An effective communication tool must be able to deliver information that is relevant, specific, and accessible to the applicable audience.
As an internal communicator you likely have an arsenal of communication tools. This may include things like email, intranet, newsletters etc. Unfortunately it isn’t always easy to understand which tools work and which don’t.
Researchers recently found that one single face-to-face conversation is the equivalent to 34 emails. While this statistic isn’t meant to suggest that we need more meetings, it does mean we need to consider incorporating more visual elements into our internal communication. One technology that easily accomplishes this is video. An enterprise video platform is one of the most effective way of reaching every single employee.
Here is why video should be part of your internal communication plan:
Video is the future of communication
Video as a communication tool grew rapidly in 2017, thanks in part to the expanding mobile industry. Cisco predicts that by 2020, mobile video traffic will account for 75% of all mobile traffic. The growth of mobile also reflects how employees want to receive their communication. As revealed in a survey conducted by Hubspot, video (55%) is the type of content to which people pay the closest attention, followed by social media posts (52%) and news articles (49%).
But it isn’t just younger generations or your general staff that want video. According to a study conducted by Forbes, more than 80% of executives said they watch more online video today than they did just a year ago, and 75% of executives said that they watch work-related videos at least weekly.
Metric Driven
If you rely solely on email as a communication medium, do you understand fully who has opened which email? Even so, can you be sure they have read and understood the information presented? Modern Enterprise video platforms have built in analytics that enable communicators to understand the behavior of their audience. For example, communicators conducting a town hall meeting can easily learn afterwards how many employees attended the meeting, and also during which parts of the presentation that the audience may have dropped off. Furthermore, by launching a poll live in the video meeting, these same communicators can also learn how employees feel about the meeting and the content presented.
Human Interaction
Part of the growing appeal of video is the human element. As leaders strive to become more human in their communication they will seek platforms that easily enables this. As much as in person communication is the most effective, it is no longer reasonable to assume that every employee will be present in the same office at the same time. Today’s workforce is widely dispersed, with many employees either working remotely, or from the road.
Available anywhere, anytime
As much as we want to allow employees the ability to attend town halls or video meetings from wherever they are, the reality is that attendance isn’t always possible (think of the sales-road warrior who is in mid-flight, or in the middle of an important sales-pitch). Recording the presentation ensures that everyone in your organization will have access to the recently presented information. Further, as new hires are brought on board, these recorded sessions will help your new team members to quickly get up to speed on what the message of the company is.