Back in March, LinkedIn rolled out the ability for brands to create sponsored video for company pages, a new ad option for the platform.
This addition provides a new consideration for LinkedIn marketing, and with LinkedIn users 20x more likely to share a video on the platform than any other type of post, it's definitely one worth considering.
To help with this, here's a simple, three-step strategy to use a LinkedIn video ad to both increase your website traffic and attract warm leads for your business.
1. Pick A Landing Page With Value
You can create a specific landing page to direct your LinkedIn traffic to, or you can pick an existing page - but the key here is to provide something of value.
When someone clicks on your ad and lands on your website, you need to reward that behavior by providing additional information that's relevant and beneficial to them.
The primary goal is to introduce them to your website, and once they're there, to add them to your mailing list so that you have a point of contact to market to them in the future.
For the sake of this post, let's say you've written an amazing blog post on your website entitled, "5 Proven Ways to Dominate LinkedIn Marketing in 2018".
Now, that you know where you want to funnel your LinkedIn traffic to, it's time to create a quick video.
2. Create A Quick and Compelling Video
First things first, your video doesn't need to be an elaborate Hollywood blockbuster - in fact, the more personal and straight-forward you make it, the better.
Keep these tips in mind as you record your video:
- Make sure your video is well lit - If you don't have adequate lighting, sit facing the sunshine from a window or door.
- Be aware of the audio quality - If you're not using a separate microphone, make sure your phone or camera is close enough to capture good audio. Speak clearly and take notice if the room you're shooting in has too much echo. If it does, find another place.
- Have a plan for what you're going to say in the video - You don't have much time to get to the point. Jot down some bullet points for the structure of your video so that you know what you're going to say and in what order.
Video Structure
The total length for your video needs should be no longer than one minute. If you can make your point in less time, that's even better.
As you're jotting down your bullet points for your video, you'll want to preview your point (provide a hook) in the first 10 seconds.
Remember, your video will autoplay once it comes into the viewer's feed, so if you don't grab their attention quickly and give them a reason to keep watching, they'll just keep scrolling.
Here's an example of a quick hook:
"If you're having trouble marketing your business on LinkedIn, I want to help you. Today I'm going to share with you 5 Proven Ways to Dominate LinkedIn Marketing in 2018. Here's number one..."
Next, take 30-35 seconds to give your viewers the first tip in your blog post. Make sure the advice you share in the video is impactful. Don't hold back. Provide value.
For the last 15 seconds of your video, provide the tease. To get the other four tips, they're going to need to click the button to go to your blog post.
Video Format And Subtitles
As you create your video, you'll also need to keep these formatting issues in mind.
- Record your video horizontally - Vertical format is not currently supported on LinkedIn
- Your video will need to be in MP4 format - If you're using your iPhone to record your video, you'll be all set. If you're using a camera, make sure it can record in MP4, or use editing software to render it into the proper format.
- Add subtitles to your final video - Again, as your video ad will autoplay when it comes into view on the feed, it's important to grab attention - and sound, by default on LinkedIn, will be on mute. Be sure to add subtitles to your video so viewers will see more than just a talking head.
You can find a complete overview of LinkedIn video ad specs here.
3. Create Your Ad
Once you've determined your landing page and created your video, you're ready to create your ad in LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
To create a video ad, you must be:
A Company Page admin with user access to the Campaign Manager tool and have a role higher than Viewer
OR
Granted permission to post Direct Sponsored Content
Once you've created and named your campaign, you can choose one of three objectives for your ad.
- Send people to your website or content
- Collect leads using LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
- Get video views
For this example, you'd select the first objective to direct people to your blog post.
From there you can upload your video, select your target audience criteria, and set your budget.
Don't Forget to Set Up the Insight Tag
As with any advertising, having good data to analyze and apply to future campaigns is invaluable to maximize your ad spend. That's why you need to make sure the LinkedIn Insight Tag is set up on your website.
According to LinkedIn, the Insight Tag enables you to:
"...track conversions, retarget website visitors, and unlock additional insights about members interacting with your ads."
Once your campaign is active, review the data from your Insight Tag regularly. From there, you can retarget your website visitors with new content, reach out to them directly, and convert these warm leads into customers.
With video content rising in popularity on all platforms, its a worthy addition to your LinkedIn toolkit, and its worth exploring the value of the option in your strategic process.