Lessons learned from a content review... and humanising copy

The idea for Ayo Abbas and me to co-host monthly LinkedIn livestream video events was born over tea and large slabs of cake in a café on a May bank holiday last year.

Fuelled by caffeine and sugar, Ayo and I sketched out content goals, target audience and what we thought would be a workable format for the 'B2B Comms Breakdown' as it would become.

But a year of live streams later, did it work, and what lessons have we learned about live streaming and content strategies?

Our content goals for the live video event

?? Build visibility and brand awareness with the right audience

?? Develop connections and expand our network

?? Repurpose the live video to create additional content to use on different channels

Did our content deliver?

The simple answer is yes. LinkedIn now gives you enhanced video stats, including a breakdown of who is viewing based on filters like location, industry and seniority. This tells us we are reaching the right people.

Doing regular lives has opened doors: new connections, speaking opportunities and work. People mention that they’ve seen us and found our events useful, making networking easier.

We’ve repurposed the live streams into a variety of content: Video clips, written LinkedIn posts, podcast episodes, blogs, and material for our newsletters.

Bonus benefits

???Doing a monthly live online event keeps us on our toes because you have to think on your feet. It is good public speaking practice and helps develop those skills.

?? The engagement, particularly during the live, is a boost and keeps us motivated. It means we can engage with our audience in real time.

Lessons learned for live streaming on LinkedIn

?? You can’t be reliant on the algorithm to give your LinkedIn-sanctioned livestream event visibility. Because you have to use an external platform to stream onto LinkedIn, it counts as a weblink, and we all know how much the LinkedIn 'algo' doesn't love weblinks.

It means working even harder to boost the reach of promotional posts, using the invites option liberally and promoting off the platform.

??LinkedIn video data disappears after 180 days, which we didn’t realise until too late, so the lesson is to note the stats regularly, not just wait for an annual review. Ahem.

?? LinkedIn streaming can be glitchy, so doing a simultaneous live stream to another platform, such as Instagram or YouTube, is a good idea to give people viewing options. (We stream to Ayo's YouTube channel .)

?? Not many people understand or know about LinkedIn live video events, so it is worth explaining when you promote.

Content strategy takeaways

?? Make sure you are looking at performance data that reflects your goals.

For example, social media impressions are a fairly shallow measure of reach; a large number of impressions doesn’t necessarily equal engagement.

Yes, we want visibility, but that is meaningless if it doesn’t translate into engagement, connections and leads. We judged our livestream performance based on things like views, total viewing time, attendees and comments.

?? Don’t just rely on numbers. Record anecdotal evidence (from the start), such as reader/viewer feedback and other tangible results. It can be a powerful endorsement that content is delivering.

?? LinkedIn looks like it will be focusing on video content and is rolling out a TikTok-style ‘next-up’ short-form video interface. This likely means it will push the visibility of video content in the coming month, so short-form video as part of a LinkedIn content strategy might be a good bet.

What content lessons have you learned from taking a cold, hard look at the stats?

Watch the replay of our video event here on LinkedIn or here on YouTube

Finding the human angle gives your content the edge

I was rewatching the BBC drama The Hour recently, which follows the journalists and producers of a new topical news programme in the 1950s.

One of the journalists, Freddie, is renowned for finding the human angle in stories to make them relevant to the viewer.

There is a lot of fact in this fictional drama, and tapping into the human in B2B content can be an extremely effective way to engage your audience and enhance copy.

Here’s an example.

Talking to a client for a thought leadership piece I was ghostwriting, they told me about a real situation they’d found themselves in with a project.

The scenario perfectly illustrated a more significant crossroads moment for their industry, which was the crux of what they wanted to say in the article.

Rather than give the piece a generic, macro-focused opening, I started with their specific story and built the topic out from there: micro to macro.

It helped to illustrate the bigger point they wanted to make in a more unique, human way. It was a story that would undoubtedly have been relatable and recognisable to the target readership, and that helped make it more engaging.

Starting with a real, relatable situation was also more likely to grab readers' attention because it isn’t what you usually see in B2B content.

The client was up for doing something a bit different, and the article was picked up and published as a comment piece in an industry-leading trade mag.

Using real examples and scenarios can also be an effective way to enliven potentially dry topics.

Be like Freddie, look for a human, relatable angle in content.

Have you watched anything good recently that has a parallel business lesson?

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