Video Tip: Put Your Shorts On!

Short-form social media videos are too compelling for B2B marketers to ignore now that LinkedIn’s TikTok-style feed is up and running.

Bob Sperber, Editor, Branded Content

We’ve previously shared insights on the power of video in articles on high-performing webinars for in-depth content and short video interviews for building brand visibility. Now we’ll explore the power of short video in social media and the Next Big Thing: vertical short-format videos for smartphone-friendly viewing that are typically less than 60 seconds long.

“Video shorts have the power to get attention and bring quick easy visibility to B2B brand marketing,” says Caitlin Schwartz, our social media manager at Informa Markets – Engineering (IME), “especially with Gen Z maturing — and most if not all following TikTok’s lead to feature shorts.”

Are you making the most of social media today? It offers a direct and cost-effective way to reach prospects who haven’t (yet) subscribed to your newsletter or visited your website. Also, consider how your peers and competitors use social platforms to reach them:

85% of B2B marketers ranked LinkedIn as having the greatest value among social platforms according to the Content Marketing Institute’s latest “Outlook for 2025” survey report. The latest survey showed that 68% increased their use of LinkedIn followed by Instagram (27%), Facebook (20%), and others by single digits. (Only X/Twitter saw a decline).
80% of Gen Z- and Millennial-aged marketers use social media research and base decisions on their audiences there vs. 71% of Gen Z and 42% of their Gen X and Boomer counterparts, according to a 2024 B2B marketing outlook from solution provider Ateriad.
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions in August 2024 reported that 1.5 million pieces of content were being shared on LinkedIn every minute and video was the fastest-growing format, experiencing a 34% increase year-over-year.

Metrics prove the power of short video.

Our analysis of video metrics indicates three key benefits: First, they promote higher engagement with targeted audiences, particularly the younger generations who value video above all other forms of content. Secondly, they’re easier to consume and remember, avoiding excessive fluff for more impactful messages. Thirdly, they rank higher in Google search results, which benefits SEO — ironically despite their brevity — by holding viewers’ attention longer. This, in turn, can lead to higher Google rankings and higher positions in search engine results.

In November 2024, marketing strategist Caroline Giegerich wrote in Adweek: “Curious to test LinkedIn’s claim that videos receive five times more engagement, I wanted to see if the hype held up. Additionally, with a staggering 84% of marketers utilizing video in their content strategies, I wanted to go deep and understand the real value of the format.”

Giegerich conducted a 90-day test of short videos with a sweet spot of less than five minutes long — not to be confused with the new breed of even-shorter TikTok-inspired “video shorts” — to find that her lowest-performing video posts had triple the reach of her best-performing text posts, and her video posts averaged approximately 250,000 views. (Your mileage may vary; not everyone’s LinkedIn “Top Voice” as she is.)

LinkedIn has entered the short-form fray.

Moving from short videos to more snackable short-form fare, LinkedIn has introduced vertical, smartphone-friendly “Videos For You.” This offering seeks to copy the success of TikTok videos, just as Instagram’s Reels, YouTube’s Shorts, and others.

There’s reason to be skeptical of following LinkedIn’s now-discontinued Stories feature. However, that failure may owe less to B2B audiences' receptivity than to the product design — 20-second videos that disappeared in 24 hours a la Snapchat.

The new video feature began testing in March 2024, is now rolling out worldwide, and “has the potential to dramatically increase your reach, with users reporting hundreds of thousands of impressions on their posts,” LinkedIn B2B coach Michelle J. Raymond wrote in September 2024.

Another social media marketing guru, Karlyn Ankrom, says the new format lets professionals “share their expertise in a more dynamic and engaging format,” and advises marketers to “jump in now.” Early adoption, she says, provides the first-mover advantages of higher visibility, impressions, and visibility especially in these early days while the algorithm prioritizes the new videos.

Example of a LinkedIn short-format video.

Tips for B2B short-form videos.

The following tips can help you in your use of short videos on social media, the following tips can help get you started to improve your reach and awareness:

Focus on a clear goal, whether educational or promotional, and end with a useful call to action to foster brand awareness, webinar attendance, or related content worth exploring.
What to post? Viable brainstorming ideas include customer pro tips; product reviews and demos; fun facts; trivia; “behind the scenes” views; thought leadership shorts; or a series on a topic.
Use vertical videos if you expect your content to be viewed on a smartphone, which is best suited for shorts.
Keep video shorts short, typically less than 60 seconds, for maximum engagement, most marketers agree.
Include a few sentences of text along with your video post to help the algorithm personalize and target your audience.
While being appropriately professional, use strong attention-grabbing graphics, text, or video footage to keep your audience from scrolling.
Interact with commenters to deepen the social conversation and user engagement.
Practice social “listening” and monitoring: Track relevant conversations and topics, comments, brand mentions, competitor activity, and keywords. This can provide audience insights, allow quick response to any negative comments, and strengthen your brand reputation. (There are many tools to assist in these efforts.)

There’s no shortage of advice on this topic, but digital educator Will Francis’ guide to LinkedIn’s new vertical videos is a standout that's loaded with insights and best practices.

As with all content marketing decisions, your approach and level of investment will vary. But short-format videos are here to stay and offer a compelling opportunity to increase your reach, awareness, and engagement.