How to use LinkedIn Stories

LinkedIn has just added a new feature! You can now add Stories! Stories have been on Instagram for some time now and more recently they appeared on Facebook (well, that’s because Facebook owns Instagram!). So, it was only a matter of time before LinkedIn added the Stories feature.

However, before you go crazy adding random videos think about your purpose for being on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is not Facebook, it’s not Instagram, it’s not Twitter and it’s definitely not Tiktok. Think carefully before you share your stories on this platform and ask yourself what is your purpose on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a great place to communicate and present your Personal Brand and that’s why it’s important everything you do on each platform aligns with your purpose. If you are looking for a job, then share job-related videos and encourage engagement from people in your sector or discipline. If you are looking to build your business brand and gain clients, then share videos about your product or service.

Stories are short videos that you can upload via your mobile device and overlay your Profile Photo.  LinkedIn Stories are a maximum of 20-seconds.  This will no doubt be increased in the future when LinkedIn has had a chance to assess it’s popularity. 

All social media platforms have their brand and purpose and they offer something different to the account user and audiences. 

Even though the social media platforms are different, they have a couple of things in common that you absolutely need to know and we’ll explain in a moment.

As stated above, all social media platforms are different and it’s good to understand what works and what doesn’t work on each.

Twitter was originally set up for Podcasting. However, with its searchable hashtags, it became a great place to interact with other people in real-time watching the same TV programs. It’s much more than that these days and has a big political influence and it seems to be a place people like to rant and troll.

Facebook was mostly for keeping in touch with friends around the world however, businesses do very well driving traffic to their offer, product, or services. It’s fast-paced on Facebook and the trick is to grab someone’s attention within seconds!

Instagram is all about the visuals (pictures, posts, and videos) however, don’t let those cute photos mislead you, there are billions of pounds of business gained via Instagram accounts.

Tiktok is…well, where do I start! Tiktok really offers something for everyone and it was a surprise to us when we finally gave in and joined in August 2020.

Tiktok has Thought Leaders, Subject Matter Experts, Doctors, Lawyers, and Teachers and the list goes on. It’s also about entertainment, you’ve got dancers, singers, comedians, actors and much more. There are ordinary people, to extraordinary people and, everyone in-between!

LinkedIn is a great place to network. Its original purpose was to be able to network digitally with business owners and senior managers.  There are literally millions of decision-makers scrolling for information and people to network and do business with.

People simply cannot get enough content. Content is king on all social media platforms and the algorithms will reward you if you share regularly and share interesting, and engaging content.

A few years after the launch of LinkedIn, they decided it was also a great place to connect hiring managers to candidates and that’s when they added the job posting feature.

LinkedIn is more than a digital business card, it’s a micro-website to present your experience, skills, knowledge, expertise, and qualifications. It’s also a place you can share updates regularly, communicate to your contacts, and post your blogs and articles.

Think carefully before you share random videos and consider whether the video aligns with your purpose:

• Are you looking for a job?
• Do you want to grow your business?
• Are you looking for clients?
• Do you want to network with your peers?
• Would you like to grow your business brand?

It’s really important you give your purpose some consideration first.

This question is far easier to answer if you know your purpose.  Everything you share on LinkedIn needs to be aligned with your purpose and personal brand. 

Let’s share some ideas for you if you are looking for a job: 

• Post about your expertise and share your knowledge
• Join relevant groups and start, or get involved in a discussion
• Ask for help, however, be specific about who you are looking to connect with
• Share your knowledge of your sector, industry, or discipline.
• Keep up to date with regulation and legislation in your sector
• Celebrate people’s success as well as your own

There are a few things all the platforms have in common. They want to keep you on their platform and will prioritize content with good watch times. If you have an engaging video and people watch it over and over again, the algorithms love that and will share it with more and more people.

Social media algorithms don’t really care about likes. Likes don’t keep people on the platform and don’t even keep them watching the content. It’s also possible for the software to automatically like posts and social media platforms don’t like bots either. They like human interaction and yes, they can tell and that will significantly reduce your reach (who sees your posts and videos!)

[bctt tweet=”The longer you can keep people watching your LinkedIn Stories or interacting with your posts, the more the algorithms will work for you and put your content into more people’s newsfeed. #linkedInstories #linkedintips” username=”InterviewCoachD”]

The more people viewing your content, the more opportunities there’ll be for you. And, that’s why your content needs to align with your purpose because you will attract relevant people. If I was sharing photos of a cute dog, I’ll attract people that love dogs but not necessarily looking for an Interview Coach! However, if I have photos of me in my home office with a dog! That’s probably okay!

Give LinkedIn Stories ago and assess whether it’s having the desired outcome.  People are often a little resistant to new features on LinkedIn at first. 

It was the same when they introduced hashtags, people generally didn’t like that a Twitter feature had made its way onto a professional platform.  However, when people understood it had some real benefits finding people, jobs, companies, and content they soon got used to it.  

It’s the same with LinkedIn Stories, people will soon be embracing the new feature and share more and more.