Video content – whether it’s through TikTok posts, Instagram Stories or Reels, Facebook or LinkedIn live sessions, or packaged in any other form – has overflown the internet.
For example, on Facebook alone, the usage of live videos has increased in popularity by 55% in 2021, as our latest Facebook videos study has revealed.
And that’s not all. According to our LinkedIn engagement study, video content has started to show its great advantages and power of creating connections on LinkedIn as well.
Did you know on LinkedIn people are keener to comment on video posts?
This brings us to the topic we’ll discuss moving forward – LinkedIn live – and how brands can leverage this type of video content to grow their businesses using social media.
Let’s dive in!
LinkedIn live video – what you should know about the feature?
- Why choose LinkedIn live videos to deliver your brand’s messages?
- How to go live on LinkedIn?
- Boost your LinkedIn live broadcast through a well-planned LinkedIn live event
- LinkedIn live best practices
1. Why choose LinkedIn live videos to deliver your brand’s messages?
By now, it has become crystal clear for marketers that using more videos on social is a gold mine when it comes to gaining engagement.
And according to LinkedIn, a live video gets on average 7x more reactions and 24x more comments than native videos hosted by the same broadcasters.
While on Facebook as well, live videos generate double the engagement compared to pre-recorded ones, as confirmed by data, the fact that communities are more active when they gather in real-time becomes unquestionable.
Which is pretty normal – if you think about it.
When communicating in real-time, social media users can have their questions answered right away.
Not to mention the more positive, human approach of having a peer on the other side of the screen.
2. How to go live on LinkedIn?
Well, if on Instagram or Facebook you just have to log into the platform and press that magic button to start your broadcast, the process for going live on LinkedIn is a bit different.
Before planning your LinkedIn live sessions, you should know the platform requires a special application for granting users access and enjoying the benefits of going live on LinkedIn.
To make sure you qualify for this feature’s enablement, you can start by checking LinkedIn’s live video access criteria.
You know, just to make sure you pass the minimum number of followers/ connections required (which is 150) and that your LinkedIn content is aligned to what the platform expects for its creators.
After this short research process, you can move forward with your application if you realize you have checked all the boxes.
Changes of getting a green light are pretty high from this point.
Important to note is that you can have the LinkedIn live video feature enabled for both a personal profile and a business page.
So, depending on your strategy of creating LinkedIn live videos, you have two possible options of starting live streaming on LinkedIn.
You can host your LinkedIn live webinars through your LinkedIn creator mode or a third-party broadcast tool.
It’s all about choosing whatever works best for you!
3. Boost your LinkedIn live broadcast through a well-planned LinkedIn live event
Let’s analyze a bit some of the most successful digital marketing campaigns that have been launched over the past years.
We’ll surely see a common element among them – regardless of the brand’s industry or campaign theme. And that’s teasing – done the right way.
In a marketing initiative – which is what a live on Linkedin is as well – teasing is a very important component for its success.
Because it creates a brand hype that a business needs and relies on for future growth.
Sure, you want to communicate to your LinkedIn audiences your product’s newest features or any other breaking news about your brand as soon as possible, but this doesn’t mean you need to go on air immediately and drop the bomb.
Building some mystery and interest around a topic may end up being a more profitable solution. This is what LinkedIn live events are all about.
Once you create a LinkedIn live event at least a few days ahead of your live LinkedIn video, you’ll have the opportunity of preparing your broadcast session better while also allowing your fanbase to prepare for it.
Who knows, maybe your followers have some questions in mind that they’ll like to address but need a bit of research first.
Thanks to LinkedIn’s integration of live videos with events, you’ll be all set for this with just a couple of clicks.
Let’s say you choose a third-party broadcaster tool for your LinkedIn live webinar, as we mentioned earlier. In this case, when setting up your LinkedIn live session, a LinkedIn event will automatically be created.
For example, we, at Socialinsider, use StreamYard to go live on LinkedIn and other social media platforms to live broadcast simultaneously.
So, after you’ve chosen the tool to help you with your LinkedIn broadcast session, you just have to write a title and description for your audience to know what the talk is going to be about.
With the completion of this one last step, your LinkedIn live event will be created, and you can start live streaming on LinkedIn.
Thus, now that we’ve established the more technical part of how to go live on LinkedIn, it will also be very interesting to cover some more strategic steps, don’t you think?
4. LinkedIn live best practices
Thanks to the ever-evolving technology, the more technical parts of hosting a LinkedIn live stream are pretty easy to cover. All you’ll need will be a qualitative video camera on your smartphone and the right tools.
But I have to warn you, the success of your LinkedIn live video does not depend solely on this.
What is very important to keep in mind for a live video on LinkedIn is that you must have a very well-thought strategy. How you’ll prepare your speech, what guest speakers you’ll have, and other aspects are equally important.
- Stay on top of the trends and choose a relevant topic
Let’s break it down a bit. As for choosing a relevant topic part, it’s important to understand what your audience expects to hear from you on a LinkedIn live session.
A great approach is to go for topics that perform well on Linkedin, that are related to your brand, and relevant for your audience.
But how can you do that? Well, you can start by checking your LinkedIn analytics. You can be sure your best-performing posts will highlight the topics your LinkedIn community would like to know more about.
On the other hand, staying on top of the trends is a strategy that every business that wants to thrive in 2022 should apply.
For example, you may want to position yourself as a top-of-mind source of information for everything related to marketing and social media.
In this case, if people want to know more about, let’s say – TikTok, well, you have to throw yourself into the dark waters, do your research and give them the TikTok insights they are looking for.
When doing a LinkedIn live, you have to keep in mind not all your viewers will be available to watch it from the minute you press the live button.
This is why you should have a well-thought speech and timeline. Start with a very explanatory introduction as you move towards the core ideas of your presentation, and give your viewers enough time to settle in.
Also, to facilitate their understanding of the topics discussed, try reintroducing the points already mentioned while you speak.
According to data, when it comes to the best length for your LinkedIn lives, live videos that last more than one hour double their engagement levels compared to the shorter ones.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that every LinkedIn live that you host must have this duration. Or that you should be going in circles with your speech just for the sake of reaching that one hour interval.
However, since the longer you stay on air on each broadcast, the longer your engagement will increase, planning ahead and having an established schedule for your LinkedIn lives is highly recommended.
- Interview industry experts and influencers
You know that saying – “tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are,” right?
And also, you surely know by now how much this approach matters from a marketing perspective. The growing power of influencer marketing is, after all, living proof.
When interviewing an influencer or an industry expert for your LinkedIn live, it’s obviously that you’ll have to set the spotlight on your guest first and on your brand secondly.
But that’s ok because nobody likes someone that keeps talking about themselves every single day and minute.
By conducting partnerships and interviews, you’ll be seen as a brand that recognizes other people’s value and opinions and is willing to learn from them. So, honestly, what can be more humanizing than this?
And of course, there is another great aspect of having different and regular guests for your LinkedIn live videos – reaching a wider, more targeted audience.
Thanks to the chance of tapping into your guest’s LinkedIn audience, resulting in increased viewerships, co-hosted LinkedIn live sessions are actually among the top-performing LinkedIn live videos.
Which is something that you should seriously consider when doing your next LinkedIn live.
Final thoughts
So, there you have it! A complete guide on how to do a live on LinkedIn, some technical as well as some strategical steps, and some useful tips.
With LinkedIn being such a powerful tool for networking, especially in the world of b2b marketing, having in-depth, insightful, and diverse content has become a must for every brand that wants to make itself heard.
Therefore, as indicated by data, live stream sessions have become the new popular way in which brands are trying to stay connected with their communities, especially in the actual social context.
And LinkedIn live in particular, is an extremely good opportunity to reach those audiences that are more active on this platform.
All in all, remember the key to keeping them hooked is interactive and valuable content!
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