Mobile video content carousels are so hot right now (Retro #3)
Seeing 3x reach & engagement with LinkedIn video posts
Still very much in the “soft launch” phase of what Full Backlog is working to become, I’ve been experimenting this week with podcast post-production.
Mainly this has been extracting video clips < 2 minutes long, and posting them as previews here, and also on LinkedIn.
Each of these platforms are clearly feeling — and responding to — the competitive pressures of other social platforms that have feeds with reels:
Short form, often 9:16 ratio video, with dynamically animated captions or subtitles.
The dynamic subtitles are key to reaching audiences who scroll with their sound muted, like I do.
If you are a LinkedIn mobile user, you may have noticed 9:16 “Videos for You” as you scroll through the app.
LinkedIn user Angela Dunz, MBA wrote an informative article on this in June of this year that does a better job of covering it than I do, but a key takeaway they highlight is:
It has the 'scroll-up' functionality that other reels have. You can customize the feed by liking or selecting 'not interested' for each video.
IMHO, they all appear very loud, flashy, and a little on the sensational side. Many are edited in a 'cut-reels' style and move super fast.
There is very little info out about them. I have heard that the limit is 90 seconds. IG is 60 seconds. And I see no way to sort or search for videos that might be relevant to me.
LinkedIn decides what you find in your feed by 'reading' your profile and serving up what might be appropriate. I did not find that to be true. Many were sponsored(ads) of aimed at enterprise.
…
The opportunity is huge. If LinkedIn has the patience to work on this feature and does not jettison it quickly without adaptation like it has done so many times before.
Given that it has been over two months since that was posted, the feature set has likely evolved, so YMMV.
I posted two videos this week to LinkedIn and saw 3x the reach and engagement. That’s an average too, it ranged from 2x to 5x across the last 30 days.
Here are the two 📺 posts:
🤖 Two minutes with Trevor Dickerson on SEO in the modern age of AI
🔥 Are we in the picks & shovels phase of the current era of modern AI?
To be clear: I actually don’t think these videos are showing up in the “Videos for You” section, but they are clearly getting more in-feed engagement than my other posts! So, something worth continuing to investigate…
Lastly, a big “Thank You” to everyone who has subscribed, liked, shared, and commented on what I’ve been putting out lately.
Earning imaginary Internet Points keep me going 😁
