Are You Ready for LinkedIn Live?
By: Sophie Maerowitz
February 14, 2019
It may be a little late to the live video party, but LinkedIn finally has unrolled LinkedIn Live, which allows users to broadcast of-the-moment footage. Unfortunately for marketers eager to start testing it, LinkedIn Live is invite-only for now. Take heart, though—a Feb. 11 TechCrunch report points out that the LinkedIn Live rollout is likely to mirror the platform’s article-publishing feature. This also started in a small beta group before being made available to all users.
The lull between beta and full rollout is a perfect opportunity for social marketers to start brainstorming ways to use the feature. Here are some ways social media professionals might be able to harness LinkedIn Live—and the features that make it stand apart from other live video platforms.
Quarterly announcements and earnings calls. With companies like T-Mobile live streaming earnings calls, some communicators may be looking for similar ways to engage stakeholders in a more newsworthy format than a standard conference call. While your C-suite might raise eyebrows at holding an Instagram Live to announce Q2 earnings, why not stream your results on the platform where a critical mass of users go for their business news? Investors and clients are more likely to engage with a financial announcement made on their home turf.
Remote events. Unlike Facebook Live, which can require complex workarounds to incorporate third-party live streaming services, LinkedIn is bringing in third-party vendors from the get-go. This is a net win for brands that are less comfortable using raw and grainy live video in their communications. Wirecast, Switcher Studio, Wowza Media Systems, Socialive and Brandlive have signed on to lend services. The result promises more polished and pre-recorded “live” video, according to TechCrunch. This would be a perfect use case for holding conferences remotely, charging attendees for the premium experience and allowing them to type in questions for panelists and keynoters.
Better behind-the-scenes video. LinkedIn is growing in popularity as an employee engagement platform. Companies already use LinkedIn’s existing video features to aid in recruitment and showcase office culture. With live video, tech companies can target potential software engineers with live, employee-led hackathons. Nonprofits can document and champion their volunteers’ efforts as they offer services within their local communities. While brands already have done such activities on other live platforms, it will be interesting to see how LinkedIn’s audience of professionals reacts to company-related live video content. Let’s face it: As much as your Aunt Martha loves commenting on your company Facebook videos, she’s probably not your target audience in the long run.
Follow Sophie: @SophieMaerowitz
