LinkedIn’s Big New Feature – Native Video
Asaf Hartuv — November 1, 2016 Follow @asafhartuv— November 1, 2016
LinkedIn has long been the overachieving younger brother of social media that takes a backseat to the limelight of older brother Facebook, who is like the football star of the social media world.
Sure, LinkedIn offered plenty more in terms of tangible benefits than sites like Facebook or Twitter, but it always felt like the younger sibling that your mom made you hang out with. It just didn’t have the cool factor to generate excitement.
While LinkedIn still is what it is at its core, it has slowly improved on its offerings over time to make it a little more relevant and a little more exciting. First, it added groups, and then it added a blogging feature.
LinkedIn’s big new feature – native video – is among its most exciting yet. Here’s what we know:
LinkedIn Record
Until now, if you wanted to share video on LinkedIn, you had to share a link to a third-party provider like YouTube or Vimeo.
You could share these links in your LinkedIn blog posts or on your status updates.
Unlike Facebook, you were not able to upload your video directly to LinkedIn either. The only option for sharing video was sharing a link to a video, which would automatically populate a preview image.
Now, LinkedIn has a video option that lets you record and share your video at the same time, just like Facebook Live. Known as LinkedIn Record, the new video feature is specifically designed for users to record themselves answering questions submitted by other LinkedIn users.
When the videos appear in the news feed, they will automatically begin playing. This is a feature that will help them get more views and will help the people creating these videos get more exposure.
Right now, LinkedIn Record is only available for influencers who have been identified by the site. Soon, everyone will have access to the new feature, and we expect to see as much live video on LinkedIn as we do now on Facebook.
The Importance of Video
Video has become more and more important in recent years.
Our lives have become increasingly busy, and we have become a culture that demands information quickly — both in the timing that it is produced and in the time that it takes us to consume it. We want to know about events as soon as they happen, but we don’t want to spend a long time reading an in-depth article.
Video has made it easier for us to quickly consume information. Instead of sitting down to read an article, we just passively watch a video. The shorter the video, the better.
Google has recognized the importance of video to consumers, and it has prioritized video in search rankings. Likewise, social media channels have prioritized video in their news feeds, and now these channels are making it easier for users to create and share video.
Producing live videos on LinkedIn is going to allow brands to connect with more of the audience on the channel. The videos will make it easier to get information that can be hard to digest or difficult to read — such as discussions about complex financial topics or industry fluctuations.
For LinkedIn, video will infuse a sense of excitement into the network, which can seem stifling at times. By producing video on the site, you can attract more people to the site and more of the users already on the site to your page.
Ideas for Video
With the introduction of LinkedIn Record, the social network has said that the videos could be used to answer questions from followers.
However, this is not the only possibility for these videos. With a little creativity, you can get a lot out of this opportunity to connect with your users and make them feel more engaged.
If your goal on LinkedIn is to recruit more high-quality candidates, you can create videos that show a behind-the-scenes look at your office and what the working environment is like. You can interview employees about what they love about the work place, or you can interview company leaders about their vision for the future.
If your goal on LinkedIn is to connect with customers and business prospects, you can create videos that show your product in action, that show how your products are created, or that show how your product helps people.
You can also create videos that share your brand values, such as showcasing your employees volunteering in the community or highlighting the rigorous testing process to ensure the high quality of your products.
Of course, you can also stream videos live from industry events, giving your customers a chance to be there even when they can’t attend in person.
LinkedIn Record offers an exciting possibility for connecting with more people on the network. Make sure you are ready to take advantage of this opportunity when it becomes available for all users.
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