Mastering LinkedIn Video: Attracting the Right Audience

Are you neglecting LinkedIn in your video marketing strategy? Curious about how different video formats can help you reach and engage your target audience?

In this article, we'll explore how to attract your ideal audience with LinkedIn video.

A Story of Transformation: Social Media Marketing Success Through LinkedIn Video Strategy

Before becoming a LinkedIn video strategist, Shanee Moret worked as a marketing assistant at a physician recruiting startup in South Florida. Her journey to LinkedIn success began in an unexpected and challenging moment: sitting in a hospital room with her critically ill child. After her daughter was admitted for a fourteen-day stay, Moret received an ultimatum from her employer: return to work or lose her job. 

This moment became her catalyst for change. She turned to Google, searching for ways to leverage her writing skills online. A single article about LinkedIn changed her trajectory. Within four weeks of following its advice about outbound messaging, she had replaced her full-time income through business with LinkedIn connections.

However, Moret quickly realized the limitations of outbound strategies. “This is a lot of work,” she remembers, thinking about sending hundreds of messages with few responses. “Very few people would respond, and I would have to pull teeth on the consultation calls if they even showed up.”

By late 2018, when LinkedIn introduced video capabilities, Moret made a crucial decision: either master a new approach or return to traditional employment. She decided to create LinkedIn video content and from November to January 1st, she committed to posting one video per day, but with a different approach than most.

As a cancer survivor, Moret brought authenticity to her content from the start. She focused on sharing personal stories, lessons about gratitude, and business insights, documenting her journey along the way.

Her approach was refreshingly simple: “If I didn't know what to post that day, I would just post something that happened, what I learned from it, and what I think others could learn from the same experience or learn without having that particular experience.”

This authentic approach paid off dramatically. It took fourteen months to reach 30,000 followers, but then something remarkable happened – the next month, her following surged to 100,000. Since starting her video journey, all her clients have come through inbound requests. Today, she has over 900k followers.

Moret's success with LinkedIn video marketing led to natural business evolution. She first built a healthcare marketing agency through client demand. However, when COVID-19 hit, her business transformed. Within one week, she received requests from 100-200 entrepreneurs on LinkedIn seeking guidance on using the platform for their businesses.

This surge in demand led to the creation of Growth Academy. She now helps business owners who aren't comfortable marketing themselves learn to use video to build personal brands that attract better clients.

#1: Explore LinkedIn Video Formats: Video Length and Specs

LinkedIn offers three types of video content, each serving unique purposes and reaching different audiences. Understanding the nuances of each format is crucial for developing an effective video strategy.

Feed Videos: The Foundation of LinkedIn Video

Feed video posts are LinkedIn's original video format and remain a powerful tool. These videos can be up to fifteen minutes long and support horizontal, vertical, or square orientations. While some might question whether anyone would watch videos that are fifteen-minutes long on LinkedIn, Moret affirms that “if it's good-enough,” people will engage with longer content.

Feed videos appear in your regular LinkedIn feed and are cataloged under the video tab in your activity section for easy access. They're particularly effective for:

• How to videos and technical tutorials where screen sharing is necessary (such as Excel coaches showing spreadsheet techniques)
• AI coaches demonstrating different tools
• Physical product demonstrations
• Conference and event coverage with vlog-style content
• Company updates and press releases from executives (Moret notes seeing the CEO of Walmart using this format effectively)

Both personal profiles and company pages can utilize feed videos effectively. One notable characteristic is that engagement typically comes from first-degree connections, making these videos ideal for nurturing existing relationships. 

Pro Tip: Scheduling through third-party apps offers content planning and distribution flexibility, allowing businesses to maintain consistent posting schedules.

Short-Form Videos: LinkedIn's New Frontier

LinkedIn's newest video format, currently in beta, represents the platform's answer to TikTok and Instagram Reels while maintaining LinkedIn's professional focus. These videos should be:

• 45 seconds to 2 minutes in length (LinkedIn's recommended best practice)
• Vertical orientation (horizontal is possible but “looks really weird and gets less engagement,” according to Moret)
• Actionable and educational

Currently, this format is only available on mobile devices. If you don't see the video-only tab at the bottom of your LinkedIn app, Moret suggests uninstalling and reinstalling the app to potentially gain access. However, she notes that your videos can still be selected for the beta feed even without beta access if they meet LinkedIn's quality standards.

LinkedIn appears to be carefully curating content for this feed. The LinkedIn algorithm is favoring professional, high-quality videos that help job seekers or provide business-related value. Engagement options include likes, comments, shares, and saves, though these features are intentionally subtle in the interface.

The distribution model differs significantly from feed videos. While these videos might receive fewer comments and likes, they often generate significantly higher impression counts.

A recent update has introduced a carousel feature that showcases these short-form videos in the regular feed, expanding their visibility. Visual elements become crucial since these videos often play silently in the carousel.

Use facial expressions, add captions, and place text headers near your head at the start of videos to draw your audience's attention.

Live Videos: The Conversion Powerhouse

LinkedIn Live represents what Moret says is the most underrated way to build email lists and convert connections into clients. LinkedIn intentionally keeps this format more structured than other platforms' live options. As Moret explains, “They almost keep it this way because they want it to feel more like you're on stage and you've prepared.”

Setting up LinkedIn Live requires more infrastructure than other platforms:

• Must use third-party streaming tools like StreamYard, Restream, or Zoom (though Zoom is more complicated to set up)
• Requires creating a LinkedIn Event
• It can be broadcast from both personal profiles and company pages
• Allows inviting up to 1,000 first-degree connections weekly
• Needs 2-4 weeks of promotion for optimal results

The available promotion process involves multiple notification channels:

1. Event invitations (up to 4,000 connections over a month)
2. LinkedIn newsletter announcements
3. Regular feed posts promoting the event
4. Automatic notifications when you go live

Engagement during live streams is more prominent than in other LinkedIn video formats, with comments appearing front and center. This makes live videos particularly effective for audience interaction and relationship building.

After the live event, the video remains available on your profile under the Events tab in your activity section. Some marketers choose to edit videos to trim them to show just the first few seconds to maintain exclusivity for live attendees, while others make the entire video available as valuable long-term content for your profile.

#2: Develop a LinkedIn Video Strategy for Your Business

More strongly recommends beginning with short-form content for those new to posting videos. The only exception is for highly technical content creators who frequently need to share their screens—in those cases, traditional feed videos might be more appropriate.

Once you've established yourself with short-form content, you can expand into other formats. Moret suggests using your analytics to guide this expansion. For example, your top three short-form videos could form the basis for your first three live events. This approach ensures you're building on proven content themes.

These tips will help you get started.

While many creators use selfie mode for recording, the key is professional presentation, regardless of method. Moret recommends:

• Practice 5-6 times before recording
• Reviewing bullet points or scripts before recording for a more natural delivery
• Ensuring good lighting and clear audio
• Recording in vertical format for short-form content
• Including captions for accessibility and silent viewing

For company pages, consider investing in basic recording equipment and creating a dedicated repository for video content. This becomes especially important when capturing company events, podcast recordings, or behind-the-scenes content.

Pro Tip: Avoid common pitfalls like starting with “Hey, LinkedIn family…” Instead, get to the point immediately. Lead with value and capture attention quickly.

Sequence Your Video Content Strategically: The Hamburger Method

Moret advocates for the Hamburger Method when planning your video content strategy. This approach helps maintain audience interest while respecting LinkedIn's professional culture. “This isn't Facebook, and nobody wants to be sold to directly, twenty-four-seven,” she emphasizes. “It's just not the culture of LinkedIn.”

The Hamburger Method consists of three types of content posted in sequence:

First, create a video that resonates with your audience but isn't directly related to your product or service. For example, Moret might post a video about creator burnout.

Next, share a video directly related to your offerings. For example, following the previous example, she might create a video about growing your email list with LinkedIn newsletters.

Finally, post another indirectly related but valuable video. For example, address adjacent challenges your audience faces, such as how to generate inbound clients without depending on referrals.

3 LinkedIn Video Content Strategies

For personal brands, focus on showing your expertise and personality through:

• Direct-to-camera educational content
• Behind-the-scenes glimpses of your work
• Live Q&A sessions
• Response videos to common client questions

Moret notes that about “ten to twenty percent of the videos that I see actually come directly from company pages.” For LinkedIn company pages, successful approaches include:

• Company event coverage
• Team member spotlights
• Product demonstrations
• Behind-the-scenes content
• Snippets from company podcasts or meetings
• CEO updates and announcements about company news

If you're managing content but don't want to be the face of it, Moret suggests several alternatives that don't involve you being on camera:

• Capture company events and culture
• Create screen-recording tutorials
• Feature willing team members
• Share customer success stories
• Document product or service demonstrations

Pro Tip: Contrary to what many might expect, Moret has found that longer text descriptions correlate with better video performance. Her most successful videos often feature comprehensive text accompaniment. She recommends transcribing your video content into the post description and then formatting it carefully for readability.

#3: Manage Post-Publication Video Engagement

Post-publishing engagement is crucial for video success. Moret emphasizes several key strategies:

For Feed Videos:

• Respond to all comments promptly
• Use engagement to build relationships
• Track which topics generate the most meaningful discussions
• Note which videos drive connection requests

For Short-Form Videos:

• Monitor initial response carefully
• Look for profile visits rather than just likes and comments
• Pay attention to impression-to-engagement ratios
• Track which topics drive the most profile visits

For Live Events:

• Engage actively with comments during the stream
• Follow up with participants afterward
• Use engagement to guide future content
• Monitor conversion rates to consultations or sign-ups

#4: Analyzing LinkedIn Video Performance

Success metrics vary by video type, so don't be discouraged by different patterns of interaction between feed videos and short-form content. Instead, Moret advises looking beyond simple engagement metrics to know whether your LinkedIn marketing bring you closer to your business goals.

“Even low engagement is good feedback if you're paying attention,” she notes. 

Watch for:

• Profile visits after viewing
• Connection requests
• Direct message inquiries
• Newsletter subscriptions
• Consultation bookings

Most importantly, consistency matters more than individual video performance. If you host four consecutive live videos and are still waiting for the result you were anticipating, you need to work on the messaging and/or the presentation.

Other Notes From This Episode

• Connect with Michael Stelzner @Stelzner on Instagram and @Mike_Stelzner on X.
• Watch this interview and other exclusive content from Social Media Examiner on YouTube.

Where to subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Music | YouTube | Amazon Music | RSS

✋🏽 If you enjoyed this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast, please head over to Apple Podcasts, leave a rating, write a review, and subscribe.

---

Stay Up-to-Date: Get New Marketing Articles Delivered to You!

Don't miss out on upcoming social media marketing insights and strategies! Sign up to receive notifications when we publish new articles on Social Media Examiner. Our expertly crafted content will help you stay ahead of the curve and drive results for your business. Click the link below to sign up now and receive our annual report!