Posted by Ben Kniffen in LinkedIn Marketing Insights
What is the most requested feature from the nearly 600 million users on LinkedIn?
LIVE VIDEO.
And now, with the backing of Microsoft, LinkedIn has rolled out an invite-only beta version to test live video on its platform. For those who are interested in trying it out, LinkedIn will soon provide an online form where you can request access to live video.
But the biggest question… how will this be any different from Live video from Facebook, Twitter and the like?
According to TechCrunch:
“Initial live content that LinkedIn hopes to broadcast lines up with the kind of subject matter you might already see in LinkedIn’s news feed: the plan is to cover conferences, product announcements, Q&As and other events led by influencers and mentors, office hours from a big tech company, earnings calls, graduation and awards ceremonies and more.”
In other words, LinkedIn wants to corner the market for video topics – and video quality – that would interest business owners and professionals and has no plans to mirror the type of user-generated videos you see on other social media platforms.
To support this goal, LinkedIn has already selected several third-party video developers that will support its users in creating and polishing their live videos on LinkedIn – although at this point it’s not clear how this will roll out or what those services will entail exactly.
And, let’s not forget the HUGE step forward – Microsoft got involved this time. Since they acquired LinkedIn in 2016, they’ve largely kept separate. The fact that Microsoft has now provided encoding for live video via its Azure Media Services tells us that LinkedIn is stronger than ever and will continue to be the best platform for business owners and professional in the future as well.
What Live Video On LinkedIn Means For You
Let’s talk about what this really means for you. At the root of all of this, it seems that video on LinkedIn will be a key feature they push in the future.
The way we see it, that’s because Live Video is an enormous opportunity to create an even better connection with your prospects, continue to build your authority, and engage with your followers. We talk a lot about how to use content to position yourself as an authority in your industry and to really focus on developing strategic business relationships. Live video is another fantastic tool we are very excited about precisely because of the way it starts conversation and engagement.
You can use it for:
- news and press releases
- product launches
- company events or conferences
- trainings or live workshops
- behind the scenes video
- and much more
LinkedIn first launched video features back in 2017 and since then has seen a big boost in traffic and engagement from it. In fact, as TechCrunch reports, Pete Davies the Director of Product Management at LinkedIn shares that:
“Video is the fastest growing format on our platform right now, and the one most likely to get people talking.”
Also, if you’re not too tech-y, don’t worry. Live video will be very user-friendly; you’ll be able to use it like you’re used to on other platforms – with the ability to monitor comments and live responses.
We’ll let you know of any more updates about Live Video or any other features that roll out that we believe can help support your business.
In the meantime, while we don’t know at this point exactly how LinkedIn plans to monetize live video, and whether or not they will allow it for ads or insert ads into them, we do know that video ads on LinkedIn earn 30% more comments per impression than non-video ads and that it holds the attention of prospects almost 3x longer than static content – which is pretty significant.
If you’re interested in learning about using ads on LinkedIn to target and get in front of the exact prospects you want to reach, let’s talk.