LinkedIn Makes The Push Into Native Video
Members will have access to audience insights such as the top companies, titles and locations of viewers

LinkedIn, the Facebook for professionals, has just rolled out what it is calling Native Video. Users will now be able to create and upload content straight onto the platform.
This new feature allows members to share details of their professional lives in a way they couldn’t before, the company said.
When some people try to describe their jobs, “text cannot capture the work,” Pete Davies, a group product manager at the company told Business Insider. But when you can record those kinds of jobs, he added, “we find they make for stunning visuals.”
After their video is uploaded, members will have access to audience insights such as the top companies, titles and locations of viewers, as well as how many views, likes, and comments the videos have received. These insights will allow users to understand if their “reaching the people and companies that matter to them,” the company stated in a blog post.
LinkedIn began testing out the feature last month. HotelTonight’s CEO used it to give business advice; Chris Chien used it to share an inside scoop at Comic Con; and earlier this month, a NASA employee used the feature to record a rocket launch.
LinkedIN isn’t the only company chasing the video craze, just last week Reddit added a new feature that lets certain communities upload video directly to the site. Emon Motamedi, Reddit’s product manager for video, said that at launch the new native videos wouldn’t have any ads attached to them, but that he wouldn’t rule out pre-rolls or similar formats in future.
For LinkedIn, pre- and mid-roll advertising is also up for discussion and users might eventually be greeted with something called “LinkedIn Live.”
“Live video is an interesting possibility down the road because it helps people add a whole different dimension,” says Davies. “There aren’t plans today, but there are a lot of interesting features that we’re going to look at.”
The company says users who’ve already shared video mainly fall into three core buckets: videos about a work project; behind-the-scenes of events; and tutorials. Early tests within LinkedIn also reveal that users are sharing video 20 times more than other content like images or posts, reported AdAge.
