For years, LinkedIn has been pretty conservative in the way it has allowed users to share content and interact with each other. Mostly, this attitude of the developers came from the desire to keep this platform professional, and to encourage meaningful conversations between business people, employers and employees.
However, there comes a moment when professionals need more than basic text, photos and shared links to create engagement and, more importantly, to promote their business. This is why, in a spectacular move (considering the lack of major updates in the past), LinkedIn now allows users to post native videos, by uploading them directly into the platform.
Why Is LinkedIn Native Video Important for Marketing?
Why do we make such a hue and cry out of the news that you can post native videos on LinkedIn? Simply because, on average, this platform has a very high ROI on advertising and marketing campaign.
Also, according to a study conducted by Business Insider, LinkedIn enjoys a very good reputation among users, compared to other social media platforms. Here are a few relevant finds of the study:
- 55% of respondents believe that LinkedIn keeps their private data safe;
- 55% of respondents trust that LinkedIn content is not spam, clickbait or fake news;
- 43% of respondents feel safe to post on LinkedIn or participate in discussions.
Since the reputation of the platform reflects on the reputation of the content you share, LinkedIn is the number one social media network for building trust and a healthy online brand image.
What Are the Steps for Uploading a Native Video to LinkedIn?
Let us move on to the nitty-gritty now. How do you create and share native LinkedIn videos. There are two ways of doing it: through the mobile app and on the website.
Using the Mobile App
In the mobile app, you will find a camera icon on the top right side of the screen. When you tap on it, you can select between “Create” and “Upload”. If you opt to create a video, your phone camera will be activated and you can record your video. Attention! At the present you cannot share live videos on LinkedIn, only post them after you record them.
If you choose to upload a video, you will select it from your camera roll.
Using the Website
The LinkedIn website allows you only to upload a previously recorded video.
Technical Specifications for LinkedIn Native Videos
Native videos on LinkedIn can be either in portrait or in landscape format. If you choose a portrait format, LinkedIn crops it to a square and the audience will have to tap or click on it if they want to see it in full. Landscape videos are displayed in full size.
The duration of a native LinkedIn video must be between 3 seconds and 10 minutes. Just like on Facebook™, videos are set on auto-play with the sound turned off. The maximum file size for video uploads is 5 GB, sufficient even for high-resolution videos.
You cannot add captions to your videos, so if you want them, you need to use an app or software suite to add hard captions into the video file. However, you can add an introductory text to the videos, which is handy for sharing links.
How Does Native Video on LinkedIn Help Marketers?
What do marketers gain from using native videos on LinkedIn? In terms of analytics, you can access the following information:
- Number of views
- Likes
- Shares
- Comments
- Companies that watched your video
- Job titles of the people who watched your video
- Locations of the people who watched your video
You do not get access to the actual names of people who watched your videos if they do not like or comment on it. However, the information on companies and job titles is quite useful for marketing campaigns focusing on a certain type of company or on people in a certain position.
It is very likely that there will be further improvements brought to the way native videos can be uploaded and customised, as well as to the analytics. For now, it is good news that they are finally available on LinkedIn and that marketers can vary their content mix for this social media platform.