What is an Explainer Video and How to Create it? Newbie Guide

Explainer videos are mainly used by businesses to explain their products or services to the target audience. They are best for conveying an intended message concisely and engagingly. Explainer videos are also ideal for telling the audience how the product/service will solve their pain points.

The uses of explainer videos are many. They can be leveraged for:

• Explaining the functioning of a newly launched product
• Describing the highlights of a business service
• Conveying to customers any important update or idea

What is an explainer video?

An explainer video is a short form of marketing video that helps explain the services and products of a company in a creative way. These are often placed either on your site’s landing page, the home page, paid campaigns, a prominent product page, social media platforms, etc. to create awareness among the targeted audience, increase engagement, and improve your conversion rates.

Success Rate of Explainer Videos

Given the popularity of video among consumers, most businesses use videos in marketing. Most companies using business explainer video clips say their users have successfully understood the functioning and purposes of products and services. Customer calls for troubleshooting have also drastically reduced.

Thus, many businesses are embedding explainer videos on the home pages of their sites. By employing creative marketing strategies, businesses have been able to reap greater benefits.

Types of explainer videos

Explainer video structure and the purpose for which such videos are used are categorized into the following types:

• 2D Animated Videos

  A 2D explainer video uses a two-dimensional canvas to develop storyboards with engaging backdrops and characters. Although the cost of producing 2D animation video is less, many details cannot be depicted clearly through it. Strategic use of animation with personal touch produces desired outcomes.

• 3D Animated Videos

  In three-dimensional space, animated 3D objects are used for showcasing products in the nascent stage. Also, one can film the working of those products whose live videos are tough to make. 3D objects can be manipulated like real-life objects.

• Motion Graphics

  Still graphics can be animated in such videos. Visual effects, cinematic methods, and animated modules are used to showcase abstract objects, textual content, or shapes in motion. Story or character may or may not be present.

• Whiteboard Animation

  In this, the concept is depicted in an animated manner with hand-drawn type artwork on a whiteboard. Whiteboard animation videos can be created inexpensively at home or through automation. Companies on a shoestring budget can use this video type with a strong script and impeccable animation. To offer a memorable brand experience, out-of-the box thinking is required while producing such videos.

• Live Action

  In this video type, real people explain services or products. This helps emphasize the company’s point by making the presenter strike an emotional bond with the audience. These can explain products/services involving a greater degree of human interaction. Animation video makers may quote lesser prices than live-action video, but the results are more realistic than animation.

• Screencast

  This explainer video type showcases a web application or software by capturing screenshots or recording while in use. Users need not browse lengthy and boring manuals to understand the working of the application or ways to interact with it. For new features or new applications, screencast videos are highly effective. The cost of producing high-quality screencast videos is less than other styles of explainer videos. You can create a video in good resolution with your computer and can then upload the same to YouTube.

Benefits of animated video explainers

It is important to understand the reasons for the success of explainer videos. Check out the benefits below that made the video content format so popular.

• Credibility Builder

  Your brand’s credibility depends on how strongly your customers feel about the sincerity of intent to help them. With a well-prepared explainer video, you can instill brand trust in your audience. You can highlight how your solutions sorted out customer-related issues.

• Sales Booster

  With an explainer video, you describe the functioning of a product/ service and how to use the same. As the customer already has a video preview of the product/service, they are more willing to purchase.

• Information Provider

  Explainer videos are more effective than text-based manuals or thousands of blogs in conveying relevant information.

• Email Promotional Campaign Booster

  Leads feel more motivated to open marketing emails when the word ‘explainer video’ is included in the subject line. Open and click-through rates for emails are significantly boosted.

• SEO Ranking Improver

  Google and other search engine algorithms rank websites based on their usefulness to audiences. The yardstick is the time users spend on the site and the engagement index. Both of these increase when users watch explainer videos on your site. Resultantly, the site’s ranking would go up, causing more organic traffic to pour in.

• Social Media Driver

  Explainer videos would be shared more on social sites, making your brand visible to more people. Some other advantages of explainer videos are:

  • Compelling presentation of complex ideas
  • Appeals emotionally to audiences and engages them
  • Live solutions to problems experienced by customers are presented
  • Humane approach makes your brand more relatable to customers
  • Brand persona can be exhibited strongly

How to create explainer videos?- Process

Creating appealing and informative explainer videos involves many stages. These are discussed below.

• Concept Development

  For a video production company, the first priority should understand the objective behind creating the video. One must try to understand it from the perspective of the client’s business. Once you have developed a fair understanding, brainstorm with scriptwriters and creative directors to create a unique narrative. The client’s expectations and specifications should be considered when deciding on the video type.

• Storyboarding and Scripting

  As a video maker, you need to narrate the story compellingly. For this, you have to discuss the flow of the video with the scriptwriter so that an engaging script is ready. Next, the approved concept should be depicted on an animated storyboard scene-wise. The storyboard will carry hand-drawn scenes, related descriptions, and voice-overs.

  Here are some general guidelines for creating an explainer video script:

  • Create a quick overview of your product, stating what it is and what it does
  • Introduce the issues faced by the targeted audience
  • Solve the issues by offering a solution through your product or service
  • Keep a call to action in the script, i.e., a free trial or quote
  • Showcase the trust signals. For instance, your awards, achievements, write-ups, well-known clients, etc.
  • Keep it short, i.e., it should be between 30- 90 seconds
  • Keep your key message and value proposition in the first 30 seconds of the video
  • Use simple language instead of technical terms since it won’t help them understand your offerings
  • Speak in 2nd person, i.e., use words like You, Your, etc.
  • Add a bit of humor, as it will make the video enjoyable.
  • Include a casual and conversational tone in your videos.

• Styling

  Styles are bespoke images in color that will showcase the final look of the video. You can put in textual content, backdrops, characters, etc.

• Voice-Over

  You need to sample different voices and tones before finalizing the one that best complements the video. The narration of the script by the voice-over artist should be carefully recorded.

  There are a lot of options from where you can choose it. They are:

  • Craigslist: It is an old and reliable option for choosing voiceovers.
  • Fiverr: In this website, you can get a decent voiceover at $5. However, if you need something that is more decent, then you have to pay a bit more than that.
  • Voices.com: This website provides a wide network of professional voice actors to choose from.

• Animating

  The illustration on the storyboard is animated with approved styles through popular software. Animatics will take time but will inject life into the video.

• Sound Designing

  You can generate a soundtrack in-house or can buy it online. A lively score should be used for stimulating the audio receptors in users’ brains so that they can better relate to the video.

  For the best sound effects and background score, below are a few places to check out.

  • YouTube: This popular website will offer a lot of free background music to use it in your creations.
  • Audacity: It is a free tool that lets you create your own audio files.
  • MusOpen: It provides free resources for music like sheet music, recordings, etc.
  • Audio Jungle: It provides royalty-free audio files such as sound effects, loops, and more.
  • Free Sound: It is a database of Creative Commons that offers audio samples and recordings.

Where to place explainer videos?

Explainer videos can be deployed tactically for marketing products/services to potential customers while remaining assured of sustained ROIs. The videos can be used in different locations, as highlighted below.

• Homepage of the website where traffic is optimum. Hence most visitors can be informed
• Email marketing campaigns
• During sales meetings, to inform staff about the potential of new products/services
• Landing pages of sites for increasing lead conversion rate significantly
• Retargeting advertisements to reignite interest in already canvassed prospects
• Reaching out to cold leads with video-embedded sales emails
• Social media atop your company’s profile for engaging visitors productively

Cost of creating explainer videos

The explainer video pricing will depend on several factors. These include:

• Market reputation of the hired agency
• Length of video
• Creative style of video
• Quality of video
• Complexity of video

However, the expenses incurred are significantly less than ad videos run on television. The type and level of complexity involved determine how much an explainer video will cost. You can choose from three options available based on your budget.

• Online Explainer Video Makers: $5/m to $15/m.
• Freelancers: $30 to $80 per minute.
• Companies from India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines: $75 to $500 per minute.

Conclusion

Are you in a fix deciding the type of explainer videos that would complement your brand optimally? For this, you need to consider your brand’s market image, your promotional goals, and the audiences you want to target. The explainer videos should reflect the vision and mission of your brand succinctly. The success mantra is to have a compelling story narrated through the video concisely and meaningfully by remaining connected to the audience’s problems.

For better results, working with a professional agency is always recommended. They have 2D video creation experts with years of experience and domain knowledge. Using their expertise and the latest software, these experts develop the best-in-class explainer videos. These can be used for multiple purposes, such as branding, marketing, lead generation, product demo, and more.

So find a reliable explainer video production team who can also offer top-notch video editing services.