What Is An Explainer Video? Everything You Need To Know

BOOM! Animation Explainers are here to define the mighty explainer video in all of its glory. Come on, who better is there to do it? 

We literally live and breathe explainer videos! They are the first thing we think about when we wake up in the morning, and the last thing we see as we close our eyes at the end of the day. In fact, the explainer video has made so much of an impact on our lives that we – 

What? You think we’re exaggerating? 

What is an Explainer Video?

Let’s set the scene: you’re scouring the internet for a product you recently stumbled upon, but, like most of us, the thought of trudging through description after description of tedious product-related jargon is turning you off. 

Alas, a video appears, combining pages worth of words and minutes worth of reading into a teeny tiny snippet taking up only 1-2 of the 1440 minutes you have that day. Relief and knowledge flood your brain as you proceed to watch.

In layman’s terms, an explainer video is a short-form video, designed to explain a product, service, or business concept in an easily-digestable and compelling way. They usually feature a voiceover accompanying whatever image-style is chosen to really guide the viewer towards full understanding of what the video is showcasing. 

The format is so effective in the eyes of many businesses that most use these videos as the very first thing a customer sees on the homepage or landing page of their website. They can also be highly effective tools when it comes to breaking through the noise of social media marketing.

While we could drone on and on, we thought, perhaps, that the best way to explain what an explainer video is, is to explain with an explainer video itself. Watch out, Peter Piper – there’s a new riddle in town.

Why use an explainer video?

As our beautifully executed (if we do say ourselves) video points out, if you have had trouble explaining any concept with words only, then an explainer video is definitely a route you should consider taking to help get the ball rolling.

Educational Value

Explainer videos can be incredibly effective tools when it comes to assisting learning within the education sector, as well as internal training programs in the workplace. 

Even upon onboarding new employees and customers, this type of content is invaluable when it comes to promoting your brand and company values. Videos can help gain the trust of the viewers in a manner that is a far reach for most other content types.

Product Demo Video

Think of the explainer video as the digital-age equivalent of an elevator pitch for your company’s product. I can hear Trump on The Apprentice now: “You’ve got two minutes to change your life – go”.

How better way is there to display your shiny new product than via a quirky video that can actually display it in action? Yes – a newspaper ad or website can use static images to cushion the burden of reading about the product, but can they combine voiceover, music, moving graphics, color, story… we didn’t think so either. 

The capacity the explainer video has to access various angles of the human brain and encourage engagement is far greater than any other content format. In fact, research shows that 69% of people would rather watch a short video to learn about a product as opposed to read a text-based article.

Social Media

There’s a reason why Tik Tok has boomed over the past two years, folks: videos and social media go together like PB&J. Video can be a great way to snap the attention of a follower and direct them to your company website, or to a landing page of a product on which they become more inclined to make a purchase. Heck, it can be a great way to gain the attention of a non-follower and convert them to the dark side. 

The Secret’s in the sauce

You may be asking, then – what makes a good explainer video? You may also be asking, are Animation Explainers willing to tell us their secret formula?

Of course we are – we’re here to help and far more obliging than Mr Krabs.

Message

The bottom line is this: a good explainer video tells a story. Every story must start with a killer script. The message should answer the following questions in a storyline that packs a punch and, most of all, resonates with your viewer on an emotional level. The following Who, What, How, & Why strategy is a good starting point.

• Who are your target audience?
• What: are your audience’s pain points? 
• How: does your product solve the audience’s problem quickly and efficiently?
• Why: should your audience choose you over competitors?

Within the first 8 seconds of the video, consumers will be able to make a decision whether to continue watching the entire video or not. Most likely that’s enough to convince them to purchase the product or the service. You need to hit them over the head with a bunch of benefits demonstrating how and why your all-singing, all-dancing product is the best on the market.

A great explainer video makes the most of the time by connecting with the audience on an emotional level as best it can and subsequently grasping their attention quickly. Explainer videos are best when their style and tone match that of the brand, so keep that in mind when approaching your next project.

Of course, it is important that for this reason, the video remains as short as possible: concise and to the point. 

Lastly, ending with a clear call to action by the video’s end is imperative. You can have the most sophisticated video in the world and a story so poignantly different it will grip the masses more than Dreamworks’ first release of Shrek. But if you don’t guide your viewers on how to take the next steps, your efforts are all in vain.