I have some major LinkedIn news to report – company pages in the U.S. can now use LinkedIn Stories starting today.

If you’re a LinkedIn geek like me, you’ve been waiting for this day for a LONG time and it’s incredibly exciting for companies of all kinds.

COVID has turned even more people into LinkedIn power users – LinkedIn Stories gives companies and individual users the ability to engage with followers in a new way. LinkedIn Stories can also be a powerful tool for personal branding.

Currently you can only add and view LinkedIn Stories from your mobile device.

Stories disappear in 24 hours similar to Facebook and Instagram stories, but the content appears prominently on the top of the Linked mobile app’s home page, so it’s a great place to highlight information. It’s very image-based, so use big images, callouts and be creative.

If you manage multiple LinkedIn company pages, you will see options to add stories to each of them horizontally along the top of your home screen.

So how can your organization use LinkedIn Stories to their advantage?

  • Highlight your thought leadership (blog posts, client alerts, article placements)
  • Share quick tips (top 5 lists)
  • Post short teaser videos to promote various initiatives
  • Highlight firm history (this is a great way to use old photos)
  • Spotlight employees, alumni and clients through Q&As
  • Share available job postings
  • Promote lateral arrivals – you can promote their initial arrival and then do a short Q&A with them
  • Post event photos (for now consider past events for a #TBT/#FBF campaign but post from live events in the future)

LinkedIn Stories provide a great way to showcase a more authentic side to your brand on social media and to engage with followers, especially as target audiences and clients continue to get younger.

Remember to keep your content suited to the fast and easy-to-digest nature of stories.

I am optimistic that LinkedIn will add a swipe up link similar to Instagram’s to make it easy to include a URL to an article or a registration page – stay tuned for that!

Contact me to learn more about how to incorporate LinkedIn Stories into your marketing strategy.