Explainer videos can be instrumental in allowing potential customers to ‘get’ what you do and why they should consider using or buying from your company. We wrote a blog some time ago about videos that really make you go ‘I get it’, which highlights the power of moving visuals as a tool to demonstrate viability.
Explainer videos sort of straddle corporate and training videos to some degree – you are showing off your business and demonstrating credibility, at the same time educating on something specific. An explainer video needs to be more targeted than a corporate promo video, but less detailed and methodical than a training video.
What is an Explainer Video? from Square Daisy on Vimeo.
Animated versus Live Action
Depending on what you are looking to explain would determine whether an animated production or a live action edit is the best option.
Animated Explainer Videos are great for:
- Software – so you can shorten the sequences, recreate windows with less detail than is needed and avoid screen flicker from filmed footage
- Technology – where you need to show a sequence of events, components or interactions that happen in a normally hidden way or that happen so quickly you need to use a more diagrammatic approach to explain what is happening
- Processes – if you are explaining a particular process that has a series of steps, using an animated process flow is always a great way of doing it to really segment each step
- Location – if you don’t have a particularly inspiring location or need to showcase multiple environments which would be expensive, using animated environments can work really well
- Empathy – if your product or service solves a problem for multiple types of users and you want to build empathy with your audience, rather than using actors in a casted shoot, create a character animation. It also allows you to manipulate the scenarios that you create.
Live Action Explainer Videos are great for:
- Locations – where you really need to see the landscape or property in its true form
- Physical products – such as a phone case or new invention where a person can showcase the practical usage
- Experiences – an adventure sports centre or escape rooms experience really needs to have some footage to excite and engage viewers
- Food and drink – if you are a restaurant or serve food, you want to make the viewer’s mouths water as they see it being prepared and served, or perhaps a new cocktail recipe book that you are showing off that would benefit from gorgeous looking drinks
Fusing live footage and animation together
There is of course the ability to fuse the two approaches together – a perfect example is engineering and manufacturing. You can show the factory and the production process as a filmed segment, but where you may need to explain complex interactions or hidden components, an animated sequence can be added in.
If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.
Albert Einstein
Explainer videos are a real benefit to the companies who use them effectively. They reach a deeper level than a standard ‘sales pitch’, focussing on the issues that the subject solves and the benefits it brings – while of course explaining how it does that – hence the name! If you find yourself spending five minutes trying to explain what your product or service does, use a long PowerPoint presentation or can’t seem to convert potential customers into actual customers, an explainer video may really help to engage the audience and encourage a positive conversion.
Let us help you explain it to six year olds, even if they aren’t your target audience!
