LinkedIn Stories? Yep, You Heard it Here First!

This week, LinkedIn announced and launched LinkedIn Stories, a feature that many of us are more familiar with on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

So what exactly will LinkedIn Stories be about? Our thoughts exactly.

These Stories are a place for companies and employees to share snippets of their professional day in the form of images or short videos.

Stories on Instagram have proven popular so we predict LinkedIn having the same impact especially with the increase in use since the ‘new normal’ way of working. Over 500 million people use Instagram Stories each day but as LinkedIn is a professional social networking platform, there are a few best practices to keep in mind.

Here’s our take on content ideas and everything you need to know about LinkedIn Stories so you and your company can get posting!

Your First Story

It was only a matter of time before video came to full fruition on LinkedIn and with stories being the ‘go-to’ for short, snippets of fun – what better way for videos to really take off on this professional network. Not only does it encourage your network to learn more about you in a professional capacity, but it shows the fun side to any work environment too.

As you share more Stories, it will be viewed by more and more people, enabling your posts to be familiar to them, which could benefit your career, company or professional capability. Who knows, Stories could replace CV’s! More importantly, it could be a big driver towards your LinkedIn marketing strategy.

How Do LinkedIn Stories Work?

Timings

After posting, your Story will be visible for 24 hours. It can be seen by your connections and followers, and they can share it with anyone they’re connected with on LinkedIn too – which is great for relationship building.

See and Save

You can view your own Stories from the Stories section at the top of your homepage by tapping on your profile photo. You can also save individual posts from your Story but this has to be done within 24 hours of posting. After 24 hours, you can access the rich media you uploaded for your Story.

Editing

You, unfortunately, can’t edit Stories but you can delete the posts and repost them with updates.

Blocking Viewers

If for whatever reason you do not want someone to see a post, you can block a connection or follower so they won’t be able to see your Stories but keep in mind that their Stories won’t be shared with you either.

Result!

During the 24 hour period that your Story is visible, you can view and check on insights for each post. Check out Reach (determined by unique viewers) and viewer details such as name, job title and company (but this is dependent on their personal privacy settings).

Do’s and Dont’s

It’s important to be mindful of what you are sharing on the platform as one wrong move can have a knock-on effect on your career. Likewise, one great move will have a positive impact and will help you move forward within the platform.

Here are a few do’s and don’ts to follow:

Do:

• Use the right dimensions. Graphics and posts should be 1080px x 1920px. This makes them easy to read within the tool.
• Share quality content over quantity. Your network doesn’t want to be spammed or go through 10+ stories each day. If it is absolutely necessary to share 10 LinkedIn Stories in 24 hours, then do so but be mindful of how many people will be spending the time going through each one and what benefit it will offer them.
• Use subtitles in videos. Keep content easy to digest for your connections and add subtitles.
• Tag accounts if relevant, this will help maximise your reach!
• Be mindful of employers, customers, clients and future employers before posting.

Don’t:

• Share posts that are unprofessional or what could be deemed as too personal. If you have shared it to Facebook or Instagram, it may not be suitable for LinkedIn so think twice before publishing.
• Lengthy posts. LinkedIn Stories are meant to be easy to digest, simple and quick so don’t get too wordy or busy.
• Sharing content without credit. Like any other content on social media, don’t share someone else’s post and attempt to pass it off as your own. It will be noticed and does not reflect well on you.

How To Post On LinkedIn Stories

So how do you do it? Well, it’s pretty simple… but let us help you out!

You can post a LinkedIn Story if you’re a LinkedIn member or even a Page Admin, via the mobile app. Either take a photo or record a video using the Stories camera or upload an image from your gallery.

If you have created graphics to support and upload onto your Stories, make sure to have them saved on your mobile device’s gallery so you can easily locate and post.

You can then edit the post by adding text, captions or tagging relevant accounts.

Finally, hit post!

Excel Your Social Media Marketing

We can provide you with a LinkedIn marketing strategy specifically tailored to your business’ goals. Whether it be through organic social or even paid social, we listen to your objectives and help you get there with our expert social campaigns.

Our social media team is passionate about helping you achieve the best results for your business. Whether you require training or management, we’re on hand to help. Call us on

0333 772 0189 or visit our website.