Think back to your grade school or college days. Do you remember the excitement of watching a movie or a video in class?
Years or decades later, the best educators still know that video can grab your attention and help you learn in new ways. Video disrupts traditional learning methods while engaging learners’ visual senses to implant deep and lasting learning.
If you’re not using video in your learning strategy, here are a few good reasons to start.
1. Video Boosts Attendance and Retention
Research proves that video boosts attendance for training and learning. It changes the way people learn and increases the learner’s chances for success. Learners are likely to watch a short, engaging video before clicking to the next slide in your e-learning course, especially if that video begins playing automatically.
Forrester Research estimates that one minute of video equates to the learning value of approximately 1.8 million written words. Based on pre- and post-assessments of learners, we know that video helps learners to retain information at a higher level than a slide with text or a PDF handout.
2. Video Increases Autonomy and Motivation
Allowing your learners to take their own learning journey through video is a great way to build autonomy and trust. Custom videos can help your employees build their professional acumen, motivating them to excel in their position at your company and build skills for management positions.
Building a library of short videos about your company, your processes, and the development topics that appeal to your learners provides a great benefit to employees.
3. Learners Want Video
Not only are humans wired to learn visually rather than textually (90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual), but the millennial workforce, specifically, loves video learning.
According to Forbes, millennials (18-34) make up 40 percent of the workforce, and 70 to 80 percent of the work force in high-tech industries, real estate and police departments. In the next 10 years, millennials will make up 75 percent of the workforce, regardless of industry.
Business executives prefer watching videos, as well. Specifically, 59% percent of senior executives prefer video over text, while 75 percent of executives watch videos while working.
4. Video Prepares your Workforce
Many successful companies want to prepare their future associates, especially those in sales or distribution channels, for the work they’ll complete on the job. Imagine the power of sending your potential hires a short video about what their new roles will entail. Not only will it prepare them for the start of their job, but it could weed out workers who may not be ready for the position.
5. Brand and Business Building
You can use videos to not only teach your internal learners, but also your external audience, including distributors, channels, or customers.
Educational videos can be shared socially to establish your credibility as a company. If you’re client facing, people who watch your videos are more likely to use your services. Think about product videos, how-to videos, and brand videos. Shared videos build your company’s brand recognition and provide a service to your audience.
In Short
Videos allow information to be deployed quickly in a way that is engaging and accessible for your learners. Short, strategic videos peppered throughout your greater learning strategy allow learners to digest information quickly and easily and provide ongoing training that motivates learners.
If you’re ready to start using video in your learning strategy, we recommend hiring a professional videographer who understands eLearning and how the video will be used in your learning mix. Hiring a videographer for b-roll will add more work to your instructional designers and may create a disconnect between the text and video portions of your courses.
Our talented staff includes in-house videographers, instructional and graphic designers, script writers, and developers. We consult with you to understand your business needs, then develop learning courses, including video, to match those needs. Call us, today, if you want to learn how video can grow your company.