By Neil Perry and Bill Goldsmith
Explainer Videos are great for telling website visitors your story in a fun, enlightening and attention getting way. Your “story” can be a complicated one to communicate, yet the simple focus and presentation of a well-done animated explainer video can make that story telling so simple and effective.
Here are ten reasons that I share with my clients to reinforce why explainer videos work, and why the work very well.
Service Clarity – People gain a better understanding of a product or service once they see and hear someone explain it.
Shareability – Explainer videos are easily shareable on social networks and the internet. They are typically smaller in file size and don’t feel or look like a typical TV “commercial”. This increases the viewers willingness to share it as a piece of information versus just passing along another TV spot.
Length of Video – People accept longer lengths in animated story videos whereas a TV commercial that drones on past :30 seconds is rarely run effective as it is often perceived as too salesy.
Engagement and Experience – We see this video format on TV and thereby can relate to this form of communication as the current standard. We want to be informed, educated, and entertained at the same level as that which we have grown accustomed to. An animated message is still accepted as a standard, but can break through the clutter of typical commercial approaches.
Readability – Animation makes it possible to utilize words and phrases effectively to drive home the message you want to deliver. Remember, lots of folks watch videos on phones and tablets with the sound “off”, so animation and labeling would be an important addition to your messaging.
Flexibility – An animated video has a much better ability to be changed, revised, and improved without costly reshoots. There can be extensive edits made to explainer videos prior to finalizing a piece of film, without the ridiculous costs associated with TV reshoots.
Increasing Conversions – Statistics indicate a well-made explainer video can increase conversion rates on a website by 10-50%.
Live Action – You can add live action video clips to any animated video. For example, you can close with a personal message given by the CEO of a company to present a “call to action” or even just to offer a warm greeting to your webpage visitor.
Social Media Benefit – Up to 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound according to research by Digiday. As we mentioned earlier, a well-crafted explainer video will communicate effectively from the images and words presented, even without the sound being turned on.
Likeability – A TV or live-action commercial is dependent upon an actor’s performance to communicate. If the actor doesn’t resonate with his or her audience, the commercial fails. In an explainer video, you are not dependent on the actors but are communicating with the words and images.
Our clients have had great success using Explainer Videos on their websites, but also in social media locations like LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
If you have an eleventh tip or piece of learning, please post it in the comment section so all our readers will benefit.
Neil Perry Associates is based in Philadelphia and specializes in Explainer Videos. To learn more and to see a sampling of our work, visit our website at https://neilperryassociates.com/
