The Membership Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
Americans are watching increasing numbers of videos online. According to comScore, this number has jumped over 43% to 100 million daily views (that’s roughly one-third of the U.S. population watching a video online each day). Many companies are using videos in a variety of ways to reach broader audiences in more impactful ways.
The CO SORH has embraced this technology and uses video and digital media in a number of ways to reach constituents. The CO SORH website hosts a number of examples of digital media including infographics, legislator packets, and videos. Videos range from National Rural Health Day promotion to their Annual Report. This was the first year the CO SORH decided to transform the paper annual report into a video report, and it has reinvigorated it in the process.
This 7-minute long video goes through the programs and numbers provided by the CO SORH. It has all the same information provided in a paper report; however, the updated format has been extremely well received. Michelle Mills, CEO of the Colorado Rural Health Center, explains, “We recognize that the world is changing and people don’t have the time to read tons and tons of information anymore. Video is a new way to get your message out.” Michelle continues, “The board loved it and it helped create an open dialogue to new ideas. We also received many tweets and comments about our report on social media. Some have called this our best annual report ever.”
The CO SORH is also using this video and others as a marketing tool to raise awareness about what they are doing at the SORH. Several times throughout the year they create a video to recognize a hospital or clinic in a monthly Member Update publication. The same is true for their weekly listserv updates highlighting a new issue or topic for their constituents to pay close attention to. They even offer a service to create videos for members and organizations.
The idea to use videos to transform the SORH communication strategy came from a brainstorming session that are used often to create new ideas and promote creativity throughout the office. While brainstorming for the annual report, they questioned if a paper report was boring and if anyone actually reads it. They wondered what they could do to get people’s attention and acknowledged that everyone watches YouTube videos. The CO SORH has embraced this idea fully.
Putting together an annual report is always a challenging task. You need to capture all of the required elements, yet you want to make it appealing to your board, members and constituents. How do you make it innovative and eye-catching each year? If you need a little inspiration, look to the Colorado SORH’s innovative use of video and digital media to depict their accomplishments and get their message out.
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