Since the pandemic, the move towards a world where video is essential to any business has accelerated. And after the pandemic years of communicating in more non-traditional ways, employees, both present and future, expect to be communicated to in a more accessible, friendly, and efficient way.
Firstly, the evidence. But why should you embrace this? Well firstly, look across the current climate outside of your business for a second. How often have you sat on a train and seen half the people onboard watching something on their phones? Or how often do you yourself spend watching or learning through video? YouTube has changed the way the world works and learns through creator-led content. With the ability to learn almost anything online. We have created an entire generation of people who engage and learn through video already. So surely it would be mad to not take this wider societal outlook and apply it across your own business? But more importantly, this is something employees want. It turns out 75% of employees are more likely to watch a video than read an email in full (Forrester Research). But It isn’t just in terms of engagements with current staff. It can also prove an excellent tool for recruiting new talent. Recruitment needs video NOW.
If you aren’t using video already as part of your recruitment strategy then you have some serious catching up todo. And yes, of course we are bias. BUT the stats actually do support the use case here. Job postings with a video get 12% more views and have a 34% greater application rate. (https://hiring.careerbuilder.co.uk/hubfs/Resources/Downloads/Whitepaper_-_Peak_posting_performance.pdf) These recruitment videos can also be easy and affordable to make, whilst also offering a brand a way to capture some great video content that can then be repurposed and optimised across different platforms and channels. And to help promote other aspects of the business.
We have actually written a brief guide of how to go about making these here. And if you want more details you can contact us directly via email or give us a call.
But what other purpose can they have? Literally anything. Take everything you are doing in your business and ask yourself could this be a video. And that doesn’t have to be a professional shot video. We even have clients who we have a retainer deal for, where we just edit together videos they have captured through a webcam or over a phone (we can even advise on what ones we have found work best). Because realistically, most HR departments - even in large corporates - don’t have the budget to spend huge amounts on professionally shot content for every staff announcement, or weekly update. We already know video works better - in terms of engagements - than email updates and newsletters. But the other key component, is that video works better with how the majority of the people of the planet learn and take on information. It offers a purely unique way to speak to an employee. Of all the information transmitted to the brain, 90% is visual, whilst 65% of the world's population are classified as visual learners. By using a text only approach, a business is effectively failing to communicate to the majority of its employees. Video is also something your employees want, with research showing that 79% of employees believe using video or screenshots would improve their business. It means you have the potential to unlock a whole new way of communicating with your employees, from on boarding new employees, to training and upscaling others. It offers a great way to engage with your employees and make sure they understand the direction of travel of your organisation. Conclusions Clearly, video works. Employees want it, and it allows you to streamline your approach. Whilst every HR professional knows the financial advantages of better engagement, and attracting the best talent. And video can really give you an edge about shouting about how good your brand is and engaging with staff on all different levels and positions in your organisation. The Hook…
If this has peaked your interest, get in touch with our team!
We will happily put together an entirely non-committal Audit of what we think would work for your specific business, and where we can help drive change across your content strategy with better video comms. As well as including a few ideas that could benefit your video output.
Reach out to us at info@recutcollective.com
