Is LinkedIn the next big platform for B2B video marketing?
Speaker:Let's take a look.
Speaker:G'Day everyone it's Coach Michelle J Raymond, and we're here to
Speaker:talk this week about the curious case of the LinkedIn video feed.
Speaker:One minute, it's there.
Speaker:One minute it's gone.
Speaker:Maybe it's coming back bigger and better.
Speaker:Maybe it's disappeared in its current format altogether.
Speaker:It's anyone's guess.
Speaker:it just shows you that LinkedIn right now, they don't even know what
Speaker:is gonna work best for the members.
Speaker:And I love that they're trialling different things in different regions.
Speaker:No doubt that the LinkedIn short form video feed has certainly
Speaker:gone through lots of changes since we first saw it in March, 2024.
Speaker:We've seen it on mobile only.
Speaker:It's recently gone to desktop as well.
Speaker:We have seen it show in feed.
Speaker:We've seen it in a separate feed.
Speaker:There was a video tab down the bottom on a lot of devices,
Speaker:which seems to have disappeared.
Speaker:We have seen it go in and get mixed, you know, in amongst your normal
Speaker:content that was suggested for you.
Speaker:Realistically, it's all over the place.
Speaker:No doubt though that there is a rise in short form video on LinkedIn and I
Speaker:think that kicked off when we saw at the end of last year, 2024 that people
Speaker:were posting short form videos and they were getting millions of impressions.
Speaker:And literally, I know multiple people that I trust and report these
Speaker:numbers, and I've seen screenshots had content going crazy at that time.
Speaker:Coming to 2025 and things have kind of lost their shine a little bit,
Speaker:but that doesn't mean that LinkedIn doesn't place importance on this.
Speaker:And it's absolutely targeted to Gen Z who make up, you know,
Speaker:practically 65% of the platform.
Speaker:If you're feeling a little bit left out or you don't understand what's going on,
Speaker:it's definitely targeted around them.
Speaker:I'm also thinking about things differently, I have written off
Speaker:this short form video feed myself, uh, multiple times as just the poor
Speaker:cousin to TikTok, Shorts or Reels.
Speaker:We really haven't had a good experience.
Speaker:The algorithm for me has been woeful.
Speaker:It's never actually shown me the things that I wanna see and that for
Speaker:me has really taken away my experience.
Speaker:So it was easy to dismiss it.
Speaker:But there's one thing that LinkedIn's got that none of those other platforms
Speaker:have, regardless of the algorithm, the technology that comes with it, and that is
Speaker:a captive business to business audience.
Speaker:I don't think any of those other platforms have nearly as much influence
Speaker:on the B2B industry as what LinkedIn does on the professional space, on
Speaker:that business space, and I think that's a real competitive advantage.
Speaker:Do I think that they would be working as hard to do this if there
Speaker:wasn't a question mark around TikTok disappearing in the United States?
Speaker:I really don't think that they would be going this hard.
Speaker:But the fact is there is that question mark going on, and that's a big deal.
Speaker:And if something was to make TikTok disappear in the US and they can't
Speaker:find a buyer for it, or that blows up, whatever happens, then what's
Speaker:gonna happen is LinkedIn will have a tool that will fill some of that gap.
Speaker:It is definitely going to keep evolving that we do know, I follow the LinkedIn
Speaker:product managers, we see what they're up to, what they're talking about, but
Speaker:one thing I'm absolutely certain of, regardless of what happens with the other
Speaker:platforms in the future, is that LinkedIn are all in on this short form video.
Speaker:Also, they have new ads which are targeted towards these short form
Speaker:videos, and they're doing a lot of work around how to make paid ads,
Speaker:which are short form videos, more successful, so follow the money.
Speaker:Wherever LinkedIn can make money, they are going to keep pushing these new tools
Speaker:and it's a huge opportunity for them.
Speaker:Especially for thought leadership ads and the like, where individuals
Speaker:can create short form videos and then have the backing of companies to help
Speaker:that video be seen by more people.
Speaker:But it also works for brands as well.
Speaker:So there is lots of cool stuff going on around this.
Speaker:Before I get into whether I think this is good for brands
Speaker:or not good for brands, let's.
Speaker:Put the tech aside, just note that it's gonna keep changing.
Speaker:How you see it right now is not how it'll probably be in three to six months.
Speaker:What I'd like to have a look at is some of the stats that are out there now.
Speaker:Before we go into the stats around LinkedIn and video that they've
Speaker:reported, our friends at Metricool released the LinkedIn report for 2025.
Speaker:Let's hear a little bit about that.
Speaker:Let's move away from my opinion and the opinion of others that I've spoken with,
Speaker:and let's look at some of those stats.
Speaker:Now, I highly encourage you go and check out the Metricool LinkedIn study.
Speaker:There's a bunch of information in there.
Speaker:All the details to download that, as I just said, will be in the show notes.
Speaker:But LinkedIn have reported that engagement on short form video, there
Speaker:has been a 34% increase making it the fastest growing format on LinkedIn.
Speaker:So that means more people are trialing it, they're seeing better results,
Speaker:and when you see better results, you're more likely to repeat that.
Speaker:I mean, that's obvious, right?
Speaker:Other things that they're reporting on LinkedIn users are 20 times
Speaker:more likely to share video content.
Speaker:Now, that's huge!
Speaker:When we want our content to be seen by as many different people making
Speaker:content shareable is super important, so video is perfect for that.
Speaker:Now I haven't seen that happen in my particular audience.
Speaker:Maybe you have, if you have drop me a comment if you're watching
Speaker:on YouTube or on Spotify, you can leave a comment there as well.
Speaker:But if that doesn't work for you, reach out and connect with me on
Speaker:LinkedIn and let me know what's your experience of this video feed been?
Speaker:Have you been sharing other people's short form video formats yet or not?
Speaker:I'm always curious to see what my listeners, what your experience
Speaker:of these tools are, as opposed to just stats that LinkedIn reports.
Speaker:The other thing that they're reporting, and this one really isn't a surprise,
Speaker:but short form videos under 30 seconds, achieve 200% higher completion rates.
Speaker:Now that's no surprises.
Speaker:Shorter.
Speaker:Get the job done and people move on after that.
Speaker:So they'll watch the whole 30 seconds.
Speaker:Ideally they were saying maximum of around two minutes in the same info.
Speaker:And I've gotta tell you, unless you have a script and a structure around what
Speaker:makes a really cool thirty second video.
Speaker:It is so much harder to go, in my opinion, to go short than what it is to go long.
Speaker:I find it so tricky.
Speaker:I know there's a formula to it.
Speaker:After this quick break, let's have a look at the pros and
Speaker:cons of video for B2B marketers.
Speaker:Pros and cons.
Speaker:We've gotta look at everything from both sides.
Speaker:If I was to look at the pros of video, this is why I love it.
Speaker:I love it for the fact that people come alive.
Speaker:They're no longer two dimensional words on a page.
Speaker:You know what I sound like, you know what I look like.
Speaker:What's my energy levels like?
Speaker:Do you like my accent?
Speaker:Maybe you don't.
Speaker:These kinds of things.
Speaker:I really like that kind of attention from my audience.
Speaker:'cause I feel.
Speaker:For me, it takes that extra step for me where I feel more connected to people.
Speaker:We should also pay attention, if LinkedIn is paying attention to
Speaker:video, they're gonna help promote it.
Speaker:They want you to have results because then you'll talk about it.
Speaker:Then you'll do more videos, and then they can go off to their advertisers
Speaker:and say look how popular video is.
Speaker:Why don't you put some money on ads here?
Speaker:So if there's an upside for LinkedIn, follow where the money is for them
Speaker:and that's another opportunity.
Speaker:And for me, I think it should always be a mix.
Speaker:There are people that love to learn via videos, short form videos, and
Speaker:I'd love to see more people having fun and getting creative, and
Speaker:that's the pros with these videos.
Speaker:You don't need expensive equipment.
Speaker:You can literally shoot it on your phone these days.
Speaker:They are so good and it's often the clever types of videos, the simple
Speaker:videos, the more real videos, the relatable videos that are super powerful.
Speaker:So lots and lots of pros for me.
Speaker:If we were to look at the cons of video.
Speaker:I think it's often hard to get employees or people on video 'cause we're all
Speaker:self-conscious to some level or degree.
Speaker:Some of us more than others, and I certainly can relate to that and
Speaker:you may think that I'm making this up, but this podcast and me being
Speaker:on videos and speaking on stages would never have happened if I
Speaker:wasn't petrified when I signed up to do my digital marketing course.
Speaker:And I haven't told this story for a little while.
Speaker:But it's always a reminder.
Speaker:When I first started my business, I signed up for a digital marketing
Speaker:course and I printed off all of the info and I was ready to get into it.
Speaker:But the first assignment was record a five minute video talking about myself.
Speaker:And I froze and I freaked out and I thought, there is no way I
Speaker:could ever talk for five minutes.
Speaker:And I know as my loyal podcast listeners, you're sitting there
Speaker:going, no way, Michelle, but trust me.
Speaker:Trust me.
Speaker:I only recently finally let go of those papers because I was so
Speaker:embarrassed on some level that I had never gone through with that.
Speaker:But that's how I jumped into LinkedIn Live is my starting point.
Speaker:And from there, the rest, as they say, is history.
Speaker:So I appreciate that for some people, video is just a
Speaker:place that they can't get to.
Speaker:I also think others think that you need so much more equipment.
Speaker:The cons that in businesses might be that there's so many rules around what
Speaker:you can and can't do for the brand, and so you might be forced to do
Speaker:something really high level quality, which is expensive, and therefore the
Speaker:project never gets off the ground.
Speaker:So I totally understand it from that perspective.
Speaker:If you're doing it just because LinkedIn loves it, that is
Speaker:not a good enough reason.
Speaker:That is an absolute con for me.
Speaker:You should be doing it with your audience and being in service to them in mind.
Speaker:That for me listeners, is my very short list of pros and cons,
Speaker:and you should write your own list of pros and cons for you.
Speaker:What's the opportunity if you were to take on short form video and what
Speaker:is the potential cost or what is the thing that's holding you back?
Speaker:Let's talk about the strategy behind LinkedIn short form videos that I
Speaker:recommend for B2B marketers, business owners, and those looking to get started
Speaker:on LinkedIn with this format type.
Speaker:First and foremost, I think it is worthwhile investing in the
Speaker:right tools to make the videos.
Speaker:I just said that you don't need fancy equipment and you definitely do not.
Speaker:So phones are more than enough these days.
Speaker:Just go out and stand outside in the sun.
Speaker:That's the best lighting that you'll ever get.
Speaker:And think about how can I create something that's helpful for other people.
Speaker:The tools that I would recommend that make it really easy to edit videos
Speaker:would either be CapCut or Descript.
Speaker:Now, Descript is my go-to.
Speaker:I'm gonna put the details of all of these tools in the show notes so
Speaker:that you can go and check it out.
Speaker:It really is a simple, if you can edit like a Word document or an email, that's
Speaker:how easy it is to edit videos on Descript.
Speaker:So I absolutely love that tool.
Speaker:It.
Speaker:Is a must in our business these days.
Speaker:I couldn't live without it.
Speaker:Other people like CapCut.
Speaker:It's also on a mobile version, a bit simpler, lots of cool things and
Speaker:features that you can use on CapCut also.
Speaker:So check that one out.
Speaker:Horses for courses when it comes to tools.
Speaker:Do you need them?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:But will it make your life a little bit easier?
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:The thing I wanna see more of for B2B brands is some creativity, some
Speaker:having fun, some trying new ideas, and it takes a bit of courage.
Speaker:I appreciate that.
Speaker:A lot of the times in B2B, we look and go, yeah, that's good for them.
Speaker:They're allowed to do anything but my brand, we can't do it.
Speaker:You might just be surprised at who will let you try different things when you come
Speaker:up with a good idea and you can share why and always be testing stuff on LinkedIn.
Speaker:You may have discovered something that your audience loves and
Speaker:especially having a bit of fun.
Speaker:I don't think we see enough of that on LinkedIn.
Speaker:Always align it with your audience, your brand, your messaging.
Speaker:Those things are important, but it doesn't mean that you have to
Speaker:overly brand every single video.
Speaker:It's something that I, I appreciate why marketers wanna do it, but
Speaker:there's a time and a place, and subtle branding will always help
Speaker:your videos perform better because.
Speaker:People when they're scrolling, LinkedIn can confuse an overly branded post,
Speaker:or in this case, a video with an ad. And quite often we scroll past ads,
Speaker:especially if they're not interesting.
Speaker:The other thing I'd like to see is some storytelling.
Speaker:Storytelling is one of those things I've, I've gotta say for myself I
Speaker:actually thought that it was a little bit woowoo and who really needs it, and
Speaker:does it really have a place on LinkedIn?
Speaker:Can't I just stick to the facts?
Speaker:Do I really need a story to tell how things are done?
Speaker:And the answer is actually, yeah, I think we do.
Speaker:Because they make it interesting.
Speaker:They make it memorable, they make it relatable.
Speaker:Think about how can you introduce elements rather than always
Speaker:sticking with a how to style video.
Speaker:Everything has its place.
Speaker:It's always about having a good mix of content, and as long as that content is in
Speaker:service of your ideal audience and helps them get closer to their goals, remember
Speaker:last week's episode if you missed it.
Speaker:It was all about making sure we're not self-absorbed and talking about
Speaker:ourselves all the time and trying to make ourselves look good in our content
Speaker:rather than we're helping others.
Speaker:One final way for brands to quickly and easily get involved in the short
Speaker:form video trend on LinkedIn is to make sure that you have a great tool
Speaker:for repurposing longer videos that you may have into short form clips.
Speaker:In our business, we use Opus Clip.
Speaker:I will share the details for that in the show notes as well.
Speaker:But within about a minute max, you can go from a long form video
Speaker:into pre-made short form clips.
Speaker:Like it is literally the click of a button.
Speaker:You don't need to send everything off to external video editors.
Speaker:There is a time and a place, and if you are at that level, go for it.
Speaker:I'm absolutely cheering you on if you're already there or have
Speaker:those resources internally.
Speaker:But do not let having video editors if you don't have those
Speaker:resources in your business.
Speaker:The tools I've described, CapCut, Descript and Opus Clip are your
Speaker:go-tos, and I trust me, if we can use it in our, if we can use it in
Speaker:my business, you can use it in yours.
Speaker:At the end of the day, do I think short form vertical videos on
Speaker:LinkedIn are worth it for B2B brands?
Speaker:I think I'm gonna say yes they are with the disclaimer of not
Speaker:doing it for the sake of doing it.
Speaker:If they work for your audience, if you tick all of those other boxes,
Speaker:you are there to serve them, you're being creative, you are using them
Speaker:strategically, you're having some fun, then yes, this should be a mix in your
Speaker:content, just like all the other formats.
Speaker:If you discover that short form video format is not for you, maybe
Speaker:LinkedIn Live is, I can't tell you how much I love LinkedIn Live.
Speaker:They are amazing because you don't have to be scripted.
Speaker:You can grab a guest, you can have multiple people on there.
Speaker:They are such a fabulous way for building community.
Speaker:I think they will always be my favorite format of video content
Speaker:when it comes to LinkedIn.
Speaker:It's where I got started.
Speaker:It is how I built up the confidence to do everything that I do today.
Speaker:So I love it.
Speaker:For those of you who have never created a short form video.
Speaker:I'd love to see you have a go.
Speaker:Because getting started and making that first one is the absolute hardest one.
Speaker:You can go back and see my first video on LinkedIn.
Speaker:I'm very happy to share the link to it.
Speaker:You can see it if you go to the video tab on my profile.
Speaker:It kind of makes me cringe now, but if I didn't make that one.
Speaker:As I said, I wouldn't be who I am today standing on international stages
Speaker:speaking without that first cringe video.
Speaker:So I wish you every success.
Speaker:Please tag me in any that you make.
Speaker:Send me the link over on LinkedIn so I can go and watch it and
Speaker:I'll be there cheering you on.
Speaker:Until next week, cheers.