Video content is one of the most effective forms of content for driving engagement – that’s not what’s up for debate here. The question that’s led you to this article is, “Does video content really work on LinkedIn?” On a platform that prides itself on professionalism and is often filled with “this isn’t Facebook comments”, should you use your precious time to create video content?
The short answer is ‘yes’ but if that was enough for you then you wouldn’t still be reading. So, let’s get into why video content has a place on LinkedIn and how you can make it work for you.
Why does video work?
Most people think that video content is effective because it’s easy to consume. While this isn’t wrong, the effectiveness of video content is about something much deeper: authenticity.
Text posts can be polished. On most platforms, they can even be edited after posting. So, there is always the risk that those words on the screen will only ever be just that – words on the screen. Of course, you can still form genuine connections with these words but it’s much harder since getting across your tone of voice and genuineness often relies on the reader’s own understanding.
Incorporating video content into your strategy makes this much easier. You can quite literally introduce people to your tone of voice with your actual voice! As well as increasing the engagement on these video posts, it will also spill over to any text based posts as people get to know you.
Video content just comes across as much more genuine, especially when you don’t cut it down within an inch of its life to remove every small stumble or breath. The authenticity of this video content will go a long way in helping you build credibility and forge trusting relationships with your audience.
How can you make video work for you?
Going off of that last point, the best way to make video content work for you is to not heavily edit them down. I’m not talking about adding effects and the like (even though those should also be kept to a minimum to avoid overwhelming your audience) but cutting away at the authenticity of your video.
When people see the face of the speaker, it subconsciously adds an element of authenticity to the content. However, this authenticity will slowly fade away if your face and speech are suddenly cutting into a new point or obviously splicing together different edits of the same sentences. When you do this, all your audience can focus on is what you’ve cut out and, therefore, what you’re keeping from them.
So, does video content really work on LinkedIn?
Despite what some LinkedIn users might make you think, yes it really does work. Across every platform, audiences are valuing authenticity over all else – this is especially the case on LinkedIn. It’s a platform where you’re promising to deliver value and insight as well as asking people to part with their money for your service or product. You can’t expect people to do this if you’re not providing the authenticity needed to build credibility and trust.
Video content provides the opportunity for you to lead with this authenticity as well as deliver value in an easy to consume format.