An increasing number of businesses have focused their marketing efforts on video creation in recent years, and when you consider the stats, it’s easy to see why. After all, there aren’t many better ways to connect with a modern social audience, ramp up engagement or convey your underlying message.
Leveraging video on social media in particular is a must, not least because consumers (and social algorithms) expect and reward such behaviour. With 5 billion videos watched on YouTube every day, and 100 million hours of video content viewed on Facebook during the same 24-hour period, you could be leaving leads on the table by stubbornly maintaining your commitment to written content.
Video is growing on all social networks, with LinkedIn in particular determined to become a more visual platform as it moves away from the bland corporate reputation of old. If you want to stand out from the crowd on the professional social network, one thing is certain: you’re going to need to utilize videos. Doing so will help you attract the attention of key decision-makers and potential clients, and it will also allow you to convey your brand message more clearly.
In this blog post, find out what you need to know about leveraging video on LinkedIn.
The best types of videos to share on LinkedIn
Video on LinkedIn is still relatively new – the platform activated video for all users in August 2017. As such, organic reach for video is pretty strong right now. Of course, it won’t always be that way. But now is a good time to take advantage of the medium’s potential.
The kind of content you should create depends, of course, on what kind of business you have. It also depends on your audience demographics. That said, most of the videos on the platform tend to fall into one of the following categories.
But before you decide what types of videos to create for LinkedIn you first need to consider what you want to achieve with them:
- Boost engagement with your target audience?
- Grow your audience?
- Generate more leads?
- Make more sales?
- Grow your traffic and attract more visitors?
- Convert more leads?
- Recruit talent for your business?
Based on your marketing objectives, you can then pick the right approach for your videos to help you reach those goals; here are some examples of the types of videos you can create for LinkedIn:
• Explainer videos
Explainer videos are great for promoting products, services and/or features. They also show off your expert knowledge, giving you room to dispense valuable insights and information.
Explainer videos can be as simple as a salesperson or company director highlighting the benefits of a value proposition, educating the user on how to work the device or incorporate it into their lives. You might even elect to perform an unboxing followed by a demonstration.
The LinkedIn page of the Economist boasts over 7.5 million followers and their team does a wonderful job of explaining complex issues to content-hungry readers. This post is a wonderful example: a simple line of text and a three-and-a-half minute explainer video that has racked up more than 35,000 views.
You mightn’t be explaining something as complex as Brexit to your own followers, but whatever subject you are dissecting, don’t be afraid to position yourself as a thought leader.
• Videos showcasing company culture
Behind-the-scenes style videos perform well on LinkedIn: everyone loves a peek behind the curtain, to see how a business ticks. It’s the professional network, after all. Peel off the corporate mask and show your followers who you are and what you do. Introduce them to the team, give them a front-row seat to the office party, take them to an expo – there are myriad of ways you can nurture that authentic human connection.
Plus, these types of videos can help with various objectives: boosting trust and generating leads, attracting and recruiting new talent and generating brand awareness.
• Videos to help recruit new talent
With the right video, you could recruit top talent to your organisation. One of the best examples of a recruitment video which was both highly shareable and demonstrative of an enviable company culture was this one by New Zealand Police.
Light-hearted and entertaining but also very thoughtfully put-together, it racked up millions of views.
Effective tools for LinkedIn video marketing
I’m a huge believer in leveraging tools to the fullest extent to not only help you save time but also to help you generate better results from your content and strategy. Here are some useful tools for LinkedIn video marketing:
Agorapulse
One of the main tools you need for your LinkedIn marketing strategy is a social media management tool to help you engage, schedule your updates and of course, monitor your results. A great option is Agorapulse, not least of which because you can schedule your videos directly to your LinkedIn Page with this platform.
Plus, you have various options for scheduling your videos (and your other updates); you can use the social media calendar to schedule them for specific times, you can queue up as many updates as you want to be republished regularly, and you can republish a limited amount of times, automatically.
Beyond that, you also get team collaboration features, Company Page Analytics and a social inbox to respond to your messages and comments.
Filmora9
Conceived to simplify your video editing needs, Filmora9 is a great option for putting together your marketing videos.
There’s not much you can’t do with this sleek app (when it comes to video editing, of course), which is brimming with useful features: filters, transitions, sound tools, custom overlays, green-screen effects, 4k support: it’s a veritable creative toolbox, and the great thing is, the learning curve isn’t too steep.
Anyone with a bit of creativity and ambition can get up and running in a relatively short period of time.
Plus, you can even record your webcam video directly from the app, removing your reliance on third-party apps.
Powtoon
Powtoon has been used by the likes of Coca-Cola, eBay and Starbucks.
With its selection of eye-catching ready-made templates, and a simple drag-and-drop interface, the web-based service is very easy to use for beginners. But what is it exactly, you may be wondering. Well, essentially, it’s a video creation tool aimed at businesses and marketers. Also important, you can use it to create presentations as well, which are a great fit for LinkedIn.
It’s a great option for beginners, particularly because they have a large selection of templates that you can use; all you have to do is use the drag-and-drop editor to customize them to your liking.
Conclusion
If you wish to cultivate a direct, visually focused approach, and amplify your message for a modern audience, video is what you need to produce. By using the aforementioned tools, you can fund your video marketing efforts without breaking the bank.
When users view and share such content, you will increase your audience exponentially, and you’ll further increase the potential for conversions by responding to comments and queries beneath your videos. LinkedIn, like Facebook’s algorithm, rewards engagement: so focus on creating footage which compels users to like, share and comment to achieve that coveted network effect.
Believe it or not, even awkward, DIY videos have the potential to do well. With that said, the worst thing you can do is sit this one out and focus on creating purely text-based content. Embrace the evolution of video (including LinkedIn Live) and you’ll maximize your appeal.