Winston Churchill once said: “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.”
You may have a vision in your mind, but how effectively are you at using internal communication animation for explaining your ideas to others? Do they also see the bigger picture?
For your vision to become a reality, you have to find a way of communicating your masterplan to a board of directors, staff and customers. In the past, you had to rely on written documents, graphs, images and rousing speeches. But was the message received?
Sometimes, even the most simple visions can create problems if they are not communicated well. Your audience needs to see the bigger picture before they can understand how the pieces are put together.
We should consider ourselves fortunate that we are living in technologically rich times. These days we have the capacity to communicate internal processes through illustrated animations. What can be imagined can be drawn, and images communicate thoughts, theories and project outcomes better than any other medium.
Network Rail – Safety Culture Journey from Sliced Bread Animation
Why animated illustrations work for internal communications
Companies are beginning to recognise how digital illustrations provide more clarity. Subsequently, animation is being used in numerous ways for both internal and external communications. Some brands are even expanding in-house graphic departments to include skilled animators.
People learn in different ways; we are either visual and audible people types or we learn by doing. The benefit of animated illustrations is you can communicate ideas that show viewers what to do using a platform that allows you to express a message with visuals and audio.
Research in psychology indicates people only remember 20% of what they read and 10% of what they hear. Visuals, on the other hand, significantly improve the brain’s ability to remember and recall information – by around 80%.
Internal communications should be engaging. Compliance, for example, is a dry subject and most employees will tune out during a talk or meeting. Animated compliance videos not only keep your audience interested but also helps them to remember what they need to know once they leave the meeting.
Great visuals create exceptional content – regardless of the subject. In order to enhance engagement in the work place, provide your employees with visual content that enables you to map out new processes or procedures quickly and efficiently.
Through developing animation content for your internal communication campaigns, you can cut through the noise and provide a more engaging, memorable, and effective communication strategy that resonates better with your employees. Here are some tips:
- Segment your audience – create bespoke animations to different groups within your organisation to suit their needs, and communication preferences (i.e. offsite and onsite)
- Storytelling – share stories about employees and their part in the business, also company achievements to enhance more relatable and engaging content
- Demystifying – animation can break down complex concepts into simple steps which is especially useful for explaining new processes, products, or policies
- Flexibility – animation can be used in various formats, such as explainer videos, training modules, onboarding materials, and corporate announcements to support Town Halls (as an example)
- Retention of information – animated content is more likely to be remembered. The combination of visual and auditory helps improve memory retention (see here)
- Corporate branding- reinforce brand identity and values by incorporating your branding
- Scalable – animation can be produced without the need for costly sets, actors, or locations
- Universal – animation can bridge language barriers and appeal to a diverse, global workforce
To discuss media options that would suit your engagement strategy, contact us here.
