Best practices for creating LinkedIn videos

business
video
I have spent some time researching best practices for creating video for LinkedIn, and I made a short test video from what I have learnt.
Published

July 4, 2025

This is a test video where I try to put into practice what I have learnt researching how to make videos for LinkedIn

My goal for July is to create videos for self-promotion on LinkedIn and my professional website. To that end, this morning I am going to research best practices and tips for doing this.

I have been working on my technical setup for a while so I’m not so much interested in that. I’m more interested in finding out how to deliver content in a compelling way. I am currently about half-way through Don’t Say Um by Michael Chad Hoeppner and I’m going to be incorporating some of the techniques from that into my delivery style.

To do my research, firstly I have used Chat o3, Perplexity and Claude (in the form of LOS, my “Life Operating System) in deep research modes. Below I am doing to distill the most interesting points from their reports:

Before recording

  • Who are you trying to communicate with?
  • Are you sure they want this? Is it useful? e.g. 
    • practical AI use cases in marketing, presentations.
    • Improving website performance

Content

  • Real challenges, lessons learned, and industry insights
  • Helpful and knowledgeable.
  • Learning from in-depth content online? e.g. particular people, key learnings from particular lectures, papers, etc.
  • Current issues in the field/sector.
  • Just have one, single clear takeaway per video.
  • Script it, not word for word but with a beginning, middle and end.
  • don’t waste time on lengthy intros or title screens

Make short videos

  • SproutSocial 2024 Social Media Content Strategy Report found that videos under 15 or 30 seconds get the most engagement. But that’s probably emotion clickbait stuff that I don’t want to do.
  • Optimal range: 60-90 seconds according to LinkedIn Ads.
  • Speed it up a little bit? Like 10%?
  • Test on mobile — lots of people (majority?) look at this kind of content on mobile.
  • Vertically-oriented videos (9:16) are showing a 24% lift in click-through rates.
    • Can I deliver in both orientations?

Start with a hook

  • The first few seconds are crucial. I’ve heard this in lots of places, I’m sure it’s true. For every video I need to think of the hook.
    • Ask a question.
    • Interesting graph with movement…
    • Interesting or provocative text /stat.
    • Grab attention visually, even without sound, and on mobile.
    • Get straight to the point.

End with a CTA

  • What is your call to action?
    • Connect or follow on Linkedin?
    • Ask to leave a comment.
      • Ask a specific question.
      • Give motivation: “I read every comment.”

Authenticity trumps perfection

  • Direct eye contact with the camera as if speaking to a friend
  • Standing confidently, relaxed shoulders.
  • Purposeful hand movements.
  • Confidence and authenticity

Silent Viewing Optimization (CRITICAL)

  • Most people (80%?) watch with the sound off.
  • Using “burnt in” subtitles is best for control.
  • Alternatively upload SRT file.
  • Videos must work visually without audio.

LinkedIn video formats

  • Live
  • Standard — posted directly to your feed
  • Video ads — paid and shown based on targeting.
  • Vertical video — currently experimental, not seen by all users, can’t post directly, based on quality and relevance.

After creation

  • Resist the temptation to post straight away, but also don’t wait too long (just a few days).
  • Ask for feedback from friends.
  • Check it a few days later — is it good enough?
  • Ask for feedback from LOS.

Creating the output

Make the transcript

whisper -m /Users/jamesjohnson/tools/whisper/whisper.cpp/models/ggml-base.en.bin --output-srt recording.wav

Add the subtitles, brand, and resize for upload to LinkedIn

ffmpeg -i recording.mov -i brand-template-4k.png -filter_complex "[0][1]overlay=0:0,subtitles=recording.wav.srt:force_style='FontName=Open Sans,FontSize=24'" -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -b:a 192k -s 1920x1080 output.mp4

Post Timing and Promotion

  • Upload in MP4 format with 720p-1080p resolution
  • Post when your audience is most active.
  • LinkedIn recommend posting 2-5 times a week! Too much!
  • Regularly. Tuesdays?
  • Use the text caption area above the video: write a brief but compelling description.
    • Tease. Another hook?
  • Add hashtags? (e.g. hash-AI, hash-DataVisualization, hash-DigitalMarketing) — although these may no longer work.
  • Tagging an individual or company increases the reach of a post.
  • Don’t use external links in posts - put them in comments instead.
  • Share on appropriate channels.
  • Post on business website, YouTube, elsewhere?
  • Engagement rates peak when posted between 9-11 AM local time

Some sources

LinkedIn: 13 Tips for Compelling B2B Video Content on LinkedIn (Plus Bonus Resources!) SproutSocial: A blueprint to add LinkedIn video to your social strategy

Note about Deep Research results

  • Deep Research can return recent sources that give stats, but when you look at the sources you find that they are secondary, and either you can’t find the original source of the stat or it is from an older source. This is especially bad with stuff like sites about how to succeed on social media…
  • You can put a statement in a blog post like “LinkedIn says that posts with video are 20x more likely to be shared” without any reference, and it can become a statement in the Deep Research report.

Test video script

How to make LinkedIn videos that really work

If your LinkedIn video doesn’t grab attention in the first few seconds, you’ve already lost.

  • Start with something that grabs attention.
  • Consider your audience. What would be useful to them to hear?
  • Keep your videos short. Attentions spans are short these days and the people you are trying to reach are busy.
  • Design it for silent viewing — really important. Most people watch on mute.
  • Have one clear takeaway
    • Start with a hook, keep it short.
    • Most importantly, keep it relevant to your audience.
  • Finally, end with a CTA
    • Contact me, like, comment.
    • What stops you from making great LinkedIn videos? Leave a comment.