LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 722 million users worldwide. With such a massive userbase, LinkedIn is an extremely important platform for personal branding and business marketing. One of the key features of LinkedIn is the ability to post videos natively in the LinkedIn feed. However, unlike other social platforms like YouTube or Facebook, LinkedIn does not require users to upload a custom thumbnail for their videos. This raises an important question for LinkedIn video creators – do LinkedIn videos need thumbnails?
In this comprehensive guide, we will analyze the pros and cons of using custom thumbnails for LinkedIn videos and provide data-backed recommendations on best practices. By the end, you’ll know whether investing time in creating custom thumbnails is worthwhile for your LinkedIn video strategy.
The Purpose of Video Thumbnails
Before we dive into LinkedIn specifically, it’s important to understand why thumbnails matter in the first place.
Video thumbnails serve multiple purposes:
– They represent the video visually and convey what the video is about before clicking play. A relevant, high-quality thumbnail helps attract the right audience.
– Thumbnails increase click-through rates by catching the viewer’s attention as they scroll through their feed. Eye-catching thumbnails pique curiosity and motivate clicks.
– Custom thumbnails allow the video creator to brand their content, using visual assets like logos and color schemes. Branded thumbnails help build familiarity and association with the creator’s brand.
In essence, the thumbnail acts as a visual hook to capture attention and clicks. For platforms like YouTube and Facebook that rely heavily on impressions and clicks, compelling thumbnails are tremendously important.
So in theory, it would seem that custom LinkedIn video thumbnails should also be beneficial. But LinkedIn’s algorithm works a bit differently, so we need to dig deeper into the data.
LinkedIn’s Video Hosting & Feeds
Before we can answer whether custom thumbnails impact LinkedIn video performance, we need to understand two things:
1. How LinkedIn hosts and displays videos natively.
2. How the LinkedIn feed algorithm differs from other platforms.
LinkedIn’s Native Video Player
LinkedIn allows users to upload and host videos directly within the LinkedIn platform itself (as opposed to linking out to YouTube or Vimeo).
When you share a native video on LinkedIn, it appears in the feed as an embedded video player. By default, LinkedIn pulls the middle frame of the video to use as the thumbnail display in the video player.
So unless you upload a custom thumbnail, your native LinkedIn videos will use an auto-generated thumbnail image.
The LinkedIn Feed Algorithm
LinkedIn’s feed algorithm differs quite a bit from the algorithms of YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
While those platforms prioritize impressions, video views, and clicks, LinkedIn’s algorithm is optimized for engagement.
Specifically, the LinkedIn algorithm ranks content in the feed based on:
– Relationships – Content from closer connections is ranked higher.
– Interests – Content relevant to the viewer’s professional interests ranks higher.
– Engagement – Content driving comments, shares, and reactions gets greater reach.
So rather than clicks or views, you want your LinkedIn content to generate comments, shares, and new connections. Quality over quantity.
Understanding this core difference in LinkedIn’s algorithm is key to strategizing thumbnail design.
Do Thumbnails Impact LinkedIn Video Performance?
Now that we’ve covered the purpose of thumbnails and how LinkedIn’s feed works, let’s analyze whether custom thumbnails actually impact LinkedIn video performance and reach.
We’ll look at two key questions:
Do thumbnails increase LinkedIn video views?
The short answer is no. Having a custom thumbnail does not directly lead to more video views on LinkedIn.
Because LinkedIn’s algorithm cares more about engagement vs impressions, even eye-catching thumbnails are unlikely to “go viral” or rack up tons of views. Professional audiences on LinkedIn don’t blindly click on thumbnails that look interesting.
So custom thumbnails have minimal impact on view counts for native LinkedIn videos. Unique viewers are driven by your existing audience and organic shares, not thumb-stopping.
Do thumbnails increase overall LinkedIn engagement?
Here’s where the results are a bit more nuanced. While thumbnails may not drive more video views, they *can* play a role in overall engagement.
A strong thumbnail creates a better first impression and may attract more attention in the crowded feed. This sets up your video for downstream engagement when people click through to watch.
In this way, a custom thumbnail can indirectly help a native video gain more comments, shares, and connections. It creates a positive halo effect – but not necessarily more views.
Some specific ways a good LinkedIn thumbnail can increase overall engagement:
– Brand awareness – Consistent branded thumbnails help members recognize and associate with your company. If they engage with your content more, your brand sticks in their mind.
– Social proof – Showing Likes, Shares, Comment counts can make the video seem popular and worth engaging with.
– Curiosity – Intriguing text and imagery piques interest to click and learn more. This leads to increased time on post.
So while view counts likely won’t budge, a custom thumbnail could amplify downstream reactions, shares, and comments on your native video.
Best Practices for LinkedIn Video Thumbnails
Given the nuanced impact on engagement, should you invest time designing custom thumbnails for your LinkedIn video content?
Here are our top best practices:
Do create thumbnails for “hero” videos
For standout videos you plan to promote heavily – hero content – it’s worth taking the time to create a strong, branded thumbnail. This includes videos like:
– Company announcements/product launches
– Leadership Q&As and interviews
– Event recordings
– Workplace culture videos
Since these videos represent pivotal moments for your brand, first impressions matter. A custom thumbnail can help convey professionalism and boost overall engagement.
Consider thumbnail templates
Creating a custom thumbnail for every single video requires a lot of effort and design resources.
Instead of reinventing the wheel each time, consider designing 2-3 reusable thumbnail templates that allow for plug-and-play content.
For example:
– Your logo on one side, imagery on the other.
– A simple background color with text overlay.
– A standard headshot frame for talking heads.
With templates, you can quickly generate quality, branded thumbnails that look consistent.
Optimize thumbnails for mobile
According to LinkedIn, nearly 2 out of 3 professionals access LinkedIn exclusively via mobile. So it’s critical to optimize thumbnails for small screens.
Some tips:
– Choose landscape orientation. Vertical thumbnails get cropped awkwardly.
– Minimize text. Mobile readers won’t process a lot of complex copy.
– Feature a central focal point. Mobile viewers pay attention to one element.
Prioritizing mobile optimization ensures your thumbnail makes the right visual impact on the go.
Display social proof dynamically
As mentioned, showing engagement metrics like Likes and Comments can increase clicks. But you don’t know how much engagement you’ll get ahead of time!
Instead of guessing, use dynamic image generation to overlay real metrics on your thumbnails after the video is published. This ensures you always display accurate, up-to-date social proof.
Test different thumbnail styles
There is no one “perfect” thumbnail style guaranteed to beat all others. The best thumbnail depends on your specific audience, video content, and goals.
We recommend A/B testing different thumbnail designs and imagery to see what resonates best with your target viewers. The testing process can reveal valuable insights.
Analyze thumbnail click-through-rate
You can gauge thumbnail effectiveness by checking click-through-rate (CTR).
LinkedIn provides CTR metrics for natively hosted videos. Monitor this metric over time to identify high-performing thumbnail styles and subject matter.
Aim for CTR of at least 5-10% to ensure your thumbnails are capturing attention.
Example LinkedIn Video Thumbnail
Here is an example of a quality LinkedIn video thumbnail:
Let’s break down what makes this an effective thumbnail:
– 16:9 landscape orientation fits LinkedIn’s video player.
– Simple, recognizable branding with company logo.
– Central focus on speaker’s facial expression.
– Blue color scheme matches brand colors.
– Minimal concise text that conveys topic.
– Dynamic “58 Views” display social proof.
This checks all the right boxes for a thumb-stopping LinkedIn video thumbnail.
Tools to Create LinkedIn Thumbnails
Here are some of the top tools to design high-quality thumbnails tailored for LinkedIn:
Canva
Canva offers a huge library of templates and drag-and-drop elements to create pro thumbnails for free. Lots of LinkedIn-friendly layouts and fonts to choose from.
Adobe Photoshop
The gold standard for image editing and graphic design. Limitless options for thumbnail creation, but requires investment in software and learning curve.
Adobe Spark
Spark simplifies graphic design with drag-and-drop thumbnail templates. Affordable premium plan unlocks more customization features. Integrates with LinkedIn.
Snappa
Snappa offers a wide array of templates, illustrations, icons and fonts. Very user-friendly interface and design guidance. Affordable paid plans.
Venngage
Venngage has tons of infographic-style templates perfect for LinkedIn thumbnail creation. Easy to drag-and-drop and customize templates. Free and paid tiers.
PicMonkey
PicMonkey provides beautiful pre-made thumbnail templates that you can edit and adapt. Very intuitive tools and effects. Free options plus paid pro plans.
Thumbalizr
Thumbalizr is designed specifically for video thumbnail creation. Lots of templates, editing options, and automation tools. Free version available.
Conclusion
Here are the key takeaways on whether your LinkedIn videos need custom thumbnails:
– Thumbnails don’t directly increase native video views on LinkedIn. The algorithm cares more about engagement.
– But compelling thumbnails can indirectly boost overall engagement through clicks, shares, comments.
– Focus thumbnail efforts on “hero” videos with big potential reach.
– Leverage templates for efficiency and consistent branding.
– Optimize for mobile screens and test different thumbnail styles.
– Use dynamic imagery to display fresh social proof metrics.
With the right thumbnail strategy, you can make your LinkedIn videos stand out in the feed and capture more of your audience’s limited attention.
Pro | Con |
---|---|
Increase overall engagement | Time investment for creation |
Boost brand familiarity | Learning graphic design skills |
Drive curiosity with imagery | Thumbnails don’t increase views |