How to Integrate Video Into Your Daily Communications

To best communicate technical or sensitive information to your audience, consider integrating video into your communications plans in a greater way.

Until recently, video work has been an expensive, highly technical and time-consuming tool. Digital experts were often times outsourced from private firms to get you a 90-second PSA useful for just one campaign.

For some projects, this is still the norm and may be the preferred route. Videographers can produce amazing clips that elevate your department’s brand and campaign goals. But those type of projects need to be worked into budgets far in advance and aren’t realistic for every message you’re trying to communicate. That doesn’t mean you have to go without video for the rest of your annual marketing strategy.

You can produce high-quality professional video in-house, and in some cases, without purchasing any additional tools or equipment. If you’ve got an iPhone 6 (or another smartphone with high-tech video capabilities) you’ve really got all you need to record and edit beautiful high-resolution video clips on a daily basis with minimal effort and time. Many phones have video editing software already built into the device (like iMovie on iPhones) so you don’t even have to pay for software.

Having a smartphone handy is essential for many employees. It’s there to ensure you’re accessible and accountable, but it also features many untapped tools that should interest communications professionals greatly. The photo and video capabilities of these devices are remarkable. Here’s a few tips to get the most out of them:

• Anytime you’re in the field or at an event, you should be taking photos. Professional photographers are great and essential for some high-profile events, but in many cases, you can be the photographer and videographer with ease. Plus if you’re taking the shots, you have instant access to those photos and can post them on social media or share them with stakeholders immediately.
• Videos can be powerful tools – whether they’re 10 seconds or three minutes. Not every video has to be a full-length commercial complete with graphics, links and a soundtrack. A quick 10-second clip of kids having fun at an event posted to your social pages can quickly interest parents into getting more information and potentially showing up that same day.
• Consider replacing some internal office memos with video messages. If you’re looking for unique ways to increase engagement between leadership and the rest of your workforce, a video can go a long way. It’s more personal than a text document and implies that a certain amount of effort went into the communication – even though it may take you less time to film something than write it. If your leadership are particularly skilled in public speaking, let them use their talents in this way. If they’re not, this is a good opportunity to practice.

How does your organization use video? What digital tools do you find make the task easier? Share your tips in the comment section.

Kim Schoetzow is part of the GovLoop Featured Blogger program, where we feature blog posts by government voices from all across the country (and world!). To see more Featured Blogger posts, click here.