I’m not going to use up space in this post trying to persuade you to use video on LinkedIn. The jury is long since in on that issue and I’ve written about it elsewhere.
Simply put, including video in your LinkedIn content mix will boost engagement substantially. All the research, my own experience and that of hundreds of my clients bear this out.
So, I’m assuming you’ve decided to give it a red hot go and jump in. Feeling a bit nervous?
I hated the idea to begin with and was very uncomfortable when I started recording video clips. I was a bit stilted in my delivery and I got a lot of the technical stuff wrong.
But guess what? That didn’t actually matter. I learned as I went along, got better through practice and now it’s a standard part of the content I create and publish every week.
So don’t worry about not being perfect. You have to start somewhere and “done” is better than “perfect but never posted”.
Still with me? Then let’s get down to the basics.
So what do you need to get started?
Before we worry about cameras and lighting, make sure you can write a decent script. If you’re not a great wordsmith you may want to get a friend to help you. If you do have a budget you could consider engaging a freelance copywriter with relevant experience.
Your video script will need a catchy title to entice people to click through once you post it on LinkedIn.
And remember that on social media your audience has a very short attention span. So, the running time should be no more than 90 seconds. Anything longer and you’ll find people won’t watch it.
It may take a bit of practice to get this right. I’ve learned that for the pace I use, somewhere between 1400 – 1500 characters work well for me.
The script on its own is not enough. When you post a video on LinkedIn it’s always a good idea to post a brief piece of copy that ‘hooks’ your audience and makes them want to click through to watch the clip. Capture the essence of the video without giving away too much so that they need to watch to get the whole message.
What about kit?
Let’s put this one to rest straight away. When you’re just starting out you definitely do not need to spend thousands on the latest high tech gear. In fact, although you may want to invest a bit as you go, for this type of video you may never need a full-on studio setup.
The smartphones we all carry these days have very good cameras that will do a great job without having to invest in the latest you-beaut 4K video camera.
You may want to add an inexpensive tripod or even just a selfie stick. Just make sure you can hold it without getting too wobbly.
I do almost all of my LinkedIn videos outside, usually on the beach. That can make the lighting a bit tricky as it can be too bright sometimes. The first few I did years ago I was wearing sunglasses. Rookie mistake!
Nowadays I pick my time for where the sun’s going to be and so that there’s not too much noise around.
Whatever you choose though, make sure the background, the ambient light and ambient noise aren’t too distracting.
Sound and lighting
Starting out you also don’t need fancy equipment for this. If you pick your location well, the ambient light will usually be fine. But you can step it up without a huge spend if you invest in a simple fill lighting kit for a couple of hundred dollars.
The same goes for sound. Nothing kills a good video faster than bad sound. So if the mic on your laptop isn’t great, invest in a decent condenser mic. Again you can probably grab one online for under a hundred bucks.
There is one extra item I would strongly advise you do get hold of. Research shows that well over 80% of social media videos are watched with the sound off. So make sure you set yourself up to include subtitles, also called Closed Captions and use them for every video.
What next?
Recording and posting videos is only part of the story. What topics you use for videos and when you post them need to fit into your overall strategy for growing your business via Linkedin.
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