investment in the organization.
Additionally, I attempted to frame the offerings of LinkedIn and the brand itself as the signature story hero. I did this by highlighting their existing resources that would assist in the workplace mentorship. I also continued to edit the podcast to include an appropriate audio to liven up the script.
Planned Social Media Posts
I wanted to create a post that was cohesive with their signature story. I noticed that LinkedIn’s Facebook offered many different articles, blog posts, and resources to support their statements. Their language was somewhat casual yet informative. I designed a post that offered a must-have of the subcategory and provided a link in which users could find more information, like many of their official posts suggest. LinkedIn’s Twitter posts had a slightly different layout. Their tweets are very short and in a much more casual tone (this may be due to the nature of the social media site). For this social media post, I designed a short message that would grab the attention of readers and a link to find more information.
I also edited the posts to include a small graphic for each post that would better accompany the written content. With these posts, I wanted to ensure that I not only reached the appropriate audiences but were able to illustrate relevance to the subcategory. I also intended to utilize the organization's offerings as a story hero. As Aaker (2018) states “An organization’s offerings--its products or services-- are often the heart of the strategic message” (p.105).
Longform Video Layout
00:00-00:10
A young man is seen walking into the front doors of a large and busy corporate building. There are people in business professional where walking throughout the lobby and some are talking on the phone. His internal monologue begins.
Business Man speaks "Well, this is it, your first day at your new job. After four challenging years, I finally get to put this degree to good use. I can't believe I'm in a new city with a new job and even a new suit. I wonder how-”
00:10-00:25
A woman cuts his thought process short when she walks up to the man holding a large stack of papers and hands them over to him (while speaking rapidly).
The business woman speaks "Good morning, welcome to your first day here’s all your onboarding paperwork, corporate policies, meeting schedules, job roles & responsibilities, and your training manual"
The business man replies "Oh...thank you"
00:25-00:35
The young man carries the large piles of paper up to his new desk and slumps down in his chair. His computer sends him an email alert. The is a 'zoom in' on the computer screen.
An automated computer voice says "You've got 50 new emails"
The business man replies "Wow, this is more than I could have imagined! How am I supposed to get through all of this? Maybe, they chose the wrong person for this job"
00:35-00:45
The young man looks at an email from LinkedIn notifying him that he has been matched with a mentor at his corporation. The mentor enters the scene and the young man lifts his head to see her.
A second business woman speaks "I know how you feel, I had doubts about my talent and potential on my first day too. Luckily, I had a mentor to guide me. Now, I'm here to help you."
00:45-00:55
The mentor and young men begin to have a conversation in the background and fades out. The screen shows both employees beginning to sort through the pile of papers. A narrating voice speaks over the background conversation.
The narrating voice speaks "Set your employees up for success by investing in a workplace mentorship program with LinkedIn Learning where together we can Connect to Opportunities”
When designing the longform video layout, I wanted to make sure that I conveyed how a subcategory like workplace mentorship would be beneficial to employees. I wanted to visually communicate the signature story of LinkedIn by illustrating a point of connection between a mentor and mentee. In a longer commercial setting, I would have also incorporated available statistics about retention rates, professional development, and employee satisfaction in relation to workplace mentorships.
Additionally, I felt the storyline and visuals for this longform video layout were also believable, relatable, and familiar. It would be able to gain attention to the signature story by using “a brand surrogate as the hero” (Aaker, 2018 p.53). In this instance the mentor is the surrogate of LinkedIn and acts as the hero to help the mentee on their first day as they are feeling overwhelmed. This story would also be able to gain attention due to the “emotional involvement with the characters as well as the plot” (Aaker, 2018 p50). I also edited the script format to help distinguish which character was speaking in the scene
Final Takeaways and Reflection
For this campaign, I wanted to illustrate LinkedIn's signature story of connecting to opportunity using brand stories and borrowed stories. The purpose of this campaign was not only to promote a product and service, but also reach underrepresented consumers using the game-changing subcategory of workplace mentorships. I also connected the my personal experience to the signature story to offer familiarity, relevance, and highlight how the must-haves of this program would set LinkedIn apart from competitors.
This project was very eye-opening for me. It made me push myself outside of my comfort zone to think creatively when telling a story digitally. It was very insightful to see the proposed campaign come to life in a matter of weeks. This project helped me to identify areas I am strong in and which ones I could use improvement in.
References
- Aaker, D. A. (2018). Creating signature stories: Strategic messaging that persuades, energizes, and inspires. Morgan James Publishing.
- Fay, M., & Kline, S. (2011). Coworker Relationships and Informal Communication in High-Intensity Telecommuting. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 39(2), 144–163. https://doi-org.liblink.uncw.edu/10.1080/00909882.2011.556136
- DataReportal, & Hootsuite, & We Are Social. (October 21, 2021). Distribution of LinkedIn users worldwide as of October 2021, by age group [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved February 07, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/273505/global-linkedin-age-group/
- LinkedIn. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/
- Rapp, N., & O'Keefe, B. (2020, May 18). The top 15 U.S. cities in the fortune 500 by revenue. Fortune. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/longform/fortune-500-companies-revenue-us-cities-business-revenue/#:~:text=New%20York%2C%20Dallas%2C%20and%20Chicago,revenue%20from%20Fortune%20500%20companies.&text=For%20sheer%20scope%20and%20scale,metropolises%20as%20a%20business%20hub
Credits:
Created with images by StartupStockPhotos - "student typing keyboard" • TheAngryTeddy - "microphone audio computer" • DiggityMarketing - "software development guest post content writing" • StartupStockPhotos - "man write plan" • LoboStudioHamburg - "social media connection icons" • Geisteskerker - "bureaucracy file folder paperwork" • 089photoshootings - "people business meeting" • StartupStockPhotos - "startup business people"