In a sea of social networks, it’s easy to forget that Linkedin is one of the most widely used resources for business professionals.

Most people use it to expand their professional network or to look for jobs. But it’s also a powerful tool capable of helping you land better leads, nurture relationships, and position yourself as an expert in your field. One way to take advantage of all this is by using video to market your company on LinkedIn.

Video has exploded in popularity in the last few years. According to Wistia, video is the most popular type of media. Adding video to your posts and using video in your marketing will help you get more traffic and increase conversions.

According to a 2021 report by Wyzowl:

• 86% of marketers say video increased traffic to their site
• 87% say video gives them a good return on their investment
• 84% of people decided to buy a product or service after watching a video
• 85% of people would like to see more videos from brands
• People share videos twice as much as they share textual content
• Video consumption grew by 67% between 2018 and 2020
• LinkedIn is the third-largest target for video marketing

In other words, by using video, brands tap into a growing audience who wants to see more and will share readily.

This guide will help you make the best of video marketing on LinkedIn.

Video on LinkedIn: technical considerations

Videos on LinkedIn must respect the following technical specifications.

They must be in one of the following formats:

• ASF
• FLV
• MPEG-1 or MPEG-4
• MKV
• WebM
• H264/AVC
• MP4
• VP8 or VP9
• WMV2 or WMV3

They must also meet these requirements:

• Maximum file size: 5 GB
• Minimum file size: 75 KB
• Maximum duration: 10 minutes
• Minimum duration: 3 seconds
• Resolution range: 256 × 144 to 4096 × 2304 (more details on Linkedin video specs here)
• Aspect ratio: 1:2.4 – 2.4:1
• Frame rates: 10 fps – 60 fps
• Bit rates: 192 kbps – 30 Mbps

When is the best time to post video on LinkedIn?

It depends…

Since LinkedIn is primarily for business purposes, you should be posting at the times that best suit business professionals.

Here are guidelines that can help you find the best time to post.

In general, the best times to post are:

• During office hours (10 AM to 6 PM)
• Tuesdays to Thursdays between 10 AM and 12 PM
• During office commute hours (7 AM—9 AM and 6 PM—8 PM)

The worst times to post are:

• During the weekend
• Outside office hours (10 PM—6 AM)

On top of that, the best time to post also changes based on the industry. For example, in the education industry, posting during lunch breaks is more effective. For media companies, it’s early morning.

The only way to know for sure is to test various posting times and measure your results.

What is the ideal length for video on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn videos should be short if you want viewers to watch them to the end.

You have 5 seconds to grab the viewer’s attention. After about 20 seconds, viewership declines abruptly.

Make sure to put the most important information at the beginning of your video. If your video content becomes boring any time before 20 seconds, users will scroll away.

If your video lasts more than 90 seconds, most users will not watch it to the end. It’s better to make a shorter video that promises more information on your website. Then send them to your website.

See how Milk Video allows you to make short, impactful content from longer videos.

Build your LinkedIn video marketing around an ad campaign

Define your campaign objective to ensure that the money you spend on LinkedIn video marketing is an investment rather than an expense.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What are you trying to do?
• How much time do you give yourself?
• How much are you willing to spend
• How will you measure results?
• How will you track views to sales?

Brainstorm ideas that best support your objective. Involve people that represent your target market.

Once you have planned your campaign, create a video ad campaign around your most important objective.

Format your LinkedIn video for multiple screen types

While many people still watch or access LinkedIn through their desktops or laptops, the fastest growing trend is still the phone. Viewers will watch your content on small screens, so make sure that it is as clear on a small screen as it is on a large screen.

Verify that any text can be read easily on a small screen. If possible, try not to force reviewers to rotate their phones to see the content correctly. Most people scroll LinkedIn vertically, so portrait mode is often better than landscape.

However, to make sure that the experience is the same no matter how the phone is positioned, use a square video .

Don’t forget to use text in your LinkedIn videos

Since many people may be viewing your videos in environments where they cannot play sound, consider using text with your video.

The most effective way is to use captions so people can watch the video and read the content simultaneously.

With Milk Video, you can automatically transcribe your video for free, to add captions to your video.

Use existing content to create LinkedIn videos or vice versa

Many companies decide not to produce video because they see it as extra content that they do not have time to create. However, that doesn’t need to be the case.

You can take content that you already have and repurpose it as video. You don’t have to create new content from scratch; you can leverage what you know already works. This is especially true of evergreen content.

Similarly, you can take existing videos—for example, from conference calls or webinars—and take excerpts to use as the bulk of your video. All that’s required is to bookend the content with an introduction and a call to action.

Using these approaches, you can create endless streams of video content.

Develop your LinkedIn videos with laser focus

Each video should cover a single idea. You don’t have enough time to cover multiple points. If you need to present numerous points, plan a separate video for each topic.

In 30 to 90 seconds, you cannot delve deep into a subject. Instead, give just enough information to make the content interesting and valuable for the viewer. Then, include a clear call to action and make sure your video compels the viewer to act.

Like many other marketing efforts, creating a video is not a done-and-forget proposition. You will need to plan multiple videos and test them to see which ones work better with audiences.

Test various posting times, different video lengths, multiple approaches, and any variation that could improve your results.

Increase engagement after posting LinkedIn videos

You can’t post a video on LinkedIn and neglect it. If your video is interesting, people will engage with it. If they like it, they will share it with people in their network. They will be even more inclined to do so if you foster interaction.

It means that once you post the video on LinkedIn, you must be ready to read, react, and reply to comments. The more you interact with your audience, the more reach your video is likely to get.

Encourage people to share the video in their network. It will extend the audience to people you do not know.

Use LinkedIn video hashtags

Using hashtags is a great way for people to find your video without directly connecting with you. This strategy works for articles and blogs, and it also works for video.

Every time you publish a video, include 3 to 5 carefully chosen hashtags:

• Choose hashtags that tell your audience about the content of the video.
• Include hashtags that your target audience follows.
• When possible, aim for hashtags that are trending.
• Include hashtags specific to your marketing campaigns, making it easier for you to determine which videos are related to which campaign.

How to get more traction with B2B video on LinkedIn

If you want your videos to go viral, following the best practices above is the foundation. If you don’t follow best practices, you won’t get any views. But you must do more than follow the basics to stand out.

Here are some ideas:

• Use an eye-catching thumbnail. This is the picture that viewers see when they come across your video. Choose the most captivating frame of your video.
• Present an original point of view on a trending topic—the more original your point of view, the better your chances of going viral.
• Be contrarian because many people are tired of seeing the same old arguments. Back up your point of view with convincing data and present it in a compelling package. It gives your video a better chance of being shared and going viral.
• Use humor, but take care not to offend people needlessly. In particular, when possible, test your video with a diversified crowd (gender, race, sexual orientation, and so on). Pay close attention to the comments of people who are often underrepresented in the mainstream. By paying closer attention to these underrepresented demographics, you may end up opening a brand-new market for your products or services.
• End on a cliffhanger. At the end of your video, leave the viewer with the question they feel compelled to answer. And they can only find the answer by going to your website. Use this approach sparingly, and make sure there is enough content to be useful for the viewer. Otherwise, it’s just bait-and-switch.
• Use native LinkedIn video uploads instead of sending people to YouTube or your site. Only send them to your website at the end of the video.
• Videos appear at the bottom of your posts. The space above the video is prime real estate, so use it to your advantage.

⦁ ⦁ ⦁

When you leverage video as part of your marketing, you open up a world of possibilities. Video is the fastest way to connect with an audience.

With video, you give a face to your company and make it more personal.

Remember that you only have a few seconds to make an impression. Make those seconds count. Start with a bang, and end with a strong message that compels the viewer to act.