Are you on LinkedIn? We’re not just talking about whether or not you have a personal profile on LinkedIn, but are you using this platform for your brand? If not, it’s time to rethink LinkedIn and learn about these 5 LinkedIn features.
LinkedIn has just released a ton of new features that are perfect for brands, businesses, and influencers looking to grow online. Here are the 5 new LinkedIn features perfect for brands!
1. Live Video
It should come as no surprise that LinkedIn is keeping up with new social media standards and is now offering live video features. According to the platform, LinkedIn Live videos get on average 24x more comments than native videos produced by the same brand.
Here’s the catch—LinkedIn Live isn’t available to everyone yet. In order to gain access, users have to submit an application form for review. LinkedIn will take into account video and overall content creation history, audience size and engagement history, whether the member or page account has been in good standing, and whether or not two factor authentication is enabled in account settings. You’ll also need a compatible third-party streaming tool in order to host a LinkedIn Live.
However, once you’re set up on LinkedIn Live, you’ll start reaping benefits immediately. This new feature will build your community and create more awareness for your brand. You’ll even be able to share your live stream to multiple platforms at once! Your followers will be notified every time you go live, increasing reach and exposure.
2. Name Pronunciation
The new name pronunciation feature is a simple addition to LinkedIn, but is effective and beneficial for promoting inclusion in the workplace. Users can now record a 10-second audio clip pronouncing their name correctly, that can be added to their profile.
This new tool is a reminder that correct pronunciation of names is not just a common courtesy, but an important part of making a good first impression too. Before meetings or phone calls with new clients or partners, be sure to check their LinkedIn profiles for name pronunciation to show your commitment to inclusion and diversity.
For the time being, this feature can only be recorded and edited on iOS and Android mobile apps.
3. Reactions
We’ve all grown accustomed to Facebook’s reactions, and it seems only natural that LinkedIn should roll out reactions too! By pressing and holding the like button, you can now choose from a range of different and fun expressions, like celebrate, support, love, insightful, and curious.
These reactions were carefully chosen with LinkedIn’s user experience in mind. For instance, the celebrate reaction is perfect for reflecting on a strong and successful year, or for adding a new team member.
This new LinkedIn feature will make engaging with content easier and quite frankly, more fun. It also creates an opportunity for creative marketing. You can use the range of expressions as a way to better gauge thoughts of feelings from your audience. Ask them to respond with specific reactions based on a series of answers provided in a graphic, like this clever Gymshark post.
We love this new feature because it encourages more interactions, and the more your audience engages with your posts, the more likely you’ll be shown in people’s feeds!
4. Polls
The new feature, LinkedIn Polls is ideal for driving quick engagements and for learning more about your audience.
What’s great is that the polls are not only a way to get a quick pulse check from your network, but they’re also good for launching deeper conversations. In your post, you can ask users to respond to the poll and then explain their thought process in the comments.
5. Carousel Posts
Okay, so carousel posts aren’t exactly a “new” feature on LinkedIn, but we’re seeing brands take advantage of scrollable posts for higher engagement. The secret is LinkedIn Documents. LinkedIn Documents can be previewed in a scrollable format, making them a sort of “cheat code” for brands eager to share dynamic, engaging galleries of images—like a carousel!
To make these scrollable posts as easy as possible for your audience, use arrows to encourage users to tap through each image. This will also help increase engagement on your page, which ultimately increases your reach!
If your brand is new to LinkedIn, test out some of these features and explore how this professional platform can be an effective way to engage and build your audience!
