Explainer Videos: A Key Ingredient for Successful Content Marketing

Have you ever wondered why video is mainstream now? The main reason is that videos convey information through visuals, music, and sound effects. Thus, they make the content more engaging and effective when it comes to marketing.

Regardless of what type of business you are running, explainer videos will always do a better job than just text. But what do explainer videos mean, and how do you create one?

We curated this article to help you learn about explainer videos in detail, showing their types, reasons to consider them for your video marketing strategy in 2023, and how exactly you can create one for your company.

Fun fact before we dive into the topic: 8 out of 10 people prefer watching explainer videos instead of reading product guides. 

Now we are ready to go.

Let's Start from the Basics: What is an Explainer Video?

Explainer videos are videos that explain a specific topic, working as a guide for the viewers. These videos are needed to expound stuff that will be difficult to understand otherwise. They resolve any misunderstandings and confusions your potential customers may have associated with the company, service, or product.

Let's quickly recap a short description of each video type so that you can fully understand how each type works and why explainer videos gain momentum in the digital arena in 2023.

Explainer videos: It is usually a short video (less than 3 minutes) that starts by explaining pain points or a product problem, then providing an effective solution.

Product videos: The product video talks about the core product story. It could be either a demo or a simple unboxing video - both videos fall under one category.

Educational videos: As you may expect, an educational video tends to be long to cover lots of details and information. The topics for such videos are broad and usually made with the goal of educating viewers.

Training videos: These videos usually come in series as they require viewers to learn information step-by-step. 

Okay, But Why Use Explainer Videos?

Now you know what is an explainer video. Although they aren't a must-have for some, they can still act as a powerful tool for both businesses and viewers to help showcase their products or services and increase engagement and trust. Key reasons to use an explainer video in content marketing are:

Sell Without Being Too Sales-Oriented

The explainer video uses methods to sell products without being too sales-oriented. They just show a problem most customers may face and provide an effective solution - this makes them a perfect way to introduce your business to new clients. The main effect is achieved when a good explainer video feels like a conversation between two friends. 

Share Them Easily

Sharing videos allows you to quickly reach a new audience. So having easy-shareable videos with animation makes sense. The explainer video can create a buzz around your company since they are suitable for various content platforms, from social media accounts to large platforms like YouTube. 

Improve SEO

Modern people love videos. They like to engage, share and comment on videos, especially animated explainer videos and highly informative ones. That's why so many content creators and marketers in different domains focus on making the video as engaging as possible. 

An animated explainer video will be a great solution if you want to appear in rich snippets. They also generate a lot of heavy backlinks and social media shares, meaning search engines will consider you as an expert in the field and increase your position in search results that you can later check with google analytics.

Data to explore: Videos increase conversion rates by 80%.

Entertain and Engage Potential Customers

The explainer video is an excellent way to gain user attention and quickly convey information. The attention span of modern customers is getting smaller (8 seconds according to Time), so they convey the message faster. As a result, chances of attracting new customers with shorter videos.

Grow Credibility and Trustworthiness

Consumers prefer to watch an explainer video instead of reading it. That is because it increases personalization, especially if the team member is explaining instead of animated video. Although an animated explainer video is still a popular choice and has its own benefits, guidance coming from the CEO or a team member itself always creates needed credibility and trust.

Affordability When it Comes to Animated Explainer Videos

As we mentioned, animated explainer videos are also a way to go. If you want to create an explainer video but more cost-effective than a live one, you may want to consider an animated video type. 

With these videos, you don't need to pay for video production, use services or actors to create a live-action explainer video. Instead, you can easily use tools and specific platforms to create explainer videos to use on social media and other channels.

Personality and Authenticity

Creating an explainer video starts with learning who your buying persona is. Simply put, your ICP. Character-driven videos offer personalization when properly done - so knowing your target audience will do wonders. Explore what your audience wants to see, what they like, and what to avoid during video production, so you can produce an explainer video based on their latest needs.

Well, Where Should You Publish an Explainer Video？

We are at the point where you know that the explainer video can help you in different business fields. But what about channels that are most effective for explainer video publishing? While they can be used as a part of a sales pitch or presentation, these videos are mainly used in the following cases:

Company's Website

Explainer videos are often used on a company's website. You can either create separate landing pages to place these videos there or publish this video on the main page. Both landing pages and a preview of the main gap will work as a first introduction to a company’s product to receive and create needed personalization when new users enter your website. 

These videos help customers better understand the product or service they have found and decide whether to continue searching for needed information or leave the website.

Social Media

As you may know, videos are the most popular type of content on social media. As we mentioned above, the attention span is getting shorter, so the average watch time per video on social media is just under ten seconds. Explainer videos work as a quick way to grab sers attention in that case.

That is why if you want to publish a high quality explainer video on social media accounts, make it short, focused, and engaging so you don't lose a potential viewer. For example, this content can be used on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and more social networks.

Online Courses and E-learning Platforms

Online courses save s sweet spot for explainer videos. They are also great for various e-learning products. Whether you provide training sessions for customers or employees, incorporating explainer videos offer engaging and informative video content that helps increase retention and boost the learning process itself. 

Onboarding and Training Materials

Effective explainer videos are helpful for most businesses and organizations offering a product or service. These videos can then provide instructions and am answer on how to download the product, how to get started, and make it easier for potential customers to use and enjoy. Your own explainer video can also work as customer support. While you still need real people answering questions, they can not be available 24/7, so an explainer video is a way to go.

Trade Shows

Trade shows refer to events where companies of all sizes showcase their product or service to potential customers, partners or investors (crowdfunding explainer video). In this case, you can use your own explainer video to help grab and retain the attention of attendees and motivate them to take the needed action.

Types Of Explainer Videos

There are many types of explainer videos. The main ones include a live-action video, an animated one, and a whiteboard video. Each type is best for specific needs and a particular business. Everything depends on goals and a chosen target audience.

Explainer Video Type #1: Live Action Explainer Videos

Live-action explainer videos involve real people. They describe a product or service simply and engagingly. This type of explainer video is especially effective in companies that want to show the human side of the company and grow credibility through personalization.  

Explainer Video Type #2: Animated Explainer Videos

This video content uses animation, graphics, and narration to explain a product or service. As you may expect, these videos tend to be more engaging thanks to animation and a more immersive experience. They work great in companies looking to grab and retain their audience's attention. 

Animation can benefit organizations that need to show a complex concept in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

Explainer Video Type #3: Whiteboard Explainer Videos

A whiteboard video uses a whiteboard, hand-drawn images, and text to explain a product or service. They are mostly used to discuss abstract or complex concepts. They are most suitable for brands that want to show a concept using a step-by-step strategy and visualization.

How to Make Explainer Videos

Step 1: Choose a Video Style

Most videos are created using animated graphics but that mot the only choice. Consider the types of explainer videos we mentioned above and choose the one that suits your needs best.

This choice can be changed later, but it is still a helpful step in the process, so you will be able to keep the visual style in mind as you write the script.

Step 2: Write a Script

The script is the key part of the explainer video. You should add a voiceover that drives the story and answer the questions of viewers. For example, a quality video script answers the following questions:

• What is your product or service?
• What is your target audience?
• What problem does the viewer may have?
• How your product or service solves the problem?
• What should a user do to get started?

Best explainer videos with animation tend to be 1-2 minutes. We recommend writing it concisely so you get to the point as fast as possible.

Step 3: Record and Edit the Audio Narration

At this step, you will need to either hire voice actors or use software based on AI technology. While voice actors are the popular choice, AI software like Rask AI is still the most viable option without sacrificing quality. 

Rask AI allows you to multiply the content by turning one explainer video into several easily sharable ones for social media accounts. Best explainer videos come up with subtitles, so Rask AI automatically generates subtitles and adapts your content to different social media channels. 

Step 4: Collect Graphics, Video, and Other Assets

How you perform this step will depend on the type of your explainer video. In the case of video animation, this step involves the collection of graphics, icons, and other media. If you create a talking head, screencast, or whiteboard video, this step will include a setup and complete these recordings.

Step 5: Edit and Arrange Media

Now it's time to forge a masterpiece. Here you will also need to either outsource the project to an experienced editing team familiar with animation, or use explainer services or tools like Rask AI. It is a great choice since it performs all the work and no manual work is needed.

Wrapping Up | Quick Overview of Good Explainer Video

A good explainer video conveys emotions, offers a simple yet effective solution to a problem, or accurately describe the problem so no misunderstanding can appear. The explainer video is gaining popularity, but they only work when you strike a cost/result balance. Luckily, you can use editing and localization software like Rask AI to speed up and ease the video production process.