LinkedIn Stories are here, but only on mobile.
As with all new social media tools, it’s best to jump in early and
take advantage of the hype around a new social media feature before everyone else jumps
in and crowds the space.
The LinkedIn Story platform as of today is a simplified version of
Instagram stories and only available in the mobile app. There are less bells and whistles which is a good thing, in my opinion. I don’t think filters and all the silly GIFs
would make sense on LinkedIn, but then again who knows what’s coming.
LinkedIn stories will be shared with your followers and their
followers and they can share your story to anyone on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Story Features
Right now you can add text to your stories and tag people you are
connected with on LinkedIn. The cool thing with tagging is that if you
tap on the tag once you’ll see the person’s professional headline. Tap
again, and it brings you to their profile.
There’s also a question of the day feature with the goal of getting your connections engaged.
Like on Instagram, you have the option of using stickers however they
are more business related like “Coffee Time” “Behind the Scenes” and
“Productivity Hack.”
Scrolling through them gave me a few ideas on how
individuals can be using LinkedIn Stories to ramp up their engagement
and tell the "story" behind their business. (Currently business pages
cannot create stories. I’m sure that’s coming.)
How to Use LinkedIn Stories to Build Awareness and Engagement
Share your work
One of our clients is a large scale printing company. They not
only print huge projects, they install them. I could see LinkedIn
stories being a great place to showcase the whole process from
printing, installation and final finished project.
Share your knowledge
If you are a consultant or an expert in your field. Share
tips on what your network may find interesting. Anything from “How
to use LinkedIn stories” to “How to nail an interview.” Stories like
this could include several panels with different tips and a call to
action to learn more.
Share your behind the scenes
Give your connections a look around the office or creative
process. Maybe a peek into a training session or breakroom fun. A
look inside the company fridge could be a funny post especially if you
plant something brand oriented in there every week. Use your
imagination.
Share your latest publication or company news
I took a screen shot on my mobile of my latest blog post then
used it in a story with some added text directing readers to the site
to check it out. (Actual linking is not available yet.)
Share your people
Feature your team members and what they do. You can tag them
in a story which allows them to share the story with their followers.
Share client news, quick interviews, and milestones and tag them.
This is just the very beginning and a great time to jump in and
experiment. So far, visibility is pretty low, but as news gets out and
more users start paying attention you’ll already be an old pro at
crafting engaging LinkedIn Stories.
