Crafting a Clear and Effective Explainer Video

Explainer Videos are the new style of marketing videos. They serve a simple yet important purpose: it describes in simple terms a product, service or idea that is too complex for simple text. Well done explainer videos can succinctly lay out the many reasons a product or service is best for web visitors. It also grabs the attention of customers through the use of multiple forms of sensory input – allowing the brain to retain the information much more easily.
One of the best things about explainer videos is the versatility of them. They can be tailored to almost any project, and to almost any market. They can be shared and posted on multiple sites or a single site or leveraged on mobile, social, or email newsletter channels. Explainer videos are also used at trade conventions and other industry conferences. These videos are very often used at well-known technology conventions by Microsoft and Apple. More commonly, they are also used in presentations between businesses or within a business, so perfect to show to that Angel or VC.
Below are 5 tips for creating effective videos:

1. Keep it Short

Explainer videos work best if they are limited to around one minute. Any more than that and your visitor’s attentions begin to wander. This can pose an issue in that one minute of speech only contains about 150 words, but in most cases this should be more than enough to get your most important points out or grab and hold the visitor’s attention. Don’t assume that simply getting on a microphone and reading your main points out loud will work – a voiceover that sounds unnatural or clunky or as if it is reading will in most cases seem very amateur. An excellent voice over talent is imperative.

2. Focus on Benefits

Explainer videos are used for product demonstrations, but they tend to work better when used to showcase the benefits of your service or product. Knowing fine details about the product or service may not be as important to your visitor as helping them to understand how you can save them time or money. Try to think of what’s in it for the visitor – why do they want to choose you over the vast majority of other providers?

3. Use Animated Motion Graphics
Animated characters have the additional benefit of being flexible, stimulating your visitors imagination, imparting a “happy” feeling, and also helping the mind to retain information. Research has even suggested that there may be a simple reason for this – animated videos trigger memories of cartoons as a child, and thus bring a warm, safe feeling. It is also much easier to demonstrate what you do if your product or service is abstract or complex.

4. Always use a Call To Action
A Call To Action, known to some as simply CTA, is a term used to describe a method of marketing used to prompt visitors to click it and then continue down a conversion funnel. Almost all advertising online contains some sort of CTA; Call To Action prompts are extremely effective at retaining visitors for a longer period of time or getting them to purchase or sign up for your services. Every video should have a CTA within it, preferably at the end when most customers would simply go on their way.

5. Get Your Video Out There

A video that remains on the internal pages of your website or is buried within a post so far down that no visitors see it won’t garner very much publicity or interest. Always post in a main spot within your website’s homepage to drive viewership. Don’t forget the value of social media; a Facebook fan page or YouTube account can get you a lot of views. Sharing with friends via social media and those within your industry can be a good way to begin to get your word out there. Email campaigns and networking conferences are another great place to have your video presented.

When properly implemented, explainer videos are an excellent choice to draw in, and increase readership or client numbers. The main points you need to remember are to keep it engaging, interesting, and short – preferably less than 2 minutes.