LinkedIn has released a new guide to using video on its platform. Here’s what supply chain companies need to know to get the most out of video on LinkedIn.

Highlights:

Effective B2B marketing videos start with an analysis of your prospects’ unique purchasing journey and needs.
Videos for the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey should be concise and geared to forging an emotional connection.
Bottom-of-the-funnel video types include product demonstrations, welcome videos, webinars, and FAQ sessions.

Visual content, particularly video, is the future of social media marketing. And video on LinkedIn is no exception. A recent report from Kleiner Perkins indicates that 62% of B2B marketers rate video as an effective content-marketing tactic. Not only that, but, according to internal data from LinkedIn, users are 20 times more likely to share a video on the platform than any other type of content.

Thanks to a recent guide published by the platform, leveraging video on LinkedIn for the supply chain has never been more attainable. The Tech Marketer’s Guide to B2B Video is an invaluable resource. Whether you’re relatively new to B2B video marketing, or a seasoned video creator, the guide contains useful nuggets of information, as well as examples of effective video on LinkedIn, for marketers at any stage.

We’ve pulled out key points for you.

6 steps to approaching video on LinkedIn

It’s worth pointing out that the six steps that LinkedIn identifies to building an effective video strategy are applicable elsewhere as well. Your strategy for video on LinkedIn should likely also apply to your strategy for video content across your digital assets.

1) Analyze your buyer’s journey

Consider the unique buyer’s journey for your company. What content do prospects want to see at each stage, and what actions do you want them to take?

2) Set your marketing strategy

What medium is optimal for delivering content at each stage? Which stages are particularly conducive to video content?

3) Establish metrics and KPIs

Choosing the right key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics will allow you to determine how your content is performing.

4) Create video content

At the stages where video content is the best way to deliver, what type of video is most effective?

5) Target your content

Use your understanding of your target audiences, in combination with the targeting capabilities of LinkedIn, to ensure that your video is reaching the right people at the right times.

6) Optimize your campaign

Keep track of your data. Note what’s working. Adjust what isn’t performing.

Using video on LinkedIn throughout the buyer’s journey

Awareness

The first stage of the buyer’s journey, the awareness stage, is particularly opportune for video on LinkedIn. At this point, your goal is to tell a story, evoke a response, and introduce your brand and products.

Videos at this stage should be concise and geared to connecting with your audience, demonstrating an understanding of their challenges, and how your company is positioned to address those challenges.

LinkedIn’s guide points out a major advantage of video: its measurability. As opposed to text-based marketing, where your knowledge of audience behavior is limited to downloads and time on page, video on LinkedIn comes with richer data. You can tell, for example, when someone has watched your video and when they stopped. This means you can adjust your video length suit the preferences of your audience.

At the awareness stage, important video metrics include how many times your video was viewed, how much of the video was watched, and how many viewers responded to your call to action.

Consideration

Using video on LinkedIn for the second stage of the buyer’s journey, the consideration stage, is about introducing your products and their features, as well as giving a sense of what it’s like to work with your business. Ideal video formats at this stage include explainers, case studies, webinars, how-to videos, and virtual tours. Your foremost goal is to be authentic and to represent your business and the solutions it offers.

Key metrics at this stage are about engagement. Keep track of the number of interactions your videos get (comments, likes, clicks, shares, etc.), compared to the number of views. Also keep an eye on your estimated cost per view (eCPV) to track the efficacy of your video budget.

Decision

Because the decision phase of the buyer’s journey is all about personalization, video has traditionally been used less here. But that’s starting to change. Authentic, trust-building videos can be a powerful asset for the decision stage, reassuring your prospects that they’re making the right decision, using testimonials from existing customers. Welcome videos, FAQ sessions, and webinars are also effective in the decision phase, as well as full-length product demonstrations.

If you’re using lead-generation forms with your video on LinkedIn, keep track of which generate the most leads, as well as the quality of those leads. Otherwise, track click-through rates to gain insights into your estimated cost per click (eCPC).

Metrics for video on LinkedIn

LinkedIn offers a robust set of metrics for videos on its platforms:

Views: At least one second of playback while the video is at least 50% on screen on desktop, or 300 milliseconds on mobile
Views at 25%: The number of times your video was watched at 25% of its length, including watches that skipped to this point
Views at 50%: The number of times your video was watched at 50% of its length, including watches that skipped to this point
Views at 75%: The number of times your video was watched at 75% of its length, including watches that skipped to this point
Completions: The number of times your video was watched at 97-100% of its length, including watches that skipped to this point
Completion Rate: Completions divided by views as a percentage
View Rate: Number of views divided by impressions, multiplied by 100
eCPV: Estimated cost per view
Full Screen Plays: Total number of clicks to view video in full screen

Do you use video on LinkedIn for your business? Let us know your experience in the comments.

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How to Use Video on LinkedIn for the Supply Chain