What is LinkedIn Live? [+How to Leverage It in Your Marketing Strategy]

Every week, I use LinkedIn to talk about current events and connect with other content creators.

And I'm not the only one. In fact, LinkedIn has nearly 700 million active users and has become one of the top social media platforms.

In the last year, companies have started to use the social network's new live-streaming technology.

While Facebook and Instagram launched live streaming features in 2016, LinkedIn just recently decided to join the live streaming platforms.

In February 2019, LinkedIn Live was launched to individual users. In 2020, it was announced that LinkedIn Live would also become available to business pages.

With this announcement, LinkedIn decided "to bring you a tighter integration between LinkedIn Events and LinkedIn Live, by turning these two products into a new virtual events solution that enables you to stay connected to your communities and meet your customers wherever they are."

Live streaming continues to gain popularity among audiences. In fact, in 2019, internet users watched 1.1 billion hours of live video.

Additionally, according to Go-Globe, live streaming is expected to account for 82% of all internet traffic.

Plus, LinkedIn Live streams have increased by 158% since February 2020.

Although LinkedIn Live isn't available to all businesses right now, it might be time to start thinking about live streaming.

To get started with LinkedIn Live, you can complete an application online to become a Live broadcaster.

In this post, let's review how you can leverage LinkedIn Live in your marketing strategy to attract new audiences.

LinkedIn Live

LinkedIn Live is the live streaming feature that allows you to stream live video to your audience so you can drive engagement and build deeper connections.

In fact, LinkedIn Live videos get, on average, seven times more reactions and 24 times more comments than native video produced by the same broadcasters.

LinkedIn, known as the professional social media network, is a great place to stream live videos because you can truly get to know your audience and engage with them in a way that companies haven't been able to do before.

Now that you know what LinkedIn Live is and why you should use it, let's dive into the logistics.

How to Go Live on LinkedIn

1. Apply for LinkedIn Live.
2. Sign up for a third-party streaming tool.
3. Connect LinkedIn to third-party tool.
4. Write a title and description for the stream.
5. Go live on your third-party tool.

1. Apply for LinkedIn Live.

To get started with LinkedIn Live, you'll need to apply to have the feature added to your profile.

The application will ask you where you want to live stream (from a personal profile or a business page) and the link to the page you want to stream from.

If you want to stream from a business page, you'll also need to include the profile URLs of the page admins. Only up to three page admins can have the ability to stream from your business page.

Once you've applied, it's time to wait for approval. Be sure to keep checking on this, because you don't want to miss the notification that you've gained access to LinkedIn Live.

2. Sign up for a third-party streaming tool.

Before you can go live on LinkedIn, you'll need to sign up for a third-party streaming tool because LinkedIn doesn't offer native streaming currently.

You can use tools like StreamYard or Socialive. These tools are also helpful for going live on a desktop computer. They can make it easier to see comments and actually interact with your audience during the stream.

3. Connect LinkedIn to third-party tool.

Now that you've signed up for your streaming tool and you've received approval for LinkedIn Live, it's time to connect the two platforms.

To do this, log in to your third-party tool and navigate to the area where you can add streaming destinations (this will change depending on the tool you're using).

Once you find the right place to add a streaming destination, you should be able to click LinkedIn profile and connect from there.

4. Write a title and description for the stream.

After the tools are connected, you're ready to go live. Just click the button that says go live or start streaming. Before the platform actually starts live streaming, you'll see an area to write a title and description for the stream.

Be sure to accurately describe what's going on in the video and what users can expect. This will help get your audience interested in the live stream.

5. Go live on your third-party tool.

Now all you need to do is go live. Before you do, make sure your camera and mic are all set up. You'll also want to double check the camera position, lighting, camera quality, audio, and background. It's important that your set up looks professional, especially given that LinkedIn is the professional social network.

So, we know what LinkedIn Live is and how to get started, but you might be wondering, "How can I use this tool?" Let's dive in below.

LinkedIn Live Uses

1. Virtual Events
2. Recruiting
3. Thought Leadership
4. Showcase Expertise
5. Announce a New Product or Partnership

1. Virtual Events

With the recent integration of LinkedIn Live and LinkedIn Events, the social media platform is a great place to host your virtual events.

LinkedIn virtual events allow you to meet your audience where they are and host your event in a trusted environment.

Additionally, hosting a virtual event on LinkedIn Live will help you attract the right professional audience.

You can share your events with your business page followers, plus you can send event invitations to your first-degree profile connections.

Instead of taking videos during your virtual conference and posting them on LinkedIn later, LinkedIn Live allows you to connect with your audience in real-time.

According to LinkedIn, LinkedIn Live is seeing 23 times more comments per host and six times more reactions per post than native video.

With LinkedIn Live, you can engage and connect with your followers in real-time during your virtual events.

2. Recruiting

LinkedIn is one of the main hubs for recruiters and job-seekers alike. In fact, recruiting is one of the top benefits of having a LinkedIn profile for individuals and brands.

With LinkedIn Live, you can support your recruiting efforts by showing off your workplace culture, introducing team members, and answering questions from your audience.

Additionally, you can host a live panel with employees on what it's like to work for your company. Team members can discuss what their hiring journey looked like and give tips to people who want to work for your company one day.

You can also host a Q&A with different people on your team to highlight their specific roles. For example, you can have them introduce themselves and their role, and then take questions about their day-to-day tasks and duties.

If you want to use LinkedIn Live to support your recruiting efforts, think about other social media tactics you've implemented, and then strategize how those can convert into a live stream.

3. Thought Leadership

One of the central LinkedIn strategies for most companies is to use the social media platform to position yourself as an industry leader.

To do this with LinkedIn, you can discuss current events in your industry and boost your content creation strategy.

Using LinkedIn Live, you can host a panel for industry thought leaders, including those at your company, to talk about industry trends and issues.

Additionally, you can host a live stream dedicated to interviewing industry professionals and experts.

Amplifying thought leaders and participating in industry discussions is a great way to use LinkedIn Live to attract new audiences.

4. Showcase Expertise

Not to be redundant, but becoming an authority in your industry is an important part of your marketing strategy.

LinkedIn Live presents an excellent opportunity to showcase your expertise.

Using live streaming technology, you can share your tips and tricks with your audience. To do this, brainstorm how-to topics that your audience is interested in.

If you're struggling to come up with ideas, consider repurposing old content like blog posts or YouTube videos.

Producing live streaming content will help you boost your content marketing strategy.

5. Announce a New Product or Partnership

As a professional social media platform, LinkedIn is a great place to announce a new product or partnership.

In fact, you might consider doing this on LinkedIn Live. You can bring on representatives from your company and partner company to discuss what the new partnership entails.

This is also a great opportunity to educate and interact with your audience.

By launching a product during a live stream, you can get immediate feedback from your audience, answer questions, and conduct a live demonstration.

The announcement of LinkedIn Live proves that live streaming will continue to be an important tactic in your marketing strategy. In fact, this feature shows that consumers are interested in interacting with brands in real-time.

If you've already used Facebook and Instagram Live, LinkedIn Live might be another platform to use and experiment with -- especially if your audience is more likely to be on LinkedIn than other platforms.

To learn more about how real brands are using LinkedIn Live, check out this blog post on LinkedIn Live examples.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.