With over 756 million LinkedIn members and 15 million open positions, finding a job on the platform or standing out to prospects and customers can seem near impossible. But with a LinkedIn Cover Story video, it’s not.
A LinkedIn Cover Story video is a 30-second vertical video you can add to your profile. With this feature, you can satisfy a visitor’s affinity for video and, more importantly, stand out from those who aren’t taking advantage of this capability.
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Why create a LinkedIn Cover Story video
Anyone can benefit from sharing their story on LinkedIn with video. This concept isn’t new and has proven to be a successful tactic over the past several years. Video creators such as Louis Ceaser IV, Ferréol Hoppenot, and Hahn R. are already using video to introduce themselves and market their skills on LinkedIn.
Video is the best way to tell your story in your own voice. Letting your personal network know who you really are—through video—helps open the doors to honest communication. If you’re comfortable telling your story on camera, great. If you’re not, you can use animation. In the video below, Louis Ceaser IV shares a few of the ways he uses video to develop his personal brand and expand his network on LinkedIn.
Cover Story videos are an even simpler way to stand out on LinkedIn. The first three seconds of your Cover Story previews ahead of your headshot and captures attention right at the top of the page. Once clicked, your 30-second vertical video can highlight the details you want to share with your target viewer—prospects, team members, recruiters, customers, or job candidates.
Watch Cover Story examples
What to include in a LinkedIn Cover Story video
- Highlight your expertise or product for prospects. Whether you’re a small business owner, freelancer, or salesperson at a large company, highlighting your offering in your LinkedIn Cover Story is a great way to gain exposure and humanize yourself to your audience. Watch the examples below.
- Introduce yourself to team members & current customers. Use your Cover Story video to start conversations about common interests, building a relationship that not only transcends work but improves your performance at it. “If you have friends in the company,” says organizational psychologist David Burkus, “it’s far easier to ask for help without fearing you’ll be judged a poor performer,” which, according to recent research, has a positive benefit on work productivity. Have a look at these Cover Story examples from Vyond’s customer success managers Erin, Reid, and Olessya.
- Give recruiters a reason to contact you: Employers hire three people through LinkedIn every minute, making the platform one of the go-to places to find for a new role. In March 2021, LinkedIn shared that 76% of recruiters believe it’s helpful to see a pre-recorded video of a job seeker, but with so many competitors on LinkedIn, you need to choose your video’s information and tone strategically.
- Advertise job opportunities: As a recruiter or hiring manager, your Cover Story is the perfect place to talk about available job opportunities. You can market a specific role or show off why your company is a great place to work. Use the last few seconds of your video to direct candidates to your job listings or recruitment video.
Introductory Cover Story videos don’t need to be complicated. Pick three of your favorite hobbies, accomplishments, work experiences, or other main points and share them with your intended audience.
3 animated LinkedIn Cover Story video examples
LinkedIn has a built-in feature to create selfie videos, but for anyone who wants to stand out—without necessarily showing their face on camera—animation is a great solution. Here are three types of animated videos to consider for your LinkedIn Cover Story.
These videos are all available as free templates for Vyond customers.
Mixed media LinkedIn Cover Story template
Sofala Knapton, a video producer and photographer, used animation, photography, and behind-the-scenes video to liven up the traditional Cover Story selfie video. Her use of animation adds an engaging element without overpowering or distracting from her portfolio examples.
Customize Sofala’s video
Mixed media videos can be as simple as adding a few photos to represent your hobbies, family life, or accomplishments. Watch this example from Reid Horimoto, customer success manager at Vyond.
Custom character LinkedIn Cover Story video template
Michelle Miller, learning and development director at Vyond, used her LinkedIn Cover Story video to let her new co-workers in on her work experience, passions, and hobbies.
Don’t let camera shyness be a barrier. Like Michelle, you can use a fully animated version of yourself to invite others into your story without worrying about your best camera angle.
Customize Michelle’s Video
In Vyond, you can create custom characters in three animation styles. Michelle chose Whiteboard Animation for her video. Erin and Olessya at Vyond chose the Business Friendly animation style and Reid chose the Contemporary character style.
Animation-only LinkedIn Cover Story video template
Like Sofala and Michelle, Chris Lawrence—sales at Vyond—shared a brief overview of his work-related experience, but with a twist. He didn’t include himself or his animated character at all. Instead, he used animated elements to enhance his story, like a rocket blasting off as he claims to skyrocket leading companies’ revenues.
If you don’t want to visualize yourself at all, animation-only is the way to go. And since the first three seconds of your Cover Story preview in your profile, this is even a great option to replace your profile picture altogether. With Vyond Studio, you can use animated images, charts & graphs, kinetic text, and music to keep your profile visitors engaged—just like Chris did below. If you prefer, you can even create an engaging video without any voice over.
Customize Chris’ Video
Salespeople like Chris can export leads from LinkedIn while using LinkedIn Cover Stories as a way to introduce themselves. The animation is eye-catching in your profile and adds an opportunity to share more about your product or service.
How to upload your LinkedIn Cover Story
LinkedIn’s Cover Story feature is mobile-only. So, to upload your video, visit your profile from the LinkedIn app on your mobile device and click on your profile picture.
From there, click on Add cover story to record a 30-second video with your phone’s camera or to upload your pre-existing video.
If you’ve created your video in Vyond or another video editing platform, email or text the video to yourself and save it to your device first.
LinkedIn Cover Story size specifications
However you create your video, be sure to create to export a 9:16 (vertical) aspect ratio to fit LinkedIn’s Cover Story guidelines. In Vyond Studio, you can adjust aspect ratio by clicking on the gear icon (next to the preview button in the top-right corner) and choosing 9:16.
And remember that your video must be under 30-seconds. We’ve found it best to stick to about 29.5 seconds. It’s also a good idea to prioritize the visuals in the first 3-seconds. That’s what will preview on your profile and you won’t have the option to change it within LinkedIn.
Use animated LinkedIn Cover Stories
Your Cover Story is part of your personal brand. It shows your unique skills and personality, giving prospects and potential employers an inside look into what you most want them to know. Like Sofala, Michelle, and Chris, you can stand out with an animated Cover Story. With Vyond Studio, you can do this without any previous animation experience.
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