LinkedIn Video: Optimising for your Business 2019 & 2020

As a business, you’re expected to adapt. Adapt to technology, adapt to new trends, adapt to consumers, and the list goes on. These adaptations are, unfortunately to some and fortunately for others, necessary in order to stay ahead of the wave. Although we’re creatures of habit, staying in our silos of comfortable success will lead to the very opposite: falling off the wagon.

One particular trend that’s been governing change has been the introduction of native videos on to LinkedIn. This professional networking platform has amassed millions of professionals. There’s no platform quite like LinkedIn that can bring 100 CEOs, entrepreneurs, associates and everyone within range to you, either as an individual or a business. 

With that being said, what’s the platform favouring right now? Native videos. Content marketing on LinkedIn is gaining in popularity and videos perform significantly better. If you’re looking to optimise your business’ presence on the professional platform and garner eyeballs that will be more likely to convert, here’s exactly how you can leverage video for your business. 

What are LinkedIn native videos?

Native videos aren’t links or shares of videos, but videos you upload (as you would an image), on to the platform. With video content boosting impressive engagement numbers, it works in your favour to start incorporating it into your content strategy. An easy Google search will show you all the stats you need to convince you why you need to get on the bandwagon.

Why should marketers consider native videos in their LinkedIn strategy?

It’s a no-brainer that a LinkedIn strategy is mandatory, but why should you care about adding native videos to the mix? The short answer is a simple one: because it will garner significantly more traction than any other post. 

Before we dive into LinkedIn specifically, let’s look at the video stats. Let’s start off with 53% of individuals claiming to engage with a brand after watching a video on social media. Additionally,93% of businesses say that they’ve acquired a new customer thanks to video content on social platforms. Here’s the piece de resistance: if you aren’t using video, let it sink in that 73% have purchased a product after watching a video. 

With all these stats backing up the necessity for video, how do LinkedIn Native videos stack up? LinkedIn videos receive three times the engagement compared to text-only posts. Additionally, video posts were shared 20 times more than any other type of content.

Skyrocket your engagement with LinkedIn Native Videos

As with coming up with any type of content strategy, the key is to have a plan before diving deep. As such, it’s safe to say that posting a one-off video or even two won’t make you a thought leader. In fact, it might just be a blip in your analytics.

Here are a few types of videos to help you get started:

1. Repurpose old content

If you’re sighing just at the prospect of coming up with new content for yet another strategy, you don’t have to fret. In fact, a great way to create video content is to repurpose what you already have. If you have evergreen content that’s dated, bring them back to life by converting them into videos. For example, say you’ve got a great piece of content on the GDPR affecting the future of programmatic advertising, convert it to a one-minute video that’s easy to consume. 

2. Updates

Easily create a 30-second video updating your audience. Whether that be an industry trend, something about your business or whatever bite-sized piece of information relevant to your audience – say it. Instead of a text update, make a quick video on your phone. 

3. Feature your team

As you would make a mention on your About Us page, feature your team members. Whether that be your founder or intern, showcasing your team personalises your business and fosters an intimate relationship with your audience. 

4. Share a moment

Received an award? Maybe you got a mention or recognition – share that! Share celebratory moments and on the flip side, share the not so pretty moments. Say you’ve stumbled on a problem (within the industry), share it with your audience. As with the point above, it gives a human touch to your brand name.

5. Feature case studies

Similar to highlighting your team members, highlight a client and how you’ve helped them turn their numbers around. What did you do and how did you do it? What were the problems? This puts perspective into the work you do and mentions your success stories in the process. 

6. Share wisdom

Similar to sharing updates, if you are a thought-leader (or want to be posited as one) share tips and hacks that others can use, as well. Don’t think of it as sharing your secrets (and you don’t have to reveal them, either). But simply knowledge you gained along the way that others might find interesting and useful.

Optimising your videos for viewership on LinkedIn

If you have a video strategy in place and have created some stellar content for LinkedIn, your next step is to optimise it for the best possible level of engagement. Simply uploading it won’t do your hard work justice. To get the most out of your video content, here are a few tips to help you you out: 

1. Add subtitles

Optimise your videos for sound-off viewing. As with Instagram and Facebook, many viewers may be on their commute or at work and wouldn’t listen with any sound. Use captions that summarise the video with key takeaways as the video plays. That way, your viewers won’t simply thumb through your post but rather pause and watch. If you pose an interesting enough video, they might opt for sound-on viewing, as well!

2. Mobile friendly

It’s a fact that most videos are consumed on mobile. As such, make sure that your videos are optimised for mobile viewing. Consider portrait mode viewing on your videos to avoid the awkward video cut off when you shoot something landscape. 

3. Video length

All your videos don’t have to be a certain length. In fact, creating some variation is a good idea. Updates and wisdom videos can be about 30-45 seconds. Client spotlights can be a little longer. This guide gives you a comprehensive rundown on all the specs and restrictions on LinkedIn Native videos to help you out. Another way to determine video length is to see where they fit in the consumer funnel. If your videos are targeting an audience in the upper sections of the funnel, shorter videos work best. Contrastingly, an audience existing in the lower sections would be more open to longer videos. 

4. Add in graphs and text overlays

You don’t have to be talking to a camera for the full length of the video. In fact, mix it up with segments of text screens or graphs that explain your ideas better. 

5. Optimise for SEO

Just because you’re creating videos, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re exempted from all other optimisation factors. When you’re posting your content, write up a one-liner in the description box that draws the audience and encourages them to click on the “read more”.  The more clicks you get on your video, the higher the engagement the algorithm will recognise it to have. This creates a domino effect and showcases your video to a wider audience. 

6. Encourage engagement

Within the description, encourage viewers to post their thoughts. Better yet, end the video asking your viewers to engage by sharing or liking or even commenting. This creates more engagement around your video that helps push your video in front of more eyeballs (all part of the LinkedIn algorithm). 

7. Always have a CTA

What do you want your viewers to do with the information they just watched? Visit your website? Check out your business page? Whatever it is, make it known so that your viewers don’t just drop off after finishing the video. 

LinkedIn videos should already be apart of your strategy. If you’re a little behind, start implementing it. With free tools available to add in text overlays and filters, it’s easy. All you have to do is just start. If you’re on the lookout for a digital marketing agency Auckland that can take over your LinkedIn strategy, contact the team at Digital Squad. With hundreds of clients and a multitude of campaigns across all social media channels, the experts at Digital Squad can help you with your LinkedIn marketing. As the leading LinkedIn marketing agency Auckland, we’ve got what it takes to strategise and execute a LinkedIn strategy that will engage and convert.