[PODCAST] Live Video, LinkedIn And More

Who wants to go Live on LinkedIn or Instagram? Not everybody is cut out to do live videos, but when you are in business, anything and everything is worth exploring. Especially when it's bound to open doors for growth. Social media technology allows for creative marketing to build relationships with your target market.

However, not all social networks can help your business. You need to explore each one of them and determine the one(s) best suited for you. For example, LinkedIn is a social platform with millions of professional users, but only very few use it to post videos. Meanwhile, Instagram is your user-friendly ally when it comes to posting images and is great when you are just starting with video. Learn more about live videos in this episode of The Digital Slice Podcast with Todd Bergin.

Your Live Video Guru

There is only one way to learn fast and learn deeply. This occurs when you apply what you have learned and you're able to do it yourself. Todd Bergin is a recovering attorney who found a new love in Live Video. He didn’t have any complaints about his former profession, but he feels more alive and happier in the digital creative space.

Here, he can explore different things on his own and become an expert at what he does. Todd is an Instagram strategist and as an entrepreneur himself, he recommends you use its video capabilities and access a new market hungry for video content. He’s all about helping entrepreneurs like you leverage digital marketing through video and podcasts to establish your online influence and boost your offline growth.

Todd doesn’t only have one podcast but two that he hosts and publishes daily. His “Grammer School” podcast is about Instagram marketing, while the “Entrepreneur Live Video” is a rich podcast resource about Live Video marketing.

The Value Of LinkedIn Video

If you think the video marketing space is already saturated, think again. You might want to consider LinkedIn videos. Todd was recently at Sean Cannell’s “Grow with Video Live” conference in Las Vegas, and he picked up some profound insights.

The conference itself was brought together by Think Media, and Video Influencers. Todd says “both Think Media and Video Influencers do phenomenal work. I mean, their content is insanely good. And it’s some of my favorite content on the Internet.” The only negative he can think of is they set the bar so high with their standards, one could get a bit envious with the quality of their work. Otherwise, their outstanding performance is very encouraging.

Meanwhile, at the “Grow with Video Live” conference, Todd confirmed not many are taking advantage of LinkedIn’s millions of users - only about 500 people are posting videos on LinkedIn every day. This tells you how the LinkedIn audience is untapped, and if you're able to do it right, you could still pioneer a video revolution there.

As Todd declares, “LinkedIn as a platform is huge.” With approximately 550 million users per day, 500 people uploading a video on an average day gives you an idea of how much opportunity is waiting for you. Currently, Todd is still at a stage where he is testing stuff as to what works and what doesn’t, but he is definitely diving in.

Sean Cannell himself said that if one takes YouTube out of the equation, LinkedIn video is the next most important place. LinkedIn may be at its early stages with video, but because it is now owned by Microsoft, it surely is here for the long haul. Todd especially prefers LinkedIn as he thinks its algorithms are very friendly. For instance, at LinkedIn, a “like” is the same as a share, so it increases visibility in the same volume as if it was shared. The “like” or the thumbs up symbol triggers the algorithm in a certain way that is more generous compared to other social platforms.

Once, Todd posted the same video on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. On Instagram, the video did pretty well and had a couple of hundred views. On Facebook, it got only 15 views. But guess how many views it got on LinkedIn? On LinkedIn, the same video got nearly a thousand views, and exploded. This is why Todd is impressed and is now committed to doing LinkedIn videos. He admits, up to this point, “I’ve just ignored it because I feel like LinkedIn feels very corporate, very office environment, and I hate that, but I’m going ignore it no longer. I’m diving in.”

Todd attributes the LinkedIn success in video to it being a social media platform of actual individuals, brands, or businesses who use real names or entity names. This is unlike Instagram and Facebook where you can be anybody you want to be and use aliases all you want.

Todd concludes, “It really is a platform where people are making professional connections.” And this is to say that professionals and companies consume a lot of video content. If you want to take advantage of it, you have a market serious about buying products and consuming services whether it's at a B2C or B2B level.

The Business In Instagram Live

On the other hand, why should you be on Instagram and why should you be doing Instagram Live? Todd puts it very simply: “I like the no-frills environment of Instagram Live.” He tells the story of how he discovered Instagram Live once when he was sick and spending his hours watching Gary Vaynerchuk. At the time, he was just starting in the Live Video space, but he had already figured out Facebook, Meerkat, Periscope, and YouTube. He spent about 1-2 years mastering Live Video, and when Instagram Live came, he was completely blown away!

Instagram Live is like nothing he had ever used in the past, but he was most impressed by the volume of reach it produces compared to other platforms. And the engagement of video viewers on Instagram was off the charts.

Todd has his own video studio where he creates marketing magic, but with Instagram video, he can relax, say “Hi” whenever he wants to, and there are no frills about it. Certainly, he likes it both ways, the strictly professional studio mode and the Instagram no-frills mode but he declares, “Instagram changed me because I felt like this is a great way to communicate with the masses very very easily.”

Even for the consumers, Instagram is simple and easy with its pictures and videos. It was through his work with Instagram videos that he was invited to Michael Stelzner’s Social Media Marketing podcast. He received an email from Michael one day, and it just went forward from there. Opportunities then overflowed after the guest spot he did on Michael’s podcast.

On The Content Side Of Things

Whatever kind of content you are building, the most important thing to remember is the amount or the volume you publish should be enough for it to make a significant impact on your target audience. So whether its a podcast, a live video series, a blog, or a website you are generating content for, it won’t matter much if you don't produce and publish quality content on a regular consistent schedule. Come to think of it, how else can someone follow your content, podcast, live broadcast, or blog if you post only once, and then you forget all about it?

For you to be remembered, to be top of mind, and to be recognized as a thought leader in your industry, you must have content you consistently publish. Share your knowledge, invite guests to your podcasts, create long-form posts, and do it on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The important thing is to create a feeling of trust with your audience, who know they can expect something from regularly and consistently. And so for any form of content you produce, you have to make enough for it to matter. Because, in the words of Todd, “Any content you’re doing, if you’re not doing it enough, then it's not going matter.”

In his experience publishing podcasts, he discovered hosting even one guest can be a lot of work, especially when you’re a solopreneur, and you have to do everything on your own. But he has also proven it's all worth it in the end. You have to strategize how you can do more in less time, such as recording your podcasts in batches way ahead and then publishing an episode daily. Another effective strategy is to create shorter duration podcasts intended for your busy audience who like bite-size tidbits of what you can give them daily as they can create a bigger impact. Todd agrees, “Bite-size content is what people like.” The key is to make each podcast episode simple, doable, and sustainable enough for you and your audience.

Be sure to listen to this episode of The Digital Slice Podcast to get the scoop on going live! And, if you like it, leave a rating and a review!

Please note: The Friedman Group is an inbound marketing agency based in Denver, Colorado, and we work with professionals and business owners across the U.S. Our digital marketing services include: inbound marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and digital marketing strategy and implementation.