There is a quiet revolution spreading through the business world. Companies of all sizes are using it in a variety of ways. Some solely employ it for internal purposes. Others use it to communicate internally and externally, especially with the buying public. What is it? Employee Generated Content (EGC) or Employee Generated Video (EGV).
So why is employee generated content valuable? A company called Ramp, which provides streaming video distribution for businesses, makes the point that every company has some exceptional people. If these people, through the use of video, provide education or training, motivation for coworkers and product or completed goal announcements, everyone in the company will benefit.
Employee Generated Content = Great Appeal
A large company, with an impressive presence in 800 market centers and 150,000 associates worldwide is taking employee generated content to the next level. The organization uses video technology to expand both its presence across the globe and empower its people to maximize their success. They aren’t keeping their secret to success a secret. The company is Keller Williams, a realty company established in 1983 in Austin, Texas. The technology is an application called kwVideo.
It isn’t only available to realtors. Anyone, from a person interested in handling DIY projects in the home to small businesses can access the application. It can be used with a smartphone or a computer. Created videos can be customized with elements like graphics, logos, addresses and the telephone numbers for a business, and then shared via the cloud.
Why is Keller Williams doing this? What value is there in a video made by their agents?
• It empowers their agents to proactively manage their careers, as they become stakeholders in their own successes, rather than simply people earning a living.
• It is a very cost-effective method of detailing services and products to both internal and external audiences.
• It can be done quickly – in minutes.
• Each agent has his/her own YouTube channel.
YouTube as an outlet for sales, marketing and promotions is an under-utilized tool for businesses. According to FortuneLords.com, YouTube has 1.3 billion unique users per month, with 30 million visitors per day. Keller Williams saw the sense in using an avenue less-traveled than television, radio or print.
The average cost for an animated promo video can be anywhere from $3,000-10,000… per minute. Large production companies will charge anywhere from $100,000-400,000 to create a TV ad. That is unless there’s a celebrity involved or a high level of video and audio special effects. Then it’s even more.
In an article for Bleacher Report by Paul Kasabian, an advertising campaign tied to the Super Bowl can cost $30 million. But what if someone is looking to post an advertisement on YouTube? KwVideo fits the bill.
Keller Williams moved into video production in 2014. Their reasoning was quite simple. The National Association of Realtors® found that 73% of the homeowners they surveyed said they were more likely to list their properties with realtors offering to create videos for them. Yet only 4% of the realtors posted the virtual walk-throughs to YouTube. Keller Williams saw an opportunity to reach out to both new and returning clients and grabbed a hold of it.
Pros and Cons
What are the cons of EGC/EVC? Can a larger organization with many departments and human resources personnel make Employee generated content work? One of the potential cons can be dismissed almost immediately. Kinura, a company that does live streaming and webcasting put together a guide to using employee generated video for internal communications. They cited a statistic from a study by Qumu, a company that builds enterprise video hubs. The statistic is that 51% of executives are opposed to EGC/EGV, fearing that employees will upload content a company would deem as “inappropriate.” Conversely, 100% of the respondents in this study had never seen anything inappropriate.
One Minute vs 1.8 Million
Video is a tool that human resources personnel can utilize for everything from recruiting to onboarding, education, training, company announcements and feedback. Video is dynamic. Seeing a person who works in the company explaining and demonstrating how a new technology works will make a bigger impact on other employees because it’s being done by someone they know. HR – test the waters. You’re likely to discover that employee generated video really can work. One minute versus 1.8 million words’ worth of work.