LinkedIn has become a powerful hub of business growth and networking opportunities. Whether you’re building a brand or simply looking to increase your influence in your industry, LinkedIn is an invaluable tool to use. Since introducing video in 2017, the benefits of the site have become even greater, especially for brands and business owners seeking to grow their influence and expand their reach.
LinkedIn Video Success Tips
From business owners running a small local company to large-scale international operations, no one can afford to overlook the importance of LinkedIn in today’s competitive and increasingly online-driven environment. Videos on the site have the power to connect you with your audience in a place where they already are. It can be an ideal marketing tool to increase your visibility and demonstrate your knowledge.
When you reach the right people on LinkedIn, you grow your following and built clout in your field. To find success with video on the platform, follow these 10 steps:
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Determine Objectives
The first thing to do before creating a new video for LinkedIn is to determine your objectives for that particular piece of content. Are you aiming to share the story of your brand? Do you want to give people a peek into the behind-the-scenes action at your business? Are you seeking to share valuable insight from thought leaders within your company or industry? Decide what your goal is with the video, and then proceed from there with the planning and execution.
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Create Useful Content
While your video content can take different approaches, always strive to create useful content. Don’t waste anyone’s time, because you’ll end up losing their interest, attention, and perhaps even their confidence and trust. With so many videos on the platform competing for eyes, you want your videos to stand out for all of the right reasons. Give viewers something insightful, informative, and perhaps even thought-provoking.
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Keep it Short
LinkedIn videos cannot exceed 10 minutes in length. The minimum required length is just 3 seconds. Obviously, you want to find a happy medium that holds the viewer’s interest and gives them the information that you want to share. Remember that people watching videos on LinkedIn are interested in business-focused content, so they’re seeking a bit more depth and insight than say, viewers on YouTube. However, their attention spans are not likely to be greater than the average video content consumer.
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Aim for Expertise
Users on LinkedIn are often doing work-related research or are seeking information on a company. They’re interested in expert insight and thought leadership, not amateur level information that can be found elsewhere on the web. Strive to build your personal and professional profile by creating videos that inform from a place of knowledge and experience. Show viewers that you’re an authority in your industry or field, and back it up with examples. Viewers will gain confidence in your expertise not only by what you share but also by the high quality of the videos that you create. The more polished and professional your videos appear, the better it is for your brand’s reputation.
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Include Closed Captions
Consider that many LinkedIn users are viewing the site from work. They likely don’t have the volume turned up on their speakers if they’re sitting at their desk or working in an open office space. Including captions in your video ensures that they won’t miss the main points. Aim to be visually compelling and to get your message across through the visuals, as well as with words. If you’re uploading a video where you’re just speaking into the camera and directly to the audience, closed captioning is even more essential for ensuring that your viewers can take in your content.
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Attract Followers to Increase Shares
If you’re new to LinkedIn, attracting more followers can seem like a challenge. You may make an amazing video, but struggle to increase the shares due to a lack of followers. Make sure that your page is optimized for search and that you’re putting out a variety of compelling content. Start off with a few videos to catch a viewer’s attention and to keep them on your page. Engage with commenters and ask questions.
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Aim to Drive Engagement Fast
Once you’ve uploaded a new video, it’s important to promote engagement right away. Don’t just post it and hope that people will watch. Send out a text or an email to your employees, coworkers, or others within your field alerting them to the new video. Ask them to watch and to share if they find it interesting. Driving engagement as soon as possible will help ensure that your video doesn’t just get lost in the mix and quickly forgotten.
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Optimize for Mobile
According to LinkedIn, 57% of total engagement on the site is done via mobile devices. Keep this in mind when creating video content so that it’s optimized for viewing on mobile. That means a high-quality video that can be comfortably viewed on a small screen. Closed captions again become important since some people may be watching on their phone in public places.
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End with a call to action
Close out your video with a strong call to action to get your viewers to take the next step. Hopefully, they’ll find your video to be compelling enough to want to follow your page, if they aren’t already doing so. Consider what action you’d like them to take next. It can be as simple as engaging with the video itself. Close with a question or a request for their thoughts to boost engagement.
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Analyze Video Performance
After you have created your video content, uploaded it, and shared it with your followers, take the time to analyze how it performs. Consider the purpose of the video and how you might expand on the topic in the future. Think about what can do differently to increase reach and provide even more value to your audience. Use what you learn from each video you share on LinkedIn to strengthen the quality of your content going forward.
