LinkedIn introduced a new format - Stories. 4 best ways to leverage this feature

Without any doubt, storytelling is a powerful way of persuasion, engagement and interaction with customers and potential clients. As such, social media stories should be in every content strategy of any brand. They maintain deeper connections with the followers. 

Here in this Article we are going to talk about social media stories, benefits for business, and specs of LinkedIn. 

What is a Social Media Story? 

Social media Stories are short-lived vertical full-screen videos and images that usually appear above the news feed and on top of the mobile app. Stories only last for 24 hours and then disappear. 

Stories became popular in 2013 when Snapchat first launched this feature in their app. Stories meant to be a short and fading narrative of snaps users were able to post for their friends to view for 24 hours only. Stories totally changed the way people share and consume things online and since then become viral. 

It was obvious, the remaining social media platforms would be eager to integrate such features too. Today, over 500 million and 300 million users consume stories daily on Instagram and Facebook respectively. Over 30% of such stories are business-related, as such there is no surprise that Linkedin also decided to launch this feature on its platform. 

Earlier this year Pete Davies, a former LinkedIn's head of Consumer Products, in his blog stated that the company was searching for a new way for LinkedIn members to interact with each other. The company wanted to offer its users a feature supporting more informal communication which is fun even within a professional context.  “(Stories) spread for a good reason: they offer a lightweight, fun way to share an update without it having to be perfect or attached to your profile forever,” Davies wrote. 

Benefits of using Stories by business

A growing number of users watching stories daily creates a sense for Companies to utilize this feature on LinkedIn for the benefit of their brands, products, or services. 

Why is it so important? 

Firstly, people get used to consuming content by watching stories on social media platforms that entertain. They will be doing it in a more serious environment too. 

Secondly, stories create a unique opportunity to always be top of mind. 

Thirdly, with short-lived videos or images, businesses are able to show off their products or services from a new perspectives. 

Last but not least, this feature helps to interact with the audience in a more intimate way. 

4 best ways to leverage LinkedIn Stories

Should your brand already appear on Stories on other social media platforms, it won't be a big deal for you to start posting on LinkedIn too. Stories already available for a great majority of Linkedin users, so let’s see how you may use it for the benefits of your audience and business. 

1. Share success stories

Success story is a powerful compliment for any advertising campaign. By featuring real people with real challenges and solutions you will be able to generate more credibility to your business. 

People love stories with impact. Share knowledge on how your product or service helps professionals to increase their efficiency, to solve issues of their daily routine and how the given solution impacts their business. 

2. Share customer testimonials 

Capture the attention of your potential customers with the happy faces of your existing ones. It helps create a deeper and emotional appeal for your branding. 

Testimonials, being a form of a social proof, build more trust than direct sales pitch, as people tend to believe unbiased voices. 

It is worth to mention that most powerful testimonials are authentic, pretty much short, and start with the most impactful statement. 

3. Run Q&A sessions

Collect questions from your followers before you post a Story. Then prepare the answers - integrate them either into images or record a video with the experts from your company answering the most important questions from the audience. 

Also, we have noticed that people love to follow thought leaders on LinkedIn.  As such, you may feature them on a Stories Q&A session. You may collaborate with one of the thought leaders having deep knowledge of your industry. Alternatively, you might have such an expert within your own company, so it would be even easier to create Q&A sessions. 

4. Build a positive employer brand

Share the internal culture of your company, communicate its core values, and become an ‘employer of choice’. Remember, there are a lot of job-seekers on LinkedIn and over 50% are acquiring more information about their prospective employers via the company's social media pages. According to LinkedIn, “68 % of talent acquisition leaders agree that social professional networks are one of the most effective tools for spreading awareness about employer branding.” 

Use LinkedIn stories to make an attractive initial impression for prospective employees.

Specs of LinkedIn Stories

In order to start posting stories on LinkedIn, remember that stories are only available through the mobile app, the max length of a Story is 20 seconds.

In addition, a few more recommendations from LinkedIn in terms of specifications while uploading Stories from your camera roll:

Specs for Videos

• Resolution: 1080 (w) x 1920 (h) px

• Frame: 30 FPS, square pixels

• Supported file types: H264, MP4

• Aspect Ratio: 9:16

Specs for Images

• Resolution: 1080 (w) x 1920 (h) px,

• Supported file type: PNG, JPG

• Aspect Ratio: 9:16

Bear in mind that creatives and visuals are the key drivers for the effectiveness of your stories. In order to transform your ideas into stunning visual stories within just a few clicks, we made pre-designed LinkedIn Stories templates that are easily adaptable and customizable with the help of a solid library of graphics, text and animations. Find a few examples below: 

Start making beautiful and informative Stories for your LinkedIn here.