LinkedIn Stories: How can brands use them?

LinkedIn Stories: What are they and how can brands use them? In recent years, the way we use certain social media has changed a lot. All thanks to the new updates and features these platforms have implemented. Now, the well-known “stories” are the new trend on the main social networks (Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube) and LinkedIn is not far behind. So, the stories as we know them today have become the fashionable format. In addition, they are so popular that new tools have come up to incorporate them into company web pages. Nowadays, they are already present in most of the important social platforms on the market.

Regarding the use of Stories on LinkedIn, this platform is currently testing this feature. They plan to continue its development in the coming months. The way this new Stories feature will look and work has not been confirmed yet. Likewise, LinkedIn’s Senior Director of Product Management, Pete Davies, said that this new format will serve to inspire more conversations on this network. In this regard, Davies said: “Last year we began to wonder what Stories would be like in a professional context”.

In addition, he explained why having a “light” and “fun” way to share an update has as much space on LinkedIn as on any other platform. On this aspect, Davies stated: “Sometimes we want to have a way to connect, laugh with our colleagues, and move on.”

Based on Davies’ post, it looks like it will display LinkedIn Stories in full-screen mode, similar to Instagram Stories. This feature will also include a messaging function. Likewise, this will allow the user to have quick and informal conversations within the platform.

Not LinkedIn’s first innovation

This is not the first time that LinkedIn has tried to test this way of sharing stories, as in 2018 it tested a version of stories called “Voices of the students”.

This first attempt at LinkedIn Stories was solely for college students in the United States.

However, this version previewed what the new version would look like on the LinkedIn mobile app.

In this sense, LinkedIn’s support for stories shows the extent to which social media has evolved since Facebook first switched from a series of connected profiles to a centralized news service in 2006.

Stories are essential on digital platforms

Stories are the new norm and users prefer to “share (content) in the moment” rather than committing to a permanent post on their feed. In fact, in recent years, we have seen how people post less on their Instagram feeds. Also, a recent study with Fohr found that influencers are now posting 30% less to their feeds than in 2016.

So what does this mean for brands?

This means that this new feature will allow you to share information with your audience in a new way. Likewise, this can be useful to professionally motivate them. However, while it can be exhausting to learn yet another way of interaction, there are many ways to take advantage of this new opportunity. Thus, this will allow you to achieve your business goals.

How to incorporate stories into your marketing strategy

Like Instagram, LinkedIn gives you a great opportunity to establish a stronger and more enjoyable dialogue with your audience through your stories.

However, before you execute your new content strategy with LinkedIn Stories, you must define who your target audience is.

Likewise, you have to know why you want to grab their attention.

Furthermore, to define your content strategy, you must keep in mind some aspects. These are understanding your audience, what are they interested in, and what you want to achieve. Once you do this, you will be on the way to success.

There are four ways to use LinkedIn Stories in your marketing strategy. These are:

Encourage opinion leaders to give professional advice, LinkedIn Stories.

LinkedIn is a great platform to share a leadership mindset. Furthermore, this new format is a good way to present your knowledge in a dynamic and attractive way. In this regard, sharing helpful tips will always be a sure way to grab your audience’s attention. These recommendations can be for HR or creative design teams.

Also, remember to keep your content appropriate to the fast and easy-to-digest nature of stories.

Share event updates in real-time, LinkedIn Stories.

Stories usually have a short lifespan, and on LinkedIn, it will not be different.

This makes them the perfect tool to share content about live events.

These can be from large companies’ announcements to awards ceremonies. Likewise, sharing live events clips can be a great way to showcase what’s going on in your company.

This can also be a great tool for creating extra publicity for an event.

You could also ask the keynote speakers or event coordinators to share short audio clips on what to expect at the event.

Host a corporate question-and-answer session, LinkedIn Stories.

Like Instagram Stories, LinkedIn Stories are incredible for showing the more human side of your brand on social media. Likewise, organizing a “Q&A” on Stories is a great way to share the history of your company and connect with the audience. To define these questions, you can invite your audience to send them to you in advance. This could be through direct messages or a traditional LinkedIn feed post.

Share announcements and news about your brand, LinkedIn Stories.

If you are one of the first brands to use LinkedIn Stories, chances are you will get a great deal of extra time with your audience on LinkedIn. So it might be a great idea to share all the important updates to your brand, even if you have a post on your feed about them. Whether you are sharing job opportunities or a product launch, you can take advantage of this new channel to reach a wider audience. Plus, if you are one of the first to adapt to LinkedIn Stories, you may be putting yourself ahead of your competition.

Report on topics related to your industry, LinkedIn Stories.

In addition to using LinkedIn to update digital resumes and search for jobs, many people browse their LinkedIn feed for information related to their industry.

If other brands have already shared topics about the industry on Instagram and Facebook, what’s stopping you from doing it on LinkedIn?

Likewise, you can share valuable content about your own industry on LinkedIn. This can be useful for users who visit the site to learn about their own field.

Adapt blog content to a story format, LinkedIn Stories.

Consider taking advantage of the content you already have to create a guide for a story. These can be blogs or articles that you have posted before.

For example, if you have written a step-by-step guide-style post or list, you might consider making a page of your story with each step or list item. In this way, people interested in knowing your blog can consume your content from their mobile devices.

Additionally, this tactic allows your social media followers to see that your brand is providing credible information to professionals in your industry.

On the other hand, adapting content to the story format is a tactic commonly used by Harvard Business Review, which regularly publishes stories on Instagram and Facebook based on its web articles.

Share content with opinion leaders in your community

On LinkedIn, people love to follow thought leaders.

If you have already been on the platform for a long time, chances are you are following at least one in your industry.

Because of this, you could invite a prominent leader in your industry to talk about an interesting topic. This will allow you to attract viewers to your stories. Thus, you will be able to give your brand exposure and cross-promote with your chosen leader. As the saying goes, you can “Kill two birds with one stone”

To mention an example of this, HubSpot once posted an Instagram Q&A story with one of its social media editors. In it, he was able to provide valuable information about marketing. Likewise, the audience sent exciting marketing questions for him to answer. Thus, they were able to learn and engage with him at the same time.

Share customer testimonial videos, LinkedIn Stories.

The use of mobile devices has been increasing in the last few years. These days, almost everyone has one in their pocket or backpack.

Thus, the search of products has also increased with them. Likewise, these devices are very popular with the younger age groups.

However, younger generations, like older age groups, tend to trust recommendations more than any other type of content marketing.

So, as millennials make business decisions more often and Gen Z joins the workforce, chances are that they will look for a product with great reviews. Likewise, these reviews must prove to them that the product can make their professional lives easier.

This is why companies try to impress them with testimonials of their products. Thus, this can be an excellent strategy for networks like LinkedIn or Instagram.

Create interactive content related to your content or industry.

We still do not know if LinkedIn will have interactive features like Quiz and Poll Stickers used in Facebook and Instagram Stories. If it does integrate them, this could be a great and new way for viewers to interact with the industry or the new trends.

On the other hand, the polls could also help to know more about the audience that uses the story function frequently.

Conclusion

After all this, what is important, is that LinkedIn Stories will be a powerful marketing tool and that this trend is here to stay. However, if LinkedIn decides to not move forward with the launch of this tool, this test proved that companies are willing to use it to create new marketing strategies. Likewise, they are interested in its use on platforms that their audiences visit frequently.

On the other hand, it looks like LinkedIn Stories will share some characteristics with Instagram and Facebook Stories. If you have already taken advantage of these platforms to market your brand, LinkedIn Stories might be easier for your business. In this sense, when LinkedIn Stories is started, it could be useful to publish certain stories on all three platforms while publishing specific stories for each network. In this way, you can find types of content that will engage all audiences of the stories.

On the other hand, you can also learn how to engage your LinkedIn audience. This could be useful when trying to create a story strategy that allows you to launch successful content on all platforms.

If you have any questions about the creation of social media stories, you can contact us. We will gladly assist you.

Would you use LinkedIn Stories to market your brand? Let us know in the comments what you thought about this article!

We are BluCactus, a digital marketing agency whose purpose is to give you the perfect marketing solutions. Do not forget to ask about our services for social media! We are here for you!