Contact Sales
As originally seen on Forbes
What are LinkedIn stories? They are short snack-sized videos you can post to LinkedIn. “Stories” in this sense were first born on Snapchat then Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter followed. They are informal, off-the-cuff videos that allow people to share advice, ideas, hot takes, and pet peeves. It was inevitable they would make their way to LinkedIn, but do we really need them?
If done right, absolutely. Think about it, what better window into your personality, expertise, and knowledge than having a chance to speak live in an informal setting to your connections? Shared knowledge drives LinkedIn, and those who have the most valuable insights and knowledge to share will gain greater visibility. Stories just provides another venue to accomplish this.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Thibaud Clément, the CEO and Founder of Loomly, about the benefits of stories. He explained the decision of LinkedIn to launch stories this way, “on Facebook, one billion stories [have been] shared. For the Facebook ecosystem, stories are the new news feed. They are becoming the new news feed.” There’s a reason that if you go to Facebook, stories are at the very top of the page. They are the quickest and easiest way to see what is going on in the world, as opposed to taking time to endlessly scroll through your feed.
Will LinkedIn stories take over our news feeds as the most important part? Thibaud thinks it has that potential, “stories give us a unique opportunity to create snackable content to stay on the top of mind of our followers.” LinkedIn’s new stories have the opportunity to revolutionize B2B marketing, but as per usual, at a distance, jumping into this deep end may seem intimidating. Our professionals really ready to post low quality videos shot on their cell phones? It may be a hard sell, but that also just creates opportunities to those ambitious professionals willing to do things differently.
“This is a great opportunity for brands to build transparency around their processes, growing employer brands around employees,” explained Thibaud. This is one of the best ways to give your company a human voice, instead of more business speak on a growing page of faceless corporations.
There is a balance, though, between some really sketchy home recording and an overproduced nightmare. Thibaud recommended that the best way to hit the perfect median is to make sure you have a decent phone camera and prevent too much shaky cam. DJI and gimbals are both great options to prevent image destabilization.
How do we make our stories stand out? Now, I’ve spoken about the LinkedIn algorithm in the past and how it prioritizes and de-prioritizes different posts. Well, there are ways to make stories more visible, as well.
Thibaud’s advice was, “don’t just publish a post once, make it part of a series or a theme.” You want to draw people in and give them a reason to tune into your stories.
As LinkedIn stories continue to evolve, they are worth checking out. I’d love to hear thoughts you have on the experience; join the conversation on my LinkedIn and Twitter. Is anybody absolutely crushing it with their stories? Feel free to email me your examples to dayton@clearviewsocial.com.
As originally seen on Forbes