With more team members working remotely, some companies must develop content virtually. (So, no on-site production crews, no in-person interviews with employees.) We constantly strive to show what life is really like at our companies right now. Thus, the challenges of not being physically together are actually right in-line with what some employees are experiencing.

The question is, how are companies creating great recruitment marketing and culture content virtually?

As Plato said, “Our need will be the real creator,” and so we get creative. And innovative. And we are in a time of heavy innovation.

Although very different in style, all of these examples include two things that are critical to virtual content:

• thoughtful composition that seeks to accurately communicate culture
• visuals that enhance each story, which can include b-roll, graphics, animation, and a host of other editing techniques that create engaging pieces

Of course, recruitment marketers know the most compelling content comes from employees sharing their stories. Even though some of these content examples weren’t created for candidates, we learned something from each one to apply to talent marketing. We hope you do, too.

Zoom video meeting recordings by Dropbox

Dropbox captured snippets of team members’ recorded Zoom calls, added music and photos, and created a compilation video. There’s lots of humor and guest star appearances by employees’ partners, kids, and pets. (One line that made us literally LOL: “I’m sorry, my husband is in the new production of STOMP, he’s also working from home.”) The result is a view of what it’s like to work from home and overall culture for the #LifeInsideDropbox channels.

Creative use of B-roll by NASA

In their Faces of Technology series, NASA features the stories of their team members leading tech. The latest one weaves together video and audio of the storyteller in her home office with interesting B-roll footage. Of course, most organizations may not have such extensive video files at their disposal. However, this example shows us ways we can combine video we already have with remotely-captured stories.

Single-shot video and graphic text by Amazon

Simplicity can speak volumes, as Amazon shows us in this 30-second video. Background audio combines with white graphic text on what the viewer at first thinks is a plain black screen. But, at the end, it’s revealed to be dark video footage captured at an Amazon warehouse. This example shows it’s possible to communicate powerfully using uncomplicated video and graphics.

Remote video and animation by The Lily and The Washington Post

Stories Inc. sometimes incorporates storytelling through animation in our work, led by the professional animation artist on our team. So, we’re a huge fan of using clever graphics and animation in employee storytelling.  And, this story features high-quality video and audio that was captured from the host remotely — that’s something that we at Stories prioritize in our Virtual Story Sessions work as well.  

Compilation of employee videos by ServiceNow

ServiceNow edited together videos of team members working from home and the after-work activities that are bringing them joy during social distancing. They pulled together videos of kids co-opting parents’ workspaces, creative conference call maneuverings, and post-work workouts and cocktails. With cool music and coordination that all iPhone videos were shot horizontally to fill the frame, this is a top-notch UGC mosaic. Together, the pieces provide a look at what it’s like to be #ServiceNowStrong.

FaceTime and remote photography in The New York Times

Professional photographer Daniel Arnold captured images of Jerry Seinfeld for The New York Times while using FaceTime. And, instead of a standard screenshot, Daniel included his apartment in the foreground, as well as Jerry’s own home in the background. The results are photos that communicate that all of us are living differently during the pandemic, even the biggest names in entertainment. At Stories Inc., we’re also remotely capturing photos of our clients’ storytellers in our Virtual Story Sessions, and so these shots earned our admiration.

Employee webcam video compilation by New Relic

It sounds easy: Ask a variety of team members the same question, and then string the answers together in a single video. But, we can tell you that it’s no easy feat to create a final video from these that’s interesting. New Relic does a good job of sharing multiple employee perspectives of what it’s like to work remotely, filmed via their webcams. Per the Stories methodoloy, we’d love to hear more specific stories from these team members. However, the variety of storyteller home backgrounds and accents provide the audience with visual and audio micro-stories about their universal and global culture.

Multiple cameras and Zoom video by Hubspot

For this video on remote work featuring four team members, Hubspot uses a Zoom meeting recording and employee UGC footage of themselves during that Zoom. Then, in post-production, Hubspot combines the footage, providing multiple camera perspectives during the talk for more visual interest for the viewer. And, they add savvy editing, graphics and music. This makes for a final video that is more engaging than if Hubspot had just published a straight Zoom recording.  

Stories Inc.

First, we’d like to recognize the ingenuity and effort that went into all of these examples of companies creating content remotely! We know how nuanced and important this work is, as we at Stories have been virtually creating content libraries for our clients non-stop since covid hit. The challenges are real, but the opportunities to ,ake real impact and connections with video content are massive.