The first thing you need to know about LinkedIn Video specs is this: they’re different for videos you share in posts or messages and for video adverts.
We’re going to look at both sets of specifications and dig into how to make the most of what LinkedIn lets you do with your video content.
TLDR
- You can upload more than ten different video formats to LinkedIn, but uploading isn’t always the best choice: sharing links is sometimes a better option
- The shortest video LinkedIn will allow is 3 seconds long - but you can use animated GIFs if you need something even shorter
- The most successful videos tend to be between 15 and 30 seconds long
- LinkedIn supports event streaming videos, as well as shared video and video messages
- You get a lot more freedom to define the look of your content when you pay to promote video ads!
- Here’s a handy graphic with all the LinkedIn video specs (for shares and video messages) in one place!
Source: sendspark.com
LinkedIn Video Specs 2022: Supported File Types
When you’re sharing a video on LinkedIn, you have a lot of options. LinkedIn supports these video formats:
- ASF
- FLV
- MPEG-1 and MPEG-4
- MKV
- WebM
- H264/AVC
- MP4
- VP8 and VP9
- WMV2 and WMV3
LinkedIn video ads, however, must be in MP4 format (with AAC or MPEG4 audio).
The following file types and codecs are not supported:
- AVI
- ProRes
- MPEG-2
- Raw Video
- VP6
- WMV1
- QuickTime
- .MOV
You’ll get an error message if you try to upload any of these to LinkedIn. There are loads of tools to convert video from one format to another - CloudConvert has a good free option for converting incompatible formats to MP4.
Of course, it’s not always necessary or even preferable to upload your video to LinkedIn. You can always share a link to a video hosted elsewhere.
- When to upload: LinkedIn’s newsfeed algorithm is known to prefer “native video” to links out to third-party websites, so if you’re sharing a video in a public post, it is likely to be more widely seen if you upload it
- When to link: The algorithm point is the only reason to prefer uploading to linking. So link when:
- You’re sending messages to connections via their inbox (using a tool like Sendspark - which allows you to film and send directly from your own LinkedIn inbox: try it for free today!)
Source: sendspark.com
- Getting viewers onto your owned property from LinkedIn is an important part of your marketing funnel - for example, to drive the next step via a call-to-action
- The video file doesn’t comply with the LinkedIn video specs described in this blog
LinkedIn Video Specs 2022: Size and Length Limits
The minimum requirements for LinkedIn video are:
- 75 KB file size
- 3 seconds duration
If you need to upload video that’s shorter than 3 seconds, you can do this by uploading an animated GIF instead. OK, there won’t be any sound, but how much use can less than 3 seconds of sound be anyway??!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Source: tenor.com
The maximums are as follows:
- 5 GB for shared video
- 200 MB for video ads
- 15 minutes for shared videos uploaded from a desktop
- 10 minutes from shared videos uploaded from the LinkedIn mobile app
- 30 minutes for video ads
In terms of how long your videos should be:
- LinkedIn recommends less than 30 seconds for top-of-funnel awareness content and ads
- Video ads that are less than 20 seconds long will loop continuously
- The best-performing video ads are under 15 seconds long, LinkedIn reports
- Long-form video should be reserved for (i) thought leadership, (ii) product demonstrations, (iii) stories that make an emotional connection with the viewer
- Although longer videos are supported, LinkedIn advises against uploading files of more than 10 minutes in length - these can always be hosted elsewhere and linked
LinkedIn Video Specs 2022: Aspect Ratio
LinkedIn video adverts have to be in one of the three following aspect ratios:
- Square (1:1) - With minimum dimensions of 360 x 360 pixels and a maximum of 1920 x 1920
- Landscape (16:9) - Between 640 x 360 pixels and 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Portrait (9:16) - Between 360 x 640 pixels and 1080 x 1920 pixels
The tolerance is fairly generous: videos can vary from these ratios by up to 5% and still be squeezed into an approved scale.
Shared videos are not subject to such tight restrictions. They can be in any ratio between 2.4:1 horizontally and 1:2.4 vertically.
Source: vimeo.com
16:9 is the standard “widescreen” ratio, which is also ideal for landscape viewing on most mobile devices. 9:16 is the same, but rotated 90 degrees!
2.4:1 is anamorphic widescreen (sometimes called “cinemascope”). Although you can share videos in this scale on LinkedIn, it’s important to bear in mind that they will rarely look good!
- Vertically aligned, videos will be unwatchably tall and will rarely fit on a single screen
- Horizontally aligned, height will have to be reduced so that the video fits the screen width. That will make it very small!
- On mobile devices - with smaller screens than desktops, laptops, and tablets - these problems are made worse still (and remember: 57% of LinkedIn traffic is mobile!)
So, while you can share anamorphic widescreen video on LinkedIn, bear in mind the words of Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park!
Source: tenor.com
LinkedIn Video Specs 2022: Resolution and Frame Rate
LinkedIn can handle a wide range of video resolution levels, all the way from 240x144 low-res to 4096x2160 full 4K.
It can also handle Frame Rates between 10 and 60 Frames Per Second (FPS) - although it recommends 30 FPS as the best rate for adverts.
As a general rule, it’s best to use video of the highest resolution you can, within the file size limits detailed above. If a viewer’s screen doesn’t support the full resolution, it will downgrade it to the highest level it can playback.
If you need to compress a file to a smaller size without losing quality, Veed.io is a great web-based tool and VLC is a good desktop app.
LinkedIn Video Specs 2022: Bit Rate for Streaming
If your profile qualifies for LinkedIn Live, you can stream video as well as share it. You’ll be eligible if:
- You have 150 or more connections or followers
- You’ve shared original content recently
- You have a history of abiding by all LinkedIn Professional Community Policies
This will let you stream video from an Event you have created. See more about LinkedIn streaming here.
Bit rate is the speed at which streamed data is processed. The higher the bit rate, the better the image and audio quality of the video will be:
- Standard definition - requires around 1 to 6 megabits per second (MBPS)
- High definition TV equivalent - needs between 5 and 20 MBPS
LinkedIn can stream video well within these parameters: from an agonizing 192 kilobits per second (KBPS) to lightning-fast 30 MBPS.
LinkedIn Video Specs 2022: Advert Extras
Video ads on LinkedIn offer a lot of other functionality that is not available for shared or streamed videos. No big surprise - you’re paying for them! 😂 💰💰
Here are the extra specs for LinkedIn video ads:
- Ad name (optional): 255 characters
- Headline: 70 characters
- Introductory text: 150 characters
- Video captions (optional): any video sound file used must be less than 64 KHZ
- Thumbnail file type: JPG or PNG
- Thumbnail maximum size: 2 MB
- Thumbnail aspect ratio and resolution: the same as the video itself
A URL for the ad’s destination landing page also has to be provided, which must be no more than 200 characters long.
Why You Need to be Using Video on LinkedIn
Source: tenor.com
OK, so that’s what you need to do to use video on LinkedIn. But perhaps you’re still wondering why you should be…
Well, wonder no longer. Brace yourself - here come some mind-boggling stats!
- 🤯 LinkedIn had 800 million users in 2021, 90 million of whom are senior decision-makers
- 💥 LinkedIn video posts see three times more engagement than non-video posts
- 💬 LinkedIn video posts start five times more conversations than others
- 🔎 LinkedIn video ads get an average 50% view rate
- 💗 LinkedIn users share twenty times more video content than other types
- 🤝45% of marketers have won new business using LinkedIn
Convinced? You should be!
The Bottom Line
There you have it! 👏
Everything you need to know about LinkedIn video specs and best practice tips for a whole load of use cases.
If you want to find out more about LinkedIn video, we’ve written a few blogs about it recently:
- Need a LinkedIn Video Maker But Don’t Know What To Choose? Check Out Our 4 Recommendations
- How to Master LinkedIn Video Marketing - Our In-Depth Guide
- The 5 Best LinkedIn Automation Tools for 2022
- How to Create Engaging Linkedin Videos that Drive Sales
And if you’re looking for a video creation and sharing app that has a native LinkedIn integration that connects automatically with your account when you download our Chrome extension, you’ve definitely come to the right place! 👏👏👏
Sendspark makes it easy to create or import videos and distribute them across LinkedIn, email, and the web. Sign up now and start recording and sharing videos for free.
