DETROIT – An explainer video can serve as an introduction to your company or your brand. It’s something tech and software companies also rely on frequently to explain a particular product or service. Your explainer video can be a way to show how you’ll solve the pain points of your audience, and they’re also a good way to simplify complex technical concepts and subjects.
Explainer videos can be powerful when done correctly, but what exactly does that mean in this context?
Below are seven tips that can help you make a compelling, engaging explainer video and get a positive ROI on your investment.
1. Keep It Short
The idea of explainer videos is to succinctly explain something to your audience. That means you need to keep it short. First, aim for a video of no longer than around two minutes. Some people might watch longer than this, but it’s not very likely. To keep your video short, remember to focus it on a single message. Don’t use multiple messages in an explainer. Your viewers’ attention is going to wander.
If you need more time than two minutes, it’s better to do a series of videos.
The adage is that the less you say, the more people are going to remember. An explainer is a hook that’s meant to push people to take the next step, whatever that may be.
2. Keep It Simple
Keeping it short is one part of keeping it simple, but not all of it.
To keep your explainer video simple, narrow your focus to four key things.
- First is the problem. In a few seconds, address the pain point of your customer.
- Then, introduce your product or your service as their solution.
- Quickly explain how it works or how your audience can get started, and then have a call-to-action.
Those are the only elements you need in an explainer.
3. Choose the Right Style
There are a few key styles of explainer videos that are commonly used, and you should research each to figure out which will suit your purpose best.
Animated explainer videos are good for dealing with an abstract subject, like software. They’re also a good way to simplify a process that’s complex.
A whiteboard explainer video is good for smaller budgets. There’s a hand, a person, or an animated person who draws and then erases on a white background. The goal is to illustrate the key points in a simple and memorable way, and it may include a voiceover.
You can also do a live-action video, and this might work if you have a physical product and you want to show certain steps or if you have a service geared toward people.
4. Write a Script
Having a well-planned and thought-out script is one of the major keys to an explainer video that’s going to resonate with your audience. You might want to have an outsider write the script. This means someone who can look at it from a fresh perspective writes it, and that’s going to up the chances that any audience will be able to understand what’s being said.
If someone too close to your company, product, or service writes it, there might be an inadvertent assumption the audience will understand concepts that they don’t.
If you hire a company to write the script, they’ll usually have you complete a brief, and this forces you to think high-level, so you can define what matters most rather than trying to get too much in the weeds for an explainer.
If you are going to write the script, you want to make sure you use a concise problem-solution model. You want to meet your audience where they are. That means that, yes, you don’t want it to be too advanced, but neither do you want it to be too silly or trivial for them.
Outline a clear goal that comes from a real pain point in your customer’s experience.
Then, after you have that goal, try to see if you can let your script flow naturally.
You can hook your audience or draw their initial attention with your explanation of the problem. Hopefully, they’ll stick around long enough to then hear you lay out the steps that are the solution.
If possible, you can tell a story with your script.
5. Don’t Be Distracting
Since an explainer is about being as concise as possible, you want to make sure that you aren’t adding in unnecessary elements that are nothing more than a distraction. Your entire video, including the aesthetics as well as the script, needs to be clean, clear, and concise.
6. Use a Storyboard During Planning
A storyboard can help you organize your explainer, and it’s a great planning tool. A storyboard is a way to organize your thoughts, but you use visual elements to create a draft for your video instead of something like bullet point notes.
The ultimate goal of your storyboard is to help you visualize ahead of time how your video is going to look once it’s complete.
You can get insight as far as whether you have enough information or if you’re representing the details you want to show.
You can compare your storyboard with your script to make sure your purpose is being fulfilled.
Storyboards are great not only for helping you visually organize your ideas but also because it brings together the vision among your team members. Everyone might be picturing something different, but a storyboard puts you all on the same page.
7. Focus on Benefits
Finally, your explainer, to be a good one, needs to focus on benefits and not features. You may have the desire to show off as many features as you can, but it’s how these features will benefit them that will matter to your audience. Skip the technical elements and use your explainer to specifically highlight how your product or service will improve the lives of your audience.
This article was provided by Susan Melony
