Using video on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the number 1 channel for B2B marketers. It has just over 660 million users, contributes to over 46% of website traffic from social and has a conversion rate 3x higher than any other platform and video marketing on the platform is on the rise.

2 out of 3 marketers plan to use video on LinkedIn this year, and of those already active with the format an amazing 87% have found it to be effective in achieving their goals and gaining x3 more engagement than any other form of post.

Now is the time to get stuck in! In this article, we share our expertise on how you can make the most of the opportunities that LinkedIn presents using video. We will cover, best practise tips, different types of LinkedIn video and how to start building a LinkedIn content strategy.

We all know that video is the perfect tool to get in front of your target audience and decision-makers, but where do you start? First of all, there are three different ways you can use video on LinkedIn.

1. Embedded videos

2. Native video

3. LinkedIn video ads

Firstly, you can upload your videos to video-hosting sites like YouTube and Vimeo and share directly on LinkedIn. This will use the video player from your hosting platform and can have benefits such as your branded player if using Vimeo and associated videos at the end.

A more effective option, however, is LinkedIn Native Video, Native video is uploaded directly to LinkedIn or created on the platform.

By using native video LinkedIn prioritizes this content and it will autoplay in-feed which grabs peoples attention and commands more interaction. The goal here is to create content that people will engage with through comments and reshares.

If you really believe in your content and your budget allows it, you may want to go the extra mile by creating a Linkedin Video Ad.

LinkedIn is a powerful marketing tool and you can sponsor your videos to appear in feeds. This is great for brand awareness and lead generation and you have powerful tools like locations, audience definitions such as job titles, companies and experience. We recently promoted our Keep Creating Content advert which has amassed over 50,000 views and provided us with multiple qualified leads from businesses across the country. Not only will this option generate more leads, but better-targeted leads.

With a widely B2B audience, the right types of content on LinkedIn can engage with your target audience. The key here is to create content that speaks directly to them, provides them with useful information and shows how your service can solve their problems. To get you started here are a few examples of videos that work well on LinkedIn.

1. Thought Leadership content is a great way to share your expertise and provide valuable insight

2. Share company updates and milestones as your audience like to hear about things that are new and achievements you have reached

3. Product videos that showcase its benefits

4. Explainer animations can get across information to decision-makers in a clear and effective way

5. Case studies from your clients perspective, they can be great brand advocates for your business

6. Culture videos that showcase the behind the scenes of your business, this is great to show the personality behind your business and are effective for recruitment

Let's talk audience, you need to think about what your audience is looking for and put yourself in their shoes. Our advice here is to always start the process of creating content by defining the WHO, WHAT, WHY, HOW and WHEN. Once you have this nailed you can begin to draft your content. The following tips should help you structure your video and advise you on what needs to be included.

1. Put your essential information upfront this will help maintain audience attention so share your message and what they will learn at the start to make sure you capture their attention from the beginning. You have a few seconds to make your mark.

2. Make sure your video works with both sound off and sound on. 85% of social media videos are played with no sound meaning your audience is most likely to be watching a silent video. Make sure your content is engaging and consider being expressive with your body language, including visual references, images and graphics.

3. Make your videos accessible with closed captions, subtitles will allow those 85% of people to read your message, LinkedIn allows you to upload a subtitle file directly to the video player, just click on the edit icon on the top right and select an srt file to be added to your video.

4. Try and use 2 camera angles or cuts, this will help keep people engaged and stop them from getting bored. Include b-roll or stock footage to help bring your message to life.

5. Consider the length of your video, each type of content can be different lengths, for example, a brand awareness piece or product video could be 30-60 seconds long, a case study 2-3 minutes and for longer-form content, the maximum length LinkedIn allows is 10 minutes.

6. Make sure you include a strong call to action to let your audience know what you want them to do once they have watched your video. This could be to visit your website, watch more content or get in touch.

7. Write an engaging title and description as most people will read a caption before engaging with a video. Make sure you state what they will gain from the video and then what it is about. Keep the description short to 150 characters or under and remember to tag people and include hashtags. Hashtags can help your content appear in trending posts which will improve its reach.

8. Include a link to drive the attention to a landing page. LinkedIn reports that posts with links tend to have a 45% higher engagement than those without.