September 5, 2023
One size doesn’t fit all with social – but it’s becoming increasingly apparent that LinkedIn’s audience wants to absorb content the same way they would on Facebook, TikTok or Insta – not that it’s becoming a more visual platform, but for any visual-based post, those first few seconds are vitally important. Here’s a few suggestions on how to make that next social post or campaign ‘pop’.
Mobile first
It’s easy to lean into the standard landscape format for visuals, but LinkedIn isn’t the standard desktop-viewed social platform it was once perceived as. Significant rises in mobile usage for social aps required more vertical formats – they are easier to digest and see while scrolling. Keep it varied of course, and don’t neglect the landscape and square formats – but vertical is becoming the way to go with videos and animations.
First few seconds are key
This goes for anything on social; make the first 2/3 seconds count. People can view LinkedIn when they have a break or just for curiosity’s sake – it’s up to you to grab their attention. Steer clear of stagnant static images with lots of text – don’t make people work hard. Animations and videos are leading the way in social performance; keep it colourful, make lettering stand-out and keep things flowing. Start with the key messaging – the pull, the market-interest – and stay away from self-indulgent speak.
Think of it like YouTube ads – the ‘skip ad’ option comes up after 5 seconds or so; what would you do with the visual if you had to cram it into 5 seconds?
Short and sweet
If you lean towards videos/animations/audiograms – don’t make them longer than 2+ mins. Video views tend to drop off severely after 90 or so seconds, even for the most engaging videos – so make it front loaded by way of interesting bits and pieces and don’t think that because it’s a long vid, people will care – because they don’t. They’re killing time, don’t waste it.
Less noise, more poise
One of the biggest pitfalls of animations and video content is focussing too much on sound and what’s being said/impactful opening music. On social, most people don’t want to hear it – unless they’re on TikTok or Insta. People prefer captions and so trying to have a nice jingle in your opening segment of the ‘corporaty-style’ video will be ignored.
Audiograms have sound of course, but they also include text to follow along to. Be sure to include captions in any video that requires is – don’t rely on people to listen.
Variety is the spice of life
There are countless ad formats on LinkedIn, so don’t be married to a favourite.
- Static still has its place – but make it fun, less wordy and use colours – and include people, even stock imagery. Statistically, visuals that include people always perform better than those that don’t.
- Animations do garner more attention that typical statics, so try and make that static flow a bit and you might see more clicks.
- Videos are king on social – if you’re making one, make it short and for goodness sake make it interesting. Market in mind. Don’t talk about your new product and don’t talk about why you are doing something – talk about customer problems and how you’re solving them.
- Audiograms – got some good podcast content or audio? Use audiograms, put some intriguing imagery as the backdrop and snippet the interesting bits. But think customer-first content.
- Carousels – these are increasingly popular on LinkedIn; for paid, using these can help you tell a story and utilise multiple backgrounds and colour sequences. Be fun and be brave – don’t keep it to one colour and move things around on each so each click reveals something different.
It’s time to start looking at those brand guidelines and seeing where you can push the boundaries.
If you want to see some examples of how we’ve helped clients with their visual impact across multiple campaigns of all shapes and sizes, check us out here.