Why Do You Need Explainer Video? I was reading an article the other day and I had no idea that those videos I see on websites, Instagram had a name!
I cannot remember exactly what I was reading, but they mentioned something about Explainer videos.
As usual, I hate reading about stuff I don’t understand, so I went online and of course googled it.
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I was fascinated by how much I learned in just one evening about this phenomenon that is now used by most websites. Being a writer, I thought; why not write about it?
Perhaps there are some in my audience who would also like to know about this, or at least hear what I learned in a nutshell.
I am the kind of person who likes to know the history of stuff. I am not satisfied with just the surface level. So, I wanted to know how did Explainer Videos (henceforth I will refer to them as EV’s) start?
I loved Sruthi’s(@theanimaker) detailed article about this and you can click her link for details. Did you know that EV’s started as early as 2007? ?Common Craft were the pioneers with their “in Plain English” series.
They i.e Common Craft only became famous when they did twitter in plain English EV. Twitter were so impressed that they put the EV on their website in 2008.
It was however when Groupon did their EV in 2011 that EV’sbecame popular and a must-do.
I see that I was too carried away that I got ahead of myself. First things first. What are EV’s? Explainer Videos are a must-have advertising tool.
The videos are usually 2 minutes or less and simplify complex concepts making it easy to comprehend.
Because of their visual appeal, they immediately demand your attention.
Here is an example of an EV (Dollar shave club) that went on to catapult this company to success.
This is a good example of what an EV is and how powerful an advertising tool it is.
What makes Explainer Videos so powerful?
Do you know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Then a video is definitely worth thousands more! The use of motion, image and sound communicate information, feelings, and emotions at one go!
This, in turn, creates an emotional bond with your audience. They empathize and feel they can trust you. What better way to reach your audience?
Yes, EV’s are a fast and effective way of connecting with your customers. This is because you present your unique selling Proposition (USP) to your audience in an imaginative and concise way.
Are Explainer Videos really necessary?
Oh yes, they are! Experts predicted that by the year 2019, video traffic would represent 80% of all consumer online traffic.
That coupled with the fact that most people can’t be bothered to spend half an hour reading and are bored easily, makes EV’s a must-do. Here are a couple more reasons;
- Most of us prefer to learn in one of three ways;auditory, visual or both. EV’s cater to all 3. And most times, when you are able to engage your audience here, they will want to read about you, check you out, that sort of thing. What’s not to like?
- EV’s can be used across all platforms; website,video hosting sites (YouTube, vimeo) or social media sites (FB, twitter,Instagram)
- EV’s increase the conversion rate
- They provide clarity of what you sell or do (30 minutes of reading stripped to 2-3 minutes of video) Forces you to get to the core of what you do
- They help you rank better on google search
- EV’s increase your web traffic &
- They are easily sharable
The list is not exhaustive of course, but I think they are the most important.
The trick, of course, is in making an effective video that resonates with your audience. You introduce a character; whose problems address the fears and worries of your audience.
Therefore, your audience identifies with the character. You offer a solution and show the life of the character with the solution. Finally, and most importantly you have your call to action.
This could be asking your audience to contact you, to buy your product, or download an eBook.
Where can you get Explainer Videos? Or How can you make Explainer videos?
There are many companies offering these services. It really depends on your budget. For example, if you have a good budget you could employ the services of Rohan Kale (rkale). They pride themselves to be the best in video marketing for maximizing your ROI.
There are even platforms that allow you to do this for free. The best free platform is Animaker.
Powtoon is also good and quite popular, but their free version always ends with a message that the video is made by Powtoon.
Many of the free versions will have a logo and will also limit how much freedom you have in creating your video.
However, you can pay as low as $15 monthly on Animation and enjoy a movie hosting bandwidth of up to 100GB/month!
I understand that Renderforest is one of the best video marketing software’s out there.
There are also Rawshorts and Goanimate, to name just a few. Next time, I will be looking at the do’s and don’ts of making Explainer videos. Until then, thanks for reading this.
In the meantime, I would like to hear your thoughts on what is your best explainer video. Personally, I can’t decide between the one I previously mentioned Dollar shave club, and Dissolve.
I love the cynical sense of humor they use as they poke fun at cliched footage that is often used by marketers in Dissolve.
What about you? Please let me know your thoughts. Sound out below!
Cheer Until Next time
