• by Justin Beck , Op-Ed Contributor, January 20, 2017

So you built out your company’s video capabilities. You’ve seen the studies highlighting video as a communication godsend – Ernst and Young reducing training costs by 34% and training time by 52% through e-learning, and the list goes on.

It’s not enough to just provide your employees with video tools. You need a few more steps to get them engaged. But all it takes is a little more effort, and you’ll be experiencing those same great video benefits.

Define Success

How will you know whether you’re getting a real ROI unless you first set some success criteria? Set some KPIs, both for the video platform and for some business metrics. Start simple. Examples of good metrics for the platform can be the number of users, the number of views/plays, the number of minutes viewed, and the number of digital assets.

Your business metrics will depend more on what the specific goals you had for the platform were. Reducing training or travel costs? Improving productivity? Increasing morale or reducing turnover? Make it a point to qualify what success means to you, so you’ll know when you get there.

Populate and Centralize

You don’t have to start from scratch. Most likely, you already have video content. They might be external site or customer-facing videos, archives from departments that already use videos (like corporate communications), video conference recordings, webcasting archives, your YouTube channel, or content from your agencies.

Then develop some fresh, exciting content that will lure people in—getting senior management to record a few videos can be a very exciting start. Make a migration plan so when you open your video platform to your employees, it’s already full of great content.

Make sure to curate and separate the content into a logical structure, so people can avoid the hassle of hunting down material  

Assemble a Video Advisory Board

Recruit rock stars from stakeholder departments. These prodigies will be your video evangelists in their respective areas. They will also help manage channels and users and come up with new video use cases. Make sure to appeal to each stakeholder with ways video can drive their particular area of the business.

Set quarterly meetings so that your board can share their best practices and success stories, define relevant policies, and continue to determine your video road map.

Announce and Launch

Try to give your portal a snazzy name people will be able to use seamlessly. Once the portal is ready, make sure to generate some initial buzz. Hold an internal event to introduce people to the platform. Make use of your corporate blog, message boards, and activity streams.

Draft an announcement email that highlights some key videos that will draw people in. And last but not least, create a video!

Focus on the Long Tail

Make sure employees are aware of the user-generated content tools. One great way is to create short, “snackable” video tutorials. You can also roll it into training on social media and presentation skills, to create a “video as a PowerPoint” culture.

 Another great way to get people excited is by running contests to create and share the best internal videos. Sharing, comments, likes, and embeds will drive more awareness. And don’t forget to take advantage of your Video Advisory Board!

Engage the Community

Ensure videos from the portal are getting publicized and embedded in your employee sites and portals. Consider a monthly newsletter with links to new or topical videos. Talk to specific groups and see how video can solve their problems and build their teams.

Maybe a self-recorded video profile for each employee will help people get acquainted? Perhaps the Help Desk would like to reduce their incoming calls by creating some basic how to videos? Gamification can work wonders here.

Re-evaluate KPIs

Remember those KPIs we set at the beginning. Don’t forget to come back and check on them. Building a video culture is not a single step process. Keep checking, and learn from what is and what isn’t working for your particular company’s culture. Don’t be afraid to set new goals, too, as you start getting the original ones under control.