Published on October 24, 2022
Not sure if an explainer video would help your product or business? In this article we help you get a hold of the efficency of a professionally produced explainer video.
Explainer videos are important as they’re an efficient way of presenting a service or a product. Especially great at simplifying the complex in just a few minutes.
In order to explain why are explainers effective, we need to look at the basics, briefly.
The first “explainer content” actually was manuals and instructions. Do you remember how dull and confusing those would be? Manuals had a dozen pages and were rarely written by a copywriter. Written by technicians or specialists, they often didn’t use simple language for everyone to understand.
Later on, there were PowerPoint presentations where you received an attractive and entertaining file. With colorful slides and graphics, they were great at explaining how a product or service works.
But, presentations still had a lot of text to be read. For some of us reading a long instruction isn’t an issue, but for a large part of the population, it is. People just got lazy.
Because their support teams didn’t have less work means that the cool-looking and fun PowerPoint presentations weren’t as effective.
Companies realized that users had issues understanding some of their features (read — lazy), so they decided to create a short video for them. The user just had to watch a short 1-2 minute video and voila — now they’re able to use the product.
They noticed that their support team received fewer calls and questions about the products. The explainer video was considered a success and now it became nearly mandatory.
Can Explainer Videos Help Your Business? — The Stats Don’t Lie
People got so spoiled with explainer videos that they don’t even bother reading information with text.
- A study claims people just like watching videos more — 66% of people said they’d prefer to watch a short video to learn about a product or service. (EliteContentMarketer)
- 18% would rather read a text-based article, website, or post. (EliteContentMarketer)
- Even more impressive is this — 8 out of 10 people purchased a product after watching a brand’s explainer video. (Wyzowl)
- Additionally, in a study by SocialMediaWeek, 95% of the message is retained via video.
All this could mean that an explainer video could be a deciding factor for a prospect in choosing between you and your competitor.
By now you should already have an understanding of how explainer videos are effective. Let’s dig a bit deeper and find more reasons.
Why Are Explainer Videos So Effective
We could talk about the reasons for hours, so we’ll only cover the most important ones.
Explainer Videos Combine Audio + Visual
We mentioned how people got lazy reading plain text, so audio combined with moving images is a perfect way to get their attention.
You can use yourself for example — do you retain more information by reading or watching a video?
Stimulating only one sense will make a person memorize some information, no doubt about that. But if you stimulate both auditory and visual senses — more information would be retained.
Schools practice this too. Teachers talk to their students and navigate them through the lecture while writing some examples on the chalkboard or even showing images on the screen.
Explainer videos engage viewers by showing them important features of their product and also navigating them through with a voice-over narration.
It could be an actor leading them throughout the video, or an animated explainer video with a character animation instead of an actual person. Whatever the case might be, science backs up stimulating multiple senses in order to retain more information.
Getting To The Point Quickly Is Easier With Explainer Videos
We’re repeating ourselves, but reading text takes more time than watching a video. When writing you need to use extra words for something that you can show in seconds with a video.
Even if you use visuals in your article, landing page or sales email, it still takes more for a reader to understand the message than with video especially if there’s an actor or a voice-over actor narrating.
Let’s use email as an example. We all receive plenty of emails and information every day, so you should make sure you stand out. I can speak for myself: I hate long, boring emails that have 500+ words.
Particularly, those sales emails for products I haven’t expressed interest in.
However, when there’s a video and I can see it’s 1-2 minutes long… I almost always watch it. Because in my mind — 2 minutes feels like nothing to me, making coffee takes longer than that.
Even though I could probably read 500 words that quickly, the copy needs to be perfect and succinct to be able to understand the message on the first try. Additionally, it takes more mental effort to read 500 words.
An explainer video can simplify even more words into a short video and convey your message easily.
Explainer Videos Are Cost-effective
You’re able to create an explainer video without breaking your marketing budget. Technology got so advanced that you can even film your video with a mobile phone and it can work well since “organic” content is valued today.
But, if you want to stand out and get the best results you’ll want a professional video production to do the work for you. Most of them know how to highlight your brand’s features and emphasize your value proposition.
You can use these videos on any platform — TVC, YouTube, social media, your website, or email marketing. And a lot of people would see them, especially on social media.
However, a live-action video could be expensive, depending on the number of actors, props, make-up, post-production, the cameras used, etc.
On the other hand, animated explainer videos are even more cost-effective. They too can be expensive if too complex or drawn in 3d animation style. But, for the most part, they are quite cheaper since you usually need a lot less effort to create.
Explainer Videos Are Great At Describing A Product Or Service
Whatever it is you’re selling, it’s almost always easier for you to show how it works than tell. You can include multiple elements and a voice-over in just a few frames.
You’re able to show a person or an animated character using your software or a product in a way your customer would. This way your audience can see how it works, step by step.
Can any text, ever, do the same? Maybe a manual with images could do so, but it would take way longer for someone to read and understand.
With animated explainer videos you can even make a highly complex topic — easy to understand. Animated videos can show anything that you’re not able to film or capture with a camera.
We’ll give you a good example.
For our client — AdvancedDerm, we had to produce a series of videos covering different topics about dermatology. One of them is Mohs microscopic surgery. Here’s the video:
We’re pretty certain that you understand that story would be so hard to follow reading just text. You can see that the actor talks to you through the video but a lot of which she doesn’t talk about — illustrations show.
Even filming this with a camera is almost impossible, and maybe unethical, too.
Videos Improve Conversion Rates (stats)
Explainer videos are great for engaging and grabbing attention. A combination of music, voice, scenography and motion graphics is an effective way to connect with your audience.
Because explainer videos are concise and to the point, and you provide viewers with a solution to their problem, customers are more likely to make a purchase.
In this research done by Forbes, 64% of contestants claim they’ve purchased a product after watching a video about it.
Are Explainer Videos Effective? FAQ
Deciding if explainer videos are a good fit for your marketing activities can prove to be a hassle. Maybe your budget isn’t that big and you’re not sure if you’d get good results from an explainer video.
We carefully listen to the questions clients have and so we picked out a few frequently asked questions and answered them.
How Does An Explainer Video Promote Your Business?
Explainer videos use elements such as storytelling, compelling visuals and captivating voice-overs to deliver your message to the audience and give an in-depth presentation of your company and its services.
Who Needs Explainer Videos?
Explainer videos are a powerful tool to establish a connection with your audience and build trust. The majority of the users say that explainer videos are helpful and often a deciding factor between companies.
Many companies use explainer videos — from financial, technical, gaming and healthcare industries, to software and IT companies, mobile apps… Almost all could benefit from explainer videos, in a way that helps them simplify any complex topic.
Where Are Explainer Videos Used?
Explainer videos can be used for your marketing ads on television, youtube, and social media, you can use them on your website as an introduction video or a corporate video representing your company culture. You can also use explainer videos for your email sequences, and landing pages for each campaign or add them to your blogs. The possibilities are endless.
Explainer Videos Are Immensely Effective
Explainer videos are becoming the go-to move for marketers. With video becoming the dominant type of content, it provides companies with opportunities to present their business, product and services in an efficient way.
By simplifying the message in a short video, you’re able to bring clarity to your audience. At the same time, when done right, they’re quite captivating because of how easy they are to comprehend unlike the ones with an artistic approach.
Thinking of creating an explainer video of yours? Since you’ve come so far in this article, we’d like to offer a discount on your first project — contact us and mention this and we’ll make sure to help you out!
