How to Use Video for LinkedIn
I discovered LinkedIn in 2006 – about the same time as I signed up for Facebook. It wasn’t as cool as Facebook because you couldn’t put drunk pictures of yourself on an endless wall of posts to share with university connections and friends.
Instead, LinkedIn was the older, more “mature” brother of Facebook, where you had to wear a suit for your profile picture. It was meant to connect with other business professionals.
I certainly didn’t sign up for the video marketing opportunities in LinkedIn’s early stages because the ecosystem wasn’t there yet…
Fast forward to 2020 and as I reflect back to 2006… I wish I had the foresight to focus on video and content marketing back then. It has become THE place to go for business marketing – far surpassing Twitter, Instagram and Facebook – when it comes to networking with business owners and professionals.
Why use LinkedIn for video marketing?
If you’re reading this article, then you already know and appreciate the potential when it comes to business marketing on LinkedIn.
According to the LinkedIn About page, LinkedIn is “the world’s largest professional network with nearly 660+ million users in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.”
To put that in perspective, there are about 741 million people in Europe. In the United States, there are about 300 million people. If LinkedIn was a land mass, one could consider it as continent or at least a large country on its own.
Indeed, a serious video marketer cannot ignore the potential to reach a large audience of business professionals. Here are some basic demographic stats from Hootsuite:
- 75 percent of LinkedIn users have incomes of over $50,000.
- 44 percent of users have incomes of over $75,000.
- 50 percent of B2B buyers use LinkedIn to make purchasing decisions.
- 76 percent of B2B buyers prefer to use recommendations from their professional networks, like LinkedIn.
There are a LOT of LinkedIn users. Moreover, there are a LOT of LinkedIn users with money or have large budgets to make purchasing decisions.
When it comes to marketing and sales, nothing beats the power of video, especially on social media. There are lots of research showing the effectiveness of video when it comes to social media marketing.
Here’s a sample:
- Videos attach 300% more traffic and help to nurture leads. (MarketingSherpa)
- A website is 53 times more likely to reach the front page of Google if it includes video. (Insivia)
- Including a video on your landing page can boost your conversion rate by up to 80%. (Unbounce)
- Nearly 50% of internet users look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store. (Hubspot)
- Video increases organic search traffic on a website by 157%. (Conversion XL)
Video leads to more leads, which leads to more conversions.
LinkedIn Marketing Stats Every Marketer Should Know
LinkedIn launched its native video platform in 2017. It’s still relatively new compared to older players like YouTube and Facebook. This presents an incredible opportunity for video marketers.
Imagine being on the front end of video marketing when YouTube launched its video capabilities. The opportunity is there for savvy video marketers to connect with B2B prospects and business owners.
Already, LinkedIn reports 50% increase in view rates for video campaigns.
Here are other relevant marketing stats for LinkedIn:
- 94 percent of B2B marketers use LinkedIn as a content distribution channel (LinkedIn).
- There are 9 billion content impressions in the LinkedIn platform per week (LinkedIn).
- LinkedIn contributes up to 50 percent of all social traffic to B2B blogs and sites (Sumo).
- A LinkedIn survey showed 91 percent of marketing executives consider LinkedIn as the premier website to find reliable, quality content.
For me, the most important LinkedIn marketing statistic is this:
Long-Form content gets the most shares in LinkedIn.
According to an OkDork review of viral LinkedIn posts, articles with 1900 words got the most shares in the platform. Many LinkedIn users are sophisticated executives and business owners who like to take their time when it comes to learning something new.
Moreover, 59 percent of executives prefer video over text (Wordstream) when it comes to Internet content.
Hence, one can conclude that long form videos would work well on LinkedIn, especially videos with something unique and interesting content. But executives won’t just watch any video. You’ll have to post consistently, build an audience and gain their trust. Once you do, then you’ll have a very loyal follower base, ready to watch entertaining and educational videos produced by you.
LinkedIn users are hungry for content. If you want their attention, the best way to reach them is through video.
Native versus Non-Native Videos on LinkedIn
Just like with Facebook’s video platform, you have the following options to share videos on LinkedIn:
- Native
- Non-native (share a YouTube link)
Prior to 2017, the only way to share a video was sharing a link from YouTube or Vimeo. It’s still possible to do this.
Users with an already established YouTube channel prefer to drive traffic to their YT channel, because it’s much easier to manage content on one site rather than having content on five different platforms.
With Facebook, the algorithm definitely prefers to use native videos rather than external links to YouTube. They want to keep their users in the platform and not leave it for a competitor, like Google (YouTube).
It’s the same principle with LinkedIn. Although it’s possible to post external links, it’s much better to tailor a video and post natively on LinkedIn.
The LinkedIn algorithm would prefer native videos, and most LinkedIn users would prefer to share, comment and engage inside the LinkedIn platform.
How to use native video on LinkedIn?
According to LinkedIn, the platform supports ASF, AVI, FLV, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, MKV, QuickTime, WebM, H264/AVC, MP4, VP8, VP9, WMV2, and WMV3 file types. It also supports AAC, MP3 and Vorbis.
The following requirements would need to be met:
- Max file size: 5GB
- Minimum file size: 75KB
- Minimum video duration: 3 seconds
- Resolution range: 256×144 to 4096×2304
- Aspect ratio: 1:2.4 – 2.4:1
- Frame rates: 10fps – 60 fps
- Bit rates: 192 kbps – 30 Mbps
To share a native video on LinkedIn, log into your profile. At the very top of your feed, there’s a “Start a post” section. There should be a small camcorder icon.
Click on this icon. It will bring up a file manager, where you can find and select the video you wish to upload. Be cognizant of the file format and technical rules.
Add text and hashtags to help with reach and visibility. Hashtags are important (just like with Twitter) as LinkedIn will push your video to the appropriate topics and channels.
Hit the “Post” button. Then viola!
Your video is ready to be liked, comment and shared!
What Videos to Produce for LinkedIn
Demonstrate Industry Expertise
Professionals on LinkedIn are often high performers in their industry. Keep in mind that LinkedIn is used for networking for new jobs or better opportunities. So LinkedIn users use their profile to show off their accomplishments and achievements.
Since many users are highly accomplished, you’ll need to demonstrate your level of competency should you wish to build an audience of LinkedIn users. This means creating content to show off your knowledge.
Power users, like Gary V, put out a lot of videos (short clips) about entrepreneurship and leadership. Often, you’ll see him in top conferences and speaking to a large crowd. He demonstrates his expertise on these topics by providing useful and insightful content.
If you are going to market to other industry leaders, then it’s important to have a content plan. Figure out what topics are relevant to your industry. Create videos to show off your ideas and your thoughts on the topic.
The more insightful and unique your content – the likelier you’ll stand out in a crowded field. There are a lot of B2B marketers on LinkedIn. It’s important to provide insightful, unique content. More importantly, it’s important to be consistent.
You can’t be an industry expert if you only post one video a month. You’ll need to put up 2-3 videos a week. At a minimum, have a schedule for posting content. It’s very similar to YouTube. The consistent video uploaders are the ones who will successfully build a following.
Event Videos
If you are having a workshop or attending a popular industry conference, take live videos with your phone. Or even better make a live stream of it.
Similar to industry expertise videos, event videos are to show you are at the forefront of innovation in your industry. You’re there to network and learn new stuff about your industry. By attending these events (and showing to the world), you’re establishing yourself as a leader and networker in your industry.
You care about the latest trends and news in your industry. LinkedIn users are always looking for new information to build their skills and knowledge base. If you establish yourself as a figure who are always in the top conference, then you’ll be seen as a thought leader in your industry.
So in your next event, take out that smartphone and start taking videos of yourself talking about the latest trends and news about your industry.
Interviews with Industry Leaders
One of the best ways to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry is to be in the same room with other thought leaders. If you’re a career coach or business advisor, imagine getting an interview with Gary V?
Such an interview will establish incredible credibility for you as a thought leader in your space. Moreover, an interview with industry leaders will contain very useful information. LinkedIn users are always looking to build their knowledge base. You’ll be seen as a reliable, go-to source for information if you consistently get interviews with other thought leaders in your industry.
Finally, thought leaders in your industry likely have a strong following already. By collaborating with them, you will certainly benefit. They will likely share the interview with their followers; thereby, allowing you to become known to their communities. This will allow you to boost your following and audience.
In return, industry leaders will gain access to your community. Thus, both of you benefit by collaborating for an interview. You exchange knowledge that will be helpful to LinkedIn users. And you both get an opportunity to build your following on LinkedIn.
Promote Your Customers and Clients
Another way to use video for LinkedIn is to show off the work of your clients or customers. For example, we shoot a lot of videos for companies on LinkedIn. A lot of these videos are highlights of events.
These videos are often posted on a website or a YouTube channel of the company. We would often make a post and provide a link to the client video. This helps us in two ways:
- Promote client work we’ve done
- Help the client garner views on their videos
So we get to show off our work, and we also help boost the success rate of our client’s video. It’s a win-win. Clients appreciate the extra visibility by promoting their videos on your timeline, and will look at us as a reliable media partner in the long term.
This strategy can also work even if you are not a video production company. If the client has an interesting video, share with your LinkedIn following. Or you can take out a phone and make a selfie video about the cool things you’re client(s) are doing. Provide some insightful content that ties back to what you offer. Then link out to your client’s video.
Your clients will appreciate the “heads up” on LinkedIn. You get to share valuable content to your following. It’s as they say in business: a “win-win” scenario.
Live Videos on LinkedIn
Just like in Facebook, LinkedIn is making a push for live videos on its platform. At the moment, it is not open to every user. You have to apply to become a live video broadcaster.
LinkedIn users prefer brands or persons who are at the forefront of their industry. You establish this with consistent and quality content. You also establish it by providing timely content. The best way to achieve this is by live video.
With live video, you can have real time interactions with other users. LinkedIn gathered some quick facts about live video:
- LinkedIn live streams generate 24x more comments.
- Live streams get 7x more reactions than traditional native videos.
- 62 percent of companies plan to adopt live broadcasting in the future.
- 73 percent of B2B marketers state video has a positive ROI.
Here are some ideas to with live videos:
Events
Not everybody can experience an event. Life and work can get in the way of making the scheduling work. The next best way to experience an event?
Watch a live video.
This is an incredible opportunity for any B2B marketer. Establish yourself as a leader in your space by attending all the top conferences. Then live broadcast the event. Talk about your opinions and what you’ve learned. Interview people at the event. If possible, show parts of the conference itself.
Showcase innovation
Show off our brand’s new technology. This is a great way for startups to show off their new technology. Live stream your software or new game. Or if you’re a showman like Elon Musk, show off your new car or physical product.
If you’re a food vendor, provide a behind the scenes live video of how your food is made.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to showcasing innovation and product tech in your company.
Celebratory moments
Showcase your company’s greatest moments by live streaming them to the LinkedIn community. Here are some examples:
- Announce a major restructuring like a merger or acquisition.
- Celebrate a milestone or anniversary within your organization.
- Congratulate high performers by announcing their promotions or as new hires.
- Deliver a speech at a major event, like a graduation or conference.
Talent branding
Building a branding strategy when it comes to talent is even more important today. According to Venngage, 50 percent of employees think employer branding is an important part of their HR approach. Especially in the startup space, there’s so much competition for talent. It’s important to stand out.
It’s not enough to just offer free beer and Nintendo Switches in the break room. You have to stand out from all the other hip and cool startup companies.
Here are ideas from LinkedIn in how to use live video for talent branding:
- Do a Q&A with a hiring manager about open positions.
- Do an office tour.
- Go behind the scenes at company events.
- Highlight your high performing employees.
- Show off corporate community work.
- Broadcast your company’s Mario Kart tournament.
Whatever it is, highlight what makes your organization unique. At the end of the day, many LinkedIn users are either actively or passively looking for their next job.
Connect with your next high performing employee in LinkedIn by building that brand with live video.
Video Marketing on LinkedIn for the Win
With approximately 660+ million users in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, a savvy B2B marketing professional can’t ignore LinkedIn. In fact, it might be the top social media platform for their marketing efforts (even more so than the social media elephant that is Facebook).
In this “short guide”, I’ve laid out the foundation to help you get started on thinking about video marketing on LinkedIn. Attend a conference and live stream it. Boost your talent branding with video to attract those coveted, passive job seekers.
At the end of the day, LinkedIn is a website to find that next big job or career opportunity. If you leverage video to establish your company as THE place to work, then you’ll get all the top performers in your industry.
To stand out further from the crowd, contact us at 2Bridges for professional video marketing services. We offer the whole gamut when it comes to video production:
Whether it’s a personal branding video or an animated video, we can help you stand out on LinkedIn. Use video. Attract new audiences. Hire the next great talent. Win market share with video marketing on LinkedIn.
(Logo image source: Wikipedia commons)
