Your corporate video is usually aimed at potential customers, which means its primary purpose is typically to capture the viewer’s attention and hold it for as long as it takes to deliver the message.

But internal videos are different. Your audience already knows you, they are usually happy to hear from you and they need a lot less convincing to watch to the end. So thankfully that means you don’t need to worry too much about content, message delivery, scripting, visual impact or memorability in an internal video.

 

Shock Shocked GIFfrom Shock GIFs

We’re joking of course (we know – we are hilarious). Because your internal audience matters just as much as your external ones. While you might have slightly more leeway on some aspects of script writing for internal videos, you really do still need to apply the principles of marketing when speaking to this audience.

We spoke to our friends at internal communications agency, Words & Pictures and they told us that internal can mean many things, so the first step in producing an internal video is to understand:

  • who it’s for (all employees; finance team; EMEA stakeholders)
  • how they are going to consume it (online; corporate away day)
  • how much they know about the subject already

Internal comms videos are often discussing change – the videos need to promote that change and encourage the audience to feel a certain way about it. That means the brief is important. You need to establish the overall goals:

  • What do you want viewers to DO after watching your videos? It’s really important to have a handle on the call to action.
  • What should they KNOW? Is there a policy change that you want them to really understand?
  • And how would you like them to FEEL after watching? Should they feel more engaged or connected to your company? Empowered? Inspired?

Internal videos can be longer than external ones where you are competing with unlimited noise. Your internal audience is already somewhat invested and the topic is likely to impact them directly. That said, it’s best to keep it short – the rules of online video still apply – your internal audience is still being bombarded by a lot of noise, and you don’t want them to stop watching because they get bored.

And when it comes to tone of voice, you can be a lot less formal and corporate when speaking to your employees and other internal stakeholders. In fact, it’s encouraged!