How LinkedIn became influencers’ hot new video platform

LinkedIn, the unloved stepchild of social networks, has undergone a renaissance of late, with a growing number of users turning to the business-focused network for social interactions. Now, as TikTok fights for its future in the U.S. in court this week, many of the creators who made it big on the short-form video sharing platform are starting to bring vertical video to LinkedIn, too.

The professional social network has actually been testing short-form video since March. At first, a small number of selected “Top Voices” were able to post videos, but that function has since expanded to most users in North America plus those in a handful of other countries.

Short-form video is actually the fastest-growing type of content on LinkedIn, according to parent company Microsoft’s Q4 2024 earnings call in July, with video uploads up 34% year-on-year.

“Video now makes up 60% of time spent on social media,” says Brendan Gahan, CEO and cofounder of Creator Authority, a LinkedIn creator marketing agency. Just as significantly, Gahan adds, it helps LinkedIn “future-proof the platform for Gen Z, its fastest-growing audience.”

Some of the video content on LinkedIn is the sort of business/hustle fare you might expect. But alongside that content exists the anarchic stuff you’d see on TikTok or YouTube. Sara Blakely, the founder of underwear company Spanx, has taken to promoting her wares on LinkedIn with MrBeast-like stunts, including flying over New York City in a doorless helicopter, a camera crew in tow.

“I’m really excited about LinkedIn as a content creator now that they’ve introduced the video feed,” says Austin Hankwitz, a finance-focused creator whose TikTok account boasts more than 760,000 followers. “LinkedIn video has been an awesome way to begin to tap into a new audience that I wasn’t tapping into on TikTok or Instagram.”

Trite as some may find the average LinkedIn comment section, Hankwitz believes it’s a better place than most social media platforms to get considered engagement. “On LinkedIn the comments that are being left are much more thoughtful,” he says. “The people that are engaging convert to followers much easier and it seems like the content I’m sharing on LinkedIn about business news and stories is getting much more engagement on LinkedIn than it is on Instagram or TikTok.” One video he posted about Starbucks hiring a new CEO got 1.5 million views on LinkedIn, compared to just 15,000 or so views on TikTok.

Those views are almost certainly driven by the platform, which has chosen to prioritize its video content. “The shift is a smart play to attract TikTok and Reels creators, positioning LinkedIn as an epicenter for influencer marketing and boosting its appeal as a platform for content creators,” says Gahan. And it might help shift the stuffy image LinkedIn has had to carry in the past.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91192383/how-linkedin-became-influencers-hot-new-video-platform?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss