LinkedIn Is Beta-Testing Ads in Its Own Version of Stories

LinkedIn is joining the ranks of Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok by beta-testing “Stories Ads.” These will be short-form videos, much like the ones you’re used to seeing on other platforms, aimed at engaging users as they explore job opportunities and grow their professional networks.

Short-form video ads are increasingly becoming a must for marketing strategists. LinkedIn stories launched globally earlier this year, so like any other platform that offers short-form video content, it was only a matter of time before the platform made moves to monetize them.

LinkedIn has made it very clear that Stories Ads is only in its beta-testing phase, with a limited number of global advertisers in the mix to advertise across the platform. Among the 600 who have access, nearly all have had positive results in terms of engagement.

Stories Ads can appear as vertical, full-screen videos or as single-image ad campaigns, and populate in the LinkedIn Page Stories at the top right of the home screen on the LinkedIn mobile app.

According to LinkedIn, “sharing Stories is an easy way to share your experiences and insights, and to build meaningful relationships with your professional community. LinkedIn shares Stories that you post for 24 hours.”

It seems like every social platform under the sun is turning to stories and video content as a means of monetizing content and enticing advertisers to partner with them. And, good news for advertisers, it’s totally working.

TikTok, for instance, has been experimenting with expanding its branded content and sponsored campaigns, and Instagram Reels just added Instagram Shops to the new feature, meaning that now it’s easier to click into a product and purchase it from a creator’s story than ever before.

So why are all these platforms suddenly interested in attracting new advertisers, big and small? The answer is diversifying revenue streams, especially such a tumultuous year.

It will be interesting to see which brands and companies gravitate towards utilizing Stories Ads on LinkedIn, and which ones stick to Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. It seems as though there are some brands that might perform as well on a professional platform as they do on a more entertainment-based one, but we certainly shall see! Either way, this is great news for creators who want to diversify their marketing efforts or feel overlooked on other networking platforms.

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