Best Practices for Crafting Internal Brand Training Videos

Your creative team spends a lot of energy investing in content for the audience you serve. When was the last time you turned the tables and created collateral for internal purposes only?

Among the types of content you could produce for internal use, video should be at the top of your list. This blog has previously covered the opportunities of B2B video and the keys to winning video micro-content. The fact is, video consumption is widespread; video content is extremely engaging; and video can be crafted for any span of time to appeal to just about any audience.

Additionally, we live in an era where potentially sensitive internal information is shared in ways that experts deem risky. For example, a 2014 survey by Infinite Convergence Solutions finds 70% of IT decision-makers are “concerned about employees using third-party messaging and chat apps to communicate and send documents internally.” Video channels key messages in a framework your team can plan and control.

In this post, we’ll make the case that internal video intended to engage and train your creative team is the natural extension of all your hard work. It can also yield additional cohesiveness and present chances to help employees tap into your brand’s mission in a newer and deeper way.

Identify and articulate brand goals

As with content creation for an audience outside your company’s four walls, the place to start should be the war room. Identify which members of your team will be producing internal video and outline next steps.

For example, internal communications firm Melcrum recommends identifying what a successful video launch will look like. Then get down to the details of execution. “It pays to give yourself a bit of pre-production time to be creative and to analyze what you are currently doing: Do we need another talking head? Or is there a better way?” the firm notes on a blog post.

Among the functions of video: Communicating important yet often ignored messages. In a post on its website, video production firm MediaPlatform suggests video can be used to train new hires, convey messages contained in oft-overlooked emails and act as a form of gamification for higher retention and sharing of knowledge.

Moreover, video can connect with new audiences such as workers based outside of a home office and generate higher attendance than in-person meetings meant to review the same content, the video production firm Vidaao adds.

Capture video and store it for easy access

Once you’ve developed a video game plan and filmed your clips, the next step will be to ensure it arrives at the desks of those who need it.

Enterprise communication is notoriously tricky, probably because we spend more time at the office trying to innovate solutions for our products and services than we do revisiting and articulating our brand mission and value proposition. Nonetheless, the investment in across-the-board understanding is worthwhile.

If your company already hosts an intranet for internal communications, use it to post internal training videos, advises human resources expert Susan M.

Heathfield over at About.com. Expand your offering of clips to include content that increasingly gives team members access to invest in your brand on a deeper level. Within reason, consider posting video updates from your CEO as well as broadcasts of strategic planning meetings. Delegate responsibilities to ensure managers are following up with team members to verify broad knowledge uptake.

Another place to plant your internal video is the company newsletter, adds a post from Axero, a social media solutions firm. Review wikis and other discussion platforms that ensure team members have the opportunity to discuss ideas shared in videos and to alert you if the video strategy needs fine-tuning.

For more great actionable ideas about internal communications, visit this page on The PR Coach website.

Consider outside help

If internal video doesn’t make sense given the expertise on your team or available resources, hiring a third party can be valuable. After all, as Patty Yan notes on tech company Cisco’s Collaboration blog, one aim of internal video should be to “embrace a culture of on-demand communications,” the same kind of ongoing connectivity we expect in daily life.

At the same time, make sure outside vendors appreciate the intricacies of your industry, as cautioned in this helpful report on the mortgage industry from DSNews.com. Ask plenty of questions to ensure protocol described in videos complies with existing regulations and promotes correct behavior rather than circumventing long-standing company policy.

Analyze effectiveness

As with any content regimen, take time to evaluate whether your internal video strategy is working. A simple way to test learning is through skills audits, explains HR website TrainingZone. Work with team members as individuals to ensure gaps in understanding are identified and training is geared toward learning needs.

Without question, this type of internal training will only rise in importance in the future. As more employers hire millennials and younger generations, video will bridge the path to mobile delivery of internal education, notes the news website Hospitality Technology.

As with any brand marketing strategy, the goal should be to meet your audience where they are and target the message appropriately. Hop into the director’s chair and aim to engage your team in ways you only dreamed of in the past.

Nate Birt is a multimedia journalist, social media enthusiast and copy editor with experience at a variety of print and digital publications, and a Certified Journalist at the Visually Marketplace. Follow him on Twitter at @natebirt.

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