LinkedIn differs from other social media networks in many respects, but not one: video gets the highest engagement rates on the platform.

That’s good information for marketers to have – but you know what’s even better? Knowing the specifics that drive engagement and interaction. With that in mind, it is pretty handy that VidMob and LinkedIn have joined forces to analyse 16,000 video ads across 804 million impressions to understand what works and what doesn’t.

The large dataset makes the findings within the report pretty valuable to marketers – who could look to implement some of the findings in their next campaign.

Keep it short and sweet

The first finding is that short videos have the best engagement, although no matter the length, the first 30 seconds of a video tend to perform well in terms of awareness and conversion. LinkedIn reported a 13% lift in click-through rate (CTR) with 15-30s duration.

Cooper Nefsky, Partnerships, VidMob, via LinkedIn

“A real-life example of this is a recent project with a relationship management platform, who was looking to generate leads. VidMob produced assets leveraging fast transitions keeping the video within 30 seconds to optimize towards conversion, while ensuring all key takeaways were included. The customer ultimately saw a +68% lift in conversion rate, and a +25% lift in Company Page CTR.”

Be loud and proud

It’s also advantageous to keep your brand logo or name in the video, regardless of your objective. On average, brands that did this saw a 17% lift in CTR if the logo was present during the first two seconds.

For example, an investment company ran a series of static and video assets. In combination with a prominent brand name placement, the company experienced a 305% increase in CTR compared to its average.

Similarly, highlighting your key campaign message early in your content can lead to better engagement rates – which can better communicate intent and help foster an improved connection between your campaign and the audience you’re targeting.

Opening with data or stats also proved to be beneficial. Brands that did that saw a 39% lift in completion rate. Using impactful data to support your key messaging is an excellent way to grab the attention of businesspeople people who use the site.

Pick your colours carefully

LinkedIn reported that marketers with awareness objectives should use brighter colours with high contrast. On the other hand, using a low contrast design portrays a more professional tone.

Cooper Nefsky, Partnerships, VidMob, via LinkedIn

“(The low contrast) approach worked well for the advertising and video assets for a post-campaign insights report in the enterprise Tech space where we saw a +48% Lift in Lead Form Completion Rate when leveraging assets with Low Text Contrast, based on two years worth of historical data.”

Timing is key

The report also highlighted how timing can be the key to your success. According to it, videos that showed a person in the first quarter of the clip had a 175% increase in view-through rates.

Different sectors also experienced different results when showing a person in videos, as LinkedIn explains.

Cooper Nefsky, Partnerships, VidMob, via LinkedIn

“For consideration-based objectives, Financial Services advertisers should focus video creative on a human storyline. VidMob found a +41% lift in click through rate when human talent was featured in the first two seconds.”

Additionally, a CTA displayed in the first six seconds resulted in a 98% lift in view-through rate – while videos with text overlay experienced a 72% increase in CTR.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that not every account can experience the massive gains highlighted by the report – but all of these factors are worth considering for your next video campaign on LinkedIn.

*Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash.