LinkedIn announced in recent weeks, to its 600 million registered users on its platform, the launch of its new video feature: This new feature, currently being launched only in the United States as a beta version, will allow people to stream video content.
If the experiment goes well, we expect to be able to use it in Italy soon. Currently, the feature is accessible only by invitation.
Unlike other social media outlets that offer the same service, LinkedIn's goal is to differentiate itself through its target audience by offering its users the ability to communicate via live Q&As, events, conferences, live calls, award ceremonies, product announcements, and more. Being able to have its target audience so sectoral will allow this social media outlet to differentiate itself from other content posted in live Instagram rather than Facebook. Let's look in more detail at how it works.
LinkedIn Live in detail
Here we are, then, after years of groping with other social media outlets on the market, debuting LinkedIn's own live video broadcasting service. As we mentioned, currently the users of this service are a selection of LinkedIn members in the United States.
To give you an example of how this feature works, you can take a look at Cathy Hackl's Live, on her LinkedIn profile . Chosen as a beta tester helping to develop LinkedIn Live, Cathy is one of the first members to use this new product.
According to rumors, it appears that the possibility for other people to use live will slowly expand but will remain (at least for the time being) invitation-only.
Given the much anticipation for this new feature, and even more so in LinkedIn's need to differentiate itself from its social competitors, it is looking for the ability to create quality videos through collaboration with third parties.
Microsoft is helping to support LinkedIn Live through its Azure media services by providing important encoding technology for continuous streaming of live video. LinkedIn is also working with Wirecast, Switcher Studio, Wowza Media Systems, Socialive and Brandlive to enable content creators to access broadcast streaming content services.
With LinkedIn Live, we immediately grasp a clear opportunity for the company to explore other ways to monetize content beyond ads. Thinking of hypothetical examples, one might think that the platform in the future might charge viewers for unique experiences such as private conferences or make some Live events pay-for-performance. For this, however, we have to wait a little longer.
The video world in LinkedIn
Compared to its competitors in the social networking sphere, LinkedIn has grown late in reference to its video section. In fact, let us recall that its first video features were only included in the summer of 2017.
So there are 18 months of activity under its belt, in which the platform has seen a large increase in traffic and exclusive revenues via video (logically not live) on its platform.
Indeed, Pete Davies, LinkedIn's director of product management, stated how "video is the fastest growing format on our platform right now, and the one most likely to get people talking."
LinkedIn reports that video ads earn 30 percent more comments than non-video ads. Another data point that should give us pause is the fact that LinkedIn members spend almost three times as much time watching video ads as they do with static photos of hypothetical sponsored content.
News in LinkedIn from past months: new recruiting and job search functions
The novelty is not only in the live video.
In recent periods LinkedIn has launched several new features to get closer to its members and help them connect with companies they might be interested in working with.
Among these new functions, a 'very interesting expansion is the Job Alert function . This would be a new visual dashboard within the company's pages that provides additional information about its employees.
For recruiting also, the news is not over. A very useful tool that will make recruiting and applying for jobs through LinkedIn easier is its Intelligent Hiring Experience , a dashboard that combines LinkedIn's hiring suite.
Other features launched include the new ability to highlight relevant conversations or the new post approval process.
Differentiation from competitors
Returning to the issue of live, at this point, LinkedIn will face stiff competition from other social networks (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube above all) that offer live video streaming services. On this point, LinkedIn clearly thinks it can differentiate itself from others based on its target audience and the type of video it will offer.
In fact, remember that LinkedIn has always been linked to the professional connections of working life.
LinkedIn Live is an exciting opportunity for companies and colleagues to connect like never before, so remember to have as much fun as possible when you have the opportunity to use it. Live video always encourages the audience to become more engaged-forget the chatbos we're all sick of. In live, it is the man who connects with each other. As with all new features on social platforms, if you are among the first to use it (the right way) you will reap the benefits that LinkedIn Live can offer you.
UPDATE July 2019 - The procedure for accessing the feature.
In order to apply for access to LinkedIn Live, you must fill out the application form by following the steps below:
- Choose whether to apply as a Member or on behalf of a LinkedIn page.
- Provide information on company profiles, the area in which the company is located, and the number of connections (if applying as a Member) or followers (if applying as a Page).
- Specify the type of content you intend to convey via LinkedIn live, how often, and whether you already use other live streaming services.
- Insert links to Members profiles of admins in the case of application on behalf of a LinkedIn Page.