Another written post again?
Take a quick look at what you’ve posted in the last week.
Any LinkedIn videos?
If the answer is “no.”
Then, it’s time you switch up your strategy a bit.
Look, there’s nothing wrong with posts.
In fact, we encourage that you post and you do it regularly, but if you’re not leveraging LinkedIn video in your posts, then you’re not taking advantage of the power of video.
Today, we’ve got you covered.
We’ll discuss why it’s important to post LinkedIn videos, show you how to optimize, give you some video ideas, and maybe even throw in a template.
Ready?
Let’s do this.
Why LinkedIn Video
Videos are engaging.
How many times have you opted to watch a video instead of reading an article about a topic?
A lot.
How many times have you stopped scrolling to watch a LinkedIn video on your feed?
Probably more than you’ll admit.
That’s why video is so effective, especially on a platform like LinkedIn.
People don’t want to see text all the time. A video can be a good break for your followers while at the same time increasing engagement for the brand that you represent.
Types of Videos You Can Post
It might be daunting thinking about new content to post on LinkedIn, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Here are a couple of LinkedIn video ideas that you can use today.
Testimonials
You can post video testimonials from clients that have used your products before.
This helps build social proof for your products and your brand.
However, don’t abuse this type of content. Don’t post videos that look like a client was coached. It has to be as natural as possible.
Slideshow-type Videos & Animation
You don’t always have to shoot videos with people in them.
If you’re in a pinch, you can always go for the slideshow approach.
Now the ingredients of a slideshow-type video are simple.
A solid script that can be narrated or be composed entirely of captions, some engaging background music, and good use of images that can draw emotions.
The next level would be using some form of animation.
We see this often with animated PSAs that are full of color and designed to inform regardless of the presence of audio.
Be warned, animating a video can get a little expensive if you don’t have an in-house team to do it, and many of the free tools online are not going to cut if you want spectacular results.
New Product Releases
What better way to showcase your product than with a video.
You can provide a teaser, educate people about your new product, or just show it off in its full glory.
Keep these as short as possible with just enough details about the product to get people interested.
You can skip having an actual person in the frame and just market the product and its specifications.
Announcements
Got something big to share?
Do it with video.
People like hearing about short bits of good news.
You can talk about the latest products, a new achievement in the company, a level up in workflows, or even showcase new team members.
Keep it energetic and get people to engage with your post.
Hire People
Looking to onboard new team members?
Then, do it in a video.
You can preview the office space, let them soak in the company culture, and have team heads speak.
Look at the way Slack does it.
Inspirational Posts
This is one of our favorite topics in growth hacking because it does more than just add value. It adds drive and reminds people that they’re not alone in their efforts.
You can film a video about how you overcame struggle or talk about the “real deal” with your connections.
Additionally, you can repurpose other video templates – more on this in a bit – to achieve the same goal.
You can do it Gary Vaynerchuk-style and just speak with people directly or you could tell a story in the office.
What’s important is the message/story that you are trying to convey.
Educational Pieces
Videos that educate your audience are extremely effective in getting you the engagement that you need.
And, this boils down to one thing.
They immediately give the viewer value.
It could be an instructional video on how to use a product, infotainment, a tutorial on a marketing technique, or a webinar-type classroom experience.
You can even showcase the best use of your product.
Remember.
People on LinkedIn are on the platform to do more with their professional lives, so they are more inclined to watch videos that are educational because it helps them progress.
Behind the Scenes
Many of your followers like behind-the-scenes videos because it shows them a glimpse into another world.
It could be interior shots of your office and how your team develops products, or it could be a day in your life.
These types of videos are a breath of fresh air for your connections because they show a more candid side to your business. They’re also great pieces of content for people who want to work for you – it shows them the work environment and atmosphere.
This makes you more relatable and helps your company build its brand image with the public.
Interviews
Interviews generally run long, but you can always break it down to its most important parts.
Avoid posting entire interviews on LinkedIn.
You don’t want to bore people with hour-long videos.
Instead, focus on answers that can teach people or make their day better.
The QUICK and EASY Way
You don’t have to be original.
Okay, hear me out for a minute.
You won’t be able to come up with something that gets engagement and virality all the time.
That’s impossible.
Also, coming up with new and original video ideas takes a lot of time and can take a toll on your creative team.
The solution?
Consider repurposing videos.
Here’s how you do it.
- First of all, pick a video template that you can use. Something that’s free – but make sure you attribute it to the original creator.
You’ll find several of our templates in the BAMF Content Bible eBook
- Next, create a quick text post that dives into the “meat” of the video.
For example, if it’s an inspiring video, talk about your own story in the workplace; if it’s about battling stress and anxiety, share your struggle in the industry, etc.
- Attach the video to your post
- Again, make sure you attribute correctly
- Place in a great CTA
- Use relevant hashtags
And, there you have it, the quick and easy way to get a video up and running.
Now, this isn’t a call for you to stop being original, but it’s one of the fastest ways to start posting good LinkedIn video content in a pinch.
Continue reading to check out what else you can do.
LinkedIn Video Guide
By now, you’re probably convinced and playing with a couple of LinkedIn video ideas in your head.
Before going any further, here are some of the best practices that you should keep in mind to make sure that your videos are optimized.
Storytelling
Anything you post, whether it be text-based or a LinkedIn video, has to involve some form of storytelling.
Almost everyone in the marketing industry is switching to storytelling because it is the best way to evoke a reaction and be more relatable.
Think about it.
Since the dawn of time, we’ve communicated morals, beliefs, and lessons through the use of stories.
Make sure that each video – and its corresponding post – is based on a story.
There should be a clear introduction, climax, and ending that evokes you to do something.
It should follow a central theme that relates it to both the brand and its consumers.
The Post
If you considered the quick and easy way of posting LinkedIn video content, then your post will be based on the template video that you used.
But, here are some more general guidelines that you should follow:
- If it’s a really engaging piece of content, then keep your post short and sweet. You want them to be focused on the video, just make sure you have your CTA in there.
- Use short sentences and paragraphs, a majority of your audience is mobile, you want to optimize for this particular demographic.
- Your post is intended to get people to watch the video, not read the post – again, the exception is if you repurpose video
- You can use emojis to stand out.
CTA
There are two places to place a CTA in your LinkedIn video post, the first should be in the post to get engagement started and the second should be within the video itself.
The CTA in the post is pretty self-explanatory, but the video CTA can be both a graphic at the end of the video to encourage people to check out your other stuff or the speaker in the video asking people to comment their thoughts down below.
This is similar to how YouTube vloggers do it and it can help build up engagement.
Captions and Subtitles
All your videos need captions.
Not a lot of people have access to headphones all the time nor do they have the privilege of being able to crank up the volume wherever they are to hear the audio of your video.
Some of your audience might stumble on your video during their commute, try to watch the clip while they’re with other people, or refuse to turn on their audio, to begin with.
And, there are more of these people than you think.
You want to make sure that your video can be watched by everyone regardless of whether they have audio turned on or not.
The best way of doing this is by using captions or subtitles.
You can score wins with this crowd easily.
Keep It Short and Simple
15 minutes should be the absolute maximum time that your video runs for.
In fact, we recommend less than 10 minutes to be on the safe side.
LinkedIn videos are designed to be breaks for someone who’s scrolling through their feed.
Videos that are too long aren’t appealing for someone who’s casually scrolling by. The moment that they see a maximum timestamp of over 10 minutes, they’ll be put off by the time that they have to spend watching regardless of how good your content is.
Don’t do that.
If you want to post a long video, try these tips:
- Break it into parts, this way you’ll have content for the next week.
- Do a roundup of everything that was discussed in the video.
- Create a trailer video with a link back to your website or YouTube channel (this helps feed your other web properties some traffic!)
On every social media network – LinkedIn included – you’re fighting for attention spans.
Note: the maximum LinkedIn video length is 30 minutes and the maximum file size is 200 MB.
Engage
Keep the conversation going.
When someone comments on your post, make sure you reply to them.
This not only gets everyone involved but keeps the engagement on your video running.
Hashtags
Hashtags help LinkedIn categorize your video and put it in front of relevant eyeballs.
Make sure you use a couple to get that video up and running.
LinkedIn Pods
Consider using LinkedIn pods to drive engagement to your posts.
Pods are essentially communities of active LinkedIn users in a particular niche in the industry that supports each other by liking each other’s posts.
Here’s how it works.
Once you post it on the platform, you can throw it in a LinkedIn pod to get people to like it. This initial boost in engagement will get you traction and might trigger the algorithm to put your post in front of more eyeballs.
If your post is interesting enough, these extra viewers will add to the traction and get the post to even more people.
It’s not insurance for virality, but it should give you a small boost.
In growth hacking, any small boost is worth a shot.
If you want to start using pods, we recommend the lempod Chrome extension.
All you have to do is install it and create an account.
Now you can click on it to start driving traffic to your post.
Search for pods that cater to your industry. In this way, people in the pod can relate to the material that you’re posting and you’ll get more engagement.
You also don’t want people in industries that are not related to yours engaging with your post too much, it won’t feel natural.
The downside to pods?
The pod has to be active. If you post at times where half the people in the pod are asleep, it won’t do you any good.
Turn It Into a Funnel
The beauty of videos is that they attract specific crowds.
Audiences of a particular niche are interested in that niche, and although they might share similarities with an audience that watched another video of that topic, they’re unique in their characteristics.
Let’s do an example.
Say you have two videos, one on “LinkedIn growth hacking” and the other on “Facebook growth hacking,” they might carry the same interest for two groups of people, these two groups will have different characteristics.
Primarily the difference in social platforms.
Once you’ve gotten engagement for your video, you know that these people are already segmented to people that are interested in the topic.
You can now add them and connect with them through messaging or other means.
However, it doesn’t just stop there.
If you are using video ads, you can retarget the people who’ve viewed your videos.
We have a complete guide on LinkedIn retargeting that you can view here.
This combination of engagement and re-engagement can lead even the coldest lead to convert on your funnel.
Test. Test. Test.
We’ve said this time and time again.
You can’t growth hack if you don’t track.
And, this includes your LinkedIn videos.
Your first video might take off and go viral, we’ve seen it happen before, but chances are you’ll join the rest of us with a post that gets minimal views.
That’s fine.
If you want something to take off, you’ve got to track and monitor it.
Before posting a LinkedIn video, ask a small focus group of your teammates or friends if they’ll stop scrolling and watch your video.
Don’t be afraid to A/B test, you can switch out simple things like the background music or the intro.
Once you post it, check if it’s getting the engagements that you’ve projected. If it’s not, then switch it out and check how that goes.
You want to be agile.
This is especially true if you’re looking at going viral.
Based on our internal studies, the amount of continuous, increasing engagement that you get within the first couple of hours of posting something on LinkedIn determines your virality.
After a good run, say 48 hours or so, check out how much engagement you’ve got and make notes on why you think you got that type of engagement.
Place all your notes in a detailed spreadsheet so that you have something you can look back to.
If you keep up, you’ll get to make better videos that will continue to resonate well with your audience.
Here is another pro-tip, you can use UTM parameters on your individual posts, by firing up Campaign URL Builder on Google Analytics.
It’s relatively easy to use.
Go to the link above.
Fill up the details and you can now track it by itself on Google Analytics.
Now you don’t always have to do this, but it’s a good way to check if a link that you have on your video is doing its job.
Takeaways
Linked video marketing can take your growth hacking efforts to the next level because growth relies on engagement and videos are naturally engaging.
Look, we’re not telling you to post a video every day, but try to do it as often as you can to break away from traditional text-based content.
You can express a lot from video, even more than what you can with a traditional text post.
Take advantage of that.
A lot of your peers and competitors are already using video.
What are you doing about it?
Start with one release this week.
And, as always.
Keep testing.
Keep tweaking.
Keep hacking at your growth.
