a good video-based strategy and a team of language experts can make the difference

There are many ways of incorporating skills. Some people learn by doing, some by reading, and others are more visual. Usually, it’s a mix. Still, some methods are more effective than others (at least, that’s what numbers show us). Video-based learning has proven to work well for many people. This would explain why there are more videos on YouTube that relate to learning than there are books in the entire Library of Congress. And more than 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube each day.  

The video format’s success is due to traits such as it being On Demand, therefore time efficient. They seem to be more engaging. And they can be consumed in smaller bites. That, we call microlearning. Also, it’s not so complicated to translate, dub, and implement at a large scale in-company for training. Here’s a little of what we’ve managed to gather. 

Some current numbers 

According to Training Magazine, 88% of large companies, 77% of mid-sized companies, and 64% of small companies were already using video training prior to the pandemic. And roughly 63% of corporations already relied on self-paced virtual learning to train individuals and teams. This trend is not new. And has eased its way in even more post pandemic.  

Again, SAVO Group (now Seismic) reports employees to forget 65% of the instructional content after a week of training. But with video, retention increases. A Psychology Today article Video vs. Text: The Brain Perspective, revealed that the human brain processes videos and images up to 60,000 times faster than it processes text.  

And also, it’s cost effective. Why? Statistics show that 85% of money spent on instructor-led training goes towards delivering the training. So you’re spending most of your money on extras and not content. Not to mention expenditures related to printed handbooks, binders, and pamphlets.  

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve 

To what concerns retention, we’d like to steer by the Ebbinghaus curve. It is believed that viewers retain 95% of a message seen in a video compared to just 10% of the message when reading text. And we know 7 in 10 YouTube viewers use the platform for help with a problem they’re having with their work, studies, or hobbies.

This curve demonstrates people typically lose 80% of the knowledge they learn within a month. But if you split the content into small pieces and review different parts of the content over time, you retain more and more of it. 

Video based strategy 

This being said, having a video-based e-learning strategy paves the way for self-paced, flexible, efficient learning. It’s much easier for corporations to deliver the required training to each employee, employees can review it if needed. It also gives proof of compliance with government regulations regarding employee training and development. This is not the end game but it does save a lot of time. And video content has amazing localization potential.  

With the creation of just one video, so much can be done. The purpose of videos is usually: 

• Raising awareness and motivation for behavior change  
• How-to step-by-step demonstration/instruction (e.g., equipment maintenance, data entry) 
• Building soft skills (e.g., leadership, problem-solving) 
• Inspirational videos about the company and its mission  
• On boarding 

In some cases, a real-life video will be more appropriate. Those are harder to localize but important. For example, a message from the CEO can only be done by them and one can only subtitle it for other audiences. But in most cases, animation or half animated half real-life videos are a strong choice. They are great for conceptual and abstract topics, topics where emotional impact needs to be handled carefully, like safety videos, and definitely great for soft skill learning. And these can easily be localized, adjusted with voiceover, and seem native in each HQ.  

If you’re interested in starting something similar, we have language experts and project managers specialized in the topic that can help you out.