Presented by Canva

Video creation and consumption have grown rapidly in the past 18 months, thanks to the rise of video-first social platforms, and the move to remote communication. With more people using video in their personal lives, the format is set to grow in workplaces too, with enormous potential to boost team building, customer relationships, employee engagement, and productivity.

A recent study by visual communications platform Canva found that 68% of U.S. knowledge workers agree that  video is  increasingly important for workplace  communication. But workplace uptake has mostly focused on live video calls, and while these tools have proved useful during the pandemic, evidence shows that the large volume of meetings is taking a toll on workers. 39% say that the number of video calls they have each week is overwhelming, and 48% say they feel pressured to join video calls, even if they don’t feel that the information is relevant.

“Recorded videos that allow people to communicate asynchronously offer enormous potential, spanning everything from video messages, product demos, training sessions, and team updates”, said Rob Kawalsky, Head of Product at Canva. “But until now, video creation tools have been too complex or expensive for workplaces to fully embrace them.”

Thanks to intuitive new video creation tools, workplace video creation is becoming accessible to everyone for the first time.

How asynchronous video is changing the game

Rather than holding video meetings, internal comms teams can distill important information in useful recorded videos that everyone can watch on their own schedules. Recorded video is particularly useful for globally distributed teams that struggle to find meeting times.

“Once one team demonstrates the benefits of asynchronous video, we often see other teams jumping on board,” Kawalsky says. “Interestingly, it’s not just those from marketing and creative teams either. We’ve seen everyone from real-estate agents to financial teams using video to create engaging content.”

Kawalsky points to the success stories from companies that have been making video accessible for their employees, allowing teams to communicate in engaging new ways. For example, the recruitment team at Merlin Entertainment in the U.K. used Canva Video to drastically improve their employer branding. The team didn’t have professional design and videography skills, but were able to create video advertisements and video presentations for career open days using Canva’s easy-to-use video tools.

“But effective asynchronous video is more than simply recording and sharing a meeting,” Kawalsky says. “If someone needs to sift through an hour-long video to find what they need, it’s unlikely to be useful. The most successful asynchronous videos will be targeted and visually engaging. It’s important to cater to your audience, make content succinct and engaging, and ensure that visuals are on-brand.”

Empowering everyone to create professional-looking videos

Although half of U.S. knowledge workers have created a video for internal or external communication in the past 18 months, many still face major barriers. The most common barrier to team video creation is the length of time it takes to create a video (32%), while 75% of say that they don’t have the right tools or technical skills to make videos on their own.

Kawalsky adds, “Traditional video editing software remains difficult to use for beginners, meaning the learning curve is too steep for widespread video creation to take off. Most video editing tools are too complex, limited to certain platforms and use cases, or expensive, limiting video creation to specialists.”

Canva Video levels the playing field for teams that want to create video, but don’t have specialized skills and resources. Canva has already made it simple for millions of people to design everything from presentations to social media posts, and its new Video Suite is designed for those with no previous experience. The unique scene-based timeline splits videos into scenes that have a similar look and feel to presentation slides, which feels instantly familiar. It also means Canva’s editor offers an almost identical editing experience whether you’re creating a static or moving design.

Canva also offers an extensive content library of stock video, images, graphics, audio, and more, removing the need for several standalone tools. Designers can build and distribute Brand Kits and Brand Templates on Canva Pro and Enterprise, with set logos, colors, and fonts. With brand controls and template locking, designers and videographers have more control over the final visuals, keeping the brand intact across the organization.

Canva, including the Video Suite, works on every major browser, device, and platform, covering web, desktop, iOS, and Android, so there’s no need to invest in new hardware, or download new software onto devices.

“Our research shows that people often don’t know where to start when creating video, so our templates guide people at every stage of the video creation journey,” Kawalsky adds. “You can simply log on, choose a template that fits your needs, then simply drag and drop content to get the desired look and feel.”

Once you’re happy with a design, this can be downloaded as a video file or published online. Canva Video’s core features are free, so it’s easy for people to log on and start creating.

“As video usage increases across the organization, it makes sense to ensure everyone in the company has access to on-brand assets and imagery, to ensure consistency across the organization,” Kawalsky says. “Canva is built to allow anyone to design, but many of our biggest advocates are in fact professional creatives.”

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