Does this sound familiar? You spent months developing your internal communications strategy based on all the best practices. But most of the employees at your company are remote, or hybrid, or just plain busy.
No matter what you do, your internal comms don’t seem to stick.
Even the best internal comms strategy isn’t always easy to put into practice, especially in this era of remote and hybrid work. That’s because the ways in which we communicate are out of date — traditional comms fail to engage modern employees in this new world of work.
Video is one of the most effective tools for solving this problem.
With less effort than you might think, video can breathe new life into your internal communications strategy. Read on to learn why traditional comms methods fall short, how video bridges this gap, and five video ideas to get you started.
The problem with most internal communication methods
If you’re like most internal comms managers, you probably connect with employees through a combination of text-based tools like email, Slack, and newsletters or blog posts on the company intranet. Maybe you help your c-suite develop a PowerPoint presentation now and again.
This is understandable. These tools have been the gold standard for years. The problem is, they don’t get the job done in 2022.
30% of employees admit they don’t read internal emails. And there’s a good chance the people who do read internal emails might miss — or at best, skim over — the ones you send them. After all, the average person sends and receives 121 emails a day. Yours could easily fall through the cracks.
Slack, Zoom, and your company intranet have issues, too.
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Slack moves too quickly. If you share important information there, it tends to get lost in the shuffle. Zoom is a great communication channel for in-depth brainstorming, but try sharing a lengthy presentation during a Zoom meeting and watch people’s eyes glaze over. (Zoom fatigue is real.)
A blog post or newsletter on your company intranet isn’t much better. Your people are just plain overloaded. Throwing large chunks of text at them isn’t the answer.
To improve your internal communications strategy, you need a more engaging tool.
Why video works so well for internal comms
To build an effective internal communications strategy, your messages need to be seen, digested, and acted upon.
People need to immediately understand the importance of your message, how the message relates to them, and what steps you’re asking them to take based on the information you’ve shared.
We like to call this the 3 Magic A’s.
Awareness
Does everyone know you’re trying to communicate with them? Have you crafted your message in a way that makes the information stick in their minds?
Alignment
Does everyone understand how they relate to your message and how this fits into the larger, shared purpose? And have you packaged it in a way that amplifies its significance?
Action
Does everyone know what to do after they get your message? And have you engaged them in a way that makes them want to take action?
This is a tall order for traditional, text-based comms. When was the last time you were truly engrossed, in and motivated by, an email?
Video, on the other hand, makes all of this much easier to achieve.
Video gets people’s attention
Traditional internal communication channels don’t work because they’re easy to ignore.
Short-form videos, on the other hand, demand attention for two reasons: they’re different and they’re a much more engaging form of communication than text-based messages.
Case in point: 60% of people would rather watch a video than read text. And an email with the word “video” in the subject lines gets 19% more opens. When people know you’re communicating with them via video, they’ll tune in more consistently.
Video improves understanding
The second “A” in the “3 Magic A’s” is alignment. Your team needs to watch your videos, realize the importance of the information you share, and know how it all relates to them personally.
In other words, your internal comms videos need to be easy to understand.
Video naturally improves understanding because it’s a time-restricted format. When you make a video, you have to strip your message down to only the most essential elements. This helps you clarify your message and avoid overcommunication.
In addition, studies show that the average person remembers 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, but only 10% of a message when they read it in text.
Videos are easier to understand and more memorable than other forms of content.
Video encourages action
Why do you send your team messages? Because you want them to know about something, do something, or both. When it comes to inducing action, short-form video rules.
Short-form videos are engaging and help people understand the information shared with them. Both of these things put viewers in a positive frame of mind, which increases the likelihood that they’ll do the things you want them to do, when you want them to do them.
Plus, short-form videos are easy to track, so you’ll understand exactly how many people watched, how long they watched for, and whether or not they followed through by clicking the call-to-action button at the end.
These questions are difficult to answer when sending emails, Slack messages, and Zoom calls. But with short-form video, the answers are just a click away.
5 video ideas to supercharge your internal communications strategy
Video is a fantastic internal comms tool, and making quality videos that your team actually wants to watch isn’t as hard as it sounds.
Here are five tips you can use to create top-tier videos for your internal communications strategy.
1. Tailor your videos to your audience
Who is going to watch your next internal comms video? The entire company? One specific team? This group of people should be at the forefront of your mind as you make your video.
Think about it: would you rather watch a generic video that looks like it could have been made for anyone in your company? Or a customized video that speaks to your exact situation and includes animations that connect to your job?
Option number two is the obvious choice.
A platform like Biteable Teams includes professionally designed templates, animations, and brandable scenes to fit just about any workplace scenario. All you have to do is choose the ones that fit your specific needs and tweak them for your unique audience.
No prior video-making experience necessary.
2. Use recorded clips of leadership and team members
Another way to improve your internal videos is to infuse them with real-life clips of people in your company.
We’re not talking about anything fancy or complicated. Anything that smacks of high production won’t land well with an internal audience. Your team will respond best to informal footage with a natural feel, shot on a cell phone or webcam. (Selfie-style is just fine here.)
Ask someone on your leadership team to record an intro message for the next policy rollout video. Record yourself delivering key bits of information. Or send a few questions to a team member and ask for a video response.
Doing so humanizes your entire team, from leaders on down. Especially for remote or hybrid companies, this goes a long way toward maintaining a sense of cohesion and helping rank-and-file employees feel valued.
This strategy also helps you represent the diversity of your team. Use your videos as a chance to help people feel seen and appreciated.
Pro tip: Use the Capture and Record Me tools in Biteable Teams to easily get the footage you need. Record yourself, or send a footage request to someone else, all without ever leaving the platform. No uploads or complicated file transfers necessary. Just the click of a button.
3. Take advantage of pre-made animation
Real-life footage is great. But there are many times when pre-made animation is a better choice. There are a few reasons for this.
Easy to work with
Search through the libraries at your disposal, find animations that fit your needs, and drop them into your video.
Tailored to your brand
What’s the vibe of your brand? Find an animation that fits and change the colors to tailor it even more to your brand.
Supports diversity
What if your team is camera shy? Are your diversity efforts dead in the water? Of course not. Animations in the Biteable Teams library were designed with diversity in mind. You can even change the skin tone and hair color for many of the animations, just with the click of a button.
4. Include voiceovers and audio
Video is powerful because it combines visual and audio elements. To improve the quality of your internal communication videos, lean into this second piece of the puzzle.
For example, you could add royalty-free music to your videos. Doing so helps put people in the right frame of mind while they watch your content. You can also record a voiceover that plays during your animated scenes. This is a great trick for breaking down complex topics or adding a personal touch to sensitive messages.
We should mention that audio elements increase accessibility, too. Not everyone can watch a video. But if they can’t, they’ll be able to listen instead.
Pro tip: Use the voice-over tool in Biteable Teams to easily add a voice-over track to your next video.
5. Repeat your message and track the results
If you truly want your message to stick, repetition is key. Distribute your videos on as many platforms as possible to create a sense of urgency and importance, and to catch people on the platforms they prefer most. Drp a link to your video into an email, send it out on a Slack channel, embed it in a blog post on your company intranet or employee social platform…you get the idea.
Once you’ve distributed your video, track it to make sure you’re receiving the views and engagements you want. Tools like video analytics in Biteable Teams allow you to see how many people watch your videos, how long they watch for, and where they watch from.
Use this information to test and refine your content, creating the best possible internal communications strategy with video at the forefront.
Internal comms is better with video + Biteable Teams
The most successful companies prioritize internal communication. When teams are on the same page, they are happier, achieve better results, and get more done.
Video is one of the best internal communication channels because it demands attention, improves understanding, and encourages viewers to take action. Once you start sending videos to your team, your communication efforts will be that much more effective.
Fortunately, Biteable Teams makes the video creation process easy, even if you’ve never made a video before. A user-friendly interface, plus hundreds of video templates, brandable scenes, and one-of-a-kind animations take the guesswork out of video making.
Change the colors on scenes and templates with the click of a button to easily brand your videos. Share it all with a trackable link and you’ve just made the internal comms wall of fame.