Businesses frequently use videos as a promotional or marketing tool. But many governments, non-profits, and health organizations aren’t yet leveraging video in their communication efforts. This is a major missed opportunity, as videos can be a great way to engage with your community and quickly communicate important information.
With 81% of Americans using smartphones, most of your community can watch your videos on the go. There’s simply never been a better time to start using videos.
How Governments and Other Organizations Leverage Video
Governments and various organizations can use videos in several ways, each achieving a different objective. Do you have important information that your community needs to see? New systems for your team to learn? Dates and times for upcoming events? You can achieve all of these objectives with video. By making the right video for your goal, you can start communicating via video in no time.
Here, we’ve compiled a list of the types of videos governments and organizations typically use, with examples to illustrate how you can translate your specific goal into the right kind of video for your audience.
Quickly Communicate New Services or Programs
Did your city or organization release a new tool for managing utilities? Or maybe a centralized hub for finding the latest city events? This is great, but unfortunately, many people will likely miss out on this new, helpful service. At least, they will if you’re not promoting it in the right ways.
Video is a great way to quickly showcase a new service or tool available to the public. With video, you can show how to use the new service, tell a fun narrative, and, best of all, promote the video online where your community can see it.
The City of Calgary Digital Portal
What is it? The City of Calgary uses a fun, animated video to tell residents about a new online portal. This portal helps users to make the most of publicly available data to save money on utility bills, understand traffic patterns, avoid crowds, and more. What makes this video especially useful is the inclusion of the actual tool interspersed with animated visuals.
Why does it matter? By the end of the video, viewers understand what the web portal is and a few ways to use it. This information would be easy to miss if it were simply included in a text-only email update. The video makes it easy to understand and much quicker to absorb.
San Diego for Every Child
What is it? San Diego for Every Child (SDEC) is a nonprofit organization that works with various local organizations to help children at a disadvantage as a result of poverty. In the animated video above, SDEC details its mission while using numerous stats and charts to show how widespread poverty and financial hardships are.
Why does it matter? San Diego for Every Child has a grand mission that could easily get lost in translation. Their video uses animated maps and charts to show the scale of the problem they’re tackling. Organizations can use this approach for several topics, from showcasing a nationwide issue to advertising a service area.
Cleveland Water Web Portal Navigation
What is it? Once Cleveland Water drove signups to their new web portal, it was time to ensure people knew how to use it. This video outlines the many functions of the web portal, helping users go from newly signed up to experienced power users.
Why does it matter? The web portal navigation video uses actual images and footage of the Cleveland Water web portal. The use of the real web portal interface makes the advice in the video more applicable than if it were represented via an animation. Coupled with an animated cursor that guides users, this video is useful for its audience.
Read more about how The City of Cleveland uses video.
Template Video: Transit Update
Use this template to share information about public services, such as transportation. The video is currently about changes in transportation service, but you can update it with text and backgrounds from Vyond’s library to make any type of announcement.
Access the template video here.
Support Public Health Communications
There are often issues that the general public needs to know about. Unfortunately, disseminating information to a broad population can be a challenge. Video is a great way to spread the word and quickly communicate public health messages to your community.
Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health COVID-19 Emergency Response
What is it? The Federal Ministry of Health for Nigeria relies on social media to disseminate information as public health emergencies unfold. This video was used to convey the importance of wearing a face mask in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why does it matter? Pandemic response relies on sharing emergent and rapidly-changing information with citizens. Using easy-to-update animations and social media channels enabled Nigeria’s FMOH to reach their constituents and save lives.
Wisconsin Department of Health Services Radon Testing
Posted by Wisconsin Department of Health Services on Monday, January 27, 2020
What is it? The Wisconsin Department of Health Services puts out regular updates for their local community. This video explains that 10% of Wisconsin homes have elevated levels of radon, which can cause cancer, and goes on to explain how to test for radon.
Why does it matter? Radon is a dangerous public health issue. The video does a great job of communicating the importance of the issue and the simple steps to take against it.
NHS North West Boroughs Healthcare on Loneliness
What is it? The NHS North West Boroughs Healthcare team offers mental health support. The North West Boroughs Healthcare team created the above video to spotlight loneliness and how to overcome it.
Why does it matter? Using animation, the video drives home the importance of community and ensures as many people as possible know how to reach out in a mental health crisis.
NHS North Cumbria Integrated Care
What is it? NHS North Cumbria, a provider of community and health services in the U.K., uses live-action Twitter video with an animated overlay (note: GoAnimate is now Vyond). The short video details the effect that extended hospital stays can have on elderly patients.
Why does it matter? Health-related information can be difficult for those outside the healthcare industry to understand. This Twitter video uses animations alongside the live-action video to highlight important information and stats, which makes it easier to understand the main takeaways.
Template Video: Why Social Distancing Works
Various governments and organizations are using video to communicate public health updates around Coronavirus. The video below shares basic preventative measures against Coronavirus and explains why social distancing works. Update some or all of the template to reinforce your local public health messaging and align with your current policies.
Access the template video here.
Disseminate Updates to the Public with Informative Videos
Not everyone likes to read, and many of us lead busy lives. With a video, you can reach your audience on social media, by email, and even via text alert. This makes it possible to inform the public of any pressing matters, regardless of whether they’re out of town, they hate reading, or they’re just busy.
Wake County Board of Elections
What is it? This video from the Wake County Board of Elections shows viewers the steps that election workers go through to ensure ballots are kept safe and secure during the voting process. The video uses live-action footage of polling-place workers alongside text to drive home the narrative.
Why does it matter? The above video makes great use of mixed media, using live-action footage and text to appeal to multiple types of learners. The video also does a great job of showcasing the hard work of the election workers, while also acting as a public service announcement about voting. This shows that it’s possible to accomplish multiple objectives with a single video.
Watch more videos from Wake County.
The Laboratory of Everyday Things: Neighborhood Transit
What is it? The Laboratory of Everyday Things, a group of Florida-based architects, took first place in the Smart City Solutions Competition using the above video. The video details a feasible way to alleviate traffic congestion by taking a different approach to traffic flow, as made clear in their fun, animated video.
Why does it matter? The above video uses animation, scene transitions, narration, and text callouts to tell an interesting story that’s as educational as it is entertaining. While the video is from a group of architects, any organization or government could use the same narrative approach to inform the public of a new service or initiative.
Read more about this project.
Tennessee Valley Authority Awareness
What is it? Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) provides electricity and other services to the entire Tennessee Valley region. Their promotional video gives some of their employees the chance to shine, as they inform viewers of the hard work they did throughout the summer.
Why does it matter? Promotional videos don’t always have to sell something. The TVA video makes excellent use of actual footage to spread awareness about their company’s hard work and people, which can help brand awareness and give TVA workers pride in their company.
Santa Clarita Valley Gran Fondo Promotion
What is it? Bob Roll, a cyclist and YouTube personality, partners with SCV Gran Fondo ride in the animated video above, in which he details the ride and when it takes place. The video uses colorful animation, a lively voice-over, and live-action footage to give viewers an idea of what the event is and why they should be interested.
Why does it matter? The above video features a great narrator, who happens to be involved in the event itself. This, along with the combined use of animation and live-action footage of the event, gives the entire video a personal feel. This approach can be useful for promoting virtually any event, as it will help viewers connect with the video.
Leverage Video to Simplify Internal Training & HR Processes
As your department grows and changes, it’s vital to keep all of your team up to date. An effective way to do this is to develop an internal learning program or a series of courses that can help team members learn quickly and memorably. Videos are a great way to quickly convey complex information, and they can plug into an eLearning course or stand-alone.
City of London Corporation Customer Service
What is it? More than 9.3 million people are living in London. To better serve the community, the City of London Corporation team put together a short informational video that helps those working for the city get a better idea of customer service. It’s easy to forget that the community members are the customers, and this video serves as a succinct reminder for city staff.
Why does it matter? This video is the definition of concise, coming in at just under one minute. This short runtime, along with narration and colorful, animated scenes, makes for a quick watch that’s immediately engaging. This style of video is fantastic for internal training, public service announcements, or even event promotion.
Watch more from the City of London Corporation.
City of Houston Dental Plans
What is it? The City of Houston offers its employees multiple dental insurance plans. Insurance is often overwhelming and difficult to understand. This video avoids overwhelming by instead showing viewers relatable scenarios with scenes of people in offices looking over insurance and consulting with their dentists.
Why does it matter? Animation makes the video more visually appealing, while charts simplify information and make it easier to understand the differences between the plans. The result is a clear breakdown of the different dental plans.
Leicester Hospital Safer Surgery Checklist
What is it? Surgeries are complex and involve many people, steps, and variables. Safety is always a top concern, making a tried-and-true process incredibly important. The Leicester Hospital created a safer surgery checklist, which helps doctors and their staff keep patients safe while staying efficient. They showcase this checklist in the above video, which puts viewers right in the middle of a hospital.
Why does it matter? The above video doesn’t just talk about the checklist—it shows the checklist being used. Seeing it in use helps drive home its effectiveness while also educating audiences on how it works.
Watch more from Leicester Hospital and learn how Providence St. Joseph’s Health (a US-based hospital system unaffiliated with Leicester Hospital), uses video and augmented reality in their training.
City of Houston 2016 Enrollment Video
What is it? Dental insurance is one thing, but benefits in general? That’s an even more complex subject. The City of Houston once again uses animation to break down benefits in a digestible, fun manner. Unlike their dental video, this piece focuses on all benefit changes for 2016.
Why does it matter? On-screen text and a voice-over allow the City of Houston to cover a lot of ground quickly in several ways. This caters to all learning styles, ensuring the viewer retains the information.
Management Concepts: Merit System Principles
What is it? Management Concepts helps find and train employees for the public sector. The above video offers a quick overview of the Merit System Principles, which guide federal employees across the country.
Why does it matter? Management Concepts tackles the complicated Merit System Principles in less than two minutes, using a narrator and text. This quick approach is great for eLearning and can be especially useful for tackling one-off concepts—like the Merit System Principles—or even a new regulation.
RNLI: Safeguarding Awareness Training
What is it? The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has the big responsibility of ensuring those under their watch are safe. They make this message clear in their in-depth eLearning video on awareness training. The video uses animation, narration, and text to guide readers through the many safety issues to be aware of.
Why does it matter? The RNLI safeguarding awareness video is lengthy, clocking in at more than 20 minutes. But it covers a wide breadth of material by using animation, narration, characters, scene changes, and formatted text. You can use this combination to cover virtually any topic for internal training, making this approach great for eLearning.
Taking your communications to the next level
The above examples are only scratching the surface. Videos can help your government or organization in any number of ways. You can even pull inspiration from marketing videos, which often do a great job of grabbing viewers’ attention. Video is flexible and, thanks to animation software, affordable.
With the right inspiration, you can create videos that your audience watches, learns from, and even enjoys.
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