You might dismiss it as a website for attention-deprived teenagers interested in weird cats, but YouTube and other video-sharing services like it have the potential to change the way you communicate. The YouTube factor is much more than generating publicity. As impressive and destructive as a viral video can be, what we are really interested in is its impact on internal communicators and the way organizations operate.
For communicators with deep enough pockets, video has been a beloved channel since the mid-1990s. Those organizations lucky enough to have the technological infrastructure and a large enough team and budget have used Video as an integral part of your communications mix – to bring corporate messaging to life, deliver urgent news to every employee, reach people in faraway places, and generally increase the impact of your communications.
While its power as a communication tool cannot be denied, video has remained out of reach for many of us, a medium that is simply too expensive and time-consuming for most internal communicators to consider using it as a central channel. . But all that has changed.
The barriers to video production and streaming have now all but disappeared. Businesses of all sizes now have the technology to stream video directly to employees’ desktops via their intranets. No longer do we have to rely on expensive commercial satellite television networks or distribute content on VHS or DVD cassettes in the vague hope that employees will make the effort to watch it.
Plus, the YouTube factor means your video production no longer has to be to the Scorsese standard; as long as it’s interesting, relevant and authentic, ‘local harvest’ will do. As many podcasters have already discovered, the content is more important than the presentation: if you have something to say that is relevant and really interesting, listeners will tune in. The same goes for internal communications.
When it comes to capturing content, decent quality digital video cameras can now be bought for a few hundred pounds, making them cheap enough for even the most budget-minded rigs. You may want to use a video production company to shoot additional content and edit your video, but remember that in the world of YouTube, it’s authenticity that counts. As marketers are now discovering at their peril, overproduced content is increasingly being received with caution.
The same principle applies internally: Employees will respond much more favorably to a CEO’s honest, unscripted assessment of an organization’s performance filmed by a member of the communications team on a handheld camera than to a standard glitzy video. television show professionally shot and with a great script. The same logic underscores the role of face-to-face within organizations: the more ‘real’ and ‘unfiltered’ the communication, the more credible it is overall.
With trust within many organizations at rock bottom, it is those leaders and communicators who learn how to apply social media techniques internally who will be rewarded with higher levels of trust and ultimately better performance.
