Recently, LinkedIn has revealed internally testing Snapchat-style stories for the business networking platform. This news has created a lot of curiosity in the industry regarding the immense potential it will create for B2B marketing strategies.
A new younger generation, who grew up with the Stories format, is all set to enter the workforce. Snapchat was the first launched the stories featured in 2013, and the young people who helped popularize the form are the upcoming future workforce. And a majority of them are on LinkedIn – 28% of 18 to 29-year-olds in the U.S. are active on LinkedIn, as concluded by the Pew Research Center. LinkedIn has earlier explored a Stories-like format earlier as well, but it was never finalized or launched. But with the rapidly changing face of business processes, many prominent drivers are pushing for the need for LinkedIn’s Stories experimentation in a professional setting.
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Engagement on LinkedIn is taking a more conversational and personalized tone. LinkedIn users are sharing personal stories increasingly with life lessons and work experiences on the platform. And with the change in the type of content shared, LinkedIn needs to start adapting the apt format of stories.
In addition, stories are witnessing broader integration across all social media platforms. Although Snapchat came up with the idea for the ephemeral photo- and video sharing, the format has gained immense popularity ever since across other platforms as well, like – Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube. Twitter also recently acquired a start-up that specializes in editing images for Stories, giving a possible sign of a similar feature upcoming. So, it’s high time for LinkedIn as well to experiment and launch such a feature.
For marketers, especially B2B marketers, LinkedIn Stories could offer options to promote their organization better and develop new leads organically. Approximately 86% of the U.S based B2B marketing professionals currently are on LinkedIn, as cited by eMarketer. This shows how big the potential market on LinkedIn is.
There are around 52% of the marketers worldwide who have planned to focus on their organic LinkedIn activities in 2019, as reported by Social Media Examiner. Stories remain peripheral for B2B marketers, and they are surely gaining a lot of traction. Reuters has cited the Incite Group Study, which confirms that brands think ephemeral content is a critical format for future content marketing strategies.
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For B2B marketing teams to think about the potential use of LinkedIn Stories, they need some solid support in terms of assured outcomes. There is no doubt that stories will help B2B marketers to offer a more personalized industry voice and offer unique insight into the company’s culture. They will also help marketers to produce low-cost video content to promote specialized conferences and events. The creation of Stories-based content likely has fewer barriers to production than some other forms of video content.
The introduction of Stories to LinkedIn would definitely accelerate the B2B marketers’ interest in the format, as it has immense opportunity to create dynamic marketing campaigns that can build top-of-funnel awareness and better appeal to younger LinkedIn users.
