LinkedIn is one of the most popular social media platforms for professionals. With over 740 million members, it’s a great place to build your professional network and promote yourself or your business. One of the key features of LinkedIn is the ability to post videos. But when creating videos for LinkedIn, one of the big questions is whether they should be square or horizontal.
The Rise of Square Videos
In recent years, square videos have become increasingly popular on social media. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook primarily feature square 1:1 aspect ratio videos in feeds. The reason behind this rise in square videos is that they take up more screen real estate on mobile and stand out in feeds.
With more and more users accessing social media on their phones, having videos that are optimized for mobile has become critical. Since mobile screens are vertical, square videos fill the screen beautifully.
Advantages of Square Videos
Here are some of the main advantages of square videos:
- Take up more screen space – Square videos take up 78% more real estate in mobile feeds compared to horizontal videos. This makes them more eye-catching.
- No black bars – There are no black bars on the sides like horizontal videos, allowing the content to shine.
- Easier viewing – Square videos are easier to view and consume on mobile without having to rotate your device.
- Stand out in feeds – The square format makes the videos stand out more in social feeds compared to horizontal videos.
- Encourage engagement – The extra screen real estate allows brands to add captions, hashtags, etc. to encourage comments and shares.
LinkedIn Recommends Square Videos
LinkedIn itself recommends posting square videos on their platform. Here is what they have to say about video dimensions on their website:
“To maximize visibility, we recommend using square videos on LinkedIn. Our research shows square videos have:
– Up to 15% more completed views
– Over 25% higher click through rate
We also recommend keeping videos under 3 minutes long, with compelling visuals and minimal text overlays for maximum impact.”
So clearly, LinkedIn prioritizes square 1:1 videos and they seem to perform better in terms of completion rate and clicks.
Who Is Using Square Videos on LinkedIn?
More and more brands and influencers on LinkedIn are adopting the square video format. Some examples:
- Bill Gates – The Microsoft founder frequently posts square videos on global issues.
- Salesforce – The tech giant posts square product demos, tips and announcements.
- Adobe – Posts weekly Creative Cloud tutorials as square videos.
- Guy Kawasaki – The influencer shares square video clips from his keynotes.
The square videos allow these brands to maximize their presence on the platform and drive better results.
Potential Drawbacks of Square LinkedIn Videos
However, there are a couple potential drawbacks of using square videos on LinkedIn that should be considered:
Less suited for landscape visuals
If your video has largely landscape visuals, like interviews, B-roll, presentations, etc. then cropping to fit a square may cut out important visual information. Important faces and graphics from horizontal videos will get cut out.
Black bars if repurposing existing horizontal videos
If you simply take a landscape video and place it into a square frame, you’ll end up with awkward black bars on the sides which looks unprofessional. Avoid repurposing landscape videos for LinkedIn without proper cropping and editing.
Tips for Creating Square Videos for LinkedIn
Here are some tips to create compelling square videos optimized for LinkedIn:
- Film vertically – Capture square footage on mobile phones or DSLRs rotated 90 degrees.
- Use close-up shots – Focus on faces, products, details for impact.
- Text and graphics – Add overlays, animations, text and graphics to fill the frame.
- Creative editing – Use split screens, picture-in-picture and other effects to fill the space.
- Short runtime – Keep videos under 3 minutes long for better engagement.
- Bright lighting – Use adequate lighting to prevent noise and banding in footage.
Alternatives to Pure Square Videos
If you don’t want to go completely square, there are a couple alternatives worth considering:
16:9 Horizontal Videos
You can still post regular 16:9 horizontal videos on LinkedIn. However, engagement metrics likely won’t be as high. Only do this if you have very compelling horizontal footage.
Vertical Videos
Given the vertical nature of mobile devices, 9:16 vertical videos are also effective on LinkedIn. They allow you to film interviews and other vertical footage without rotation. Vertical videos also take up a decent amount of visual space.
Mix of Aspect Ratios
Consider combining both square and horizontal footage in your LinkedIn videos. Use tight square close-ups for impact but also incorporate 16:9 footage where appropriate. This gives you the flexibility to use the best footage available.
Examples of Square Videos on LinkedIn
Here are some real examples of popular square videos on LinkedIn that generated strong engagement:
Salesforce
This 1:1 video from Salesforce highlighting their products got over 150,000 views and hundreds of likes/comments:
Adobe XD
Adobe used a square video to demo a new feature in 16,000+ views:
GatesNotes
Bill Gates shared a quick video update in square format that got 30,000+ views:
Conclusion
Based on LinkedIn’s recommendations and usage by top creators, square 1:1 videos seem to be the best format for the platform. They take up more visual space, lead to higher engagement and are optimized for mobile.
However, you can still find success with horizontal and vertical videos as well based on your specific video content. In some cases, those formats may be better suited. Mixing up aspect ratios can also give you more creative flexibility.
The most important factors are crafting compelling visuals, an interesting narrative, clear audio and keeping videos short. With the right strategy, square videos generally perform very well on LinkedIn but there are always exceptions based on your goals and audience.
