Video content has become an increasingly popular format on social media. Platforms like LinkedIn allow businesses to reach targeted professional audiences and build engagement through video ads. But do video ads actually perform well on LinkedIn compared to other formats? Let’s take a look at some key metrics and considerations.
Video Ad Metrics on LinkedIn
When evaluating video ad performance on LinkedIn, there are a few key metrics to examine:
View Rate
The view rate measures the percentage of impressions that resulted in a video view of at least 50%. According to LinkedIn, the average view rate for video ads on their platform is 30-35%. However, view rates can vary significantly depending on factors like targeting, creative quality, video length, etc. Typically videos under 30 seconds tend to achieve higher view rates on LinkedIn.
Completion Rate
The completion rate is the percentage of views where the viewer watched 100% of the video. The average video completion rate on LinkedIn is around 65-75%. Higher completion rates signal that viewers are more engaged and interested in the content. Shorter videos tend to have higher completion rates.
Click-Through Rate
The click-through rate (CTR) measures how many impressions led to clicks to your site or landing page. LinkedIn reports that video ads achieve click-through rates 2-3x higher compared to non-video ad formats. Quality targeting and compelling video creative are key to driving clicks.
Conversion Rate
The conversion rate tracks how many ad clicks or impressions led to a desired action like a purchase, lead, sign up, etc. LinkedIn says video ads have conversion rates 6x higher versus non-video ads. This metric demonstrates the true ROI of LinkedIn video ads.
Benefits of Video Ads on LinkedIn
Based on the metrics above, video ads clearly perform well on LinkedIn compared to other formats. Here are some of the top benefits of using video ads on LinkedIn:
Higher Engagement
Videos tend to be more engaging and immersive than static images or text ads. Viewers are more likely to pay attention and retain information from videos. LinkedIn reports that Sponsored Content videos have up to 50% higher engagement versus non-video ads.
Brand Building
Video ads enable brands to make an emotional connection and tell a story to viewers. This makes them highly effective for raising brand awareness and favorability.
Lead Generation
The conversational and storytelling nature of videos makes them very compelling for generating leads and conversions. Calls-to-action can easily be incorporated into video ads.
Thought Leadership
For B2B brands, video ads provide an opportunity to demonstrate expertise and thought leadership in your industry. Educational and informative videos position your brand as an authority.
Flexibility in Storytelling
There are endless creative possibilities for telling your brand’s story through video. You can educate, entertain, inspire and more—the formats are adaptable to your campaign goals.
Best Practices for Video Ads on LinkedIn
To maximize the performance of your video ads on LinkedIn, keep these best practices in mind:
Target a Specific Audience
Take advantage of LinkedIn’s robust targeting features. You can target by job title, industry, company, interests, geography, and more. The more specific your targeting, the better your video ads will perform.
Optimize for Mobile
Ensure your video creative is optimized for the mobile experience. Most LinkedIn users view content on mobile, so vertical video formats tend to work best.
Use Captions
Include captions in your video ads. Captions make them accessible for viewers without audio and in loud environments. Captions also help search visibility.
Have a Strong Call-to-Action
Use your video ad captions or on-screen graphics to add a clickable call-to-action button to drive conversions.
Keep Videos Short
Shorter videos (15-30 seconds) tend to see higher view rates and completion rates on LinkedIn. Get your message across quickly within time constraints.
Measure Results
Continuously analyze the performance of your video ads by monitoring metrics like completion rate to optimize your future creative.
Types of Video Ads on LinkedIn
LinkedIn offers a variety of video ad formats and placements to choose from:
Sponsored Video
These autoplay square videos appear in the LinkedIn feed like organic content. They are limited to 10-30 seconds. Sponsored videos are ideal for reaching a broad audience.
Sponsored Content Videos
Native videos up to 5 minutes long that play inline within the feed. They look like user-generated content and are optimal for storytelling.
Message Ads
Message ads combine video creative with a standard LinkedIn text ad format. They can drive traffic to your site or boost engagement with the video itself.
InMail Video Ads
Send a personal video message directly to LinkedIn members via InMail. An effective way to make one-on-one connections at scale.
Carousel Video Ads
Feature multiple videos in a swipeable carousel ad experience. You can tailor videos to different stages of the buyer’s journey in one ad.
Comparing Video Ad Performance by Objective
Let’s analyze the performance of LinkedIn video ads for different marketing objectives:
Objective | Video Ad Format | Metrics |
---|---|---|
Brand awareness | Sponsored Video | High view rate, strong brand lift |
Lead generation | Sponsored Content Video | High conversion rate, low cost per lead |
Website traffic | Message Ad with video | Strong click-through rate |
Audience engagement | Carousel Video Ad | High completion rates, comments |
This table summarizes how the objective you are trying to achieve may influence which LinkedIn video ad format will deliver the best results based on key performance indicators.
Top Video Ad Strategies for LinkedIn
Based on the analysis so far, here are some recommended strategies for succeeding with video ads on LinkedIn:
Leverage Employee Spotlights
For B2B brands, create video ads with employees discussing products, company culture, industry topics, etc. It feels authentic.
Promote Gated Content
Generate leads by promoting videos gated with a form to download educational material like ebooks, whitepapers, and reports.
Repurpose Existing Videos
Take videos you’ve already created for other platforms and reuse them efficiently as LinkedIn ads.
Partner with Influencers
Work with LinkedIn influencers to create sponsored video content and tap into their follower base.
Retarget Website Visitors
Remarket to people who already visited your site with video ads encouraging them to convert.
Opportunities by LinkedIn Industry
Certain LinkedIn industries may present bigger opportunities for video ads than others:
Software & Technology
Demo your products, highlight customer success stories, and establish thought leadership.
Financial Services
Build trust and credibility with video testimonials and personalized messages.
Higher Education
Promote your programs and recruit students with engaging videos.
Healthcare & Pharma
Educate practitioners and patients about treatments, drugs, and offerings.
Manufacturing
Showcase facilities, products, and manufacturing processes in action through video.
Potential Challenges with LinkedIn Video Ads
While video ads on LinkedIn can deliver strong results, there are a few potential obstacles to consider:
Reaches a Narrower Audience
Since LinkedIn exclusively focuses on professionals, it has a smaller total audience compared to other social platforms. Your target market needs to be represented on LinkedIn for video ads to work.
Limited Video Lengths
The short video formats required on LinkedIn may not work as well for in-depth product demonstrations orstorytelling.
Low Organic Engagement
Unlike platforms like Facebook and YouTube, people don’t often think to engage much with LinkedIn videos via liking, commenting or sharing. So organic reach is limited.
Restricted Targeting Options
Although targeting is a strength, LinkedIn does not allow behavioral or interest based targeting like Facebook. This can limit targeting flexibility.
High Cost Per Impression
With the premium professional audience comes higher CPMs. LinkedIn video ad costs per impression are generally higher than other platforms.
Conclusion
In summary, video ads perform very well on LinkedIn compared to other ad formats. LinkedIn reports much higher engagement, click-through rates, and conversion rates for video ads versus non-video ads.
Some best practices for success are using short videos optimized for mobile, compelling calls-to-action, and detailed targeting of professional audiences. Certain objectives like brand awareness and lead generation seem particularly well-suited for LinkedIn video ads.
While costs and limited audiences can be potential challenges, the high-value professional targeting makes LinkedIn video ads a worthwhile investment for B2B brands wanting to reach decision-makers and generate leads. With proper testing and optimization based on performance data, LinkedIn video ads provide an extremely useful platform for connecting with niche professional audiences.