10 Reasons to Use Video in Your Internal Communications Strategy

We are quickly moving towards a remote-first world. Because of this, it’s important to find new ways to build culture and bridge physical gaps between our team members. When we can’t meet in person, video is the next best thing. Sometimes, it’s even better.

Video is engaging and lively in a way that text never can be. Facial expressions and vocal intonations are indisputably vital to any internal conversations. Text simply cannot keep up.

In your inter-business correspondences, video can be used in a multitude of ways. Whether you’re keeping coworkers updated on your latest work, exemplifying software updates and bugs, sending friendly reminders, showing how to use your new invoice templates or just saying hello, video is a wonderful option. 

There are many reasons why video is a fantastic addition to your internal communications. Here is a list of 10 reasons to use video in your internal communications strategy:

1. Connect face-to-face

When conversing with coworkers virtually, it is not uncommon for information to get lost in translation. Facial expressions and mannerisms are important in any conversation – text is unable to convey them properly.

A smile, a frown, pursed lips, a thumbs up, even a peace sign! These are all expressions that hold weight in a conversation. Sending an email or a message with only text is just not the same as speaking with someone face-to-face. 

Sending a personalized video message is a fantastic alternative.

With video, you can essentially simulate a discussion as if you were really there. You won’t lose the important aspects of face-to-face conversation that are missed with text.

No matter what circumstances are forcing you to converse virtually, video is the best way to maintain positive and productive internal communications. 

2. Capture attention

Strategizing internal communications can become complicated when focusing on the virtual workspace.

How do you ensure that all of your messages are being received?

Sometimes, an email can slip through the cracks. It’s easy to get lost in a vast sea of emails inside a very full inbox. This is potentially very problematic.

If your message is important, you want it to be received properly.

Video significantly increases the chances that your message will be seen. Emails containing video have a 90% open rate and 83.3% click-through-rate. This is a 12.6% increase in engagement, compared to text-based emails.

These percentages make it clear that video has a statistically positive impact on your email engagements. Text just can’t compete!

Videos stand out in the inbox. They are much more appealing to the recipient’s eye, and therefore are more likely to garner a click.

Seeing a friendly face in your inbox is so much more exciting than looking at a large blurb of text – it’s bound to capture your attention.

If you want to ensure your coworkers open your emails, just send a video!

3. Make your point “stick”

Text-based messages tend to fall short in a series of ways. Anyone who has been forced to read a chapter of a boring textbook can attest to how easy it is to miss information in a large stretch of text.

One minute, you’re reading a sentence. The next minute, you’re daydreaming about the fantastic grilled cheese sandwich you have planned for lunch.

If you want your point to stick, long text-based messages are not going to work. 

In fact, people are only able to retain around 10% of an overall message when reading it in text.

This is in stark contrast to the average 95% message retention through watching video. The difference in these numbers is astounding. 

Your internal communications are important. You want your coworkers to retain the information that you share.

Video is the best way to share information with your team.

4. Speak faster than you can write

If your message is longer than a sentence or two, it can be difficult to fully encapsulate your thoughts in a text-based message. It also takes quite a bit of time to type out a long message – time you might not have readily available. 

Fortunately, you can avoid this issue by using video. It is much quicker and likely easier to explain a thought or concept in video format.

In support of this idea, research from Stanford indicates that speech is actually 3x faster than text.

By speaking to your camera instead of frantically flailing your fingers across a keyboard, you save time and avoid unnecessary difficulties. 

5. Bridge physical distance

Life does not always go to plan. Sometimes, for one reason or another, working in person is not an option. 

Bearing this in mind, when formulating an internal communications strategy, you want to find a way to maintain interest in the absence of in-person interactions.

How do you keep your coworkers intrigued with what you have to say, when you can’t actually be there to say it?

Video is the perfect way to sustain interest and engagement when dealing with a remote setting.

According to Forbes, around 59% of senior executives claim that if both options are available, they prefer watching a video on a topic over reading it in text. 

Video is compelling and enjoyable. It is much more intriguing than a block of text. Humanization is displayed in a video message and your employees will certainly appreciate it.

In the absence of in-person discussion, video is undoubtedly the way to go. 

6. Give feedback more personally

When located in a concrete workspace, one-on-one conversations are incredibly important in giving feedback and addressing a specific person’s work.

However, these individualized conversations do not translate well to a text-based virtual workspace. 

Video affords you the opportunity to maintain these individual conversations. You can truly personalize a message to a coworker with video.

A video with constructive comments is going to be received much better than a text-based email, which may not outline your thoughts properly.

Using video, you can provide feedback that feels genuine and tailored to the specific needs of the recipient. 

7. Capture more context

There is nothing worse than sending a message that gets taken the wrong way. 

No matter how hard you try, sometimes a text-based message fails to convey the nuances of your idea. This can get messy.

The last thing you want is for a coworker to be offended by an accidentally ambiguous message. That is never good. 

You can avoid these messy situations by using video messages, instead. By speaking to a camera instead of typing in a text box, you can capture the full extent of your message, without unnecessary confusion.

You’ll never have to worry about your message getting mixed up if you flesh it out in a personalized video. 

8. Share a message from one person to another, easily

Sometimes, a message that was originally meant for one person is actually applicable to many.

With text, you can copy and paste a message and then send it out to a larger group of people.  

This is possible with video, too! Though video may seem more complicated to share than text, with modern technology, it is frictionless.

You can easily send a video link on email, Slack, LinkedIn, and elsewhere, sharing your message with as many people as you please. 

9. Build culture across a remote team

Though this may seem like quite a simple notion, faces are important!

Something as plain as a smile or a wave are paramount in setting the tone of any communication. It can be so difficult to uphold a conversation for a long period of time without ever seeing a face. 

You can lose your identity when stuck behind walls of text. You don’t want to forget about the faces and personalities of your team! 

With video messages, your team can better connect with each other by putting their faces on display.

Building a positive culture among your teammates is imperative in any work environment – with video, you can do this remotely. 

10. Collaborate across time zones

One problem that you are likely to encounter in a virtual environment, is the issue of time.

Whether it’s a busy schedule with meeting overlaps or purely a matter of time zone differences, not everyone can be online at the same time. This could pose potential communication problems that you definitely want to avoid. 

Thankfully, video messages are asynchronous. 

You don’t have to be online at the same exact time. Video messages provide all the benefits of an in-person conversation without the restrictions of time and location.

It truly is the best of both worlds!

Humanize your communication with video!

These are just a few of the many compelling reasons to use video in your internal communications strategy.

Video is undoubtedly a fantastic addition to your internal business models. It brings liveliness and excitement to the virtual workspace, one-upping text in every possible way. 

By adding personalization, ease, and clarity to your internal correspondences, video messages are guaranteed to provide tremendous benefits.

You don’t need to rely on text any longer!

Improve your internal communication strategy with video – you won’t regret it. 

Are you ready to discover the power of video? Try Wideo and create your own videos today. 

Facundo Romei

Wideo Marketing & Growth