Explainer videos are some of the most consumed pieces of content on the internet, because let's face it, we'd all rather watch a video that tells us exactly what we need to know about your product or services then trawl through a bunch of text on a PDF. Before we dive into how to make a great explainer video, let's start with what exactly an Explainer Video is!
What is an explainer video?
The core purpose of an explainer video is tooooo... *drumroll please*...you guessed it: EXPLAIN!
At every step of the way, an explainer video is communicating information to the viewer that would otherwise have to be explained via a human, an email, a webpage, or any other way of imparting clear instructions. Almost every businesses will eventually face the challenge of needing to communicate information to an audience who are short on time, and let's face it, very short on attention span and an explainer video is one of the most effective ways of delivering that message.
Why are explainer videos so effective?
An explainer video can provide an easy point of entry to your business, break down complex ideas and systems, supply a how-to guide that won’t cause more frustration than results, and communicate important information in a way that will avoid consumer fatigue.
But the main reason explainer videos are so effective boils down to practicality. They're a fast, re-watchable, and distilled version of your organisation's ideas and messages that are communicated in a way that is on brand, every time.
How can your business use explainer videos?
Explainer videos are incredibly versatile, which means there are a bajillion ways you can use them in your business. Here are a few examples, but to put it simply, if you have a need for communicating something important to your potential customers, clients, staff or team, then an explainer video is the best way to do it.
Training staff:
Explainer videos are a really useful and efficient tool forteaching, onboarding and training your staff. When created well, explainer videos can be super engaging and digestible, which means the viewer is significantly more likely to retain the information over other methods of communication, and which will ultimately save you money and time in your onboarding and training pursuits. Plus, having training videos on-hand and easily accessible means your staff can watch them over and over again, whenever they need a refresher.
Providing value to exisiting customers:
As a business, you should always be looking to provide your customers with added value, and a great way to enhance their experience of your brand is with explainer videos. Consider creating a “How to” explainer video for your customers when they buy one of your products - give them tips on how to make the most of your product so that they are maximising the value of their purchase, making them happier than ever.
Improving customer satisfaction:
Ask your sales or customer team for insights into frequently asked questions or complaints and turn these into an educational tool to improve overall customer satisfaction. Perhaps you could create helpful training videos or product implementation videos, to smooth out parts of your customer’s buying journey and avoid negative reviews due to misuse or miseducation.
Nurturing your leads through your marketing funnels:
In addition to utilising explainer videos in the sales side of your customer’s buying journey, consider instilling them into your marketing funnels to nurture your leads before they officially enter the sales process. Creating an explainer video that explains your actual sales process will show your potential customers the care you put into their overall experience, whilst future-pacing them in each step of the journey to provide a feeling of being looked after and guided.
If you’re a service-based business, using explainer videos to educate your leads on the incredible or unique service you provide will entice them to want to experience it for themselves.
What makes a great explainer video?
So now that we all know how great explainer videos are for communicating information, here's a few core elements to keep in mind when making an explainer video for your brand or business:
Get to the point:
Explainer videos are practical in nature, and most people who click on your video have done so to learn something specific from your content. So get to the point quickly and keep the information relevant and engaging. Communicate exactly what you need to in the shortest amount of time.
Include interesting visuals:
Visual elements such as onscreen text, engaging stats, and lively graphics help to communicate your key points, and ensure the informative content is more digestible for your audience.
Show us, don't tell us:
The reason to make the move to video isn't just because it's more engaging than text, it's also because you can actually show your audience how to use your product or services. We're more likely to remember information if we have both a visual and verbal cue, so use video to your advantage in a variety of ways:
-Real life application content
Show your target market someone who looks exactly like them using the product or service in the exact way you intended it. Monkey see, monkey do. An audience likes to see themselves using your product, and this concept is what the entire ad industry us built on.
-Step-by-step how-to videos
If you need to teach your audience a specific set of instructions in a linear order, for example how to fill out a particular form or how to apply a face serum, use video to clearly show each step being completed with clear numbers or markers so the watcher knows how they've progressed through the process.
-End result videos
Keep in mind that people want to know the end result or outcome of using your product or service, so it could be a good idea to include footage that helps them understand what it will feel like when they do engage you.
How to make a great explainer video
It’s one thing to want to use explainer videos to enhance your customer experience or communicate with your staff effectively, but it’s another thing to ensure that you do it well… if you don’t, you may end up spending more time and money than you need to, to ultimately end up with a video that doesn’t engage your audience. So let’s break down the key aspects you need to consider in order to ensure you’re creating a great explainer video.
1) Determine core message being communicated:
Make sure you know exactly what you want to say, and who you’re saying it to. This core messaging needs to be at the cornerstone of your explainer video script, so it’s a really important part of the development process. Also clarify exactly where and how this video will be used, as this will determine the specific length, style and format of the video.
2) Write script:
Writing the script for an explainer video can be way harder than it seems, so we recommend enlisting some help from a scriptwriter or script developer for this. Before you write it, map it out with headings and subheadings, to ensure you’re conveying your key messages whilst keeping it all clear and digestible.
Then, aim to write the script as you would speak it - so practising it aloud as you go can be really helpful! Keep it as succinct as possible, while ensuring that it aligns with your overall brand voice and tone.
3) Present to camera:
This is another tricky part of the process to really nail, so again, we recommend getting some assistance with this. Enlisting a production company that can direct and guide on you camera will make all the difference to the final product.
As with scripting the video, aim to present it in a tone that is aligned with your overall brand voice. Keep it as natural as possible, remember to breathe, smile and enjoy the process. The more you do this, the more confident you’ll come across (even if you’re not!) and the more engaging your video will be. We can help with presenting on camera training, so feel free to reach out if this could be useful for you.
4) Include b-roll in your video:
Depending on how you’ll be using your explainer video, there may be the opportunity to include supporting visuals of your brand or service, to enhance the overall message that you’re conveying. Whether it be demonstrating your service in action, showing all the features and uses of your product or giving an overall insight into your brand at it’s best, this b-roll footage will help to keep your viewers engaged whilst building trust in your brand.
5) Ensure you utilise on-screen text and graphics:
Explainer videos go way beyond scripting and presenting to camera… make sure you make the most of post-production elements to greatly enhance your content and make it as digestible as possible for your key audience. On-screen text and infographics are incredibly effective tools to highlight key information in your video so that it really resonates with the viewer.
6) Explainer video production:
We recommend engaging a production company to help you in creating explainer video content - there’s a lot of expertise that goes into the planning and producing side that really needs the creative eyes of the experts. And the good news is that if you're engaging a video production company like Keyy Productions to produce your explainer video for you, then all of the production elements will be completely taken care of for you. They’ll have all the equipment, backdrops, and teleprompter set-up that your explainer video might require. They’ll also be able to help you through each step of the process, including determining your key messaging and scripting, as well as planning for the shoot and determining the best location - which may be on site or in studio; as well as the additional supporting footage to enhance what you’re conveying… all vital elements in ensuring your explainer video will achieve what you’re hoping it will!
Examples of great explainer videos
Here are some examples of different explainer videos. If you take the time to check out each example, you’ll start to see just how versatile and useful explainer videos can be.
Create an explainer video for your business
If you'd like to chat with one of our Creative Producers about how to use explainer videos in your business, or to get a customised quote for your very own explainer video, get in touch to get the conversation started!
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