2020 has been challenging, to say the least. Five weeks before the year ends, social media platforms seem to be on a roll with some brand-new features!

Over the last couple of weeks, leading social media platforms launched LinkedIn Stories and Twitter Fleets. Let’s take a quick look at what it’s all about.

LinkedIn Stories

First introduced on Snapchat, then on Instagram and Facebook, now LinkedIn also has a “Stories” feature. Last October 2020, LinkedIn launched its own version of Stories. It allows individuals and brand pages to publish photos, text, or short videos in a 24-hour feature.

Currently, this feature is only available through the LinkedIn mobile app. Its goal is to have an instant glimpse of a workday moment without too much thought, prep, and curation.

Senior Director of Product Management, Pete Davies from LinkedIn, noted that “The format will help kickstart conversations and nurture the relationships that are core to everything that happens on LinkedIn.”

How to Post a LinkedIn Story:

·   Go to the LinkedIn app and click the post button at the bottom.

·   Click the button with the label, “Share a Story.”

·   Upon clicking, you can record a video or take a picture and customize it to your preference.

·   Once the story gets uploaded, you can find it at the top of your LinkedIn feed, along with all the stories from your LinkedIn network.

LinkedIn members can engage in the Stories feature via mobile by:

·   Create a Story – An individual LinkedIn member or a LinkedIn Page Admin can create or post a Story with images and videos on their phone.

·   View a Story – LinkedIn users can view Stories created by their connections and Pages they follow.

Twitter Fleets

That thing you didn’t Tweet but wanted to but didn’t but got so close but then were like nah.

We have a place for that now—Fleets!

Rolling out to everyone starting today. pic.twitter.com/auQAHXZMfH

— Twitter (@Twitter) November 17, 2020

Fleeting Tweets or Fleets was recently introduced as Twitter’s own version of the Stories feature to all users. Similar to the LinkedIn Stories feature, Fleets offers a new way to share what’s happening to the world without the pressure of validation from likes and retweets.

Fleets will also only stick around for 24 hours, and you can find them at the top bar of your Twitter feed on your mobile app.

How to Post a Fleeting Tweet:

·   Log in to Twitter and tap on your avatar.

·   Create content with text, descriptions, photos, videos.

·   Publish your Fleet.

What can you fleet?

·   Text fleets – The basic Fleet function is a text in a colored background, with a range of color options.

·   Share tweets – Also appearing on a colored background, this type of Fleet enables the user to share individual tweets.

·   Video or Photo – Twitter users can also post videos and photos with Fleets.

Getting Into the Stories Trend

Storytelling is one of the most effective ways for brands to communicate with their audience. Every brand has their own unique story to show to the world.

As such, brands that use storytelling effectively can play an important role in trendsetting and influencing your audience by giving them the necessary know-how regarding your products or services.

Enabling the widespread use of the “Stories” function to various social networks gives the brand the freedom to incorporate their own user-generated content by providing a positive brand sentiment or giving a raw social commentary to the latest news and trends online.

Introducing LinkedIn Stories and Twitter Fleets make sense on both platforms. Social media engagement data from Entrepreneur showed that this feature would be largely used for communication by the next generation of social media users.

Both Twitter and LinkedIn are getting into the Stories bandwagon to capitalize on the potential user engagement that this feature will have in the future. This feature offers the opportunity to help brands create entertaining and informative short-form videos that showcase their raw creativity and authenticity to their target audience.

A whole new way of showcasing the brand’s content

In other words, this feature offers another way of presenting the brand’s content. The Stories feature currently dominate other social media platforms. Some users even prefer to view these Stories rather than reading status updates on their newsfeed. Brands can use this feature as an opportunity to diversify their content and help them reach a wider audience.

However, brands need to remember that it will ultimately boil down to the type of content you post. Brands can gain a competitive advantage with the Stories feature if they focus on posting quality content. Brands need video content that will effectively tell their story and demonstrate their industry-leading authority.

Whether your brand is posting about their technical expertise in a LinkedIn Story or just creating a raw, off-the-cuff Fleet, the right video content strategy is the key to getting the most out of this feature.

Shakr can help your brand cut through the noise by creating strategic videos for your Fleets and Stories. Shakr will help create unique and customized creative videos to help your brand engage with your Twitter and LinkedIn audience. Brands can also try using Shakr to grow their audience with winning video creatives and user-generated video campaigns on the platform.

How brands can leverage Twitter Fleets and LinkedIn Stories

For Fleets: Posting limited time offers.

If your brand wants to start a FOMO strategy to sell out a product quickly or offer promos to avid followers, then Fleets can be a great way to hype these things and promote quick sales, offers, or coupon codes. Since Twitter Fleets are only available for 24 hours, users may feel a sense of urgency and make a purchase using the given coupon code on the brand’s Fleet.

For Stories: Encouraging Thought Leadership with Professional Tips

Brands need to remember that the Stories feature will not change the “professional” nature of the LinkedIn platform. This feature should be used to build a professional network for the brand to enhance thought leadership in an all-new digestible format. A quick industry recap and professional tips will help capture your audience’s attention and showcase your technical know-how in a fun and engaging way.

For Both: Sharing real-time events on social media.

Sometimes brands need to show a real and authentic side behind the corporate façade. There is no better way of doing that than with Fleets and Stories. Brands can share big company announcements and awards ceremonies. Sharing video clips from live events is an excellent opportunity to create extra hype and showcase what’s going on in the company.

For Fleets: Hosting daily giveaways.

Similar to posting short-term sales and coupon codes, Fleets can also be a great opportunity to promote giveaways from the brand. With this feature, brands can use more text, photos, or videos about the products that are up for grabs. You can also easily explain the rules of the giveaway within multiple Fleet pages.

For Stories: Hosting corporate Q&As.

Livestreaming a Q&A session has recently become a popular way of sharing content. Brands can use LinkedIn Stories to answer questions of your prospective customers or clients. Q&A sessions via LinkedIn Stories will help showcase the people behind the brand, providing an excellent way to share your brand’s story and build brand affinity.

For Both: Offering behind-the-scene content

Your audience can have the chance to take a glimpse of how the sausage is made, so to speak. Showcase the personality behind the brand by posting what’s happening behind the scenes. By pulling back the curtain and sharing authentic moments in real-time, the brand can help create a better connection with your audience. Behind-the-scene content can also act as a strategy to hype up an upcoming product launch or company event.

What the industry is saying

On Twitter Fleets

“Fleets are an opportunity to try new or different creative approaches that won’t live on your timeline forever.” – Stacy Minero, global head at Twitter ArtHouse from Campaign UK.

“I would anticipate an increased focus on and expansion of fan engagement through simple sharing of Tweets right to a Fleet vs. being highly selective about what to permanently share to a brand profile.” – Ashmi Dang, former Director/Head of Social at Showtime from Forbes.

“I’m not seeing a way for a brand to do as much as we can with the other story formats: no filters, no stickers, no swipe-ups, no way to quote RT or re-share which feels the most own-able for Twitter given how successful that is as a natural behavior for users there. Beyond posting a pre-made asset or tappable video, I don’t see many ways for a brand to drive deeper engagement beyond a view. For marketers to test this, we need more in-depth metrics; tap forwards, backs, time spent with each frame, reach, shares, etc.” – Bryna Corcoran, Director of Social Media at Lyft from Forbes.

On LinkedIn Stories

“LinkedIn Stories are the 1.0 version of the recent Instagram Stories – and I DON’T indicate that in an unkind way. I am excited about this new LinkedIn feature, and every platform starts somewhere. I am also very curious about how it will develop.” – Dr. Natalia Wiechowski, LinkedIn Expert, Personal Branding Pro from Social Insider.

“In a virtually connected world, ‘Stories’ are the virtual water coolers. Members can share their everyday professional moments in a creative and authentic way, and find a new way to stay connected with their networks.” – Ashutosh Gupta, India country manager at LinkedIn from Afaqs.com.

“We believe Stories can become an integral part of brands’ communication strategies. My advice to any brands looking to experiment with Stories is – just do it! The great thing about Stories is that they don’t have to be slick or overproduced – as long as they are authentic and match your brand and audience.” – Tom Pepper, marketing solutions head for UK, Ireland & Israel at LinkedIn from The Drum.

Shakr is here to help your brand take a deep dive into Twitter Fleets and LinkedIn Stories.

It’s time to engage your audience in a whole new and more meaningful way! We’re here to help you create exciting videos for your Fleets and Stories.

Shakr can help connect with people with our top-notch campaign creative at scale. Fleets and Stories from brands can dramatically increase local businesses’ consumer engagement.

Schedule a discovery call with us now

References:

Balkhi, S. (2020). What You Need to Know About the LinkedIn Stories Feature. Retrieved 7 December 2020, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/350893

Brenner, M., & Brenner, A. (2020). 8 Strategies to Grow Your Business with LinkedIn Stories – Marketing Insider Group. Retrieved 7 December 2020, from https://marketinginsidergroup.com/marketing-strategy/8-strategies-to-grow-your-business-with-linkedin-stories/

Bump, P. (2020). Twitter Fleets Just Launched In the US: What Marketers Need to Know. Retrieved 24 November 2020, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/twitter-fleets#:~:text=Fleets%20are%20temporary%20tweets%20that,are%20similar%20to%20Instagram%20Stories

How to Use LinkedIn Stories for Your Business – Later Blog. (2020). Retrieved 24 November 2020, from https://later.com/blog/linkedin-stories/

LinkedIn Stories: What’s in it for brands and advertisers?. (2020). Retrieved 7 December 2020, from https://www.afaqs.com/news/social-media/linkedin-stories-whats-in-it-for-brands-and-advertisers

Marketing, D., What’s new in social? Guides, F., Services, W., Services, M., Studies, C., & Us, A. et al. (2020). What’s new in social? Guides, Fleets and LinkedIn Stories | Ascensor. Retrieved 24 November 2020, from https://www.ascensor.co.uk/news/whats-new-guides-fleets-linkedin-stories

Talbot, K. (2020). 5 Ways To Use LinkedIn Stories For Your Personal Brand. Retrieved 24 November 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/katetalbot/2020/09/24/5-ways-to-use-linkedin-stories-for-your-personal-brand/?sh=7946e9e57a29

The Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn Stories. (2020). Retrieved 24 November 2020, from https://neilpatel.com/blog/linkedin-stories/Ways You Can Use LinkedIn Stories to Promote Your Business. (2020). Retrieved 7 December 2020, from https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/linkedin-stories-strategy/