LinkedIn is a popular professional social media platform used by over 700 million members worldwide. On LinkedIn, users can post text, images, and videos to share professional insights, build their brand, and connect with other professionals.
One of the key features of LinkedIn is the ability to post videos. LinkedIn videos allow users to share video content with their connections and followers. This can be an effective way to showcase thought leadership, demonstrate products or services, share company culture videos, and more.
But how exactly does LinkedIn measure and count video views? In this article, we’ll explore the metrics LinkedIn uses for video views and other key factors that impact view counts.
Video View Metric on LinkedIn
The main video view metric on LinkedIn is:
Video Views
This simply measures the total number of times a video has been opened and played. Even if someone only watches for a few seconds, it still counts as a view. If the same person watches the full video multiple times, each view will be counted separately as well.
This view count includes views from all locations – LinkedIn feeds, profiles, pages, groups, ads, shared links, etc. It’s the total number of times the video file has been requested from LinkedIn’s servers and initiated playback.
Some key things to note about LinkedIn’s video view metric:
- A view is counted every time the video is played, not unique viewers.
- Partial views of any length are counted as a full view.
- Views are counted regardless of how long the video was watched.
- Multiple views by the same person are counted separately.
- The count includes views across all areas of LinkedIn.
Factors That Impact LinkedIn Video Views
There are a number of factors that can influence the number of views a video gets on LinkedIn. Understanding these key factors can help optimize videos to reach larger audiences.
Video Length
Shorter videos tend to get more views on LinkedIn. A runtime of 2-3 minutes or less is recommended by LinkedIn.
Thumbnail Image
The thumbnail image displays next to the video title. An eye-catching thumbnail can encourage clicks and views.
Title
The title should be descriptive, catchy, and encourage people to click to watch the video.
Description
A good video description provides context and motivation for the viewer to click through and watch the full video.
Shares and Embeds
When people share the video to their own feeds or embed it on another site, it can drive additional video views.
Topic and Quality
Videos on topics relevant to your target audience with valuable insights are more likely to generate interest and views.
Calls-to-Action
CTAs in the video or post description that encourage the viewer to take an action after watching can boost views and engagement.
Posting Platform and Targeting
Where and how the video is posted impacts reach. Sharing natively on LinkedIn to your connections tends to drive more views than links from external sites.
Paid Promotion
Paying to boost the post’s reach via LinkedIn’s advertising tools can rapidly multiply views. But organic reach is always preferable.
How to Check Video Views on LinkedIn
To check the latest view count on your LinkedIn videos, there are a couple places you can look:
- Video post – The view count is shown directly below the video thumbnail image.
- Video analytics – Navigate to the “Videos” tab under your account analytics to see aggregated metrics for all your videos.
- Creator Studio – Creators can check advanced analytics for each video here.
You’ll see the total lifetime view count shown in each location. Note that view counts only update once per day, so you won’t see the numbers changing in real-time.
Other LinkedIn Video Metrics
In addition to the total video view count, LinkedIn also provides some other useful metrics and data around video performance:
Engagement
See the total number of reactions, comments, and shares on the video post.
Audience Retention
This shows how much of the video viewers are watching on average. It can identify drop-off points.
Traffic Sources
See the breakdown of views driven by different LinkedIn surfaces – feed, profile, page, groups, etc.
Referral Traffic
Track views generated by links/embeds from external sites directing traffic back to the LinkedIn video.
Locations
View geographic data on where your viewers are located.
Demographics
See audience data like job function, industry, age, gender, company size for who is watching your videos.
Tips for Increasing LinkedIn Video Views
Here are some tips to help maximize views for your LinkedIn videos:
- Keep videos short – under 2-3 minutes is best.
- Experiment with eye-catching custom thumbnails.
- Use titles that create curiosity and interest to watch.
- Write detailed video descriptions to provide context.
- Post natively from your LinkedIn account when possible.
- Promote new videos by sharing across LinkedIn feeds & groups.
- Publish consistently and encourage viewers to follow your LinkedIn page.
- Place customized calls-to-action at the end of the video.
- Analyze metrics to optimize based on top-performing video content.
LinkedIn Video View Metrics FAQs
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about LinkedIn video view metrics:
How often do LinkedIn video view counts update?
LinkedIn video view counts are updated once per day. So you generally won’t see the views increasing in real-time.
What counts as a video view on LinkedIn?
A view is counted any time the video is opened and playback is initiated. This includes partial views of any duration.
Where do video views come from on LinkedIn?
Views can come from anywhere the video is watched – LinkedIn feeds, pages, profiles, groups, ads, or external sites embedding the video.
Do video views expire on LinkedIn?
No, LinkedIn does not expire or delete old video views from your total count. The view metric represents lifetime views.
Can you buy LinkedIn video views?
While you can pay to boost the reach of your video with LinkedIn ads, you cannot outright purchase fake views. LinkedIn has algorithms to detect and filter out low-quality or bot views.
Why is my LinkedIn video view count stuck?
View counts only update once per day, so if the number hasn’t changed in over 24 hours there may be an issue. Make sure your video wasn’t deleted or restricted and check your other analytics.
Conclusion
Understanding how LinkedIn calculates and measures video views is important for tracking performance. The key metric is total video views, counting each time the video is opened and played. But other analytics like audience retention, traffic sources, and demographics provide a fuller picture.
Optimizing thumbnails, titles, descriptions, length, calls-to-action, and promotion can help increase views. While you can’t buy views directly, paid advertising can expand reach. Focus on quality over quantity by providing valuable content to engage your target audience.
With over 700 million members, LinkedIn is a powerful platform for sharing professional video content. By making videos that align to your audience’s interests and measuring performance with LinkedIn’s metrics tools, you can keep improving results over time.
Video metric | Definition |
---|---|
Views | Total number of times video is opened and playback is initiated |
Engagement | Total reactions, comments, shares on video post |
Audience Retention | Average percentage of video watched before dropout |
Traffic Sources | Breakdown of views by LinkedIn feed, page, profile, etc |
Referral Traffic | Views generated from external sites via embeds |
Locations | Geographic data on viewer’s countries and cities |
Demographics | Viewer data on job, industry, age, gender, company size |
Here are 5 tips to increase LinkedIn video views:
Tips for maximizing LinkedIn video views |
---|
Keep videos short (under 2-3 minutes) |
Use eye-catching custom thumbnails |
Write compelling titles that spark curiosity |
Post natively from your LinkedIn account |
Promote new videos by sharing across LinkedIn |
In summary, optimizing your LinkedIn video strategy based on performance data can help maximize reach and engagement. Focus on quality, value, and relevance over vanity metrics alone.