LinkedIn, the largest professional network in the world, has 810 million members in over 200 countries and territories in the world, and it is still growing. Its mission is to connect professionals and help them become more successful in the business world.
For individuals, it is a great way to share professional success stories, display expertise, and knowledge. On the other hand, companies use LinkedIn to create a meaningful business network, build credibility online, and easily find top talent in the industry.
Source: Businessofapps
The data and marketing potential that LinkedIn provides is extensive, and you can tap into it by creating a unique followers base that matches your activities. With other social networks, the key is the creation of high-quality content and regular activity, and LinkedIn is no different.
Any business can reach its sales goals, secure clients, and pass on its message to the target audience. The key (or king, as us marketers like to say) is content.
LinkedIn videos are attracting attention as an effective instrument for leveraging your presence online. We’ve been following the trends here and know what works best, so if you need ideas to engage your audience, keep reading.
First of all, why LinkedIn videos?
If you’re following the trends, you must have noticed that video content has become a huge part of the social media experience. The same goes for LinkedIn. With all the updates over the years, now we have LinkedIn native videos and video ads playing automatically when you scroll through your feed. This captures the attention fast and increases audience engagement.
Business leaders are recognizing this and making a purposeful decision to turn to videos in their social media activities, and they are aware that LinkedIn is the optimal choice for reaching the business community.
LinkedIn videos are the network’s fastest-growing ad format, with a view-through rate of 30%. That’s a lot of people stopping by to see what’s happening in a LinkedIn video ad while they are scrolling through their news feeds to check the professional updates.
With such statistics, who wouldn’t want to swap some of the regular posts with video on LinkedIn. You can upload video clips to your pages and promote them easily – the LinkedIn ads reporting tool can help you achieve that.
The overall feed experience that the Linkedin algorithm has built, with native videos as its centerpiece, has changed the game in providing value for the audience. Anyways, enough of the statistics, we promised ideas, and here they are.
1. Company updates and news
Successful companies aim to establish a consistent relationship with their network, and regular posts help them achieve that. Here, both native videos and LinkedIn video ads play an important role because they transform the usual, unengaging textual format into the one that’s more attractive to the eye.
Company updates and news stories captivate your audience and make them a part of your business journey. That’s why business innovations, milestones, and awards should find their place in your video updates.
Interviews are an excellent way to communicate what’s happening in your company. For example, your founder or CEO could be the one you speak with. You can go with how-to videos, organize Q&A sessions with the frequently asked questions, and share them in the form of a video.
LinkedIn videos can be used to demonstrate your services or products, so you can make product demos, present new ones, and explain how your customers can benefit from your company.
Short, helpful, natural videos covering the topics above are useful for your audience, and that’s what matters. Use that as an instrument to increase your visibility on LinkedIn and demonstrate the expertise your company has.
2. Employee stories
Whether your goal is to attract customers, top talent, or build credibility, employee stories add a human touch to the connections you are building with the outside world. Video format is especially handy here since it authentically transfers the emotion each employee has and positively affects community building on LinkedIn.
Yes, free snacks, ping pong tables, and unlimited coffee are great perks to share with your audience, but your employees definitely want to say more than that. They will appreciate the possibility to share their personal and career backgrounds, the path that led them to their current role, and why they stayed with you.
This is an excellent way to demonstrate your company values authentically.
If you’re trying to attract talent that matches your company culture, this is a go-to idea! Potential candidates were more likely to trust (even three times! ) the information they hear about working conditions when it comes from your employees. Take advantage of that in your recruiting efforts.
3. Expert opinions
People on LinkedIn are generally attracted to insightful and informative content, especially from the industry they are working in, and it’s easy to act on this.
Use the possibilities that digitalization provides and offer the experts from your field an opportunity to share their thoughts on the burning topics in the business world. Let them speak about the challenges that are lying upon the industry in near future, and share even personal stories people resonate well with.
All of this fits the context of a professional social network while giving your audience the chance to learn from and engage with your content.
When selecting experts that you want to interview for your video posts, the most important thing is what they can bring to the table in terms of value. You want to inspire your audience to learn more and make them want to join the conversation with the business thought leaders, so be careful in the selection process.
Another useful tip is to research their audience. Do they match your target audiences’ characteristics? Would you like to have them in your followers’ base?
Some of the experts are active on LinkedIn already and are considered “influencers” with a large following, so having them appear on your LinkedIn profile will bring you the attention of their audience as well.
Aiming for the right ones will reflect in your fan base, and bring you appropriate engagement and more website visits.
4. Customer testimonials
Challenges that are present when you’re trying to close a sale can be reduced with the use of testimonials. Anything that you say to your potential clients is not as convincing as it would be if it came from your existing customers.
The problem is that making compelling and trustworthy customer testimonials is not an easy task. When you post videos, it’s easier to achieve that.
Do you have case studies and testimonials in the form of a blog post on your website? Consider recreating them into video format for your LinkedIn page. That’s how you’ll reach a wider audience, inspire them to try your products or services, and increase your brand awareness along the way.
The thing that separates good from bad video testimonials is, you guessed it – authenticity. The focus should be on your client and their story. Give them space to express themselves in their own way (with getting the message across, of course). The impact of video testimonials on your feed will increase since your content will stand out as impartial and trustworthy.
You don’t want to sound sales-y – that could backfire in your marketing efforts. Luckily, letting your customers speak their truth will achieve just the right amount of promotion to get the potential ones to trust you.
Things to have in mind
Having a bunch of ideas is great, but it’s not enough to create engaging videos and achieve the results you aim for.
Interaction through social networks, especially in video format can easily become a one-way experience if you neglect some details. For starters, you should always have in mind the audience you are creating videos for so you can make a genuine connection with them. Be strategic here and have some technical details in mind.
Be present
Being able to create and upload video content quickly is important in the fast-paced world we live in today. Covering current news and events in a timely manner can help increase your engagement or even make your LinkedIn videos viral.
If you don’t have your laptop at hand, upload videos from your phone and be constantly present in the news feed of your audience. When you get to know the LinkedIn members that follow you, you’ll be able to customize other communication channels that can drive engagement. Use tools like newsletter builder to develop LinkedIn video marketing strategy further.
Be consistent with the frame you use
Nobody enjoys twisting their phone, laptop (or neck) every 10 seconds while watching a video, regardless of the network. Keep LinkedIn video specs in mind while recording content. Invest in a small tripod to keep your camera stable and your editing testimonial videos will look more professional instantly.
Adjust videos for a mobile experience
Most LinkedIn members watch videos on their mobile phones, and almost 60% of all interactions on this network are done this way. What does that mean for you?
Create your videos with a good mobile viewing experience in mind, your chances of engaging with the target audience will increase remarkably. Having the above point in mind, you can’t go wrong with vertical videos – they will provide the most pleasant experience for your mobile audience.
Add subtitles to your videos
Most of the people that watch videos on LinkedIn do that without the sound on, especially if they’re active during their office hours.
This increases the chance of your videos being skipped unless you add subtitles. This will keep your audience interested in your content.
Learn how to edit video content
It won’t take a lot of time to learn some simple video editing techniques or get familiar with video editing software, and it will pay back, without a doubt.
Spend some time editing your video files each time before posting them so you can adjust them to your taste and transfer your message in a bit different and more creative way.
Be brief and to the point
The attention span of an average person has dropped drastically since the beginning of the digital revolution – we’re somewhere at the 8 seconds mark currently. This is a thing you should try to remember when creating native video content or video ads.
You probably already know that the maximum video length allowed on Linkedin is 10 minutes (15 on a computer), but your goal shouldn’t be to fill each second.
Many of us will check the length of the video on LinkedIn before we even start to watch it. Even if we decide to give it a try, several minutes is the most time we mostly spend on getting information through a video, before moving on to the next thing on the feed.
Make the first seconds worth it
While you should keep track of the length of your video, there’s more than you can do to draw attention to them. The first six to ten seconds are the key to capturing the attention of people scrolling their LinkedIn feed. This is where your creativity plays a role.
Demonstrate why your video is worth watching by getting straight to the point at the beginning of the video. Play with design and subtitles and move away from the traditional introductory frames.
Use humor as a tool
LinkedIn is a network for professionals, but we all need to relax at some point during our days. It is completely acceptable to use humor when getting your message across. Not only that, if used with moderation, it will attract the right type of attention to your brand.
Your audience will look forward to your content and turn to it for an occasional good laugh, while also becoming more aware of your business. That’s a good path towards brand awareness – to both draw potential clients and become associated with positive emotions.
Remember, emotions are the key to selling.
Create value for your audience
How can posting videos enrich the lives of your audience? Feeds are full of videos that don’t add much value to the audience, so this is where you can stand out.
When speaking about a topic, add a personal touch, if you are reporting about an event you were attending, try to transfer the atmosphere. Give tips and tricks in an easy-to-follow style and don’t stick to formalities.
Experiment with different styles to see which one drives the most engagement – that’s the one bringing the most value to your followers.
Final thoughts on LinkedIn video
There are many ways you can engage your audience on LinkedIn by creating video content. Experiment with different styles and develop your strategy based on those that bring you the most engagement. Don’t shy away from video ad format – it brings engagement as much as LinkedIn native videos.
Understanding your audience is an essential step in the process of creating high-quality content that resonates with them.
When you have that and a couple of tips and tricks in mind, you are more likely to create video ad campaigns that stand out in a cluttered Linkedin feed, so go ahead! You’ll end up with long-lasting impressions that drive leads, increase your engagement and create really strong brand awareness.