PR & Communications Opinion South Africa

Using video on internal communication

With the growth of video and its pervasive use, its benefits go beyond social and personal engagement and marketing campaigns; the world of internal communications, tasked with ensuring effective communication between all members of an organisation, is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this tool.
Using video on internal communication
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In an ever increasingly people centric world, organisations constantly need to evolve their communication strategies. This applies not only to their external market but requires an inward focus as well, ensuring effective communication with and between the organisation's most valuable assets, its people.

From Facebook to Twitter, video has become an integral part of our daily lives. Considered by many as one of the most engaging ways to communicate a message, it is easy to understand the reason behind YouTube's success, with 2013 statistics boasting an impressive 1 billion users per month.

Business communication embraces video

The role and value of video in business communication is growing, in many cases heralded as the preferred method of communication for brands and an essential component of marketing strategies. With 52% of all marketing professionals worldwide listing video as the type of content producing the best ROI, it is further estimated that by 2017, 74% of all internet traffic will be video based. The use of video is indispensable in business and becoming progressively more important across many areas, including customer service and product demos.

Internal communications (IC), commonly known as the function responsible for effective communication between all members of an organisation is another key growth area with an estimated 93% of IC professionals in the UK believing the use of video essential.

The benefits are endless. The use of video in IC enables an organisation to communicate in a much more personal way as opposed to traditional methods often involving company memos, long documents and even longer presentations. In an increasingly people-centric world, using video to communicate effectively and personally with your employees is an obvious choice.

Video content is dynamic, fun and engaging and as people are more visually wired, video content is not only absorbed much better, but faster as well. The consumerisation of software has further driven the demand for video, with employees now expecting the same easy access and use of technology in their professional lives as they are exposed to outside of office hours.

Organisational benefits

However, the benefits for organisations go beyond a purely personal touch point. Savings in time and money are as important, all of which the use of video in IC enables.

  • It is quick; can communicate with dozens, even hundreds, of employees simultaneously from the latest CEO messages, company changes, quarter end results and product updates to explainer videos
  • Instantly accessible; no more waiting or synching of diaries in order to schedule a team briefing, training session or new employee induction
  • Always available; no need to rerun the latest training session for those who weren't able to attend

The benefits are countless and the beauty of video is how it seamlessly integrates into employees' daily online activities providing for motivating, memorable and inclusive experiences.

About Joachim Hambsch

Joachim Hambsch is the founder and co-owner of Freshtake Creative, a boutique visual creative studio, on the value and use of video in internal communications.
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