📈 Video On LinkedIn Is Dead

Read time: 4 minutes

I asked LinkedIn creators with 3.7M+ combined followers one question:

"What's the #1 mistake holding back smaller creators?"

Their answers surprised me. Get the full guide by referring 1 person to this newsletter below.

LinkedIn has been pushing video really hard.

We’ve got a vertical video feed now. Even video feeds by topic.

And every LinkedIn employee I talk to says it's their top priority.

I get it - video transformed TikTok and Instagram. More time on platform = more ad revenue.

There was even a wave in early 2025 when LinkedIn videos were getting millions of views.

But here's what we discovered when we analyzed 223,996 posts:

Video isn't driving growth on LinkedIn anymore.

Low views. Fewer new followers. And it takes at least 3x the effort.

When Chris Donnelly and I were pulling together the Q2 algorithm report, we decided to look into this in more detail.

And the results were pretty bad.

Video underperformed EVERY content format except text-only posts.

In Q2 2025, video performed worse than:

• Carousels

• Infographics

• Motivational quotes

• Even selfies

And this is made even worse by the fact that video takes way more work to create than any of these other formats.

But that doesn't mean don't do video.

Here's What Video Is Actually Good For

Video is great for deepening trust with people who already follow you.

But terrible for reaching new people.

Look at my own video examples:

• Can you spot the difference? (50k views)

• The simplest way to write that gets results (18k views)

• My sales content framework (18k views)

These were some of my "lowest performing" posts.

They didn't go viral. Didn't add 1000s of new followers.

But when I've done Saywhat onboardings - people have mentioned them to me.

For me, that is enough signal to keep doing them, as part of a broader strategy.

The format that I think is underrated is photos with stories - they can help you build trust and get better reach:

• Growing up I never thought I’d get married (83k views)

• I nearly got fired in my first 90 days at Goldman Sachs (78k views)

• I procrastinated for 8 years for the 2nd most important decision of my life (68k views)

They get 23% better reach than video (and still build a deeper relationship).

So here's my full content approach right now:

For reaching new people:

• 3-4 carousels/infographics per week - these actually get the reach & new followers

For building deeper connections:

• 1 video per week - deepens trust with existing followers (Virio helps me but your phone + Descript or Capcut works too)

• 1-2 photos per week - builds trust AND grows your audience

• 1 newsletter per week - goes deeper than any LinkedIn post can

The key is using each format for what it does best and not expecting too much from any post.

Carousels and infographics for growth. Video and photos for connection. Newsletters for depth.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

See you next week,

Will

P.S. If you liked this, there are lots more insights like this in the Q2 2025 State of The Algorithm Report.

Will McTighe

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