The Power of Explainer Videos as a Marketing Tool

You’ve likely seen explainer videos just about everywhere. There’s a good reason for that – they’re a very effective and efficient marketing tool. Explainer videos as a marketing tool are typically short marketing videos ranging from about 30 seconds to 3 minutes in length.

In this article, we’ll explain what explainer videos are, how to make one, and some great examples we’ve done for our clients.

What We’ll Cover

Below is a table of contents outlining the sections we’ll cover. Click on a topic to jump directly to that section.

  1. What Are Explainer Videos

  2. How to Make Explainer Videos for Marketing

  3. Examples from Our Clients

What’s the Big Deal About Explainer Videos?

As the name implies, the purpose of explainer videos is to explain your company’s product or service. These videos can include unique features of the product or service, benefits, testimonials, or proof of concept.

There are different types of explainers that include live action, animated, screen captures, or some mixture of the three.

Explainer videos are so effective because they merge both auditory and visual information. This makes it much easier for viewers to retain your message than simply reading lines of text.

This is called Dual-Coding Theory. After watching, customers should feel they’ve had all their questions and concerns answered, which helps increase conversions.

Also, Google’s SEO algorithm takes into account how long viewers stay on your website. In 2016, Wistia studied their analytics and found that people spent an average of 2.6 times longer on pages with video than those without.

Since video keeps visitors on your page longer, this also helps improve your rank in search.

Not convinced? Here’s even more reasons to invest in an explainer video:

  • Your video can serve many purposes – as a replacement for a boring PowerPoint presentation, as a social media advertisement, and more. From recruiting, to client meetings, to trade shows, an explainer will be your perfect elevator pitch.

  • Posting your video on YouTube lets you reach an even wider audience and allows your content to be easily shared across platforms.

  • Video provokes more intense emotions in viewers than text-only communications. You can further influence the sentiment depending on the tone of the voice over, the appearance and branding in of the visuals, and the choice of background music.

  • With your product or service clearly explained in a video, you should expect less need for customer support.

How to Make Your Explainer Video

As you can see, you can expect some awesome results from employing explainer videos as a marketing tool. But effective results only come from effective explainers.

At Red Egg Marketing, we use the following steps to ensure our video marketing makes for a solid ROI.

1) Write Your Script

The script is truly the most important piece of the puzzle! Before starting your first draft, it can be beneficial to survey your customers to better understand their questions, concerns, and pain points.

It’s also important to consider your overall goal. What’s the objective of this video anyway? Make sure your goal isn’t actually several different goals mixed together, as that will not make for a successful outcome.

Pro Tip

Keep your script short, less is more

Your script should paint a picture for your viewers – don’t tell your audience, show them.

Start by presenting the problem, then introduce the solution, and end with your call to action. Include any special features, examples, or customer testimonials. Finally, don’t be afraid to take the opportunity to show off your company’s unique personality.

Plan on several rounds of revisions with your team to polish the script and try to trim down the copy as much as possible. A minute of video is equivalent to about 130 words, so less is really more!

2) Plan Your Visuals

Next, plan out what action and imagery will go with your script. We often set this up as a two-column chart with the script itself on one side and the ideas for visuals on the other side. This also helps sort out the timing.

You’ll notice if you have a lengthy visual and not enough script to go with it, or vice versa, if you have a short visual along with 20 seconds worth of copy.

3) Rough Out Your Video

Record some test audio and start to pair it with your visuals, whether it’s rough animation or live action film. This will maintain steady pacing and a smooth flow, while preventing any misalignment or jarring cuts.

4) Finishing Touches

Once your pacing and alignment is just right, it’s time to record your final audio. We have had success hiring professional voiceover actors on freelance platforms like Fiverr.

You may need to adjust your visuals slightly to match perfectly with the final voice over. Finally, add some background music for a finishing touch!

Client Examples