LinkedIn Video Advertising: The Importance of Keeping a Professional Tone

Since its launch in 2017, LinkedIn video has proven that the platform is much more than just a place to post written and static B2B content. 

Video posts have generated more than 300 million impressions on the platform. That’s a lot! Additionally, they also tend to earn an average of three-times the engagement of written content. 

LinkedIn, it seems, is no different than any other platform: video content directly translates to higher engagement and boosts in revenue. 

But unlike other platforms, LinkedIn is unique in that it exists as a business-oriented platform. As such, your messaging should be much different than it would be on a platform that’s consumer-centric. This guide will cover everything you need to know about crafting LinkedIn video. You’ll learn everything from the technical basics of LinkedIn native video to the best practices to ensure that you achieve the highest levels of engagement from your target audience. 

Let’s get started!

The Types of LinkedIn Video

Embedded Videos

LinkedIn allows you to embed video content from other video hosting platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo and then share it on the platform. However, since LinkedIn wants to keep users on its site, it’s a much more effective strategy to upload videos directly there. 

Linked Native Video

• Minimum video length: 3 seconds
• Maximum video length: 10 minutes
• Minimum file size: 75KB
• Maximum file size: 5 GB
• Orientation: Horizontal or vertical. Note: Vertical videos are cropped into a square in the feed.
• Aspect ratio: 1:2.4 or 2.4:1
• Resolution range: 256×144 to 4096×2304
• Frame rates: 10 – 60 frames per second
• Bit rates: 30 Mbps
• Web formats: mp4, mov
• File formats: ASF, AVI, FLV, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, MKV, QuickTime, WebM, H264/AVC, MP4, VP8, VP9, WMV2, and WMV3.
• Formats that are not supported include: ProRes, MPEG-2, Raw Video, VP6, WMV1as.

LinkedIn Native Video refers to any video that you upload directly to the platform or create directly on the platform itself. Native video will automatically play in the feed, which is much more likely to grab the attention of users as they scroll content. Research shows that native video can garner up-to 10 times more shares than embedded content, so be sure to use native content rather than embedded content whenever possible. 

LinkedIn Video Ads

• Minimum video length: 3 seconds
• Maximum video length: 30 minutes
• Minimum file size: 75KB
• Maximum file size: 200MB
• Orientation: Only horizontal. Vertical videos are not supported by LinkedIn video ads.
• Pixel and aspect ratio:
• 360p (480 x 360; wide 640 x 360)
• 480p (640 x 480)
• 720p (960 x 720; wide 1280 x 720)
• 1080p (1440 x 1080; wide 1920 x 1080)
• File format: MP4
• Frame rate: Maximum of 30 frames per second.
• Audio format: AAC or MPEG4
• Audio size: Less than 64KHz

LinkedIn video ads are purchased advertisements that appear in the video feed. These can be targeted based on a wide variety of parameters ranging from locations, industries, job titles, and more. Ad campaigns have the potential to grow brand awareness, brand consideration, and lead generation. 

You can either create a unique video ad or sponsor an existing company post to run as an ad. 

LinkedIn Video Best Practices

It’s important to remember that, unlike Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, Linkedin is a professional, B2B platform. As such, the way in which you present yourself and your brand has to be different than you would on those other platforms. Here are a few tips and tricks to ensure that you are putting your best foot forward.

Optimize Your Setup

While organic, user-generated footage may work best on TikTok, you want to aim for a bit more of a professional setup on LinkedIn. They say to dress for the job you want; well, shoot content for the job you want, also. Here are a few things to keep in mind. 

• Lighting: Always make sure that you are well-lit and that you don’t have any large sources of light directly behind you. Being back-lit will blow out your background and put you entirely in a dark shadow.
• Camera: The great news is that camera technology has made it so that your cell phone camera is, most likely, ideal for shooting most of your content. Just make sure that you are in focus and in the area of the frame that you want to capture. 
• Background and Setting – Since you will be the hero, avoid filming in an area that is distracting or cluttered. Find a place that is well-lit, organized, and in which you are comfortable filming. 

Put Your Essential Information First

Studies show that viewers are most attentive in the first 3 seconds of viewing a video. Therefore, place the video’s hook at the very beginning. Attention will further wane by 10 seconds, so it’s imperative that the topic of the video and its core message be brought up by that point. 

Even though you may be distributing a longer-form video, you need to be direct and to the point with your messaging. Otherwise, your audience may not stay around to view past a few seconds. 

Design for Having No Sound

A staggering 85 percent of social media videos are played without sound. Therefore, it’s crucial that you design your video concept to be viewed without sound. Don’t have all of your messaging delivered through off-camera voice over. And, if you do, be sure to include closed captioning so that it can be read if muted. 

Choose the Right Length

According to data released by LinkedIn, the most successful video ads are less than 15 seconds long. However, when it comes to native video content, lengths can certainly vary. 

Here are some things to consider:

• When it comes to longer-form content, focus on storytelling. A study by Linkedin found that long-form video can drive just as many clicks as short-form video if it tells an effective story.
• Upper-funnel videos (meaning brand-focused videos) should stick to a 30-90 second video length. 
• Try not to exceed 15 minutes for content. Anything more and you should think of posting to long-form platforms such as Vimeo or YouTube. 

Close With a Strong Call-to-Action

When you are speaking to a B2B audience, you want to make sure you provide clear and concise next steps at the end of your video. You can’t always be sure where a potential lead is in their buying journey, so it’s imperative that you lay out exactly where you want them to go and what you want them to do. It could be a website, a form, or a subscription to a newsletter. Regardless, your call-to-action needs to be direct and targeted at the end of your video.

Don’t Skimp on Supporting Copy

More than half of video viewers read the supporting text that accompanies the video. Do not miss this great opportunity to help support your messaging or drive home your point. We recommend that you keep it short and pithy. Somewhere around 120 characters typically works great. 

Adding hashtags to your copy is a great way to increase organic reach of your posts, as is adding relevant companies or members. And always remember to include a link to your website in the copy if it makes sense. LinkedIn has found that posts with links have 45 percent more engagement than those without links. 

LinkedIn may be the first opportunity that your brand has to interact with potential customers. As such, it is incredibly important that you interact with comments and questions as they come up on your posts. Not only will you be rewarded by the LinkedIn algorithm, but you will also be seen as a brand that is engaged and direct with its audience. 

Wrapping Up

Linkedin is a fantastic platform to directly engage with your B2B audience. And, just like other platforms, video is the medium that surpasses any other when it comes to performance and engagement. 

By crafting professional video content, thoughtful messaging, and supportive written copy, you can ensure that your LinkedIn video efforts will result in the best performance and returns possible.