4 Ways to Optimize Your LinkedIn With Video
February 1, 2019
LinkedIn has always been the dark horse of the social media world, falling behind Facebook and Twitter in popularity. Within the business2business market, however, LinkedIn is still king. Last year, the company finally took a cue from its social media brethren and made video content a priority. To draw focus to their latest addition, LinkedIn modified their video tools to include special features.
Video content has proven itself within the social media world to increase viewership on posts by 20%. Of these video views, the majority are accessed from mobile devices with no sound. This makes having special video tools and features a priority to LinkedIn users trying to share important information with their target audiences, peers, and more. Having closed captioning, vivid colors and clear transmission, and being mobile friendly are all incredibly important.
So, how can you maximize the potential of LinkedIn’s video feature to promote your business, interact with peers and generate new traffic? Here are 4 ways you can optimize your LinkedIn account with video.
1. Create In-Depth and Up to the Minute News Stories: It’s called news because it’s new and nobody shares the news better than social media. Rather than allowing Facebook to be the first to post the latest in a political debate, the scores from last night’s hockey game or that story about the life saving pet, make your Instagram page the place to go for newsworthy videos. “Newsy” videos have a high viewership, because whether the content is important or not, the headline always draws you in.
Be careful not to make your news video seem too much like clickbait or gossip, or you could wind up with a blocked account. Instead, create appealing headlines which coincide with the content within the video. Remember to always post content which is engaging but genuine and relevant to your brand. If you’re not sure what kind of news to post, check on what’s trending. Even if it’s already been reported on, you might be able to spin it in a more exciting light, or your viewers may not have seen it yet.
2. Use Your Profile to Recap Real World Events: There are online events and real-world events, and LinkedIn is the perfect place to display both. Videos are a great way to give your audience access to a live event they may have missed in person. Whether you hosted a seminar, offered a product demonstration, or were a guest speaker at an annual function, your viewers can catch up with you through a video recap.
Video recaps are great not only for your own events, but for events in your niche which may be of interest. For example if you were in attendance at a recent marketing event, but your company wasn’t actively participating, you can share what the event was all about, who was in attendance, and what was discussed.
3. Consider a Webinar Event: If there’s one thing that business users love, it’s a webinar. An informational video session which captures and relays important data about a relevant business-related cause is exactly what your contacts want to see. The fact that you can spin it into several videos and create even more traffic is a bonus.
Webinars are great because once you have an audience for them and you’ve been deemed an authority in your field, you can charge for access to your webinar series. Use your LinkedIn profile to share clips of unique and engaging content which will be featured in a paid seminar and you’ll get enough views on your free clip to tell you whether or not there’s a high calling for the information you’re looking to share. This will help you plan your next webinar or tell you if it’s worth the effort.
4. Introduce Your Brand via Video Feed: Big business is often deemed the “bad guy”, but this is only because consumers have a hard time putting a face to the brand. Humanizing your business goes a long way toward brand loyalty and consumer interaction. Creating a video, or a series of videos, which introduce your company and brand to the world is a great way to make your business seem real to those online.
Not only does an introduction video make you seem more human to your customers, but it helps them distinguish you from the competition. They remember things like, “oh this is the brand with the husband and wife duo. They gave us a tour of their vineyard and seemed super trustworthy”, or “the team at this tire company seemed so friendly, I really feel like they would do their best to help me out.”
You can also use your videos to introduce new products or services as they get added to your business. Make a video which explains a new item before it hits the market, film it like an infomercial or commercial, advising how it’s used and how well it works. Customers love being able to see a product in action before they buy.
These are just a few of the ways you can optimize your LinkedIn account with video. Don’t be afraid to try new things, play around with the latest tools and effects as they become available, and think outside of the box when it comes to your videos. LinkedIn has been strictly business since its origin, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun and interactive for business2business and consumers alike.