Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming a key issue for every company, and with it, good CSR communication! Video can make all the difference, both internally and externally, in promoting your company's sustainable development initiatives. How can you optimize your CSR communications strategy with video? Here are a few tips.
Who is your message addressed to?
Before you start creating your video, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and who you're targeting. Do you want to inform, persuade, inspire or educate your audience? Do you want to target your customers, employees, investors, suppliers or the general public? Depending on your objectives and your audience, you'll need to adapt your content, style, tone and video length accordingly. If you want to inform your investors about your ESG performance (a way of assessing a company's CSR approach), use a professional, factual tone and include data and metrics. On the other hand, if you want to inspire your customers about your social impact, you can use a more emotional and narrative approach and present testimonials and case studies.
Highlight your impact and value
One of the most important aspects of presenting your company's sustainability initiatives through video is demonstrating your impact. How are your initiatives aligned with your mission, vision and values? How do they contribute to sustainable development objectives? How do they create value for your stakeholders (improved customer satisfaction, employee engagement, investor confidence, supplier loyalty or community well-being). Various techniques are available to help you showcase your actions: storytelling, infographics, testimonials, case studies, certifications and labels.
Be inclusive in form and content
It may seem obvious, but one of the key principles of CSR is inclusiveness. You can use video to highlight the diversity of your team, your beneficiaries, your partners and your customers, but also to show how your CSR initiatives meet their needs and expectations. And if your videos must be inclusive in content, they must also be inclusive in form. Make your content accessible, by adding captions, subtitles, transcriptions or audio descriptions, or by using sign language or other languages.
Be creative by experimenting with different formats
Video is a flexible and dynamic medium, so don't hesitate to experiment with different formats and styles to communicate your CSR initiatives in an engaging and innovative way. You can create a short or long video, a 360-degree video, a live or recorded video, a documentary or an animation, a testimonial or an interview... You can also choose to broadcast your video on your website, social networks, e-mail, blog or other channels. The format and platform you choose should depend on your objectives, audience and budget. If you want to create a short, eye-catching video to share on social networks, use simple animation or a testimonial with graphics and music. On the other hand, if you're aiming for a longer, more detailed format to be integrated on your website, for example, you can create a mini-documentary or organize an interview that you illustrate with images.
Live video is an excellent way to communicate your CSR initiatives in an authentic and interactive way. It allows you to interact with your audience in real time. You can use this format to present your CSR events, but also to organize interviews, roundtables or Q&A sessions with CSR experts, leaders or influencers. Finally, the aftermovie is an excellent format for promoting your CSR events (volunteer activities, fundraising events, corporate challenges, workshops, etc.), as well as for employer branding.
Make your message accessible with animations
Animated video, or motion design, is a versatile and creative way of communicating your CSR initiatives. It is particularly suited to explaining complex or abstract concepts, such as your sustainability strategy, impact measurement or stakeholder engagement. Ecological data graphics, diversity and inclusion icons, animated texts... are just some of the animations you can use to simplify your message and make it more accessible.
Be authentic and transparent
You need to be honest and realistic about your achievements, challenges and opportunities, and avoid greenwashing or exaggerating your claims. Consistency between your actions and your communications is crucial. Make sure your video reflects your actual performance and practices. Third-party verification, stakeholder feedback, external benchmarks, self-assessment... these are just some of the techniques you can use to showcase your CSR policy in an authentic and transparent way.
tydeo helps you create your videos
With over ten years' experience, we produce videos tailored to your needs, to showcase your expertise and commitments. To find out more, contact us.
