Are you using video as part of your employee comms toolkit?
According to studies, the human brain can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text, so if you want to get your message across quickly and effectively, video is the way to go.
But why does video perform so well as an employee communication tool?
Visual storytelling
We’ve all seen those memory-improvement exercises where you remember a series of facts by linking them together in a story sequence that you visualise in your head. They really work. And video works in the same way. They allow you to convey your message in a compelling and engaging way, using visuals, music and narration to create a memorable experience.
Convey emotion
A picture paints a thousand words. Yes, it’s a cliché but video enables us to quickly pick up on details like facial expressions and tone of voice that would be way too time consuming to get across via text.
Create a personal connection
Particularly important in a world of remote and hybrid working, videos enable face-to-face communication. Seeing and hearing a person speak creates a sense of connection and humanises interactions. This personal touch can really help strengthen relationships between colleagues.
So, what kind of communication works well in a video format?
Onboarding
When someone new joins an organisation, it can be a bit of an information overload and in a remote and hybrid working world, it’s not always possible to be hands on when onboarding new people.
That’s where video comes into its own.
Not only will new starters get to know what their new colleagues actually look like (if they’re working remotely), they can also learn everything they need to know in an accessible format. Plus, video can really help to convey the ‘personality’ of an organisation.
Announcements and updates
There’s nothing like releasing a new video to create a sense of occasion for making big announcements and updates.
In the same way as people can ‘scan’ emails, AI can be used to summarise video content, meaning they won’t watch the whole thing. You can minimise this by keeping your videos short and sweet. We recommend sticking to 60 seconds or less where possible.
Pro tip: Literally create an event out of important announcements by releasing the video at a specified time. Promote the ‘event’ beforehand so colleagues can watch it at the same time, hot off the press, so to speak.
Training and development
Videos can be a great way to upskill the people in your organisation, whilst saving on the cost of in-person training courses.
From training people on how to use company software, to courses on dealing with customer complaints, you only need record them once but the number of people who can benefit is infinite.
You can even add clickable links to your videos to flag up supplementary content.
Pro tip: Group training videos in categories to make them easy to find, then reward employees for completing them.
FAQ videos
Do you get asked the same questions over and over again?
You’ve probably got a place for all the answers somewhere on your intranet but if people have to spend time trawling through documents to find what they’re looking for, chances are they’ll ask again.
So, why not create a set of internal FAQ videos to answer the most common questions quickly and easily, so not only are you saving employees’ time but your own too.
Celebrate successes
There’s nothing like celebrating success for bonding people together. Whether that’s a new client win, a project well done or an award nomination.
Telling these stories in a video format brings them to life and creates a human element in a way that text and images don’t.
Tips on creating good video content:
- Keep it short and to the point to keep people’s interest.
- Be real. Feature real employees and authentic experiences.
- Make sure it’s accessible on a variety of devices.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles and use analytics to discover what’s working.
How Fresh supports video
With Fresh there are lots of ways you can share video content with employees.
If you’re using Viva Connections to curate your content, our Video card (ACE) allows you to display and view videos from your intranet in Viva Connections without context switching.
Other Fresh features allowing you to display video content on your SharePoint intranet include:
Hero grid – With the Hero grid web part you can add links to external (e.g., web page) as well as internal (e.g., news posts or document) content, including video. And the best thing is, the video plays within the grid area.
Curated Video – The Video cards web part allows you to choose a selection of videos based on a specific topic, e.g. “Legal” or “Topic of the month”. You can define the thumbnail image, sharing options and much more…
Video player – With the Video player web part you can display video content within a SharePoint page. Embed videos from multiple sources including SharePoint, Stream and YouTube.
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Ready to make the most of video in your employee comms? The Fresh team is here to help. Get in touch with us today.