LinkedIn Native Video: How to Use

Here’s What You Need to Know

LinkedIn, the B2B social platform, announced publically the role out of native video for its users over the next several weeks in an August 22 blog post. After only a month of testing with select users, the platform decided to introduce it as their newest feature – and the professional community is talking!

Though currently available only to members and not to companies, the feature looks to mean big things for members looking build their brand, share their expertise, and connect in a more personal way with their audience.

Almost every other major social media platform offers native video, so what’s the big deal?

The B2B Professional

Over the past 2 years we have seen a dramatic shift in the importance of video not only for marketing strategy but also for consumption and communication at a consumer level. Platforms like Facebook are great for B2C video advertising and some B2B, but what about reaching other high quality professionals? LinkedIn sets itself apart from other social sites through its very nature. Professionals in a professional environment on a professionally focused platform.

This native video feature offered specifically on this platform provides a space for your content to be seen by its intended audience instead of fighting for attention on other social platforms.

Thought Leadership Expanded

LinkedIn’s Publishing feature has been the go-to for many field experts and business owners to position themselves as thought leaders within the space. It’s provided a way for leaders to grow their personal brand, expand their network in the process and provide some insights into their company.

The native video feature, will now put a face and a personality to that expertise, further expanding thought leadership endeavors of LinkedIn’s users. Users will be able to capture the attention of their audience through movement, while emoting their points more clearly and in a more relatable way through video.

Native Video Provides a Marketing Advantage

LinkedIn has become the main prospecting and marketing resource for many businesses, especially within the B2B realm with 92% of B2B marketers leveraging the platform and an incredible 80% of B2B leads coming from the site.

The numbers are in and they’re shedding light on the importance of video content within your marketing strategy on LinkedIn moving forward:

• 51% of marketing professionals across the globe see video as the content with the best ROI
• Viewers retain 95% of information in a video opposed to only 10% when reading text
• 92% of mobile viewers share videos with others
• 59% of executives would choose video over text if both are available on the same topic

How to Get Started

Their native video feature is simple and only available on the mobile app:

1. Click
2. Record
3. Share

Users can get started by clicking the video icon in the share box to record something on the app or uploading previously recorded content and sharing with their network.

Evaluating Engagement

The platform will also provide detailed analytics about viewers and metrics for each video including:

• Top companies
• Title
• Location
• Likes
• Comments
• Views

Analytics will be available through mobile and on desktop in the dashboard section of the user’s profile.

Your LinkedIn Video Strategy

LinkedIn is flooded with daily updates and promotion by people pushing their products or services stating why they’re the best. Over the past 12 months we have seen more people providing some behind the scenes look into their business and how things operate, which is great for building a community of engagement and followers. With the new LinkedIn native video feature, marketers and business owners will be able to provide more in depth content in a shorter amount of time.

By recording and uploading a video it cuts down the time of writing lengthy articles and allows your network to consume content in the more trending way of 2017…video. If you go through you feed you will always notice the video’s over anything else, they aren’t as common which is great for those looking to break through the social network noise.

The Approach

We recommend to just start putting out content and don’t worry about the quality as much as the message or story you’re trying to tell. Because this feature is new, you can have a significant impact in your industry by being one of the first companies or person to begin distributing content in this fashion. Here’s some quick tips:

• Start uploading videos instead of images when you’re at trade shows
• Start a daily or weekly video series providing insightful tips to your audience
• Keep everything raw and unedited, people engage with vulnerability
• Make engaging content, ask questions, share your thoughts on a topic, etc.

While LinkedIn native video is the last social platform to implement it out of the main players, this will begin a significant movement in the B2B landscape for content marketers…take full advantage and do it quickly.

Looking to step up your LinkedIn marketing game?

Check out these other awesome article with step by step guides

LinkedIn: No Budget B2B Marketing Tactics
B2B Marketing Tips: Where to Invest Your Time
LinkedIn Advertising Guide: Best ROI for B2B Advertising

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