LinkedIn in Canada

The Social Network’s Premium Position for B2B Marketers

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About This Report
LinkedIn is a fixture for professionals in Canada, as it is in other markets. B2B brands have taken notice and have doubled down with organic and paid promotion to engage a Canadian audience on the platform.

Executive Summary

Though hardly rivaling other social networks in usage, LinkedIn has carved out a niche audience of professionals that B2B marketers covet. Brands have typically invested time in establishing their organic presence on the platform, but LinkedIn’s new ad products have increased the efficacy of paid promotion.

How has LinkedIn usage in Canada trended this year?

LinkedIn usage in the country was down slightly during the onset of the pandemic, when social media usage trended more toward personal use. Still, in H1 2020, LinkedIn attracted well over 8 million visitors per month across desktop and mobile. That’s a penetration rate of over a quarter of Canada’s internet users.

What are the top marketer approaches to engaging audiences on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn’s investment in brand-friendly features has made it the go-to platform for B2B brand marketing and performance-based ad campaigns, both organic and paid. Pages are a staple organic tactic for companies to attract a following and share content.

How has advertising on the platform evolved?

Advertising on LinkedIn has grown beyond Sponsored Posts to include other ad formats that have proved effective at amplifying content and promoting engagement. The platform has also improved its audience targeting, namely its ability to match advertisers’ first-party data to its users.

What role can LinkedIn play in account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns?

ABM, in which brand campaigns are tailored to a select set of companies, is a significant B2B marketing trend and commonly used on LinkedIn. The ability to customize targeting and paid promotion for one-to-one and one-to-few lists is key to ABM, and LinkedIn has developed advertising features to meet this B2B need.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report examines LinkedIn usage in Canada and explores brand experiences, both organic and paid, on the platform.

KEY STAT: LinkedIn attracted 9.7 million users in Canada in January, the heaviest usage month in H1 2020. But usage subsequently declined month over month through June, likely due to the pandemic.

Here’s what’s in the full report

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11charts

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11expert perspectives

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Table of Contents

  1. Executive Summary
  2. LinkedIn Usage in Canada
  3. Marketing on LinkedIn
  1. LinkedIn and Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
  2. Key Takeaways
  3. eMarketer Interviews
  1. Read Next
  2. Sources
  3. Media Gallery

Interviewed for This Report

Tracy Broad
Husky Injection Molding Systems
Global Marketing and Communications Manager
Interviewed August 10, 2020
Louise Clements
Paysafe Group
Global CMO
Interviewed August 7, 2020
Jennifer Evans
SqueezeCMM
Co-Founder and CEO
Interviewed August 7, 2020
Richard Hill
Quarry
Managing Director, Growth
Interviewed July 23, 2020
Cassandra Jowett
PathFactory
Senior Director, Marketing
Interviewed August 14, 2020
Diana Luu
LinkedIn
Head of Marketing Solutions, Canada, and Business Services, North America
Interviewed August 7, 2020
Jean-Christophe Mauss
Adviso
Digital Media Practice Lead
Interviewed August 10, 2020
Dan Radu
Macro
President
Interviewed August 7, 2020
Lisa Shepherd
Mezzanine Growth
President
Interviewed July 22, 2020
Heidi Vandermeer
Security Compass
Manager, Account-Based Marketing
Interviewed August 14, 2020
Steve Watt
Grapevine6
Vice President, Marketing
Interviewed August 5, 2020

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authors

Paul Briggs

Contributors

Angela Kim
Senior Researcher
Jillian Ryan
Principal Analyst