One of the best ways to build your credibility and give your brand a personality is by publishing videos on LinkedIn. By using these tips, you can vastly improve your LinkedIn presence and grow your network.
Keep It Under 2 Minutes
An MIT study found that viewership dropped off sharply after six minutes for training videos and educational videos. With people logging onto the site seeking career advice and professional development, many videos are indeed educational.
And although it’s not a LinkedIn-specific study, there’s still a lot to learn from the research.
Although there aren’t any public LinkedIn-specific studies out, Wistia looked at over 1.3 billion plays on their site. They found 2 minutes as the sweet spot for online video before attention drops off.
Entice Viewers to Play Your Video
You can build anticipation to play your video by writing some engaging copy above it. One-sentence’ hooks” are what get people interested. Many websites use a form of this called clickbait, which you should avoid. However, your video needs an interesting enough premise for a browser on LinkedIn to watch. Be provocative. Ask a tough question. Give the LinkedIn browser something to ponder on.
Upload with Captions
LinkedIn has joined Facebook and Instagram on the video auto-play train, so you should make an effort to make your content understandable for commuters stuck on the train without their earphones. This means using large text and captions so that the dialogue in the video is understandable.
In fact, as we discovered in another post, the vast majority of Facebook videos are played without sound. You can add captions by using YouTube’s captioning functionality, downloading the .srt file, and attaching it to your LinkedIn video. This also adds keywords that are searchable on Google, so it provides a full-text transcript of your video, which can be handy.
Be Yourself
Show off the best aspects yourself; after all, LinkedIn is a site for professionals. However, this doesn’t mean being a corporate robot, no one has ever missed out on an opportunity by being an interesting person.
LinkedIn is about Reciprocating!
LinkedIn is a site to develop your professional skills, but it’s also a network that relies on everybody taking part, so do your best to help others. You can do this by providing valuable comments on others’ posts and sharing content you like that others have shared. You can send an inbox message to others to thank them for any helpful advice they’ve given you. It’s a simple social site at its core, and by being a valued member of somebody’s network, they are much more likely to give value to you as well.
For more advice on video for social media, get in touch with us today.
Ryan Spanger is the founder and managing director of Dream Engine, a Melbourne-based video production company established in 2002. With more than two decades of experience, Ryan has helped leading Australian businesses, government departments, and non-profits communicate their message with clarity and impact through video. He’s known for his strategic approach, reliable process, and commitment to producing videos that deliver measurable results.
