What is an explainer video?
As its name suggests, an explainer video is a short marketing video that explains a company’s product or service. Oftentimes, it is placed on a landing page or a website’s home page to convey a quick and easy-to-digest message to online users.
Occasionally, explainer videos are posted on Facebook and other social media sites to advertise a company’s product or service.
What constitutes a good explainer video?
Sacramento-based video production agency Legion Films shares the five common denominators you can find in all great explainer videos, some of which have even gone viral or have boosted the conversion rates of the websites where they have been posted.
Clear and concise call to action. A great explainer video should encourage an immediate response, which can be a purchase, a website visit, an email or any type of contact to a company, etc.
Short and sweet. In general, short explainer videos do better than long ones. According to studies, people’s attention spans are shrinking possibly due to an avalanche of information found online. In fact, a study published by Vidyard says that if video content is less than 60 seconds, around 68 percent of users will watch it until the end, whereas a 20-minute video (or longer) can only retain 25 percent of viewers till the end.
Problem-solving message. Instead of “selling” a product or service, a good explainer video focuses on how to solve a problem. For instance, a computer manufacturer highlights the portability of its office laptop that makes it appealing to business travelers who are tired of their cumbersome gadgets.
High-quality production. The video and audio quality should meet professional standards. Remember, poor-quality explainer videos can hurt a business’s reputation.
Customer-focused message. It’s important that the message “speaks” the target audience’s language. For this reason, companies should identify their buyer persona and know everything about their demographics, online and purchasing behavior, etc.
What are the most common types of explainer videos?
The best type of explainer video depends on what you’re trying to sell. For instance, live-action clips work well with physical products, while animated videos are great for intangible products and services like software.
Read on the list of the most common types of explainer videos.
Live-action videos. They work well with physical products and people-oriented services such as cleaning agencies, restaurants and resorts. To make these videos appealing, they should come with clear audio, plus, the person making an explanation should be “relatable” to the target audience.
Animated explainer videos. Arguably the most popular explainer videos, they are the preferred format when selling and promoting intangible products and virtual goods like software.
Social media livestreams. They are similar to live-action explainer videos, although they are seen as a more “humanized” version because they cannot be edited, which means any mistakes can be seen.
Whiteboard explainer videos. They are animated videos where the whole story is drawn on the screen using elements of illustration and 2D graphics. In many cases, they are the cheapest and easiest way to make an explainer video.
Final Words
A good explainer video offers several benefits: higher conversion rates, wider audience reach, improved SEO search ranking, and stronger brand recognition and awareness.
If you need professional video content for your business or organization (for commercial, testimonial, customer or employee onboarding, tutorial, and product demo), send us a message or explore our website.
