Video is now becoming an integral part of training, being used to inform and educate both staff and customers. But if you plan to use video as part of your training, you need to make sure your content is doing the job you intend it to do.
Here’s everything you need to know about creating effective staff training videos and customer instructional videos, so you can make video work for your business as efficiently as possible.
The importance of video in staff and customer training
Video is one of the most important tools you can use in staff training. It saves you the expense of hiring venues and trainers and makes sure everyone receives exactly the same information, so your entire team are on the same page from the start. Whether you use video for onboarding, health and safety or introducing new protocols, training videos are a highly effective method of communicating information to your staff.
You can also use video to train your customers and demonstrate products! Video is the ideal medium for introducing new products and explaining in detail how to use them. This not only saves money on providing support; it also increases customer engagement and helps you to retain customers.
How to make your training videos effective
1. Create a simple narrative
The best way to get your message across clearly in video is to keep things simple. You can see in the below instructional training video how actors are used to set the scene and demonstrate how to use the defibrillator. This presents the information in a highly effective and memorable way, as it tells a story and shows how the product can be useful in a real-life setting. If your employees or customers can relate to the story, this creates a connection and makes the information easier to remember.
2. Use music, graphics and voiceovers
One of the great advantages of video is that it enables you to present information in an engaging way, making it easier for viewers to understand. This is why your employees are 75 per cent more likely to watch a video than to read written communications you send them.
Music, graphics and voiceovers can all be used to great effect in your training videos to make them more engaging. Th e below training video for Downer makes good use of all these techniques to convey information that could otherwise be difficult to absorb and retain. The music gives the video an upbeat feel, while the graphics show photographs of the products and situations, creating a visual connection that brings the information to life for the viewer. The presenter provides a human touch, making the viewer feel they are being spoken to personally, even when he is heard in voiceover rather than shown on screen.
3. Make your videos easily accessible
One of the problems with in-person training is that once the trainer is gone, your employees might not remember a lot of the information they have been given. With video, they can watch it again and again to refresh their memories anytime they need to. This is why it is important to host your videos somewhere easily accessible, such as a dedicated section of your website, enabling them to log on at their convenience.
Your website is also the ideal place to host customer instructional videos. People wanting to know how to use your products are likely to consult your website first. If they can easily find the information they’re looking for, they might also take a look at other pages and possibly make additional purchases. Statistics show that people spend up to 88 per cent more time on websites with video than those without.
4. Have your training videos professionally produced
If you want your staff and customer training videos to be as effective as possible, it is important to use a professional video production company, rather than trying to shoot them yourself on your smartphone. Professional companies have the experience to create engaging narratives and top-of-the-range equipment to provide the highest quality editing, graphics and music.
A professional-quality video will also show your business in its best light, demonstrating that you care about the resources you provide to your staff and customers. If you produce a poor-quality video, 62 per cent of customers are likely to have a more negative perception of your brand. This is obviously something you want to avoid!
Find out more about creating effective training videos
If you are thinking of using video in your staff and customer training and want to make it as effective as possible, please contact us. The professional team at Rockmans Creative Media has all the expertise you need to get the very most from your training video content.
