It always makes me sad when some of the videos in my collection disappear because the owner deletes them or makes them private. Of course I appreciate that they have to keep their channels up-to-date, but for my collection it is not ideal.
And while toying with the idea for a post on this “problem”, I came across many more things that video owners on YouTube and Vimeo could do to help me with my collection. If they want to, and if it fits with their organization’s procedures, of course!
So I decided to write an instructional post about uploading and maintaining “my kind of” video, aimed at
- Communications or intranet managers who have been so kind to share their intranet launch or promotion video on a public platform
- Employees of creative agencies, who share their created intranet promotion videos as part of their portfolio
- And everyone else who manages videos on YouTube, Vimeo or another platform, and would like to be in any collection
So, please share this with other video owners that you know.
Thank you!
First of all, a big thank you to all owners! Your video will help the intranet and digital workplace world to learn about other organization’s approaches and focal points. Your example is not only entertaining, but it can inspire other organizations, for instance help them express their thoughts on the intranet, visualize their concepts or give them fresh ideas!
For instance, below video from Kelloggs has a voice-over from people with different accents from around the world. This makes it clear they are an international company without explicitly saying so. I think it is much nicer than when an American or British manager from the corporate office provides the voice-over. And it is not that difficult to implement. Nice tip, right?
Secondly, there are a few settings and processes in YouTube and Vimeo that help or hinder adding them to my collection.
Of course I respect your governance processes around video. But in case you do not have a confirmed process, or you and your organization are open to suggestions, please find here some suggestions that help me adding to and maintaining my collection. And therefore help other intranet people.
Some tips are suitable for any video platform, but as the majority of my videos lives on YouTube or Vimeo, I will focus on those platforms.
Please click on any of the titles below and you will jump to the corresponding paragraph.
If you want to read them all, just scroll on!
Tips summary:
- Share your videos publicly
- Give your videos a good title
- Use the word “intranet” in the title, description and/or tags
- For people videos, add the name and role of the speaker
- Provide a transcript or subtitles (and in English if possible)
- Select the correct audience
- Allow adding to collections
- Allow embedding
- Let me know about them!
- Hide video instead of deleting it when the video is past its date
By the way, I have got 600 videos in my collection now!
Give or take a few.
Tips full-length:
1. Share your videos publicly
I will be unable to find your video if they are hidden, or behind a password, obviously.
For YouTube, that means this setting:
For Vimeo, it looks like this:
If you really want to hide your video, but you are OK to share it with people who are interested in intranet videos, you can also make it “Unlisted” and send me the link. I can then add it to my collection, provided you allow that. (see items 7 and 8)
2. Give your videos a good title
I see many videos called “Company_Intranet_IT_something else_PEP_V.06_final.mp4” or similar unpleasantness. A better name is something like “[Company name] Intranet Launch” or “[Company name] new intranet teaser”. Here’s how to do this a little better:
- Save the video you want to upload with a pleasant file name, without underscores, version numbers or other things that are not relevant for your audience. Keep a separate copy with the technical information, such as version, if you want.
- Alternatively, you can edit the title after uploading to YouTube or Vimeo.
A good example from Eindhoven University (screenshot):
3. Use the word “intranet” in the title, description and/or tags
“intranet” is my main search keyword, so if you can add this to the title (preferably) or in another place, please do.
I sometimes also use “Digital Workplace” but that generally gives a different type of video, e.g., an expert’s lecture on digital transformation, or an introduction to an organization’s office suite overview, such as Microsoft365.
It is also helpful when you add information about the video and the intranet in the description, e.g. purpose, launch date, if there are any more videos, etc.
4. For people videos, add the name and role of the speaker
It helps viewers if they know who is addressing the organization. It can be the CEO, HR Director, someone from the IT helpdesk, a factory employee. Please mention their name and their role in the video itself, or in the description of the video.
Good example:
Not so good example:
5. Provide a transcript or subtitles (and in English if possible)
YouTube can provide automatic live captions in the language spoken in the video (provided you have set the correct language while uploading), and do a live translation as well, although it is not always perfect.
This will be very helpful for people who can’t hear, but also for people who are watching the video in a noisy environment or with the sound off. Or for people who are learning another language.
However, if the video is not in English it would be nice if you were able to provide English subtitles as well, or an English translation in the description.
Hey, a girl can ask, right? 😊
Don’t worry, I am working on good instructions on how to extract an English transcript from a video.
6. Select the correct audience
Intranet promotion videos are meant for the general public. They are not specifically meant for children, even when the organization is a children’s hospital or a primary school.
Recently, both YouTube and Vimeo have added an audience check for your video. You will be prompted during upload. It is important that you check the correct audience. And for older videos, please may I ask you to retrofit the audience? Not having an audience assigned has various drawbacks for my collection.
For YouTube, please select that this video is “No, it’s not ‘Made for Kids'”.
If you select the other audience, I will be unable to add the video to my “Watch later” list (which serves as my backlog) so I have to do extra things to keep it in sight.
Below you find an example of an intranet video, rated as For Kids. This means I cannot download the video, which is OK, but I can also not add it to a watchlist. As this is a video targeted at employees of an insurance company, this rating appears not to be correct. I can share it, however. You can watch it here.
For Vimeo, you are requested to select a rating, and then specify this video is for “All audiences”. All unrated videos are currently waiting for a rating, and if it has not been specified, you have to be logged in to Vimeo to view the video. This is most annoying! Fortunately, a Vimeo account is free, but it does not help a good experience for viewers of my collection.
7. Allow adding to collections
If you have earmarked the video on YouTube as “Made for Kids” I will be unable to add it to my “Watch Later” List (which is my backlog) but I also will be unable to add it to any other playlist. I am currently working on a YouTube playlist so it would be nice if I could add your video to it.
For Vimeo, there is a separate setting. I can always use “Watch later” for the backlog but please allow “people can add to showcases” (6 in the screenshot below). A Vimeo showcase is similar to a YouTube playlist.
8. Allow embedding
Embedding is showing the video as a whole on a page, for instance the videos in this post, but adding the video to my collection is also done by embedding. If you do not allow it, I need to create all kinds of workarounds with thumbnails and links to add the video.
On YouTube I cannot embed Shorts videos, and on Vimeo it is a specific setting as shown in the screenshot above, number 7. Please enable it.
9. Let me know about them!
Did you recently create a video that you are proud of? Do you think it could help other intranets? Would you like feedback? Do you want to have some control over the description in my collection? 😊
If you do not want to wait until I have found your video, please send me the link and anything you would like me to share, and I can add it asap.
That will also make things easier for me. In most cases I have to look up the type of organization and country, and I sometimes have to guess about aspects of the intranet or video, so if you want to keep me from making incorrect assumptions, please contact me via LinkedIn or Twitter.
10. Hide video instead of deleting it when the video is past its date
All videos have a lifecycle, and I totally understand if you want to keep your video platform free of outdated stuff. I am that person who is always nagging about housekeeping, remember? 😁 But in the case of an intranet promotion video, may I ask you to make the video Unlisted instead of making it private or deleting it altogether?
An unlisted video can only be seen by people who have the link (or when it is embedded). It will no longer be visible on your page or in search results, so it will only be visible for those people who are really interested in my collection. I hope you do want to keep sharing with us!
Conclusion
There are a number of settings in YouTube and Vimeo that influence my ability to add your intranet promotion video to my collection.
As mentioned in the beginning, I totally understand if you must adhere to your organization’s guidelines for managing your video presence. But in case you do not have guidelines yet, or you are open to review your procedures, you may want to start doing the above so we can all benefit maximally from your work!
Ellen's Digital Workplace 