Editor’s Note: This post about developing a LinkedIn Video Strategy was originally published on LinkedIn Pulse

Recently, I stumbled upon a LinkedIn article from Dave Gerhardt from last fall where he outlined his recipe for success that has helped him reach 100,000+ views on his LinkedIn videos within the first seven days.

He said you need to:

  • Test new opportunities
  • Adopt the channel that is right for your style
  • Be consistent

I think they are all good points, and should be considered as you evaluate your own LinkedIn video strategy. But I think overall he missed four more factors that have helped him and Drift achieve success on the platform

Engage with others on the platform

Dave is great at engaging with others on the platform. That engagement ranges from liking someone else’s post, commenting on posts, or responding to comments. The other LinkedIn video high performers – Quentin Allums, Nina Church Adams, and Nicholas Thompson – also do this well.

As Tom Schwab said in our recent conversation on the Rethink Marketing podcast, you’ve got to “give, give, give, take.”

LinkedIn like all the other social platforms are, in part, measured by monthly engagement on the platform. As a result, the algorithm is built to reward people who regularly engage. LinkedIn sorts through thousands of signals to personalize a member’s feed. According to a post on its engineering blog, LinkedIn groups them into three broad categories:  

  • Identity: Who are you? Where do you work? What are your skills? Who are you connected with?
  • Content: How many times was the update viewed? How many times was it “liked”? What is the update about? How old is it? What language is it written in? What companies, people, or topics are mentioned in the update?
  • Behavior: What have you liked and shared in the past? Who do you interact with most frequently? Where do you spend the most time in your news feed?

There is a lot there. But it is clear that engagement is a ranking factor.

Engaging with others is easier said than done. Like many other things, life, work and the NCAA tournament get in the way. But look for 5-10 minute chunks of time throughout the day to check the platform and engage with others. Allow notifications on your phone.

Build a Quick Response Team

Another secret is to build a quick response team that, upon a chat or email from you, can jump onto the platform and like your video, and even better add a relevant comment.

One of the things Drift has done that should be emulated is explain the importance of marketing internally and why everyone can help amplify the message.

They even have a case study they shared on their Seeking Wisdom podcast about taking over LinkedIn when 120 employees created their own videos about a product launch that they then uploaded to the platform.

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The result, according to the podcast, was the most traffic to the Drift website ever.

At Act-On, where I was the senior content strategist and remain a content freelancer, we’ve seen similar success with a quick response team.

Create your own quick response team using co-workers, friends, family, neighbors. I’ve seen a performance boost even from a dozen quick response “likes.”

Create a production process for your LinkedIn Video Strategy

Do you ever see any of the Drift social posts? This could be a post on LinkedIn or their podcast videos on YouTube. What you’re likely to see in the background is that the cameras, lights and other gear are always out and about.

You’re never going to have the consistency you need (one of Dave’s secrets) if there is too big a hassle in getting everything set up. It’s one of the reasons Dave and others film the selfie videos of themselves walking and talking down the street. The camera is his smartphone. The ear buds are his microphone. The sun is the natural light source.

When I was at Act-On, I had the tripod and microphone always staged for my video about that week’s podcast episode. One of the challenges I had when I transitioned to content freelancing was replicating my shooting process.

I’ve since started shooting from my deck, which looks out onto the iconic St. Johns bridge. I have my camera and other gear staged in the laundry room, which is next to my desk (and away from the hands of my two children). I can now get out and shoot a video, edit it, create captions and load it to LinkedIn within a couple of hours.

Dave has a process. I have a process. You need a process.

Have something to say with your LinkedIn Video Strategy

In content marketing, we often talk about the importance of having something relevant to share with you audience. If you’re too salesy; if you’re too off message, the audience will quickly lose interest.

I’ll admit that I have only seen a couple of Dave’s videos, but those that I have seen do include a value-add nugget or two. One of his videos this week included a follow up tip from his LinkedIn “secrets” article. In another, he shared his favorite copywriting tip

Why?

They’re not really telling us anything. And just rambling about your day is not “authentic.” It’s just rambling. Sooner or later folks (and the LinkedIn algorithm) will start tuning out.

So, there you go. The other ingredients, at least to my reckoning, for Dave Gerhardt’s LinkedIn Video Strategy recipe. Happy cooking.

P.S.

One more bonus ingredient is having a purpose for being on the platform in the first place. Are you building your brand? Your company’s brand? Generate leads?

And how will you measure success? LinkedIn defines a view as the number of times your video has been watched at least 3 seconds. And they autoplay the videos, so a view or even a 1,000 views may not be worth the cost of a beer, to paraphrase Matt Heinz.

So, how are you going to measure your success? And if you are a B2B brand, how are you going to integrate your LinkedIn videos with your other marketing efforts?

I started my LinkedIn videos simply to promote Act-On’s Rethink Marketing podcast, which I produce. I still do that.

Dave and Drift team are successfully using LinkedIn to turn the conversation onto conversational marketing, the category they are establishing themselves as the leader in.

As I have transitioned to content freelancing, I want to use LinkedIn to reach the B2B marketing teams who will hire me for writing, video editing, podcast editing or strategy.

And by that measure, I have been successful. And with only a fraction of the video views as Dave.