Why use video for communications?

How does video compare with other forms of communications?

We understand that it's the message that chooses the medium and not the other way round. But, for the sake of comparison, let's purely look at the effectiveness of each of the available mediums without considering any other factors. And, let's define effective communications as being where the audience understands and retains a message.

Let's take an example where you need your CEO to communicate a change of direction for the business. It's an important message. There are different stakeholders that you need to communicate this to - staff, investors, the media... You need the company to be represented in its best light; you need your audience to buy into the new strategy; you need the CEO and the message to sound credible; and you need your audience to clearly understand the message.

Since this is a complex and high profile message you would probably use a combination of mediums to get the message across. Purely in terms of effectiveness, face-to-face would probably be your first choice. If there is a message that needs to be communicated and you want that message to be clearly understood and credible, then having an executive address employees, investors, customers or the media in person is going to win, hands down.

However, what happens if other factors, such as practicality and opportunity costs, are brought into the equation? How do you get that important message to all employees at the same time when they are spread across the world? Does it make sense to ask a senior executive to travel the length and breadth of the country to make a short presentation? Is your CEO's time better spent telling stakeholders in small groups about the new strategy or implementing it? Which audience is the most important? These are all much tougher calls.

In an ideal world you would probably use face-to-face communication in the majority of situations. However, we are all faced by many types of constraints, not lease being time and money. So, you need an array of mediums to match your objectives and constraints.

A research study by North Carolina State Universtity* into effective teaching methods found that respondents retain:

10% of what they read,
26% of what they hear,
30% of what they see,
50% of what they see and hear.

If you have an important message and you want to make an impact on your audience, then showing and telling them is the next most effective medium to face-to-face. That's where video comes in. As it enables you to show and tell your audience, in a cost-efficient and consistent way.

The reason video is such an effective medium is not only because you are tapping into more senses than other forms of communication, but that you are able to make an emotional connection. If carried out properly, video can amuse, excite and inspire. It can capture the imagination and take your audience on a journey. In short, it does the job effectively and imaginatively.

What else can video production do for me?

Credibility : Offering your audience the opportunity to look straight into your executive's eye and examine body language is a sure way to gain credibility. The look and feel of the video - from lighting to the type of music used - can help make the point and boost credibility. Even the simple point of using a video to convey a message lets people know how much you regard them and how important the message is.
Consistency : Video provides a consistent way of communicating, meaning that a video can be used over and over again.
Versatility : Footage shot for one purpose can be easily edited for different uses. That executive interview about a new strategy can be used in a video for staff, re-edited into an investor relations update or used in an upcoming conference video. That in turn leads to video having a good ROI.
Ease of Distribution : There are so many types of distribution available now that you can easily find one that works best with your audience be they local or global: live webcast on your intranet, a video hosted on your website, sent as an email, broadcast across your corporate television channel, sent as a DVD, screened at a conference, included on a CD Rom with additional brochures resources.
Global Audience : And because of the ease of distribution your video can be translated into several different languages and made available to staff throughout the world.
Archive : Videos of interviews and meetings can be easily stored in a digital archive and easily accessed.
Image and Values : Video can be produced so that it ties in seamlessly with your branding and company image.

What about my constraints?

The obvious response is that the more that goes into the video the more you will get out of it. But as mentioned earlier, we unfortunately live in a world of constraints. So, you need to consider your investment in view of the importance of the message and how you value communicating with the audience.

If the point is just to get a brief message out as soon as possible, then this can be shot in a simple way in the morning and delivered to you on DVD or made available on your intranet site within a few hours. However, if you want to produce an employee induction video that reflects the value of your organisation, then the process is longer as there are many more elements involved.

As a rule of thumb you should allow about £1000 per minute for a documentary style programme. Turnaround time can be very quick. At VBM, we have a mobile production unit that can shoot and edit at your office and deliver to you in a few hours. If you want to talk through your requirements to get an idea of pricing then please get in touch.

How easy is video to commission?

We work with a lot of clients who are new to video production, so we developed a suite of tools aimed at making life as easy as possible for you. We have developed the Video Design Tool to help you through the entire process. At the outset this involves helping you put together the brief from which we can provide a quote. From there we use our Video Design Tool to help create a blueprint for the entire video in a simple to understand, step-by-step format.

Can I measure the effectiveness of video?

It's possible to measure some of the tangibles with online videos, such as how many times an online video is watched, how long it is watched and even at which point people stop watching. It's also possible to have a questionnaire appear immediately afterwards asking the viewer their opinions.

If you have any questions that haven't been answered here then please get in touch. We would be happy to help.

*Source:Learning and Teaching Styles, In Foreign and Second Language Education, Richard M. Felder, North Carolina State University.