They are finally rolling THIS out? The Top 3 NEW features coming to LinkedIn in 2023 - Daily Dose of Digital 04/01/23

LinkedIn recently announced a plethora of new features rolling out on the platform in 2023 and they all have their value for creators and consumers alike - but I've picked out the three I think are most important in today's Daily Dose of Digital (so you don't have to hunt them out yourself) - and one of them is a doozy!

Video Accessibility and Auto-Generated Captions

Yes, we all know Video is one of the best performing media types on the platform. Many of the best performing videos are "human", with creators or presenters talking to the camera or in interview scenarios. Accessibility should always be high on the agenda, but it's even more important when the content within the videos is mainly accessible through the audio, making it impossible for users who are deaf or hard of hearing to glean the content without subtitles.

In addition, it's common practice for users to actually watch videos on LinkedIn on mute (studies show that 69 % people view video with sound off in public places and 25 % watch with sound off on private places), making captions even more vital. Algorithms are also geared towards favouring video with captions (well, content which is accessible in general), meaning captions also improve impressions/reach.

The issue with adding captions to videos is the need to transcribe them and either upload a SRT file, or overlay them in the video natively. Time consuming for many, or costly if paying for longer videos to be transcribed through humans or software.

The great news is that LinkedIn will automatically generate captions for videos uploaded to the platform! This is currently only available in English but will be rolled out to other languages in the future if it proves successful. You can, of course, choose to add or edit these captions before publishing the video.

Another addition to enhance video accessibility has also snuck under the radar, with the ability for creators to also activate high contrast mode on the LinkedIn app to enhance the accessibility of videos for those with visual impairments or low vision. Nice.

Improved Content Analytics

As a data-driven marketer, this pleases me no end, as the analytics on LinkedIn really does need development - thankfully there are some incremental improvements being made to their content analytics.

LinkedIn also understands how crucial it is to have access to data that can enable you to surface insights which can help drive your decision making around content creation - gauging the effectiveness of your content (formats, timing, duration, context, value, engagement etc) can help you do more of what works and less of what doesn't, ultimately helping grow your audience.

LinkedIn is updating the creator analytics dashboard to include audience data and top-performing content. With this, users can efficiently examine the evolution of their following and discover more about their audience’s demographics.

Provided you've got Creator Mode turned on, you can use the dashboard's new data export features and use the data to spot patterns and adjust your tactics accordingly.

The first two updates are good, but the third is the killer...

Finally - Post Scheduling Is Here!

Hold the phone - finally, the moment has come! LinkedIn will be providing the capability that many individual users and company/brands demand. The big one. The ability to plan and schedule posts in advance! The clouds have parted, the sun is shining, and social media managers and LinkedIn over-users (like me) rejoice!

As with all features, you might not have access yet, but when you do a “Schedule” icon will appear next to the “Post” button when you are creating a post. You can simply click/tap the icon to schedule your post, then select the day and time you want your content to be shared. This gives users much more control over timing posts for maximum impact and reach, not to mention enabling users to bulk schedule content in advance (for campaigns or time-sensitive posts for example).

Boom.

Which is your favourite of these LinkedIn updates?

Let me know in the comments and be sure to share this newsletter with amigos and connections if you found it useful!