The Evolution of Internal Communication for Marketing Leaders

Internal communications have evolved over the years to fit the needs of companies and their workforces. As more employees have been forced to work remotely this year mobile communication has been quick to grow in popularity and other similar trends and opportunities for marketing leaders to be disruptors in their industry have emerged as a result.

This year in particular has been the year of video for internal communications, which has rapidly become the new normal for marketing leaders due to the ongoing pandemic. The power of video is undeniable as it’s not just what is said that is taken into account, but also the subtle inflections and tone of voice that convey so much important and crucial information in a meeting for marketing leaders. We need that face-to-face feeling in order to internally communicate effectively.

Until recently many have been camera shy and opted for turning off their camera when working remotely, but video conferencing has now hit the mainstream, and looks as though it is here to stay.

Let’s look at why video currently drives the future of internal communications and what marketing leaders should be implementing going forward:

Two-way communication

Although two-way communication through meetings has been transformed with platforms such as webex and zoom, the downside to every meeting is that it is a group of people taking the time to have a discussion, which would have had to have been communicated and organised beforehand, all taking up valuable time from both the team and team leaders. In other words, it isn’t instant internal communication.

Over time, videos have only appeared to have been used as a way of internal communication by larger companies. But marketing leaders, whether from large or small companies should consider using video messages that can be viewed anytime as well as virtual meetings.

So, what’s next?

Going forward, the next progression of internal communication will be video messaging. For example, imagine asking key staff for a brief opinion on a subject and getting back a compilation video of 30 second clips of their thoughts. Or being able to create a short, branded video message to send to staff. Traditionally this has needed a dedicated video team but companies like shoutout.social have enabled this to be achieved on a smartphone by creating videos branded automatically.

Through the use of such platforms some companies allow you through their own smart metadata to create a poll or survey to put forward to team members about key decisions or thoughts on a specific project, and then create a 30 second video to explain why they have made that decision. This saves a marketing leaders time by being able to view the overall result and collated videos in one place to make an overruling decision rather than sifting through sporadic emails. It is also beneficial for the team members as they only need to dedicate less than a minute to get their opinion / key point across rather than an extensive email or three page report – it is clear for all involved.

Additionally, we all carry a camera around with us on our smart phone and we can all create our own videos quickly and easily. Video messages save time on group meetings and can be viewed anytime, a quick and efficient way for marketing leaders to communicate effectively with their team. Video messages could be anything from company announcements to short compilation videos welcoming a new member to the team. This personalised video message also comes across as more authentic and genuine.

That combined with making branded videos automatically is a winning combination and something that is sure to be a popular trend in 2021 used by marketing leaders to not only be disruptors but to communicate internally with their team. Just another way that leaders are will be evolving and adapting their communication strategies going forward.

Dan Gable is the founder and CEO of ShoutOut & Sprat TV