How to make explainer videos?
Don’t take your audience’s attention for granted. As consumers, we’re naturally fickle. Just because traffic is reaching your website, that doesn’t mean that people are going to stay there for long. Your job? To keep their attention, spark their interest, and retain their engagement. That’s where explainer videos come in.
What is an Explainer Video?
An explainer video will quickly and stylistically explain a key message to your audience. This could be to explain how to use your product, showcase a new product, break down your services, or outline how your product can be used in context.
The key is that these videos are short, combine graphics with audio to make an otherwise complex explanation clear, and that they are attractive, so that they can retain audience engagement.
Each video should have a specific focus, with the whole video being directed so that it concisely explains this specific topic.
Why Explainer Videos?
Businesses can create explainer videos for a wide range of different purposes. Their use scope is incredibly varied.
Brands can create explainer videos for product promotion, business promotion, service explanations, to showcase a new product launch, to explain the use case of a product, and so much more. They can also be used as part of marketing campaigns, displayed in social posts and within website pages.
Even the most articulate of people will struggle to communicate complex explanations through writing.
Say you sell flat packed tables, and you have to explain how to put them together through text alone. Without any visual aids, that would be a pretty big challenge.
If you were to attempt to explain these topics through writing on your website, you run the following big risks:
● Your website is filled with long, dense text, which is visually unappealing and deterring for website visitors
● Visitors quickly leave your website because it is not engaging
● Your target market does not understand the vital messages that you are attempting to tell them
● You lose potential customers because the message provided by a rival brand is easier to understand
● Your customers are frustrated by the complexity and inefficiency of your customer service
The fantastic thing about explainer videos is that they tick two major boxes in one fell swoop - they clearly communicate key messages to your audience, in a way which retains their attention and creates a positive impression of your brand.
These stylish, visually impactful videos build up a brilliant brand impression, presenting you as an innovative, trendy and creative company, which is in-tune with its customers' wants.
How to make a good explainer video?
The essence of a successful explainer video is a concise message, explained clearly, using strong visuals.
With this goal in mind, these are our 8 top tips for creating a good explainer video:
- A well-written video script - spend plenty of time writing your script, and make sure it is read over by other people (ideally, someone within your target market, who is not already a part of your company) to check that it makes sense.
- Don’t rush the production stage - during the production stage of the explainer video, allow time to record multiple voice over attempts. Also, pay attention to the tone and clarity of the speaker’s delivery.
- Make sure the content is on-brand - you will need to ensure that your new explainer video fits your existing brand image. You can achieve this by keeping the colours consistent, including your logo, and using the same tone of voice in your script.
- Go bold! - don’t hold back in your design. If you want your animation to make an impact, create a video that stands out from the crowd. Use bold colours and design-led animations. If you’re using filmed footage for your video, make it fun, friendly and interesting.
- Time your voice overs - when recording the voice overs, you will need to make sure that they fit seamlessly with the animations and any additional music that you are adding.
- Implement music and sound effects - adding music and sound effects into your video will increase its engagement and create a professional finish for your explainer video.
- Measure the performance of your explainer video - use metrics like views, leads, retention time, bounce rate and CTR to gauge the success of your video. This is a great way to assess how well you’re engaging with your target market.
- Use high quality animations - this is where the guidance and creativity of a professional animation agency is invaluable. Without a doubt, the best way to create a successful explainer video is by enlisting the help of professional explainer video creators. More on this below.
What type of Explainer Videos are there?
When designing a bespoke explainer video, you can choose from a range of different animation styles. Naturally, you will want to find a style that best fits with your brand image, and the content that you want your explainer video to contain.
To help you choose the right type of explainer video to meet your purpose, here’s a quick guide to the three most popular types of explainer videos out there.
- Animation Explainer Videos
Animation explainer videos use illustrations and creative graphics. They typically use bold colours and a combination of graphic design and illustrated animations, which are timed to match the voice over.
The style of an animation explainer video can be adapted to suit the aesthetic of your brand - for example, your brand’s colours, logo and typography can be included.
Animation explainer videos can either be 2D or 3D, and these videos are pretty limitless in their creativity. So, they make a great way to launch a new product, market your product or service, or engage your social media followers.
The great thing about working with a professional explainer animation video creator is that they can bring their own artistry to the design, while working with you to deliver a video that seamlessly ties into your brand image.
- Whiteboard Explainer Videos
Whiteboard Explainer Videos feature illustrations on a plain background, which looks like a whiteboard.
They are a popular type of explainer video because they are visually engaging and deliver the topic in a fun way.
As with animation explainer videos, these illustrations will be timed to match the voice over.
These videos are often used for educational or informative explainer videos, because they break down complex topics into short steps, while the simplicity of the aesthetics makes the message very easy to follow.
- Live Action Explainer Videos
Live Action Explainer Videos are different because they use shot video footage.
Instead of using animated graphics, they feature filmed footage of real people, with a voice over added on top.
These can be used to show a product in action, film your team working on site, or to share positive testimonials, which come straight from the customers themselves.
Video Creation Software
Due to the complex nature of creating explainer videos, you will certainly need the help of a professional explainer video software.
Explainer video software unlocks endless possibilities for video creators. With its extensive range of professional features, you can create explainer videos of a far higher quality, which deliver far more impressive end results.
The most important features that video creation software provides include:
● A centralised cloud-based location
● A secure portal to store your content
● Collaboration capabilities - so that your key team members can review and approve a new piece of branded content
● Upload animations or footage
● Add music and sound effects
● Insert your voice over, and adjust the timings so that it fits perfectly
● Insert text
● Use pre-set templates (if required)
● Insert your logo
● Adhere to your brand guidelines
● Edit colours, saturation and exposure
● Create smoother transitions - through cut-aways, cropping, trimming, dissolving
Why work with OK Social to produce your explainer video?
When done right, explainer videos can be a monumental success. In today’s digital world, our audiences are constantly being bombarded with brands, all vying for their attention. So, companies need to work harder to get the attention of their target market, retain their engagement, and stand out from their crowd.
Video content is a proven way to achieve all of these goals. In fact, recent studies into digital marketing trends have revealed the power of videos, and it’s pretty impressive stuff.
On LinkedIn, posts with a video are 20 times more likely to be shared than any other form of posted content. And on Instagram, videos are the content with the highest engagement level. In fact, in terms of number of comments, videos are 2.3 times as engaging as images.
As you can see, explainer videos are an investment that’s well worth making. With the guidance and expertise of a professional explainer video creator, you can ensure that you unlock all these benefits for your company.
At OK Social we're a professional animation agency, our talented team of creatives design bold, stylish and firmly on-trend content. These videos contain a clear script, with perfectly-time content to make sure the message hits home.
What’s more, our expert team has the capabilities to combine motion graphics, stylised text, animation, captions and voice-overs, in on-brand explainer videos that are immensely engaging.
We work with each of our clients on a one-to-one basis, in order to ensure that all of their key objectives are met. You will get to shape the creation process every step of the way.
If you would like to find out more about our services, or enlist our creative team to create your new explainer video, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
I’m Jack, the Motion Director here at OK Social. I’ve been working in the world of motion design and animation for nearly 10 years. I had the pleasure of working with leading agencies and brands around the world, such as Samsung, Ford, Shell, Deliveroo, and Starbucks, to name a few.
From a young age, I’ve always been interested in animation, from making stop-motion films in my room as a kid to learning animation on my first computer. It started as a passion and still is to this day. Part of what I do now is more than just animation. I help craft the narratives of the stories we tell to ensure they make an impact to the audience and remain worthy of their attention.
So how do I do that? It starts with asking the right questions, leading to solving the right problems. First, diagnose what the problem is. Then, we can start to see if we can help. I believe that communication plays a key role in delivering a smooth and successful project. Looking into the future, I’m excited to expand my knowledge into creating more engaging stories that make a difference.
