From employee training and internal communications to client collaboration and monetized content, private video sharing is core to business operations.

In these situations, video access controls ensure business videos are shared securely and intentionally, with only authorized viewers.

Determine the video access restrictions your business needs. Explore seven ways businesses protect video for secure, private sharing. 

What Does It Mean to Restrict Video Access?

Restricting video access in a business means controlling who can watch a video and where they can watch it. Video access controls limit playback to:

• Employees, Clients, or Customers 
• Company Website or Internal Portal
• A Set Period of Time
• An Office or Other Work Environment
• Specific World Regions or Countries

A secure video hosting platform, such as SproutVideo, keeps your source video file protected and private by default, preventing direct downloads and search indexing.

When it’s time to share that video privately, access restrictions are the first line of defense to protect your content. 

Note: This article does not cover how to prevent video theft and unauthorized redistribution—watch our two-minute guide to secure video sharing. 

Common Business Use Cases for Private Video Sharing

These business use cases often require restricting video access. You can click each recommended access control to jump to that section for more information. 

In addition to the controls above, businesses can also implement role-based permissions for the video hosting account to limit and track team member actions.

Learn More: 7 Reasons Businesses Use Private Video Hosting Platforms vs YouTube

7 Ways to Restrict Video Access for Private Sharing

Most businesses layer multiple access controls for private video sharing. Use this list to evaluate which access controls best fit your audience, distribution needs, and use case.

1. Share An Unlisted Video Link 

Try It Out! Unlisted Video Link Example

Share a single video with a link. Often referred to as a “private video link,” this unlisted video:

• Is not publicly visible (unless embedded elsewhere)
• Does not allow direct download
• Is blocked from search engine indexing

On its own, this approach does not restrict who can watch unless access controls are added—it only limits where a video can be viewed (the video landing page). If the link is shared, anyone with the link can view the video unless viewer restrictions are applied. For this reason, video links work best for intentional sharing in small, trusted groups. 

With SproutVideo, you can add password or login protection on top of a video link. This workflow keeps sharing low-friction while adding control over who can watch.

For example, an advertising agency shares a video draft with a client using a private link so the video isn’t publicly visible or searchable. The client can review the draft immediately, while the agency can see when the video is watched.

2. Protect Videos with A Password 

Try It Out! Click and enter password “SproutVideo” to watch.

Quickly share a private video by requiring viewers to enter a password before the video can play. Password protection is a frictionless way to provide temporary or informal video access within a small, trusted group—it does not support user-specific access controls. 

You can share password-protected videos on your website, inside an internal portal, or via a private link. Even if someone stumbles upon the video page, they won’t be able to watch it without the password. 

Passwords are quick to set up but offer the most basic level of access control, since viewers can still share the password itself freely. If you need to identify individual viewers or revoke access on a per-user basis, see login protection or SSO below.

For example, a parks and recreation department hosts an annual festival and publishes a project hub on its public website. The hub includes password-protected videos with important information for artists and vendors. After participants pay their booth fees, they receive an email with the password and a link to the public page. 

Watch or Read: Password-Protected Content and How You Can Use It

3. Restrict Access with Login Protection (Members Only)

Try It Out! Enter email address “login@protection.com” and password “SproutVideo” to watch.

Control and track video access and engagement at the viewer level, while maintaining an audit trail of viewer activity. Login protection is a self-serve, identity-based access system that requires viewers to sign in with individual credentials.

This option is ideal for employee training, monetized or members-only video content, and other business workflows that require ongoing, user-level access control. 

Login-protected videos are delivered through SproutVideo-hosted video websites, which provide a secure viewing environment for authenticated users. Login protection provides precise controls over viewer-level access, including the ability to:

• Decide which videos a viewer can access
• Set how long access lasts
• Limit the number of login sessions per viewer
• Revoke individual access at any time
• Control what content each viewer sees

For example, a fitness influencer sells multiple video courses via their social media link-in-bio page. When a customer purchases a course, they automatically receive login credentials by email. Once logged in, the customer can view and access only the videos they bought. 

Get Started: How To Use Login Protection To Control and Monitor Video Access

4. Authenticate Employees with Single Sign-On (SSO)

Restrict video access through your company’s existing identity provider with Single Sign-On (SSO). This approach lets employees sign in with the same credentials they already use for other internal tools, providing secure authentication at scale.

SSO is ideal for organizations with centralized identity systems and the technical expertise to support secure, employee-based access across applications. This makes SSO well-suited for corporate training, compliance requirements, leadership communications, and similar workflows.

Similar to login protection, SSO-protected videos are delivered through SproutVideo-hosted video websites to ensure the secure viewing environment needed for identity-based verification. 

For example, a global company uses SSO to deliver compliance training videos to employees. Employees sign in with their corporate credentials to access training, and video completion is tied to their verified employee identity to support audits and regulatory reporting. 

Enable SSO: How To Require User Authentication with Your Identity Provider

5. Capture Leads with Gated Video Access 

Require viewers to submit their contact information to access a video with lead-capture gating. Businesses use video lead capture for marketing or promotional purposes, but it does not restrict who can watch the video or where they can view it. Instead, viewers can unlock the video with their information, gaining access while enabling the business to follow up.

Lead capture forms can be added to any video, making it easy to collect viewer information on landing pages, blog posts, and anywhere video can be embedded. Gated video access is ideal for product demos, webinars, and any content where lead generation is the primary goal. However, lead capture does not guarantee that viewers will provide accurate information.  

For example, a marketing team promotes an on-demand webinar using a gated video. Visitors submit their email address to watch the recording, allowing the team to follow up with attendees while keeping the video inaccessible to casual site visitors.

Pro tip: Want to offer value before gating a video? Use a playlist with an ungated video first, followed by a gated video.

Gate Videos: Use Lead Capture to Require User Contact Information to Watch Your Videos

6. Restrict Video Playback by Region with Geo-Whitelisting

Restrict video access to specific countries or regions with geo-whitelisting. Geo-whitelisting is more secure than geo-blocking, which allows playback everywhere except restricted countries. Instead, geo-whitelisting limits playback to a list of approved countries or regions. 

Companies use geo-whitelisting for licensing and distribution, regulatory compliance, and other situations where video content is intended for a specific geographic audience. 

For example, a media company licenses a video series for distribution in specific countries. The videos are geo-whitelisted, so they play only in approved regions, ensuring the content is accessible where the company holds rights and unavailable where it does not.

See How: Designate Specific Countries or Regions Where Your Videos Can Be Played

7. Limit Access To Network Connections with IP Restrictions

Limit video playback to specific networks with IP address restrictions. Allowed IP addresses restrict viewership to particular network connections. This approach limits playback to specific locations, such as an office, university campus, or financial institution. 

Allowed IP addresses are ideal for compliance training, sensitive company communications, and any content that must remain within a controlled environment. 

For example, a manufacturing company restricts safety training videos to its corporate offices and factory floors. The company allows videos to play only when accessed from its approved IP address ranges, ensuring employees complete training on-site where the procedures apply.

Learn More: Limit Videos to People Within A Specific IP Address or IP Address Range

Beyond Access Controls: How To Secure & Protect Videos At Every Vulnerability Point

Once someone has access to a video, how do you continue to protect the content?  

For businesses, the best practice is to combine restricted video access with theft deterrents (such as dynamic watermarks) and regular security audits to monitor for breaches.

SproutVideo recommends a three-pronged approach for secure and private video sharing:

• Control Video Access: Ensure only permitted viewers can watch content.
• Prevent Leaks and Theft: Keep content safe from unauthorized redistribution.
• Audit Your Security: Regularly monitor access with engagement data.

Learn how to protect your business videos with ease: Read or watch our quick-start guide.

The post 7 Ways to Restrict Video Access in Your Business appeared first on SproutVideo.

In episode eight of the Business Video Playbook, we talk with Tobi Flowers, CEO of the award-winning TraCorp LMS. TraCorp is a full-service learning company that delivers customized, accessible training for businesses, including one of SproutVideo’s global hotel customers.

Businesses rely on TraCorp for learning and development strategy and to build training that drives measurable business impact. SproutVideo integrates with TraCorp LMS, providing secure video hosting for sharing, bitrate streaming, and rich analytics directly within their learning and development ecosystem. 

Join the Business Video Playbook

In the interview, Flowers shares how to achieve better results for employees and organizations through video and innovative L&D design. Busy leaders may be tempted to offer courses that merely check the training requirements box. But Flowers makes the case for investing in content as a priority.

You’ll learn:

• Why short, well-designed videos can replace hours of reading manuals.
• Proven enterprise learning and development strategies that scale for SMBs. 
• Metrics to track employee skill absorption versus just clicking ‘complete’.

3 Learning and Development Strategies for an Effective Training Framework

1. Replace Documentation with Video Training

Compliance training is often presented in written form, making it challenging for employees to engage and absorb the necessary information: “Studies show that 70–80% of learners prefer video over reading a document or traditional e-learning.”

“Training is one of those things that everybody loves or hates. One way to encourage people to want to take training is to make it available as a video. Video and great storytelling make training more engaging, allowing employees to retain more information and organizations to see a real impact.”

— Tobi Flowers, CEO of TraCorp LMS

Therefore, consider replacing text documentation with videos that employ storytelling. 

Video is also effective for organizational communication. For example, in lieu of distributing a memo or documentation, you might share a video interview with an executive discussing new policies or procedures. This more engaging approach of communicating helps employees understand why the changes matter.

Watch Flowers share more in this short video.

2. Prioritize High-Impact Content & Localization Needs

L&D teams face constant pressure to do more with less. As organizations grow, they must manage multiple requests, software rollouts, and localization for multiple languages or regions. 

“Learning and development teams have to be highly efficient. One of the things we do when designing programs is to ask if the training needs to be localized. This helps us prepare an inventory of language translations.”

— Tobi Flowers, CEO of TraCorp LMS

Flowers prioritizes high-impact content over platform features in her learning and development strategy: “We’re always looking at the biggest picture. What program would have the highest impact? Let’s invest our resources there. Spend as much of your budget as possible on content and the training itself.”

Watch Flowers share more in this short video.

3. Create A Short Video for Each Step

Ensuring employees effectively absorb video-based learning requires a strategic approach.

“If the goal is to make sure that someone can complete their day-to-day activities inside a piece of software, we’re going to pick an approach where we’re building very short videos that just cover individual steps.”

— Tobi Flowers, CEO of TraCorp LMS

Create short, focused videos that cover individual workflow steps. This content allows employees to easily reference the specific material they need, making the learning process smoother and more effective. 

Watch Flowers share more in this short video.

Flowers shares inside tips on how TraCorp uses storyboarding and decision-based learning to design highly impactful video content. Watch the full interview now. 

Bonus: Scale Brand Consistency with Video 

As a business grows, L&D teams become increasingly responsible for brand consistency. Scaling brand standards is especially crucial for franchises and multi-location companies, where customer satisfaction and brand integrity depend on maintaining these standards. 

“Starbucks is known for its drinks being the same at every single location. I would bet there is a lot of video training that goes into teaching people how to make the drinks exactly the same across all locations.”

— Tobi Flowers, CEO of TraCorp LMS

Videos help organizations communicate standards clearly and efficiently, where long manuals and slide decks often fail to do so.

Watch Flowers share more in this short video.

Effective Videos Are Your Secret L&D Weapon

Discover how TraCorp leverages its innovative learning and development strategy to design engaging and measurable training programs.

A Training Framework for Measurable Results

Watch the Full Episode Now

Why L&D Teams Choose SproutVideo

TraCorp LMS integrates with SproutVideo, which operates as its high-powered video backend. This integration enables TraCorp to upload videos or embed video-based courses directly within their platform. The system automatically handles the upload to SproutVideo in the background.

Often, companies use an LMS to create a record trail, ensuring protection in the event of an audit. 

“That’s what’s so nice about integrating with SproutVideo: TraCorp’s LMS provides all learning and development compliance records. Customers don’t have to go directly to SproutVideo. They get all the benefits of using SproutVideo while being able to access their records in one place.”

— Tobi Flowers, CEO of TraCorp LMS

The integration also provides rich analytics (views, engagement, drop-off points, etc.) to measure the real impact of training. Beyond compliance needs, video analytics enable L&D teams to identify what went well and how to enhance their video content. 

“Our customers can evaluate who watched the video. They can determine if our email communications successfully engaged learners. They can see if viewers drop off during the video, and if so, why? The rich video analytics allow us to reflect on what we did well or where we have room for improvement. It’s just fantastic that it’s all baked in,” shared Flowers. Grab your free 30-day trial today.

The post Learning and Development Strategy: A Video Framework for Better Results appeared first on SproutVideo.

The old publishing model is slow, reactive, and difficult to measure. With L&D and communications teams stretched thin, business demands often force speed to take precedence over strategy. In turn, video completion rates define success rather than actual business outcomes.

With the introduction of AI, many companies are asking the question: 

Can AI videos reshape corporate training and enablement at scale, without subjecting viewers to ‘AI slop’?

In this episode of the Business Video Playbook, we sat down with Kevin Alster, Strategic Advisor for Synthesia, who helps L&D and communication teams close the gap between what’s possible with AI and real-world workflows.

Watch now to see how AI video is modernizing corporate training and communications, plus gain an effective framework for getting started.

How AI Video Is Transforming Corporate Training and Communications

AI videos for corporate L&D and communications teams promise cost and workload reduction. A straightforward example is the ability to translate existing text-based documents and training materials into dynamic, video-based content. 

However, Kevin Alster argues that AI’s role extends beyond resource efficiency. He believes AI is shaping a new future of business training and communications that prioritizes behavioral change and actual business impact. 

Of course, L&D and internal comms professionals want scalable, high-quality content with fewer production barriers. But does the vision of AI meet reality? 

Alster says it can, 

“An average day of shooting can cost $25K–$50K. I saw AI video cut down on the worst parts of production. You can get a first draft or prototype more quickly. If you need edits, you don’t go back to the linear, expensive process of reshooting and re-editing; you change the script like a document, hit publish, and the new version instantly replaces the old one.”

— Kevin Alster, Strategic Advisor at Synthesia

Companies embracing AI are also finding more ways to streamline production, such as:

• Course localization: Tailor content more easily to specific subjects, audiences, languages, or cultures, which is essential for global companies.
• Content Relevance: Content is easily updated to match new announcements and product releases, reducing the support burden and meeting user information needs.

Therefore, AI video for corporate training and communications can provide incremental business benefits that would otherwise require additional solutions. 

Interactive and Personalized: The Future of AI Video for Training & Communications

Beyond production efficiency, AI is transforming how people learn.

Alster argues that it’s time to move past this old-school view of absorbing information that relies on the traditional classroom model. AI fuels the shift from passive learning to interactive, personalized, and context-driven experiences designed to change behavior. 

“We have a very antiquated view of how information gets into the brain. With the traditional classroom model, there is an expert at the front and a student at a desk listening to the expert. LLMs are changing the way people interact with information. Information takes a different form depending on the input.” 

— Kevin Alster, Strategic Advisor at Synthesia

AI also enables learning in the flow of work (“just-in-time” learning), where content meets the person’s need at the moment they’re solving a problem.

Video has traditionally been a one-way medium. But Alster argues that generative AI is changing this by making video interactive through branching scenarios that give viewers choices and links to supporting resources for deeper learning, all without disrupting their flow.

This personalized learning experience comes to life through:

• Real-Time Feedback and Role-Play: AI avatars simulate scenarios and give instant, objective feedback for faster growth.
• Instant Content Curation: Employees receive precise answers and resources on the spot, eliminating the need to dig through an LMS.
• Gen AI Tutors: Integrate with enterprise talent management systems to assess learning needs and deliver customized training plans.
• Adaptive Learning Paths: AI adjusts onboarding and upskilling in real time based on performance and experience.

Alster posits that as AI video continues to advance, corporate learning becomes less about delivering information and more about enabling behavioral change at scale.

3 Best Practices: Using AI Videos for Corporate L&D and Comms

With a less intensive production process, AI videos offer more than just speed and scalability. Ensure your AI videos are effective training tools with these best practices.

1. Evaluate Behavioral Change, Not Completion Rates

Technological skills are rapidly evolving: “39% of workers’ skill sets will be disrupted within five years,” according to the World Economic Forum. To fill these gaps, companies need a fundamental shift in how knowledge is consumed and applied. 

Instead of emphasizing completion rates, Alster suggests evaluating behavioral change:

“Learning isn’t the point. The point is changing someone’s behavior. You might learn something as a result of that. Learning is the product of trying to figure out how to tackle a particular challenge. But in the end, we are looking for a change in behavior.”

— Kevin Alster, Strategic Advisor at Synthesia

Watch Alster share more in this short video.

2. Avoid “AI Slop” with Quality Over Quantity

Alster emphasises purpose over output for L&D teams. Despite the ease of production in the age of AI, quality remains foundational over quantity.

“An overabundance of low-quality content makes it nearly impossible for users to find what’s actually helpful, creating unnecessary friction and eroding trust. The winning strategy is to focus on quality, thoughtful storytelling, and purpose to stand out from the inevitable wave of low-effort, low-value AI-generations.”

— Kevin Alster, Strategic Advisor at Synthesia

Watch Alster share more in this short video.

3. Connect Sales Growth to Customer Education

Historically, the impact of customer education is challenging to quantify. By integrating AI into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, companies can measure the correlation between customer education initiatives and business outcomes. 

“Customer education becomes a growth driver when you can connect the cost of content to the customer lifecycle.”

— Kevin Alster, Strategic Advisor at Synthesia

One way to make this connection is by linking customer actions (such as a lead watching a how-to video) to the actual customer journey and business outcomes (the company receives fewer support requests while sales continue to expand). 

Watch Alster share more in this short video.

How to Start Using AI Video in L&D: The Three E’s Framework

To help L&D teams get started without being overwhelmed, Alster offers a three-part framework for adopting AI video:

1. Engagement: Create an AI teaser video for your course. Focus on the pitch and what the person will gain from it. Focus on bite-sized videos that deliver information.
2. Experiences: Bring stories to life with AI. Consider how you can use video to model situations, such as two avatars role-playing a difficult employee-manager conversation. 
3. Enablement: Show how something is done step-by-step. A short video might replace screenshots in a knowledge base article, allowing the viewer to follow along. 

Watch Alster share more in this short video.

In short, start with simplicity and gradually build complexity into your AI video workflow. As you determine the workflow that fits your business needs, AI offers an opportunity for L&D to be more strategic.

Are AI Videos The Future of Workplace Learning?

Alster’s vision of AI videos for L&D training enables professionals to step away from the manual production grind and focus on what matters: powerful stories, organizational change, and measuring the impact of training on real business objectives. 

Is your business turning to AI videos for corporate training? If so, what tools and workflows have proven most effective? If not, why and what hesitations remain? 

We’re continuously exploring the evolving world of artificial intelligence; check out related content for more information and watch the full episode with Kevin Alster of Synthesia. 

• AI Content Repurposing: 5 Steps from Blog to Video in Under 2 Hours
• 10 Best AI Tools for Video Editing & Production
• The Complete Guide to Building a Corporate Communications Strategy

The post How AI Video is Transforming L&D, Corporate Comms, and Enablement appeared first on SproutVideo.

However, 43% of employees want their training to be more effective. 

If you’ve ever sat through a boring lecture, you know training alone isn’t enough. That’s why we reached out to experts in learning and development, marketing, and operations to learn what works when creating employee video training that produces results. 

Their experience, alongside insights from neuroscience, paints a clear picture of how to create training that engages employees. 

Discover why video can be your superpower for effective video training. This complete guide reveals how to streamline employee training without in-person or online meetings and tedious reading. We’ll also cover how to track employee progress and completion.

What Is Video Training for Employees?

Companies use video training to efficiently onboard, upskill, and align team members with company initiatives. Video training is accessible and flexible. It can be shared directly with employees online, whether they work remotely or in the office. 

The Benefits of Employee Video Training

Video training offers many advantages over in-person training events or exhaustive reading material. These benefits include: 

• Improved Employee Experience: Onboard new hires with video training to expedite productivity and provide clear expectations
• Flexible & Cost-Effective: Eliminate travel costs with remote training and minimize employee time away from projects
• Scalability and Efficiency: Support team alignment and scale employee training while reducing manager workflow interruptions 
• Compliance and Tracking: Track video engagement to validate training ROI and maintain compliance in regulated industries
• Employee Engagement and Retention: Engage and upskill employees, increasing business advantage and employee productivity 
• Learning Effectiveness: Implement new software or procedures with increased adoption rates using micro-learning and interactive tools for greater absorption
• Feedback and Optimization: Gather feedback based on viewing patterns and engagement to increase training effectiveness

Types of Employee Training Videos

• Onboarding
• Company Culture/Policies
• Mandatory Training
• Scenario Training
• Demonstrations & Tutorials
• Professional Development

Skip to the video examples here. 

What Makes An Employee Training Video Successful?

A good video training program is up-to-date and comprehensive. It should provide a measurable return in job performance, task efficiency, and employee retention. 

The majority of video training aligns team members for specific roles within departments. A complete onboarding series or training program may include one-size-fits-all videos. But, companies often tailor video training to specific departments or roles within a business. 

Effective video training is:

• Bite-sized: Create compact video content that is under 20 minutes long. Most viewers prefer videos that are 3-6 minutes long. Turn large topics into short videos to reduce cognitive load and increase watch times. 
• Science-based: Our brains build connections to remember information. Darren Smith, CEO of Making Business Matter, believes space repetition is key to building those connections. “[It] essentially means we do something, stop, wait, and do something again. Video-based learning needs to be similar.”
• Engaging and Enjoyable: “Video-based training has a reputation for being boring,” says Rob Boyle, Marketing Operations Director for Airswift. “To hold employee attention, use relatable characters [with] a problem to solve or challenge to overcome.”

It’s essential that video training is accessible as well; we discuss this in detail later. 

Corporate Training Video Examples

Employee video training has evolved. Gone are the days of retro training videos with over-the-top explanations and distrustful commentary about employees. Let’s look at some modern examples for inspiration. 

Onboarding

Set new hires up for success and save managers time.

This video aligns new Spotify engineers with its company strategy in just over ten minutes using a whiteboard-style video. “Whiteboarding is an excellent way to break down tough ideas into smaller, more digestible pieces,” shares Adam Klein, a Certified Integral Coach and Managing Director for New Ventures West. “The use of straightforward drawings and animations can make the content more accessible to a wider range of viewers.” 

Company Culture/Policies

Showcase environment and set new hire expectations.

In this video, the city of Edmonton uplifts its workers. It focuses on their role in creating a safe and healthy environment through waste management. The city also presents the idea of long-term fulfillment with the company by featuring employees who made it their career.

Mandatory Training

Maintain safety and compliance standards.

With a clever script and creative perspective, video training can be entertaining and cost-effective. A character-driven narrative is powerful for delivering important messages. Here, the live-action character holds attention while the animation delivers life-saving knowledge. 

Scenario Training

Prepare employees to handle specific situations with success.

This type of video provides a solution-oriented explanation for a common but difficult situation. It offers an empathetic approach to why a customer may be rude. The video follows with effective instructions for moving through the interaction. 

Demonstrations & Tutorials

Showcase how to complete a task or use a program.

Tossing pizza dough requires practice. New employees will likely watch the video various times while learning the technique, which makes this to-the-point video ideal. Additionally, it concludes with a few slides summarizing the key information.

Professional Development

Develop current employee skills for company goals.

Longer content is engaging and powerful when storytelling, delivery, and high-quality information align. This 12-minute talk by Simon Sinek showcases a high production value. But Sinek’s ability to persuade through storytelling is a masterclass on holding attention. 

How to Design a Winning Video-Based Training Program

1. Define Objectives and Engage Viewers

“Define clear objectives for the training. Identify what employees should know or be able to do after completing the course,” says Bradford Glaser, President & CEO of HRDQ. “These objectives will guide the content and structure of your videos, ensuring that the training is purposeful and aligned with your company’s goals.”

Consider the other resources you will provide, too. Map out interactive elements like quizzes, discussion questions, practice exercises, and hands-on application. “These elements not only aid in comprehension but also make the training more interactive and enjoyable,” states Glaser. 

2. Collaborate with Content Matter Experts (CMEs)

Also known as subject matter experts (SMEs), collaborating with CMEs is key to effective video training. CMEs include department managers, senior team members, and other internal stakeholders. 

Alexander Nosek is an L&D specialist who updated and expanded training content for Patriot Growth Insurance Services. He recommends listing all CMEs and using a task management system (i.e., Jira) for project management. Additionally, they suggest 

• Request CMEs provide the information needed to cover a topic accurately
• Use CME knowledge to write scripts and organize videos by chapters
• Have CMEs review video scripts for accuracy before moving forward

Stakeholders may also need to review content for approval before moving forward.

In some instances, you might be the expert. Following this process can still help organize the subject matter before creating content. 

3. Invest in Production Quality

“High-production quality is also important,” says Bradford Glaser of HRDQ. There are three essential elements of video training that will enhance the learning experience and prevent distractions. They are:

• Clear audio
• Sharp visuals
• Professional editing

“Poor production quality can undermine the effectiveness of your training and make it less engaging,” Glaser notes.

4. Make Content Organized & Accessible

Accessibility comes in many forms. 

1. Inclusivity for people with disabilities is a key component of employee video training. “Use captions, subtitles, and audio descriptions,” recommends Steven Mostyn, Chief Human Resources Officer for Management Library. 
2. When scripting content and creating interactive resources, use various learning styles and culturally diverse examples. This accessibility practice increases training effectiveness by considering multiple groups of people.
3. From a user experience standpoint, consider accessibility across devices. “Enable employees to learn anywhere and at any time in a comfortable and personal environment,” recommends Tornike Asatiani, CEO of Edumentors.

Finally, ensure employees can navigate your video training portal without friction. One solution is to organize content into playlists by topic, department, or role.

Learn More: Playlists Overview

5. Gather Feedback

“Before rolling out the training program, pilot your videos with a small group of employees to gather feedback on its effectiveness and engagement levels,” recommends Steven Mostyn of Management Library. 

Get feedback from internal stakeholders as well. This review process ensures the information is accurate and aligned with the company.

The more people who test the training program, the more you’ll be able to ensure its accuracy, effectiveness, and accessibility. 

6. Monitor and Evaluate the Program

Video training is successful when it positively impacts employee performance and company goals. Common key performance indicators (KPIs) for employee video training include: 

• Time to onboard new employees
• The volume of customer complaints
• Compliance with regulations
• Adoption rate of new technology or platforms

Creating benchmarks for video content is a great way to ensure it meets company standards. Monitor overall video performance and individual engagement. These benchmarks can help you determine when to assist an employee who may be struggling to learn the material.

How to Track Video Engagement 

Measure overall employee participation in training videos with average engagement rate.

The average engagement rate is represented as a percentage. It measures the time a viewer spends watching your video compared to its duration.

Therefore, 100% indicates that viewers watched every second of your video. Video engagement can also be above 100% if viewers rewatch parts of the video.

You can use engagement metrics to track individual employee video engagement and completion as well. We discuss how later.

4 Ways to Create Employee Training Videos 

Across the types of employee training videos you create, Steven Mostyn for Management Library recommends including “a mix of visuals, animations, and real-world examples to illustrate points and keep the content dynamic.” 

Here are a few different ways you might approach employee video training production. 

1. Live-Action Videos

Live-action videos use real-world scenarios and human interactions to convey a message. This video style centers on realistic situations, making both task instructions and messages like “safety first” or “your team is here to support you” more engaging and emotionally impactful. 

This level of video production may require a team. Use in-house team members, video freelancers, or a production company. Your approach will determine the resources or creativity required.

2. Animated Videos

Animated videos are effective at engaging viewers. Voiceover conveys important information that is brought to life through animated elements. Common animation styles include whiteboard, 2D or 3D animation, and motion graphics. 

This video tier is suitable for various budgets. There are many ways to create animated videos, from hiring an artist to employing an online tool.

3. Talking-Head Presentations

Are you working with a skeleton (or no) crew and limited resources? A single person with a quality filming setup can create professional videos alone.

Create a well-crafted script and consider how the video will hold attention. These videos often cut to short animations, stock footage, or text-based slides. Another strategy is to film two camera angles and flip back and forth during the video.

4. Screen Recorded Videos

Screen-recorded videos showcase how to perform a specific task within a software program. This type of training video is the easiest and most affordable. 

One person can easily create professional screencast videos. However, making engaging videos in this category is challenging. Keep videos focused on a single how-to and use playlists to guide employees through the software onboarding.

How to Implement A Video Training Program 

It’s essential to make employee video training easy to access and navigate. Social sharing sites are great for distributing brand materials to a wide audience. However, employee training videos are usually intended for internal distribution only. 

One solution is to create a dedicated and secure video library for training content. This ensures that your proprietary content is organized and visible only to employees with authorized access. 

A second option is to use your company intranet. 

Secure Video Library

Share internal videos with employees through a secure and centralized video library.

SproutVideo makes it easy with our hosted Video Websites, which include a suite of video hosting tools. Create a professional video portal and use privacy tools to control and monitor access.

Common privacy measures include login protection and single-sign-on (SSO). Both options allow you to track the viewer’s email address in engagement metrics. Use this data to audit viewer access and review employee video engagement. We discuss how here. 

You can also add dynamic watermarking to deter screen recording theft. 

Company Intranet

Another option for sharing employee video training is your company intranet. Use it in combination with SproutVideo privacy measures to ensure private content stays internal.  

Here’s an example of how to secure video content embedded on your company intranet when using SproutVideo:

• Leave your videos set to private and embed them on your company intranet. 
• Use allowed domains or signed embed codes to prevent video sharing.
• Add dynamic watermarking to deter screen recording theft.

You can still display individual engagement metrics. Use embed code parameters to track viewers by email address through your company’s intranet.

How to Track Individual Employee Video Training Engagement

How to evaluate training video effectiveness or maintain compliance with regulations? Track individual viewers using video engagement metrics on the SproutVideo platform. 

How to Track Individual Employee Video Engagement 

Video heat maps visually represent viewer engagement with a single video. 

You can use heat mapping to determine what parts of videos employees watch and rewatch. When viewers rewatch part of a video, the content may be confusing, worth repeating, or especially engaging. 

Heat mapping is a granular way to:

• Ensure individual employees are gaining the necessary insights
• Determine what topics an employee is struggling to learn

If employees skip parts of a video, the heat map reveals what sections they overlook.

When this happens, review the video and determine why. It may be that the video is redundant, loses viewer attention, or doesn’t relate the information’s importance to the employee. 

Heat mapping insights can help you improve and update your content. Use this data as a before-and-after test to measure the effectiveness of your changes.

How to Track Employee Video Training Completion 

Track if an individual completed the video using engagement metrics. Within engagement metrics, click on a viewer’s email address to review:

• All past videos accessed
• The percentage completed for each video session
• Heat maps that indicate viewing behavior

You can also access individual viewer data from Viewer Logins when using login protection. 

Learn More: Video Analytics

Employee video training provides businesses with a tactical advantage in more ways than one. It increases productivity, morale, and retention—all of which lead to more gross profit. Video training makes it easy to gain these benefits while providing flexibility to employees. 

Check out our related content to keep learning: 

• How to Create a Video Website in 10 Easy Steps
• Best Practices to Securely Share Corporate Video
• 10 Strategies to Grab & Hold Viewer Attention

The post Employee Training Videos: How L&D Experts Make Engaging Content appeared first on SproutVideo.

Whether you’re adding video to the mix, or building internal communications from scratch, video will greatly enhance your strategy. By adding personality and nuance, video is a highly effective tool for getting a message across. From branding to employee engagement, video is key to delivering results with internal comms.

So, what should that executive editorial calendar look like? While we don’t believe it’s one-size fits all, these eight best practices will get you started on the right foot.

1. Set Clear Goals

You can achieve many different aims with executive communications. Whether you’re looking to promote transparency, align teams with your mission, or share timely reactions to current events, it’s important to be specific when defining your goals.

Your company’s needs will be driven by company culture, the nature of the industry you’re in, and your teams’ specific needs for information. In all likelihood, your communications program will be fairly unique, even when compared to your peers.

2. Design Your Campaigns

Yes, we said campaigns, not just content. That’s because one-off videos shared periodically throughout the year are unlikely to move the needle. If you make a concerted effort to develop a series of videos to support different outcomes, you’re much more likely to get your message across to employees.

Also, the more video you make, in many ways, the easier it becomes. The first video is almost always the hardest to make.

To build your editorial calendar, you’ll want to draw from multiple sources. There are external factors, like current events, holidays, and industry-related events. Then, there are all the internal milestones, reporting periods, and strategic or cultural initiatives to take into account.

First, add all the foreseeable items with relatively fixed dates. Items like an annual report, conferences, or quarterly company-wide meetings are unlikely to shift on the schedule.

Then, layer in different initiatives, campaigns, and other more variable projects. By first getting a sense of your fixed deliverables, you’ll have a better picture of your workload, and can avoid going overboard with your messaging.

3. Plan and Budget Your Content

Once you’ve got a sense of your priorities for the year, it’s time to figure out the types of productions you’ll need, and what they’re likely to cost you. Most of your content will be split into two buckets: evergreen, and timely.

Evergreen Content

Evergreen content refers to video messaging that can be referenced again and again, and provides value for an extended period of time.

Examples include new hire welcome videos, training videos, and videos designed to uphold company culture.

Typically, evergreen videos are worth investing in because of their desired longevity. Higher production value will help prolong their shelf-life. Whether you can handle it in-house, or need to enlist a studio, these videos will require a fair amount of planning and time to get right.

Timely Content

Timely content is reactionary, and gives executives a chance to deliver a message to employees at a crucial moment.

While you might automatically equate timely content with reactions to events in the news, this category would also include videos or live streams that address things with short term value, like quarterly reports or most company updates.

For items that you can plan in advance, having a formula will make production more efficient. Figure out which shots you’ll need, and which assets (like charts or graphics), as well as who will be featured in the video.

For truly off-the-cuff videos, keeping production simple will ensure a speedy turnaround time. For instance, have the executive face a window for diffuse, flattering light, and get a microphone as close as possible for clear audio. That’s about it! If you have the equipment on hand, you can be set up to film in a matter of minutes.

4. Production Schedule

Each video should have a pre-production phase (planning), the production itself, post-production (editing), and finally, review and approval. The more accurately you can map out these phases, the more smoothly your shoots will run.

Based on the types of content you have planned, you should start to get a clear picture of your production needs. Evergreen content will likely require more time and effort for ideation, scripting, casting (yes, even employees and executives require casting), scouting, prop sourcing, filming, and of course editing. Timely content should require a lighter touch in terms of production. For instance, some may not be scripted, and the editing required will not be very involved.

For both types of video, there is likely to be a review and approval process. Depending on the nature of the content or your industry, this could be lengthy and could become an obstacle to delivering your message on time. Try to get buy-in from stakeholders early and often in the process, and ensure comms guidelines are clear to minimize this risk.

When scheduling productions, consider whether you can bunch certain shoots together. Also, look for opportunities to capture b-roll outside of formal productions. For instance, if an executive is speaking at an event, you might be able to use the footage as b-roll.

5. Release Cadence

The right release cadence for your content depends on the types of internal comms you are delivering. Some campaigns might require weekly or even daily updates, while others will occur far less often. For instance, in a time of crisis, your team might benefit from daily updates from executives. During the course of regular business, they’re unlikely to have the same information needs.

Most companies probably don’t do enough for internal comms. Data from Simpplr shows “two-thirds of leaders aren’t communicating about vision and strategy more frequently than once a quarter”. Surely there’s more to say about it than that?

The key is to strike a balance between establishing your comms program as a useful resource for employees, and bombarding them with lots of content. If your messaging is overwhelming, people will tune out. If it’s too sparse, it’s unlikely to provide a tangible benefit.

6. Secure Sharing

While some executive communications can be shared outside the company, certain videos will be for employees only. You can easily control access to your videos with SproutVideo’s privacy tools.

For instance, you can embed videos securely in an intranet using a domain whitelist. The embed code will not load if it’s copied to a website that isn’t included in your whitelist.

If you can’t easily embed content in your intranet, or don’t have one, a secure video portal for employees makes it easy to create a destination for your content. With password protection, viewer logins, or more advanced options, like IP address restriction or single sign-on, SproutVideo’s websites are an easy way to share your executive communications with the team.

7. Audience Interactions

Executive communications are not always a one-way street. It can be vitally important to gather employee feedback.

Enabling commenting on your videos and live streams is an engaging way to encourage employees to share their thoughts. It’s also a nice option because someone else can moderate the comments, while the person presenting focuses on their material.

Other alternatives include adding a survey at the end of the video or live stream with a custom post play screen, or linking to a survey during playback using an in-player call-to-action.

8. Track Performance

After going to all this effort, naturally, you’ll want to be sure you’re having a measurable impact. That’s where viewer engagement tracking comes in.

Depending on how you’re sharing your videos, you should be able to track viewers by their email address. This is possible whether you’re sharing your videos on an intranet, or through a SproutVideo website.

The viewer’s email address will be reported in engagement metrics. This powerful data shows you exactly how much of your video viewers watch, rewatch, or skip. That way, you will know whether your team is engaging with your content or if they’re dropping off at particular points in your videos.

Using this data, you can improve your videos over time, and ensure you’re only putting out effective content employees want to watch.

Do you use video for executive communications? If so, how has it made an impact? If not, what’s stopping you from getting started? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The post Eight Best Practices for Planning Internal Videos appeared first on SproutVideo.

Live streaming a company event is easier than you think, and can even save money compared to in-person meetings. It’s an important technological investment to make to future-proof your company and to ensure your entire workforce can participate, regardless of their location. Here are the important steps to take, and the technical resources you’ll need to live stream your next event.

Online Company Event Planning

Online events turn regular event planning on its head. Rather than bringing everyone to a particular location or venue, you’re bringing the event to them. The key for corporate events is to do so securely while ensuring all stakeholders have the access they need.

1. Selecting a Location

The location is really about where you’re sharing your video. Your event landing page could be just one video, or it could be an entire website containing multiple broadcasts. It all depends on the nature of your event. 

A suitable location for sharing your event could be on your existing website, company intranet, or a landing page or microsite hosted by a third party. Each option has implications for video privacy and viewer access.

Sharing On Your Website or Intranet

If your audience is exclusively made up of employees with access to your company’s intranet, or a secure logged-in area of your website, embedding your live streams is likely the way to go. That way, your attendees would simply log into their employee portal to view the event videos. 

Many internal company events cover proprietary information that must be kept under wraps. While publishing your content in an intranet will limit your audience to existing employees, there are extra steps you can take to ensure the video embed code can’t be shared beyond your intranet, and that the videos will only load for employees on approved connections.

For instance, a domain whitelist enables you to specify the websites where your videos can load and play back. If someone attempts to share the video embed code on another site, it won’t work. Signed embed codes are a similar, more technically advanced option.

For even more security, you can restrict access to a specific IP address or a range of IP addresses. In other words, if the event is only for people connected to a VPN or company IP, this doubles down on security and ensures anyone on an unapproved connection will not be able to load the event video. 

Third-Party Landing Page or Microsite

If you need to allow people outside your organization to access your videos, you may need to consider sharing your broadcast outside your intranet or your website. In that case, you’ll want to explore third party hosting options for sharing your event.

For instance, SproutVideo offers video websites that support single sign-on, secure viewer logins, or site-wide passwords. Depending on the level of security your event requires, any of those privacy options could be a good fit.

2. Attendees

For attendees, think through the entire online event flow. It might be as simple as sending a link to your whole team, or you may want to create a specific list for the event, or ask attendees to register.

If your event is for employees only, and you already have your list, great. Otherwise, you may need to create a landing page with a registration form to build your list.

Once you have your list of attendees, they need to know the usual key event details, including the start time, run time, speakers, topics, and the URL where the video will be shared. Sometimes that information is included on the event landing page or microsite, but it can also be shared in a calendar invite, email, or PDF as well.

You may also want to provide guidance on internet speed requirements or browser recommendations if applicable. Note that a professional video hosting platform will ensure browser compatibility, and automatically adapt streaming for viewers’ connection speeds, so this is unlikely to impact you. Finally, if your company event requires any software to be downloaded and installed to view, getting attendees to handle it ahead of time is ideal.

3. Presenters

For presenters, while you don’t have to consider travel needs, you do have to think about their technology needs in order to participate in the event. Some people may need cameras, microphones, tripods, or even a loaner laptop. Due to inventory shortages and extended shipping times, the earlier you can assess the equipment needed, the better.

If you’re not sure of the exact gear to use, we shared the details of the camera equipment we used for our own live stream, and we have guides to cameras, microphones, and lights in our “How To Video” series.

If presenters aren’t able to speak live during the event itself, you can still stream pre-recorded video as part of a live broadcast. Ask anyone unable to make the main event to film themselves ahead of time. For certain important messages, this might even be preferable to allow for editing and higher production value.

Also, if your on-camera talent has to set up by themselves, be sure to share our guide to filming yourself solo with them. It contains tips for framing your shot, lighting, and delivering lines on camera while working solo.

4. Scheduling

Just like in-person events, scheduling should be one of the top priorities when it comes to planning your online event. You and your team will want to make a concrete schedule you can turn to throughout the planning, execution, and post-event stages. 

Typically, this would include pre-launch communications, the event itself, deliverables, post-event communications, and more. Especially with a primarily remote workforce, a solid schedule will keep everyone coordinated and on track. 

If possible, make time for several practice rounds with your presenters to fix any flaws in their broadcasting setup ahead of time. The more run-throughs you can squeeze in, the more smoothly it will go on the big day.

5. The Main Event

Now that you have your location, attendees, and presenters squared away, it’s time to launch your company event.

To go live, you need the video and audio feeds from the presenters, encoding software to allow you to mix in the different video sources, and a video hosting platform that supports live streaming.

With SproutVideo, you’d first set up your video sources in the encoding software of your choice (a popular one is OBS, but there are many others). Then, in the SproutVideo platform, create a new live stream and configure its settings for embedding or for sharing on a SproutVideo landing page. Next, add your SproutVideo stream key and RTMP URL to your encoding software settings.

Finally, once your live stream player is published and shared with attendees, you’re ready to go live. It’s really that simple.

We have guides with detailed instructions on creating a live stream, using a switcher, and a behind-the-scenes example from our own live stream with more than one presenter if you want to take things further.

6. Post Event

When it’s all said and done, you’ll need to sit down and go over how the whole thing went. Usually, a meeting with event organizers can be really helpful. This is intended to dissect and investigate what went wrong, what went right, and how you can improve performance going forward.

Another important post-event practice is to survey attendees and presenters for feedback on their experience. It will help you pinpoint any issues your audience or speakers encountered, and identify areas for improvement for next time. We use Typeform, and there are plenty of other survey tools out there, but this could be as simple as emailing a couple questions to everyone. The important part is to be sure to ask.

In addition to reviewing the event itself, you’ll want to take a look at the numbers for how the video performed during the broadcast. With SproutVideo, you not only get real-time reporting during your broadcast, but you’ll also get analytics and engagement metrics from the stream immediately afterward.

Finally, if anyone missed the event live, share the recording with attendees so they can review it as needed. If any editing is required, you can download the recorded live stream, and replace it with the edited version when ready without needing to share a new link or update the embed code.

Switching from an in-person event to a virtual live event isn’t quite as complicated as it may seem on paper. We’d love to hear how it’s going if you’re making the leap to live streaming! Share your tips in the comments below.

The post How to Live Stream Your Next Company Event appeared first on SproutVideo.

However, corporate communications can be a real asset, especially with the introduction of video. From recruiting, to retention, and improving the efficiency of a workforce, corporate communications offers a lot of potential upside to companies that get it right.

Here’s our guide to modernizing your corporate communications strategy with video.

Transparency

First and foremost, you have to throw the old rule book out the window. Corporate communications used to be about the control of internal information. This meant a lot of the information being transmitted was opaque and vague, and centered exclusively around the firm’s interests.

Today, transparency is the name of the game. Rather than fighting the flow of information, the role of corporate communications has shifted to guiding it and shaping it. The fact of the matter is that nearly any issue will come to light eventually. Whether it’s leaked or announced intentionally, companies can count on their employees, and the general public, finding out sooner or later.

Take the VW emissions scandal. While attempting to thwart regulators on clean air regulations is bad enough, the worst aspect of the scandal was the lengths to which the company went to cover it up. It immediately begs the question: what else are they hiding?

Often, the way the company discloses a difficult truth affects the public’s perception more than the truth itself. Hearing directly from company executives can make a huge difference in the way their handling of a crisis is portrayed.

Decentralize

Sure, at times, company employees need to keep sensitive information under wraps. For instance, in the lead-up to an IPO or an acquisition, it’s typical for details to be very hush-hush.

The rest of the time, you’re better off relaxing the rules regarding who can talk about company initiatives. First of all, employees are likely to do so anyway. Secondly, you may find they are quite effective at communicating positive information about your company. In fact, the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer found that “trust in businesses and CEOs is falling; at the same time, there’s a marked increase in the credibility of a “person like me.”‘

Encourage your employees to help communicate positive company information by expanding their participation in videos. Featuring real employees who are involved with different company events or impacted by new policies will help bring authenticity to your content.

No More Internal Vs External

Related to the importance of transparency detailed above, there is no such thing as internal vs external communications. Plan for everything to be external, whether that’s how you plan to distribute it or not.

Why? In case it’s shared online, it won’t be awkward, or worse, damaging to your company’s reputation. It’s best to plan for the worst, and hope for the best when it comes to online sharing. Besides, there are usually opportunities to position your company in a positive light no matter what happened.

While it might be a bit intimidating to think about jumping in front of the camera to apologize for a major mistake or misjudgment your company has made, think about how much more personal and effective video apologies following these two PR disasters would’ve been: Apple’s 2017 battery performance issue and Uber’s 2016 customer data breach.

Adding a human element to their apologies couldn’t have done any more damage to either situation and might have helped to soften the blows.

Ok, Sometimes You Need Internal Video to Stay Internal

If you need to ensure that a particular video is not shared beyond your company’s walls, SproutVideo has specific privacy tools that can help.

For starters, login protection is an easy way to assign video permissions to individuals. You can control their access, and track it on a very granular level.

To restrict sharing to a specific network, you can whitelist your company’s IP address. Then, only viewers on approved connections will be able to load and play your videos.

Single-sign-on is another option for companies that already have an Identity Provider in place. It enables viewers to use their company credentials to access videos on the SproutVideo platform, ensuring only employees can view the content.

Meet Your Audience Where They Already Are

General Electric has been hard at work modernizing their culture, and their corporate communications strategy too.

Their CEO, Jeff Immelt, sat down for a video interview with the Senior Editor of Linkedin. Why Linkedin, and not a major news publication?

Because GE knows that’s where their audience is likely to be found. By releasing videos, company news, and even company-wide emails to employees on social media, GE is reaching not just existing employees, but prospective recruits too. All the while, they’re building a stellar reputation for transparency.

Story-Telling

When it comes to corporate communications, the old approach relied on telling just the facts. However, people often get a lot more information out of stories that provide additional context and details. And, does it hurt if they are entertained in the process?

Video opens up many more opportunities for storytelling than written announcements. You can introduce characters, create a plot, and use creative visuals to get your point across. For instance, promoting a new, generous family paid leave policy is a great opportunity to show your company really cares about its employees. It’s also a powerful recruiting and retention tool. Will a press release with bullet-pointed facts get that across?

Since you’re fighting for attention, think of video as your secret weapon to compelling storytelling. You can hook viewers and get your message across, before they even realize they’re watching a marketing video.

No matter the industry, technology has changed our work spaces and the ways we communicate. For many years now, developments like email and texting increased the appeal and expectations of quick work and communications being done. Now, perhaps somewhat in reaction to that, there is a real demand for more personable, human communications (both external and internal) and yet no one seems ready to give up the speed in which we’ve become accustomed to. Fortunately, video grants both: In-real-time communication with a human touch.

Tell us how you are using video to effectively communicate among your employees and share questions you have about how to better do this – We’re listening! Share in the comments below or catch us Twitter @sproutvideo.

The post Modernize Your Corporate Communications Strategy with Video appeared first on SproutVideo.

Of course, there are some common obstacles to using video, which can make people hesitant to take the plunge for internal communication purposes.

In this post, we outline five different challenges companies often face, and share possible solutions. With these tips, you’ll be able to leverage video internally sooner rather than later, or improve your existing efforts.

Why You Need Internal Video

Your employees are your company’s most valuable asset. Therefore, it is vital that you are able to clearly and concisely communicate goals, developments, and overall vision.

If employees are not well-trained, engaged, or involved, it becomes very difficult to further the goals of your company or organization. Video can help with that because it enables internal communications much more efficiently than traditional methods.

For example, asynchronous communication has risen in popularity and necessity thanks to an increasingly flexible workplace and the growth of remote teams. The tone of a message can be lost when delivered in written form. However, video communications enables the messenger to more easily provide context and urgency when relaying information to their team members.

There are plenty of other great reasons to incorporate video into your internal communications strategy. For instance, done right, it can eliminate the need for in-person meetings and training. This not only saves valuable time, but also maintains an important consistency, particularly when it comes to training.

Videos can be saved in a centralized resource center, making them readily accessible. In comparison, emails or chat messages are often deleted or lost more easily. You can even use analytics to analyze the engagement level of individual employees, helping you determine whether your videos are effective.

Challenge One: People will not watch the videos, or only watch part of them.

By introducing video, you are likely breaking old habits for your employees, and introducing them to new ones, but persist. Here, consistency is absolutely key.

You might find your viewer engagement is lower than you’d like. Viewers might be losing interest at specific points in the video. Understanding viewer behavior allows you to identify trends where the viewership drops off, and revisit the content to make improvements.

One of the simplest ways to encourage people on your team to watch your videos is to set their expectations. Deliver your videos on a regular schedule with a recognizable format. For new team members, normalize the use of video by introducing it early on.

Challenge Two: We don’t know what to include in our internal videos.

Plan and prepare, far in advance!

Content to consider includes any calendar or company events, milestones, training and education, or positive updates and “thank you’s” to your team members. In fact, we have a whole host of ideas on our blog. Here’s a couple to get you started: eight ideas for using internal video to engage your community and fifteen tips for internal corporate video.

We really encourage setting up an editorial calendar for your internal videos. This can be as simple as a spreadsheet with dates, titles, a brief description of each topic, and what you will need to pull it off.

Logistically, an editorial calendar pays dividends. It will really help give your team the necessary time to plan a variety of content, and prepare for each video shoot. This is especially crucial if your videos require booking staff or talent and a location.

It will also give you a central document to go back to where you can review your content. Further, it will make coordination much easier with other internal communication efforts. Taken all together, you’ll be able to see whether you’re succeeding in creating a cohesive internal communications strategy.

Challenge Three: People don’t follow the instructions/next steps shared in the video.

SproutVideo has great marketing features that drive viewers in the direction you need and ensure they’re following through on what you’re asking of them. Typically for public videos, these features can do double-duty for internal video.

Our post-play call-to-action feature allows you to guide your viewers to action after your video has finished. With the ability to include links, images, forms, or any HTML you’d like, we encourage you to test out different ideas to determine which works best for your team.

Perhaps a less overt (but potentially very effective) way to encourage your internal viewers to follow instructions and next steps is to assign email and password combinations to individuals for video access. On the SproutVideo platform, login protection enables you to track viewer interactions with your videos at a very granular level.

Importantly, these insights allow you to follow up with anyone who isn’t keeping up on required viewing or taking specific actions.

Challenge Four: Our video talent needs help.

Practice is key. After some general training, just keep practicing! Help your talent work on:

• Distracting gestures: teach your talent to develop a self awareness around how they fidget or gesture when they speak and get others to watch, too. Constructive criticism only!
• Enthusiasm: some can appear to lack enthusiasm, but are simply facing nerves. Nerves often cause people to freeze, leading to stiff facial expressions and a flat tone of voice. Help your talent to learn how to match the subject matter.
• Lack of focus: having a storyboard and script will ensure your video stays on message and your talent knows exactly what to do. We also have some great information on how to do this — How to make better business video with storyboarding
• Verbal static: many of us suffer from this. We often use ‘fillers’ to buy ourselves time to think about what we want to say. Avoid this by practicing the script and sticking to it otherwise these fillers can become a distraction to the message.

Get started as a talent coach with these resources: how to feel like a natural on camera, and facing your fears about being on camera.

Challenge Five: We have confidential information to share with our team members

Information security is of the utmost importance to companies. The exposure of sensitive and valuable data can cost companies big money, a lot of time, and even their reputation.

Because video is a newer form of internal communications, security has to be top of mind. Providing robust video privacy features has always been a priority for the SproutVideo team.

In addition to multiple setting options – including private, password, and login protected access – we also allow you to restrict video access to connections coming from a specific ip address, network, or block of ip addresses. Anyone attempting to share your videos with outsiders will immediately hit a wall if you utilize this feature. Signed embed codes and allowed domains, both of which prevent your video embed codes from being shared, are also powerful tools.

Beyond video security, our video analytics provide an added layer of assurance to company leaders by giving you the ability to audit who is watching your videos in detail. We recommend reading the five best practices for corporate video if video security is a big concern.

Final Thoughts

Video presents fantastic opportunities to improve internal communications. From connection and engagement, efficiency and productivity, to the ability to track engagement and identify gaps in communication.

You can overcome the challenges of internal video with a bit of creativity, consistency, and the right video host. If you have questions about using internal video, we’re listening!

The post Overcome Five Common Obstacles to Using Internal Video appeared first on SproutVideo.

Video should never be an afterthought. In fact, if current trends continue, it’ll soon be the standard for business communications.

We’re not just talking about marketing. In many ways, marketing is already there with video.

So, how can you ensure your company is ahead of the curve? By integrating video throughout your company culture. It has to become your professional way of life.

Here’s how you can get started. Follow this in-depth guide to build habits and establish default behaviors to promote the use of video throughout your organization.

Contents

This post is so thorough that we’ve included a Table of Contents to help you navigate it.

1. Why You Need a Video-First Culture
2. Get the Right Tools for the Job
3. Designate Responsibilities
4. Thinking Video First
5. Centralized, Secure Sharing
6. Reporting and Improvements

Why You Need a Video-First Culture

A video-first culture is one where videos are created and shared as a central part of everyday workflows. Video becomes a way of doing business, rather than just another project to manage.

Video is too powerful a medium to leave relegated to marketing departments. When used properly, it can drive employee engagement, facilitate training and on-boarding, and enhance corporate communications across the board. Did we mention it could also save you money?

Here’s a quick breakdown of why a video-first culture will help your organization better prepare for the future.

Engagement

Would you rather sit through a PowerPoint presentation, read a lengthy email or PDF, or watch a short video with all the info you need? We thought so.

Video gets the message across better than other mediums. The importance of this fact can’t be stressed enough when it comes to corporate communications. Beyond engaging viewers in the moment, video results in higher retention rates of information compared to other medium.

The fact that you can hear, see, and read information simultaneously helps reinforce it in your memory, helping you to clearly recall it later on. Video also often contains emotional triggers, helping to promote the formation of memories.

Communications

Think about the time before email (really, there was a time). We predict video communications will become as pervasive for the modern workforce in the next few years. So, you better start now if you want to stay ahead of the curve.

Video offers specific advantages compared to other mediums for communication. Ultimately, it’s all about the personal connection. Humans are hardwired to respond to faces and emotional expressions. A lot of what we communicate is nonverbal. Unlike text or audio, video allows you to speak more directly to your audience.

Training

Training doesn’t just happen when you’re first hired. Maybe you’ve been promoted to a new role, changed departments, or want to learn new skills.

This is where an engaging video resource center can really shine. By investing in tools your employees can access at any stage of their careers, you’ll help drive retention and advancement.

Video is perfect for training because it makes it easy for workers to refer back to a lesson if needed. Since it helps employees retain information better, it’s more efficient, too. Finally, it’s less disruptive to their workflow when training can be accessed whenever its needed, rather than at scheduled meetings.

Saving money

Often thought of as expensive and time-consuming, producing and leveraging corporate videos can be highly cost-effective. It all comes down to your priorities, and how you tackle it. In fact, we’ve often heard from our users that they realized substantial cost-savings by using video throughout their companies.

Take training, for example. It’s often one of the costliest aspects of on-boarding new employees or implementing new procedures. By using online video, you can save significantly on transportation, staffing, and more. Even better, you can reuse video time and again, so the savings accumulate in the long run.

Get The Right Tools for the Job

Having the necessary equipment on hand is as much about reducing friction as it is about getting the job done. If you’re scrambling to find cables or charge batteries every time you want to make a video, you’ll never get around to actually filming anything.

A basic camera kit consists of three main components: a camera, a microphone, and a tripod. Professional lighting can also be extremely useful, but technically isn’t necessary for basic video projects.

Here’s what your kit might look like if your phone is your main camera:

The kit above includes a Joby Gorillapod tripod, a lens, and a microphone, and would cost around $150 (plus cost of the phone) to put together.

We also have a detailed video guide to making a professional 4K camera rig using an iPhone:

If you have a camcorder or DSLR camera with video capabilities available, your setup won’t be that different. You’ll still want to use an external microphone and a tripod.

For a full rundown of video equipment you might want to consider, read this post about the ten most essential pieces of video equipment.

Finally, if you don’t have any sort of camera, you can still make plenty of videos using just a laptop.

Designate Responsibilities

Just announcing you’d like more video won’t get you anywhere. Each team needs a point person for ensuring video is an integral part of their project planning.

Even teams that you might not regularly peg as creative assets can help produce interesting videos. From accounting to sales to support and even c-suite executives, interesting perspectives and useful information can come from anywhere.

The point person for video should be relatively tech savvy, and see this new responsibility as an opportunity rather than a burden. Ask them to come up with a handful of ideas for videos they could produce, and see which get traction on the team.

If they’re not sure where to start, look to other teams for inspiration. Or, brainstorm topics that could be useful internally. Training, special learning sessions, quarterly reporting, new hires, and more can all be excellent opportunities for video.

The people you select to help spread video across your organization aren’t necessarily the ones producing the actual videos. It might make sense to have a specialized person or team in charge of that, depending on the size of your company and the resources available to you.

If you’re not quite ready to expand this across your whole organization, you still need someone in charge of ensuring videos are regularly planned and produced. That person could be you, or a colleague with a passion for video. Ask around for volunteers, and you might be surprised at how many you get.

Thinking Video First

Most companies have plenty of opportunities for capturing great video content. They just don’t seem to know where to start.

Here’s are some common endeavors most companies will undertake at some point. If you plan on capturing video from the get-go, you’ll find yourself with a wealth of content at the end of the year.

Company Events

Planning a conference, round-table, panel, or similar event? Be sure to capture it all on video.

This high value IP can be reused in numerous ways. For instance, you could leverage it for employee education, marketing for future events, or repackage it for attendees.

An ideal setup for filming an event would involve more than one camera, and a microphone for each speaker. By having at least two cameras, you’ll have two perspectives to choose from when editing your clips. This will help smooth over any awkward pauses, coughing, or other audible interruptions in the dialogue. It also reduces the chances a speaker might wander out of frame.

Giving each speaker their own mic also avoids a few annoyances. Ever sit in an audience, waiting to hear from a panel speaker while a microphone is slowly passed their way? Yeah, us too, and it’s no fun.

Wireless lapel mics are usually the way to go, but handheld mics can work just as well. Importantly, your speakers are less likely to walk off with a handheld mic, or to forget that they have a hot mic on them.

That’s the ideal scenario, however, all of that fancy equipment is not required. You can certainly make do with a simpler setup.

Town Halls

Important information is often shared at company town hall meetings. Yet, it’s easy to forget the specifics of what is discussed. Further, at least a handful of employees will likely be out of office for one reason or another.

All the more reason to capture it on video. This requires a really simple setup. Just a camera, a tripod, and a single microphone will usually suffice.

You will likely find a surprising number of ways to use this footage. It can be fun to review at a later town hall to check on progress towards a goal, for instance. You can also look for bloopers or outtakes for the company Christmas party.

Aside from those fun ideas, making the video available to anyone absent from the event helps ensure everyone is on the same page. It will also allow people to check back in the future if they are trying to remember a detail or a goal that was set during the town hall.

Video Conferences

An everyday occurrence in most offices, video conferences help teams collaborate and get work done efficiently. They’re also a great way to interview experts who can’t visit your company on site. By regularly recording them, they can also be a great way to enable teams to easily keep track of what’s going on with different projects, and to promote employee education.

Whether an internal video conference merits recording can certainly vary quite a bit. If you’re discussing a milestone in a project, recapping accomplishments, or planning next steps, it’s probably worth archiving for future reference.

If your video conference involves external experts, recording it is nearly mandatory. You can use soundbites or clips from these sessions in many different ways. From marketing, to education, to blog posts, there are many possibilities.

Producing these types of videos is really simple. Most video conferencing applications come with video recording features. The only equipment you need is a computer and a webcam of some kind.

Test your setup ahead of time with a colleague, and remember to hit record. Then, export the video to an MP4 file, and upload to the web for sharing.

Internal Communications

Beyond town halls, company communications of every variety represent a chance to create video. We are particularly big fans of using video for major announcements, product releases, messages from executives, or introducing new hires.

Similar to town halls, these don’t have to be complicated or fancy videos. A quick soundbite is all it takes to put a human face on an important message.

Since the purpose and audience can vary tremendously, we recommend working with equipment you have on hand. That means a webcam, iPhone or Android, DSLR or even a camcorder might do the trick. The message is the central focus here, not production value.

Charity, Conventions, and Outside Events

If your company is sponsoring or organizing an event for a charitable cause, participating in a convention, or any other outside event, capture it on film. These special one-off events are great material for brand marketing, recruiting, and promoting different causes.

Assign someone to film the event the day of, or encourage everyone participating to capture special moments on their phones. Ask that they film in landscape, not portrait mode, if possible. Look for celebrities or interesting people to interview, too. At the end of the day, you’ll have a wealth of footage to compile into a video about the event.

Don’t forget to grab plenty of b-roll footage of the location, exterior, crowds, or event signage to help provide context to the video.

Try to Keep it Simple

We can’t emphasize this enough – video doesn’t have to be a huge production. Keep production as simple as possible. You’ll find it much easier to produce video on an ongoing basis.

Tie the level of effort to the intended audience, and the importance of the message being communicated. Often, less is more!

Centralized, Secure Sharing

All this video won’t do you any good unless it’s easily accessible to your intended audiences. You’ll basically need two things:

• A place where the videos will live.
• Appropriate video privacy tools.

To determine where your videos should be shared, and the level of security they require, first look to your intended audience.

Internal Audiences

Employees, interns, contractors – anyone with a company-issued email address would likely constitute a member of your internal audience. Board members, trusted advisors, and others involved directly in your business are also likely included here.

Executive communications, town halls, training, recorded video conferences, and other proprietary company videos could all be shared with internal stakeholders.

Privacy Controls for Internal Video

Internal video can range from light-hearted, to extremely sensitive in nature. It’s imperative to ensure the proper privacy controls are in place before content is shared.

The right video security tools will vary based on your company’s particular needs. There are two main ways to approach it:

• Embed videos in an existing secure portal, like Sharepoint or a company Intranet.
• Send viewers to a secure video website, hosted by a 3rd party.

Existing Secure Portal

If your company already has a Sharepoint, intranet, or similar employees-only section of your website, you can easily share your videos there.

In this case, you’ll be embedding your videos, and if you’re using SproutVideo as your video hosting provider, you’ll want to leave them set to Private. Private videos only appear and are playable when embedded, not on SproutVideo landing pages or video websites.

To prevent your videos from being copied to external websites, ensure your video embed codes only work on specified websites. Use either allowed domains or signed embed codes to that effect.

Allowed domains is a straightforward video security setting. Enter the domain(s) where you’d like your video to appear, and it simply won’t load anywhere else.

Signed embed codes allow for more precise control over viewer access to your video. Signed embed codes require a secret signing key in order to load. If that key is missing, or incorrectly configured, the video won’t load.

Secure 3rd Party Video Website

Some video hosting services, such as SproutVideo, offer customizable video websites and landing pages. When used in conjunction with our video privacy options, they can be a powerful solution for keeping corporate video secure.

Creating the landing pages or video website is extremely simple. It only takes a few minutes to pick a theme, customize your URL, and add your branding. Hit publish, and you’re almost ready to share.

After uploading your videos, you’ll need to determine the best privacy settings to use for sharing your corporate videos securely. SproutVideo offers several options for controlling video access through our video websites, in approximate order from least secure, to most secure:

• Leave all videos set to Public. Your website will be discoverable and anyone with the URL can access your content.
• Require an email address to view a video, allowing you to track each viewer by their email.
• Unlist a video to make it undiscoverable on your video website.
• Password protect individual videos on your video website.
• Password protect your entire video website.
• Assign login credentials to viewers, and set download permissions, or limit access to a period of time or number of logins.
• Use IP address restriction to ensure your video website only loads for viewers on an approved connection.
• Implement single-sign-on (SSO) to use your company’s Identity Provider (ADFS, Google Apps, or any provider using SAML 2.0), so viewers can use their company credentials to login.

The best option really depends on the level of security and the reporting you require. If you’re unsure about which might work for your company, then contact us for guidance, or leave a comment below.

External Audiences

People outside of your company include prospects, clients, the general public, or friends and family.

Your marketing and PR videos, product or company announcements, and educative content are likely to be of interest to these parties. Designed to engage and convert, these are the types of videos that are ideally shared widely.

On occasion, you might need to share sensitive information via video with an outside party. A deliverable to a client, for example, would probably not be shared publicly.

Privacy Controls for External Video

Chances are, publicly shared videos will be ideal for this audience. You might even look to promote sharing of your public-facing videos by enabling social sharing, or including a call-to-action.

For external videos that require more security, some of the above options for internal video could work well. For instance, password protection and login protection are good options for simple, secure sharing with individuals.

Reporting and Improvements

At this point, you’re producing content on a regular basis, and sharing your videos confidently and securely. By keeping regular tabs on your video analytics, you can continuously improve your process and your content.

Tracking and improving viewer engagement is key to the success of corporate video. It helps you determine whether or not your message is getting through to your intended audience.

An engagement rate of 100% would mean that everyone who started watching your video finished it. Usually, the higher the rate, the better. It means your audience is engaged and consuming your content in its entirety.

For publicly shared videos, you’ll also want to consider other data points for your videos. For example, how many leads did they generate? What was the reach of your video? Did viewers comment on it? Determine the metric that is most central to your video campaign, and track it to see how you’re doing.

Use the data to change your process for making and sharing videos. If you notice flagging viewer engagement after more than one minute of footage, for instance, chop your videos down to size.

By continually improving your content, you’ll keep driving the use of video throughout your company culture.

How does your company use video? Where specifically has it helped, and why? Please share your experience in the comments below.

The post The Ultimate Guide to Developing a Video-First Company Culture appeared first on SproutVideo.

Of course, working with brand ambassadors is nothing new, but what about when it comes to promoting positive relationships within the company? Have you considered recruiting your own employees to boost morale within your company?

By encouraging employees to take an active part in internal communications, CEOs can share an engaging message that is trusted by viewers. Moreover, co-workers will enjoy taking time out from regular work to get creative in front of and behind the camera! In this post, we will share tips on turning your top employees into internal brand ambassadors using video.

Say Thank You With an Employee of the Month Video

Everyone loves to be praised! When your employees have done something extra super amazing (because let’s be honest – they’re probably amazing on a daily basis!), give them a chance to shine in front of the camera.

It will make them feel that their achievements are being acknowledged. It will also encourage them to continue striving to reach their potential. Finally, it will show other employees that everyone’s efforts are valued by management.

Of course, not all employees will feel comfortable in front of the camera. This is an opportunity for them to gain in confidence. Our post 27 Ways to Feel Like a Natural in Front of the Camera is a useful starting point for anyone unfamiliar with being filmed. They may even find that they enjoy the limelight!

Break the Ice for a New Team Member

Remember your first day? Lots of introductions, a blur of faces, trying to make a great first impression with everyone you meet… It’s exhausting!

Lighten the load for new starts by introducing them to the team with a video. It’s an opportunity for them to tell their new co-workers about themselves, and to share a little about their professional experience to date. It also makes them aware that they’re in the fortunate position of joining a company that truly cares about its team members. And that’s something you really want to share.

Let Everyone Know About Your Good Works

More companies are recognizing that supporting a charity is not only good for business, it’s good for staff morale. But, it’s only going to boost your employees’ morale if they know about it!

Supporting good causes can help motivate employees to become internal brand ambassadors. In addition, these initiatives also help build respect for the company within your community.

Use video to tell employees about their team members’ latest philanthropic efforts. Try recording the highlights of that charity dinner that the charity team are organizing. Be sure to include how much money was raised.

Sponsored bake sales are popular, but admittedly not that interesting for video purposes. Make them more video-friendly by introducing a little competition. Film the winners for categories like the most popular bake, the most ambitious bake, and even the messiest bake!

Team Newsletter

How is communication between teams in your organization? Even in small or medium-sized companies, you might be surprised at the low level of communication between different business units.

If co-workers know what’s going on, they’ll be able to assist each other better and build stronger relationships. Ultimately, better communication makes for a happier workforce.

Let everyone know what’s going on by asking each team to make a short video about what they’ve been working on and what’s coming up. There’s no need to be ultra serious! This is an internal-only video, so employees should feel free to express themselves and share their own personalities.

Give Your Staff Creative Control

If your organization is new to video, then getting started with an internal brand ambassador project might initially seem overwhelming. We recommend putting together an internal video team.

It should be made up of people who are willing to be responsible for brainstorming and pre-production (including scripting and recruiting co-workers), those who are most interested in hands-on production, and those who want to edit. There are many facets to the video making process, so there’s room for lots of people to get involved.

In the event that there’s no one in your organization with the skills to make video, invest in a training day for the video team. You will probably have to provide equipment and editing software.

However, this doesn’t need to be a significant outlay. See our post 6 Hacks for Making Great Video on a Tiny Budget for some practical advice.

Widen the appeal of your internal video campaigns by allowing everyone in the company to get involved. Solicit feedback on the videos – it’s bound to get some interesting conversations going between team members! Asking employees to contribute topics they’d like to see covered is another effective way of engaging them.

Conclusion

Your employees are ideal internal brand ambassadors. They’re passionate, they understand what your brand is about, and they’re interested.

Try creating a culture of video content engagement, where everyone in the company is empowered to share ideas and express their opinions. Explain why they should take time out of their busy schedules to take part. We recommend recognizing your strongest video contributors with public thanks, and maybe even a small prize at the end of the year.

It’s important to make it easy for your employees to find the videos. A large, disorganized video library is almost certainly not going to be used.

At SproutVideo, we can help you streamline the video management process by using tags. This is a feature that allows you to sort your videos in different ways. You can search for very specific groups of video. Users can filter by tags or search by tags. For more tips on organizing your internal video library, head over to our post 10 Tips for Optimizing Large Video Libraries.

If you’d like to talk to the SproutVideo team about implementing internal video in your workplace, then get in contact using the green live chat box at the bottom of the page or email support@sproutvideo.com.

The post How to Create Internal Brand Ambassadors Using Video appeared first on SproutVideo.